The Burning Girl cover art

The Burning Girl

Tom Thorne, Book 4

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The Burning Girl

By: Mark Billingham
Narrated by: Roger Lloyd Pack
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About this listen

 Jessica Clarke had been set alight 20 years ago. Her attacker, quickly tracked down and eager to confess, is still in jail, his career as a hitman for North London gangs now well behind him. So who is harassing Carol Chamberlain, the arresting officer, and claiming that he is one who burned the girl?

Now retired, Carol turns to DI Tom Thorne for help. Thorne is up to his neck investigating a series of killings which appear to be the result of a turf war between rival gangs, and he's fed up to the gills with reporting to DCI Tughan, so helping Carol out looks like a good deed in a naughty world. Only the world is about to turn much nastier, so nasty in fact that he finds himself longing for a straightforward psycopath to hunt down.

This is a powerful work, exploring the effects of violence and greed on the lives of those who exploit their fellow beings.

©2001 Mark Billingham; (P)2005 Time Warner AudioBooks Action & Adventure Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Suspense Thriller & Suspense Crime Fiction

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Critic reviews

"A disturbing and thrilling medical procedural with memorable characters and bundles of atmosphere." ( Guardian)
All stars
Most relevant
Sorry after listening to Mark read the first 3 books. I couldn’t get into RLP reading as all I heard was “Trigger” and waiting for Delboy to join in.
And what is with that music. For a short listening (under 6hrs) I’m still trying to finish it off after5 days. I still have chapter 5 to reread as feel asleep. Sorry.

What’s with the music

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I’ve really enjoyed the previous books in this series but found this one a bit disappointing. I can’t decide whether it was the narrator, who I found really irritating!, or a combination of poor narration and not great storyline.

Disappointing

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

After purchasing the books from 1 to 5 slightly out of sequence i found burning girl the most difficult to engage with. This had nothing to do with the content but everything to do with the narrator.

How could the performance have been better?

After being spoiled by Robert glenister narrating the other books I've listened to, i found Roger Lloyd Pack's narration dull and monotone. The performance distracted me from fully enjoying the book. I have re-listened to the other 4 books many times but can't bring myself to suffer the narration again. This is no reflection on the narrator really as Robert Glennister is superb as Thorne.

another great book but....

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I must admit to being extremely fussy regarding narrators and having read the reviews regarding the narrator not being Mark Billingham himself was very apprehensive as to whether I could get through this book. I did and found Roger Lloyd Pack to be ok. looking forward to getting back to MB narrating and also I have seen Robert Glenister on some too who is brilliant with the Strike novels. Story wise probably my least favourite of the series so far but I am glad I didn't skip it.

Another enjoyable Tom Thorne novel

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wish I had read reviews. It's abridge and very hard to listen has its all over the place. The narrator is different and in my opinion is terrible

Abridged and new narrator

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