The death of her identical twin sister, KT, sees Molly fly to New York to be with her bereaved parents. Whilst there, she begins her own investigation into KT's death and explores the life she had in New York leading up to it.

The story is quite twisty and delivers a couple of big surprises, which aren't easy to deliver given the first person narrative. Having rated Will Dean's previous standalone book 5 stars (I consider it one of the best books I've read in 2021), for me this falls a little short.

The lead character is interesting and certainly has her idiosyncrasies but I found it hard to sympathise at times with her situation. Having reached the end of the book, this may well be deliberate but it made for a slightly slower read than the single day it took me to devour The Last Thing to Burn.

(PS I also found the use of the word 'diaper' strange coming from a 22 year old from Nottingham).

In his new standalone thriller, Dean gives us a tense, twisty story focussed on the relationship between twins Molly and Katie ('KT' to her sister) Raven living respectively in London and New York.

As the book makes clear, supposedly identical twins can turn out to be very different. One of the two prefers 'monozygotic'. Identical is 'a blatant lie. A travesty...' We see this in the contrast between staid, nervous Molly, living her restricted life in London and painfully aware of all the threats inherent in everyday life, and Katie, who has spread her wings, won a scholarship and jetted off to the Big Apple to study.

I thought at first that Dean was going to show us a Molly panicking, unable to function, a fish out of water as she's forced to travel abroad when things go wrong, but I should have known that he's a much more subtle writer than that. Molly is perfectly capable of facing her fears, even while regaling the reader with the relative risks of a phone charger or a poorly cooked restaurant meal. While her obsession seems to consume mental energy and throw up obstacles, she's adept at addressing her concerns and planning around them ('This is a classic Molly raven risk-reward situation') which then provides her a margin of safety, a heuristic, when she moves into a dangerous new arena.

Because it seems that there was more going on in Katie's life than her parents and sister thought. When Molly joins Paul and Elizabeth in New York - slumming it in a budget hostel because family fortunes are actually not too good right now - she decides to investigate what has been going on, a course of action that will test her planning and strategising (whether in improvising weapons or passing without being noticed) to the limit.

I really felt that Will Dean was having fun with First Born. While his last thriller The Last Thing to Burn was grimly realist, First Born just lets rip with a sizzling "What if...?" scenario in the pair of twins and with the idea of one investigating what happened to the other. Yet Dean makes its all so plausible, with the cool assessments of risk grounding the story as we move from one challenge to another - even as the tension screws tighter and tighter. It all culminates in a race for survival as New York braces for a hurricane (more disaster planning needed, of course). The sense of a narrator who is, in effect, in enemy territory (there are some real shocks I didn't see coming which underpin that - just what DID Katie do?) nudges things into thriller, rather than simply crime, territory, but take it form me, this is much more complex than your typical psychological thriller.

As things spiral out of control the story becomes more and more of a rollercoaster but Dean keeps events rooted in the relationship between the twins, cleverly articulating both what they share and the deep differences between their characters. We hear from both of them, with their wildly differing perspectives on shared events providing clues to what has gone wrong - but will there be enough clues for even the most rational, the most calculating, student of risk and payoff to plot a way through the maze?

A really entertaining, fast-paced thriller that both contrasts with The Last Thing to Burn and confirms Dean's ability to hold his audience entranced.

Well wow this is a great Thriller one not to be missed. When Molly who lives in London gets a call that her identical twin Katie also known as KT who lives in New York is dead she has a long journey ahead.

So Molly heads across the Atlantic to join her Parents who are visiting or had been visiting Katie for the 1st time since she moved out there a bit over a year ago. This is a fast moving Thriller filled with plot altering twists that make it hard to review without giving things away so I'm going to say who I have it 5 stars instead of talking about the plot.

One thing about this is that it's based on an ordinary family 26th identical twins 2 girls separated from one seed (hence the identical aspect). Mum & Dad aren't rich Molly is shy and KT isn't. They aren't rolling in money helps me identify with them a bit more. But this isn't an average thriller far from it and it's characters aren't boring. There is not much time to settle because when you think you have a take on things along come a twist plausible but completely transforming everything. So grab the edge of your seats its a bumpy ride very much worth the trouble.

