Burn
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Average rating3.3
From the best-selling author of The Dog Stars, 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.
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"I wonder if it matters whose side anyone is on."
I'll just say up front that the 'dystopia' and 'science fiction' tags on this book are misleading. The situation they find themselves in is dystopian for sure, but it's hardly even part of the story for most of the book. The bulk of this book is taken up by exploring the backstories of two guys, Jess and Storey, who were out hunting in Maine when they discover burned downs, blown bridges, and a general information blackout happened while they were disconnected. They wander around Maine a bit, find a very young girl they feel compelled to keep safe, and us as the reader experience a lot of Jess's flashbacks to when him and Storey were teens.
That's basically the book. You do find out what's going on in Maine sort of second-hand, but it's not really fleshed out in any meaningful way other than to provide a reason for these two guys to be out in the woods disconnected for so long. You do, however, get way too much information about Jess's teenage years, (flashback/backstory spoilers here) where Storey's mom evidently seduces Jess when he was 17, and has sex with him at least twice. Jess never told Storey, but evidently Storey knew all along because his mom shacked up with lots of guys. It's actually pretty predatory and gross. The ending also is really abrupt. We could have used at least another chapter or so to find out (ending spoilers) if our guys actually make it out, if they end up telling the girl what happened to her dad and the whole story, anything about the secession, really.
But the environmental detail and writing were all pretty great. I'll probably check out other books by this author, just this one left me wanting quite a bit more.
