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Burn
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.
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.
291 pages, Hardcover
First published August 13, 2024
About the author
Peter Heller
33 books3,160 followersThere is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Peter Heller holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in both fiction and poetry. An award-winning adventure writer and longtime contributor to NPR, Heller is a contributing editor at Outside magazine, Men’s Journal, and National Geographic Adventure, and a regular contributor to Bloomberg Businessweek. He is also the author of several nonfiction books, including Kook, The Whale Warriors, and Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet’s Tsangpo River. He lives in Denver, Colorado.
Peter Heller holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in both fiction and poetry. An award-winning adventure writer and longtime contributor to NPR, Heller is a contributing editor at Outside magazine, Men’s Journal, and National Geographic Adventure, and a regular contributor to Bloomberg Businessweek. He is also the author of several nonfiction books, including Kook, The Whale Warriors, and Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet’s Tsangpo River. He lives in Denver, Colorado.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 874 reviews
October 16, 2024
I hesitated reading this. Renewed it 3 times before reaching for it with trepidation. The ratings were tanking. Argh...
Was I going to have to burn it? The last 2 Heller’s were disasters IMO. Was this a last chance at redemption?
Two guys out on a hunt come to a town that has been decimated. They trudge on to find the same and find no one alive who can tell them what is happening. It’s apocalyptic. A secession is happening in Maine. Storey & Jess are in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Heller does nature like no other. It was rather long-winded and a lot of reminiscing about childhood days. A solid bromance - best buddies. But that ending? It appears like someone burned my last few pages?! Which doesn’t leave a good taste in my mouth, Heller. Tastes rather ashy actually.
3.5⭐️ Better but I need and expect more from you, Heller.
Do check out The River for a superior read.
Was I going to have to burn it? The last 2 Heller’s were disasters IMO. Was this a last chance at redemption?
Two guys out on a hunt come to a town that has been decimated. They trudge on to find the same and find no one alive who can tell them what is happening. It’s apocalyptic. A secession is happening in Maine. Storey & Jess are in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Heller does nature like no other. It was rather long-winded and a lot of reminiscing about childhood days. A solid bromance - best buddies. But that ending? It appears like someone burned my last few pages?! Which doesn’t leave a good taste in my mouth, Heller. Tastes rather ashy actually.
3.5⭐️ Better but I need and expect more from you, Heller.
Do check out The River for a superior read.
July 28, 2024
The author’s latest book,
Burn,
is a dystopian novel with some action and lots of introspection. Jess and Storey hunt moose every year in North Central Maine. They were childhood friends and neighbors who have remained friends into adulthood. Maine was experienced secession mania during the summer but they assume whatever happens will be reserved for the legislators. After five days and a non-productive campsite, they decide to change camps and find a bridge over a river has been blown apart. After running out of gas, they walk to the next town north of them. It’s been burned to the ground and no one is there. However, the dock and boats were left intact. They scavenge for supplies on them and try to work their way to Storey’s home in Vermont dodging armed men and finding something along the way that alters their trip direction.
Jess’s wife is gone and their dog Bell died two months later. He is heartbroken, willing to take risks, and is grounded by gratitude. He also needs time in nature hunting and fishing to help him through the rest of the year. Storey is happily married to Lena and has two daughters. He is worried about them and is more risk averse than Jess.
The story is told from Jess’s point of view. While there is some action interspersed throughout the book, there is a lot of Jess’s introspection and memories. The world-building is fabulous and helps readers feel as though they are in Maine in the fall. For most of the book, the men don’t know what is happening in the outside world. They just know that there is trouble of some kind resulting in violence. While readers get some information in the last quarter of the book, there are still several unanswered questions and I wanted more closure. Additionally, the novel felt a little slow at times. Themes include grief, loss, loyalty, fear, courage, male friendship, violence, uncertainty, worry, found family, and much more.
Overall, this is an entertaining, tense, and thought-provoking novel with excellent world-building and engaging characters. However, I was expecting more action and information surrounding the dystopian events and less introspection. Will there be a second book?
Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor – Knopf and Peter Heller provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for August 13, 2024.
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My 3.55 rounded to 4 stars review is coming soon.
Jess’s wife is gone and their dog Bell died two months later. He is heartbroken, willing to take risks, and is grounded by gratitude. He also needs time in nature hunting and fishing to help him through the rest of the year. Storey is happily married to Lena and has two daughters. He is worried about them and is more risk averse than Jess.
The story is told from Jess’s point of view. While there is some action interspersed throughout the book, there is a lot of Jess’s introspection and memories. The world-building is fabulous and helps readers feel as though they are in Maine in the fall. For most of the book, the men don’t know what is happening in the outside world. They just know that there is trouble of some kind resulting in violence. While readers get some information in the last quarter of the book, there are still several unanswered questions and I wanted more closure. Additionally, the novel felt a little slow at times. Themes include grief, loss, loyalty, fear, courage, male friendship, violence, uncertainty, worry, found family, and much more.
Overall, this is an entertaining, tense, and thought-provoking novel with excellent world-building and engaging characters. However, I was expecting more action and information surrounding the dystopian events and less introspection. Will there be a second book?
Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor – Knopf and Peter Heller provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for August 13, 2024.
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My 3.55 rounded to 4 stars review is coming soon.
