Burn : a novel / Peter Heller.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

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.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

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. Agent: David Halpern, David Halpern Literary. (Aug.)

Booklist Review

On their annual hunt in northern Maine this year, young men Jess and Storey are following a trail of cataclysmic events that has left entire towns decimated by fire or explosions--they aren't sure which or why. Their longing for escape ratchets up another level when they come upon a young castaway who also needs to find home. Amidst this uncertainty and these fearsome events, Jess finds an opportunity to reflect on past loss, grief, and missed opportunities and to face the choices he's made. Heller's (The Guide, 2021) somewhat dystopian narrative hints at our recent viral pandemic and civil divisiveness--which in the novel takes the form of unionists versus secessionists--as well as the horrifying violence our country is capable of. Heller takes time as well to highlight the unique importance and strong bond of male friendship. He excels at nature writing too, with lush, sensuous descriptions of beautiful rural landscapes that are illustrative of an author clearly at home in the outdoors.

Kirkus Book Review

Two men on a hunting trip encounter a civil war. Heller's novel follows Jess and Storey, two friends in Maine, as their annual hunting trip turns calamitous. Early on, Heller references a bridge being out and a way forward blocked. The exact nature of the catastrophe isn't revealed until partway through, though there are some hints. "All summer the entire state had been convulsed with secession mania," Heller writes. He describes the situation Jess and Storey are in as being "in the wake of a rolling catastrophe," with all the momentum that implies. The duo doesn't encounter another living person until a significant part of the book has passed--and once they do, their situation becomes even more unsettling, as it seems they're in a war zone with little sense of who's fighting, and on what side. (The way this escalates allows for a rare moment of gallows humor when Storey says, "The helicopters suggest to me it's not just a Maine thing.") The two men find a girl, Collie, who's become separated from her family, giving the second half a little more structure. Jess and Storey's journey across an uncertain landscape is interspersed with Jess' thoughts on his now-defunct marriage and his long friendship with Storey. Heller ably captures the white-knuckle momentum as the two men try to stay alive--bringing this book closer in tone to James Dickey's WWII--era thriller To the White Sea than to Cormac McCarthy's The Road. But that choice also makes the speculative elements feel disconnected from the story of the long friendship at this novel's heart; it's not hard to imagine much of the same action occurring in the wake of a natural disaster. An ambitious story of survival that doesn't always click, but is frequently thrilling. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.