Best friends since childhood, Jess and Storey take a long hunting trip every year, but this year is different. Everything has been burned in this area of inland northern Maine. Once they find a radio with a broadcast from Quebec, they learn that secessionists have assassinated the U.S. President, Bridges and dams have been blown up and thousands are dead. The towns they enter are empty until they find a 5-year-old girl alone and hiding and Jess is forced to kill a man before he kills them. Jess is troubled since his divorce.. Storey is desperate to get back to Vermont to his wife and children. Their journey to find the girl’s family is a great adventure story and a cautionary tale.

I learned after accepting the advance copy that there is an animal death in the book. Due to that, I was unable to read or review this book.

*Burn* by Peter Heller is a tense, gripping novel that blends suspense, survival, and deep emotional resonance. Heller’s evocative writing brings the wilderness to life, creating an atmospheric backdrop for a story filled with danger, moral dilemmas, and unforgettable characters. With its sharp prose and powerful themes, *Burn* is a thrilling and thought-provoking read that will keep you hooked from start to finish.

Peter Heller does it again. A story of friendship and danger with a side of mystery. The narrative moves quickly but still leaves space for flashbacks to provide additional context. The tense scenes are expertly crafted and draw you into the action and emotions of the characters. Would recommend, especially if you enjoyed The River.

This book was so overwhelmingly average for the vast majority of it. I originally requested Burn because I was a huge fan of Heller's previous book The Last Ranger, but this one did not live up to my expectations in the slightest. I found the characters kind of boring, and it felt like I was just slogging through pages and pages of pointless drivel. The only thing that redeemed this book was the ending, which I did think was well done.

This one just wasn’t it for me. I think if I had read this one before reading Run by Blake Crouch, I would have maybe enjoyed it more. But the two books felt very similar. Dystopian, what world are we in kind of thing. It was weird jumping back and forth from the teenage years and the very strange and inappropriate relationship he had with his best friends mom that was also a turn off. I also felt like I never mind as able to have a great sense of what the purpose was, obviously they want to go home, but I still felt very confused.

I am a huge fan of Heller's work and he definitely did not disappoint with this one! This felt like nonstop, heart pumping action from the first page and, even though I've read quite a few apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic stories recently, this one really stands out! After the book was published, I purchased a copy for my husband and he could hardly put it down (high praise, since he is easily distracted) - highly recommend!

Normally my husband and I love the Peter Heller books. However, this was not one of our preferred titles. The story felt rushed and discombobulated at the end. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the ARC opportunity.

I think I've resigned myself to not liking a Heller book since The River but some of my pals loved this one. I found it over written and lacking the propulsion needed to carry me forward

I enjoyed this! I thought the writing was poetic and beautiful. The storyline was gripping and I always wanted to know what came next. I didn’t mind the flashbacks and I thought it helped the reader understand both Jess and Storey in a deeper way. The one storyline that I will keep to myself to avoid any spoilers was not my favorite addition to the novel and I don’t think added much to it, but I was able to overlook it for the sake of the other moments that were gripping, tense, and at times, heartbreaking. I rate it a 3.5!

I have devoured just about everything Peter Heller has written, ever since I fell in love years ago with The Dog Stars. Burn isn't the first 'buddies on the river' book he's written but for me it was by far the most intriguing with its apocalyptic focus of rebellious groups taking over parts of the U.S, which they first discovered while on a wilderness hunting trip, a long tradition of the two guys that almost didn't happen.

Lots of adventure but also some deep personal introspection, which I personally love. However, when I handed my Kindle over to my husband, who likes action/adventure, thinking he'd love the story, I was a bit disappointed but not surprised that he was not enthralled, probably because, for him, there was too much reflection and not enough action.

It was plenty of action for me, though, and I was on the edge of my seat more than once. It is a chilling, harrowing story, and also sad, but the redemption for me was the hopefulness that shone through, the humanity of the rescue of a child and a tentative yet unknown future spooling ahead of them all.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this as an eARC before publication. I apologize for such a late review.

A dystopian book with some action, but mostly introspection. The men know there is trouble occurring our in the world resulting in violence, but don’t know much more than that.

I would describe this book as tense and filled with uncertainty. The world building is top-notch and you will be transported to Maine. There are several unanswered questions at the end and I wanted a bit more closure.

3.5 stars
What the book summary said explains everything I love about Peter Heller books:

"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."

