Burn
A novel
-
-
4.3 • 12 Ratings
-
-
- $13.99
Publisher Description
From the best-selling author of The Dog Stars and The Last Ranger, a novel about two men—friends since boyhood—who emerge from the woods of rural Maine to a dystopian country racked by bewildering violence
Every year, Jess and Storey have made an annual pilgrimage to the most remote corners of the country, where they camp, hunt, and hike, leaving much from their long friendship unspoken. Although the state of Maine has convulsed all summer with secession mania—a mania that has simultaneously spread across other states—Jess and Storey figure it’s a fight reserved for legislators or, worst-case scenario, folks in the capital.
But after weeks hunting off the grid, the men reach a small town and are shocked by what they find: a bridge blown apart, buildings burned to the ground, and bombed-out cars abandoned on the road. Trying to make sense of the sudden destruction all around them, they set their sights on finding their way home, dragging a wagon across bumpy dirt roads, scavenging from boats left in lakes, and dodging armed men—secessionists or U.S. military, they cannot tell—as they seek a path to safety. Then, a startling discovery drastically alters their path and the stakes of their escape.
Drenched in the beauty of the natural world and attuned to the specific cadences of male friendship, even here at the edge of doom, Burn is both a blistering warning about a divided country’s political strife and an ode to the salvation found in our chosen families.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The scariest thing about Peter Heller’s immersive thriller is that it’s all too easy to imagine it coming true. Storey and Jess are old buddies who make annual hunting trips together deep into the Maine wilds. But when they come out of the woods at the end of this year’s excursion, every sign of civilization has been destroyed. Eventually realizing that explosive partisan politics have caused a civil war, they find themselves on the run, trying not to get shot as spies. Then they stumble across a lost little girl, and their whole agenda changes. Heller paints the looming dread surrounding the men’s mission like a master minimalist. But he makes you see the setting’s natural beauty, too, and that tragic juxtaposition really amps up the emotion. We also learn a lot about Jess and Storey’s past along the way—though Heller never lets the tension go slack for even a second. This white-knuckle read will keep you on edge.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A Maine camping trip turns into a fight for survival in this meditative dystopian thriller from Heller (The Last Ranger). Best friends Jess and Storey are headed home from their annual moose hunt when they find their route cut off by a bridge that appears to have been recently demolished. On foot, they arrive at a scorched village littered with corpses; with no phone signal, they speculate the violence is linked to the "secession mania" that's been spreading through Maine. Further hiking takes them to a lakeside hamlet, where the friends exchange fire with hostile locals and steal a boat to pursue their attackers. They lose their quarry, but discover a five-year-old girl named Collie hiding in the boat—and now, in addition to finding their way home, Jess and Storey must locate Collie's parents. Despite the high stakes, Heller gives the narrative plenty of space to breathe, allowing him to cast a haunting, immersive spell as his heroes traverse the ruined landscape. Painterly descriptions of nature and sparkling philosophical ruminations ("You are alone under the wheeling seasons, and the best memories are drained by loss") elevate the proceedings. The result is a wilderness adventure with real emotional depth.