5 stars so I'm highly recommending this and hope you love it as well.

Will Dean books never disappoint and First Born is no exception. Telling the story of Katie and Molly, identical twins, the story takes place in New York where Katie has been found dead. Molly who is a very risk averse person is going to investigate just what has happened to her soulmate.
At one point in the book I actually gasped out loud at one of the twists and had to re-read the paragraph to make sure I'd read it correctly!
I devoured this book in two days and I'm dropping one star because I kind of got the main twist. This didn't detract from the overall enjoyment though.

Ohhh this has got me in two minds as to how to rate this.
I will start by saying that this book has got some real shock factors in it which made me gasp out loud, but, it also had a few things in it that made me really question if it was actually believable. Don’t get me wrong, I know this is fiction and I’ll happily accept “stretching the possible” to make the storyline more dramatic and intense, but for me, I do need to be able to imagine it happening in books of this genre and sadly there were 2 or 3 things that I just struggled to accept.
Having said that, that is the only downfall I found to this book. I really enjoyed the story, although I did find the pace falling off at times, but once it picked up again, I really couldn’t put it down. I’m interested to see how other people find this book.
I’m rating this book 3.5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Molly is on her way to New York to join her parents who are grieving for her twin sister Katie who has mysteriously died there! Molly tells us quite consistently that they are monozygotic, from the egg that splits in two! They could not be closer though very different in personality! What happened to Katie? She meets Katie’s best friend Violet and the hunky boyfriend. Never having been to New York she finds her way around incredibly easily and for the first half of the story does her best to discover what happened to her sister! So far so good but then things change quite dramatically and unfortunately not for the good! Credibility is stretched to the maximum and the tale began to pall! I trudged on to the end but unfortunately things did not improve!

Firstly a big thank you to the publishers for my copy to review on netgalley . Will is a fantastic writer within the crime community.

This is a clever twisty unpredictable standalone and one I was excited to read after loving his debut standalone .

Dark and haunting from the very Start as we discover Katie twin to Molly has died . Its all systems go to get to the states and try and find the truth…how and why is she dead….

As truths are unravelled so is the relationship between these twin sisters…how can they be so different and living different lives .

Twins are fascinating so I enjoyed them being the focus point in a crime thriller. Will also encapsulated the setting of new york with all of its quirky ways .

Packed with twists and turns this won’t dissapoint .

Highly recommend if you’re a fan of his previous books or a newbie.

Published 14th April.

Having enjoyed the brilliant “Last Thing to Burn” I was delighted to have an early opportunity to read Will Dean’s latest book “First Born”. It does not disappoint.

Twin sister Molly is an ultra anxious young woman who organises her life by preparing for the worst. When her parents are in touch with news that her twin sister has been found dead in New York she must travel to the States and gets tied up in trying to determine what happens by befriending the main characters in her sister’s life.

Well written and conveying a strong sense of life in New York from a variety of hotel and hostel perspectives, we are taken on a twisty-turny journey to the truth of what really happened.

Molly is a great character and the plot keeps you hooked. More please!

A story of inveterate sibling jealousy and revenge set in NYC with some pretty full on plot twists that can stretch the imagination somewhat but is a thoroughly enjoyable pacy thriller. The story revolves around British twin sisters Katie and Molly and following events across the pond becomes a classic whodunnit with a dark undercurrent.

Identical twins have always intrigued me, the idea that you have the same DNA and potentially have a sibling that is exactly the same as you. This book plays on it, it’s hard to review without any spoilers, primarily it’s a book that I would recommend.

The premise is that Molly’s sister, Katie/KT has been murdered in New York after she went to university there. Katie has built a new, full life for herself but clearly something terrible has happened. Molly is a strange girl, she suffers from chronic anxiety and is extremely nervous that she needs to be prepared at all times. For this reason, she has refused to fly to NY to see her sister but is doing so now to meet her grieving parents and try to find out what has happened.

