Burn

A Novel

By: Peter Heller

Narrated by: Mark Deakins

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.

©2024 Peter Heller (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A Maine camping trip turns into a fight for survival in this meditative dystopian thriller from Heller....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...elevate the proceedings. The result is a wilderness adventure with real emotional depth.”
—Publishers Weekly

"Many of Peter Heller’s books — fiction and nonfiction — concern outdoor adventures, by which I really mean survival stories: on a river, in a mountain lodge, even on a Japanese whaling ship. But Heller always goes deeper than derring-do, excavating the complex emotions beneath a character’s avalanche of fears."
—Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times

“Heller is masterful at describing the feeling of being surrounded by nature. At one point in Burn, I likened the reading experience to sticking my face into the rust-colored bark of a Ponderosa pine to come away with the faintly sweet vanilla scent—something expected and decidedly human sprung from the rocky edges of the wilderness....You walk away from Burn with the forest in your nose and a bit of uneasiness in your gut about the plausibility of things falling apart.”
—Alison Borden, The Denver Post

good men trying to care for abandoned child in civil war

The ending left one hanging, perhaps there is another book coming? Not sure how the sexual assault of almost grown teen fit with this story.

Familiar Ground

If you haven’t read this author before, do. Peter Heller’s descriptive prose reveals nature at its best even as the characters struggle for survival. If you are familiar with the author this novel may feel like Deja vu, elements of the plot and characters will seem very familiar. A good thing for readers who can’t get enough, and disappointing for those who want to see the author test his talent the way his characters test their survival skills.

Great Story

Gripping, Unexpected, Well performed. All I hoped for in a new Heller novel. I particularly enjoyed the character building interspersed with the story.

Excellent

Heller has a way of making the gruesome even more so, describing nature in a way that puts you there, and conveying complex emotion in a way that feels poetic. Burn delivers.

Great mastery of language. The characterization is quite remarkable.

This is a novel for our times. It keeps you on edge with the men as they navigate through the shocking burn in Maine as well as in their past.

Slow listen

I love Peter Heller’s books, but for some reason this one didn’t grab me and hold my attention. Disappointed but I might listen again to see if it was just my mood.

ok story… switched around a lot Horrible ending its like it just ended with big question marks

hated the ending all loose ends
its left up to the reader to write their own ending not my fav

Feels not to far of from our future!

Peter Heller's writing style is one My favorite. this book gave me chills not only because the topic is poignant , but also because of how sad the character is. I very much enjoyed this book and most of Mr. Heather's writing.

Ended too soon

I know it’s his thing, but the flashbacks and distracted thoughts really messed with the tempo of the story. Also needed more resolution at the end, you’re in a war zone and then it’s just over, come on now. The concept was alright, but I feel like the execution kinda fizzled at the end, like me when I wrote papers in college and realized I was getting close to the word count

It’s not about what you think.

I’ve listened to every Peter Heller book and as always Mark Deakins is amazing. Like many readers I was left scratching my head at the end, feeling like Heller quit writing before the book was finished. 24 hours later my mind was still sifting through it. A sign of a good book for me is how long I keep thinking about it once it is finished. Granted 24 hours isn’t long, but has been long enough for me to see the true story was not what it appeared to be. So much so that I almost want to listen to it again to see what I missed. I don’t leave reviews. After listening to hundreds of books this is only my first or second review. But I came here mostly to say, don’t listen to the negative reviews and pay close attention to the entire story. Those chapters that you think are just filler are much more important than they might appear.