Add to that the narration by my boyfriend, Mark Deakins, and I usually give 5 stars to Heller's books.

Usually.

But this one just didn't set my world on fire, although there's a lot of world burning in the book. Slow in parts, and the personal backgrounds of the two male friends did little to keep my interest.

Very good were the parts showing their current day relationship, to each other, to nature, and to some of the characters they encounter along their way.

Exemplary as usual was Mr. Deakins.

I had a NetGalley copy to read, couldn't get into it, so waited months for the audiobook. Heller's appeal is so much stronger when accompanied by Deakins.

Did I mention Mark Deakins narrates?

I have tried a few of Heller's books but they never seem to grab me plot wise. This was interesting enough.

I'm giving this book 2.5 stars because it wasn't as exciting as I had hoped despite it being well-written. The beginning was rather slow, the ending was abrupt, and questions were left unanswered.

The actual writing was beautiful and immersed you in the Maine wilderness, describing sights, smells, and sounds. The plot (two hunters unknowingly get thrown into a civil war) is intriguing and given our current political landscape not that far off from reality. However, there were gaps in plot and execution. The ending came up suddenly and didn't answer all the questions to bring it together in a clever way. I'm not sure how realistic a lot of it was, which made me wonder if the whole story was just a dream but even that plotline wasn't fully resolved.

I know the author has some really good reads and I do plan to try the ones recommended by reviewers of this book. However, "Burn" had potential it just wasn't executed well enough.

In a world gone mad, two friends share a bond of chosen families. Set in Maine, the men exit the woods to a burned out hull of towns, cars and people. Along the way, their morality, sensibilities, and friendship is tested to the limits. Who is friendly? Who is foe? Excellent dystopian novel and one of my favorites of the year.

In Burn, Jess and Storey – friends since childhood – enter the Maine wilderness for their annual hunting trip and emerge at their trip’s end to a world completely changed: entire rural towns burned to the ground, bridges blown apart, and no survivors as far as they can see. There were rumbles of secession talk throughout Maine all the previous summer, and while Jess and Storey were off the grid, it’s clear that something definitive happened. Not knowing who the true enemies are – the secessionists? the U.S. military? – Jess and Storey narrow their focus to one goal: getting home. But in a landscape patrolled by armed men who shoot first and ask questions later, their journey is a dangerous one…made even more complicated by a startling discovery in the recesses of a stolen boat.

Burn is a pensive and quiet book…at once a literary survival thriller and thoughtful character study that reads like a meditation on male friendship, the beauty of the natural world, and found family. The political issues that serve as the background for the plot are, thankfully, left vague. This isn’t a book about secession and a fraught political climate; this is a book about survival, and about brotherhood. For a relatively short novel, it’s incredibly rich, with spare but stunning descriptions of the natural world, unexpected moments of tenderness, and a propulsive plot that is at turns violent and gentle.

The whole book just feels so…meaningful. Its overall message is about how, even when it seems like the world is falling apart, our only job is to take care of each other – that there are always good people who are trying to do the right thing. And I think that’s so beautiful, and something that we all need to be reminded of sometimes – especially right now.

I haven't read Peter Heller before, and I wonder if his writing style just isn't for me. I couldn't get into this book, and I have far too many on my list to keep reading when I'm not enjoying it.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Knopf for a free copy of #Burn by Peter Heller. All opinions are my own.

3 stars since I DNF'd and can't give an informed review.

I am not sure what I was expecting from this book, but I can honestly say that this was not it. Maybe it's just a case of me being the wrong audience for it, but phew... the amount of testosterone included was a bit too much for my enjoyment. I am all for a slow-burn, but this one bored me to the point of it feeling more like a chore to get through.

I'll read anything by Peter Heller if for no other reason than he writes about his settings in such a way that they just come to life for me. I just love that about all his works that I have read. Burn was different than any of his previous books I have encountered in that it is set in almost a dystopian future. The US or at least part of the US appears to be at war with itself. Two men who are old friends have been off grid camping and they come out of the woods to an unknown situation and have to work their way through it with a few quirky characters along the way. I loved the aspect of the mens' friendship and learning what they have been through and how they continue to navigate their friendship. I missed a bit of the setting I normally love so much in Peter Heller's novels as he is really describing a new, unfamiliar place and time. I enjoyed Burn, but it won't be as high on my recommendation list as some of his previous novels have been.