The chronic anxiety (she’s permanently worried about muggings, being followed, natural disasters, plane crashes) adds to the sense of tension in the story as it unravels and gives a sense that perhaps Molly is an unreliable narrator.

How and why KT has been killed is the nub of the book, was it her boyfriend, her best friend, her neighbour, her university lecturer or someone else? You’ll have to read the book to find out. 😉

“Oh, what a tangled web Will Dean weaves when first he practice to deceive” and boy does he deceive in the best possible way. What an engrossing and compelling read First Born turned out to be. First Born tells the story of Molly, who lives a ‘risk adverse’ life, she’s extremely cautious and terrified of everything. In comparison, her identical twin sister Katie, is more outgoing and adventurous, personality-wise, they’re as different as chalk and cheese. The novel begins with Molly finding out that Katie has been found dead in her NY apartment. As terrifying as it is, Molly knows she must go there and find out what happened. As she tracks her twin’s last movements, cracks emerge and the reader is propelled from one twist to the next.

There’s nothing I enjoy more than a read where the characters and narrative can’t be trusted, and as the plot thickened, I did not know who to trust. As for guessing the outcome of the plot, I didn’t even get close! The backdrop of New York is the perfect setting for First Born. Will Dean’s vivid descriptions through Molly’s eyes help the reader experience the hustle and bustle of the city that never sleeps. The well placed plot twists are brilliantly executed, and I loved the way the author misdirected the reader at every turn of the page. Subtle clues are hidden within the story, but it’s only as you reach the last page you realise just how clever and devious the authors been.

Will Dean is a writer of extraordinary talents. He has written a ‘thriller’ that’s exquisitely twisted with more turns than a proverbial roller coaster. I can honestly say ‘Fiction doesn’t get any better than this’ highly recommended by me!

I love Will Deans writing so was excited to read this book. I was not disappointed.

Gripped from the very first line I was taken in. The book is about identical twins Molly and Katie.

Molly lives a simple life in London, Katie has gone to study in New York.

Molly learns Katie has died and has to get out of her comfort zone and travel to New York to try and find out what happened.

There are twists and turns that I did not see coming.

A gripping novel that will have you hooked from page one.

I loved this book & all the twists & turns kept me guessing. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I recently read The Last Thing to Burn and devoured it in one sitting. The same can be said for this book. I loved it.

What a roller coaster of a book. Fast paced and really well written. I completed inhabited Molly’s world and was enjoyably engrossed throughout the whole book. Will Dean has outdone himself. Can’t wait for his next book.

Loved this book and I. Never saw the twist coming. Molly is a great character and as always Will delivers his books character driven with a storyline that packs a punch !

The concept of this book is excellent and the story does draw you in from the beginning. The first massive twist roughly 50% in is neatly delivered and unexpected and makes you want to read further. However, for me, that is where the problems begin. I won't post any spoilers but (for me) the reader needs to suspend belief and the latter half of the book almost becomes a little silly in what the writer asks the reader to beleive that a seemingly normal, albeit a little off, character is able to do, with no prior warning of psychosis or psychopathy. And then the final twist 90% in, together with the finale, it was too much for me. It stretched a sense of reality too far for me.

A nice writing style, well paced, but a plot development which wasn't for me. I'd read the blurb for future books by the author, but they would not be an instant read for me.

I greedily devoured this book over 2 days and relished each and every devilish twist along the way. The clues were there! Every single one but it would take a clever reader to pick up on these as they are so subtly hidden in the story. Very enjoyable read throughout.

Phew, what a read! I was really enjoying this story and thought I had a thorough grasp of what was happening. Then I reached 50% and read 15 little words that stopped me in my tracks. ‘I must have misread …’ I thought. So I checked and double-checked, and I hadn’t misread at all. From that point on things got a bit complicated, and very near the end of the book another few little words shocked me to the core. I don’t pretend to understand everything that happened here but the work and thought that has gone into the excellent writing of this book is just incredible. Highly recommended for those thriller lovers who think they can always follow the plot and understand all the twists. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this fantastic ARC in return for an honest review.

This was a strange book, parts were enjoyable, but the characters seemed a bit strange. There was a good twist, but it wasn't really unexpected.