Burning Rage follows a woman named Jess who is unhinged due to a childhood full of bullying and loneliness. After a string of arson attacks, and a kidnapping, readers are taken into the depths of Jess’s mind and history and we get to truly understand the extent of her insanity and the origin of it.

The way the author has used multiple narratives in all of the chapters is done to riveting effect. Breaking each section down using the year is key when journeying back to the events that made Jess who she is in the present. I enjoyed the back and forth because its handled well and I always knew where we were in the story’s timeline. The third person gives us a good understanding of the character, which I really enjoyed, but I felt that there were a few places the narrative voice changed point of view, along with a switch in tense, that made things just a bit confusing at times. Otherwise, this is an intriguing story with a riveting character driving us forward.

Don Banting has created an suspenseful story, and the way multiple stories converge is done very well. Also, the sense of time and year is written with exceptional imagery such as ‘her jeans dragging along the Berber carpet, making a swish..’ This aspect really helps the reader to imagine what it was like at that time and assists allows them to visualize the characters.

The title given to this book is very appropriate as, by the end of the story, readers will have a full appreciation for Jess’s character, both the good and the horribly bad. This is an engrossing psychological thriller that is darkly intriguing. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a compelling crime thriller with a scary but alluring villain at its core.

Pages: 220