July 3, 2024
Two lifelong friends, Jess & Storey, at the end of their annual hunting trip in rural Maine, leave the woods to head home but find a world in chaos and violence.
While they were off the grid, civil war erupted, towns are burnt to the ground, and destruction and death is everywhere. While attempting to make their way home, they are met with secessionists and military who intend to kill anyone they meet who are not one of them.
Their trek becomes even more treacherous when they find a little girl hidden away who is frightened and crying for her parents and her dog. The scenes with the little girl are some of the most heartfelt and emotional of the book.
As they attempt to make their way home, they try to make sense of what happened. Who are the bad guys here? Secessionists or the military? Or both?
Heller never gives us the details of the political divide that led to civil war, and I was thankful he didn’t make it political, which would do nothing but divide readers.
This is a wilderness and survival story like no other. It’s a thriller but a quiet literary one. There’s an emotional depth with themes of male friendship, love, courage, and moral responsibility.
I love Heller’s portrayal of good men, men who are thoughtful and do the right thing at great risk to themselves, men who are tender and protective of children. He writes of men, through no fault of their own, who are tested to the limits. More than once I was brought to tears.
This is a beautiful story I won’t soon forget. 5+ stars
* I received a digital copy for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own
While they were off the grid, civil war erupted, towns are burnt to the ground, and destruction and death is everywhere. While attempting to make their way home, they are met with secessionists and military who intend to kill anyone they meet who are not one of them.
Their trek becomes even more treacherous when they find a little girl hidden away who is frightened and crying for her parents and her dog. The scenes with the little girl are some of the most heartfelt and emotional of the book.
As they attempt to make their way home, they try to make sense of what happened. Who are the bad guys here? Secessionists or the military? Or both?
Heller never gives us the details of the political divide that led to civil war, and I was thankful he didn’t make it political, which would do nothing but divide readers.
This is a wilderness and survival story like no other. It’s a thriller but a quiet literary one. There’s an emotional depth with themes of male friendship, love, courage, and moral responsibility.
I love Heller’s portrayal of good men, men who are thoughtful and do the right thing at great risk to themselves, men who are tender and protective of children. He writes of men, through no fault of their own, who are tested to the limits. More than once I was brought to tears.
This is a beautiful story I won’t soon forget. 5+ stars
* I received a digital copy for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own
July 31, 2024
A dystopian thriller taking place in Maine..
Lifetime friends Jess and Storey are headed home from their annual camping/hunting trip and on their route home, a bridge has been blown up and demolished. Later on their path.. they find local towns burned down, and corpses littered around.
This happens in town after town they come to.. they are shot at..helicopters search for people and take people out, if seen.
The men do not know what is going on in the world without a phone signal or radio, etc.
They are now fighting for survival… added to their dilemma is that they find 5 yr old Collie that was hiding in a boat .. and they want to try and get her to her family.
A wilderness adventure that …sadly… never gives a real ending… after all that we read, we really don’t know what ends up happening with these characters… otherwise it would have been a five star read for me.
Publish date August 13
Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC!
Lifetime friends Jess and Storey are headed home from their annual camping/hunting trip and on their route home, a bridge has been blown up and demolished. Later on their path.. they find local towns burned down, and corpses littered around.
This happens in town after town they come to.. they are shot at..helicopters search for people and take people out, if seen.
The men do not know what is going on in the world without a phone signal or radio, etc.
They are now fighting for survival… added to their dilemma is that they find 5 yr old Collie that was hiding in a boat .. and they want to try and get her to her family.
A wilderness adventure that …sadly… never gives a real ending… after all that we read, we really don’t know what ends up happening with these characters… otherwise it would have been a five star read for me.
Publish date August 13
Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC!
June 23, 2024
Peter Heller’s best books – and I’ve read several of them – share many essential themes that resonate deeply with our human experience: the complicated dynamic of male friendship, the existential grief and longing we carry within us, the majesty of nature dwarfing our paltry existence, and the chilling violence that lurks beneath our surfaces. These themes, once again, are at the heart of his newest book, Burn.
All these themes are again at play in Heller’s newest book, Burn. Like The Dog Stars, which presented an unforgettable vision of a post-apocalyptic world, Burn is about survival in a dystopian world and finding comfort and meaning in unexpected places. Again, Heller tackles the reasons for living and the hopeless cycles we all must go through. Here, the setting is rural Maine, where two long-time friends who go off the grid on a hunting trip emerge to confront a world where secessionist violence has destroyed much of the familiar landscape.
At first, the two bonded men forging their way through dystopia seemed too evocative of The Dog Stars. The reader is as mystified as the characters: who is responsible for the violence, why are entire buildings and homes and bridges burnt to the ground, and how can these two friends possibly survive in a new “game” without any definable rules?
Left in the dark, I kept reading, and I’m glad I did. As the book progresses, the men chance upon a five-year-old girl who changes their perception of what is at stake and unlocks their own childhood memories. It will also showcase what’s in the balance for our characters, Jess and Storey, and for mankind if we don’t quickly wise up and heal our political divisions. As in all Peter Heller’s books, a thread of hope lies loosely, particularly through the power of friendship.
I am so pleased to be an early reader and thank Knopf and NetGalley for providing me with this opportunity in exchange for an honest review.
All these themes are again at play in Heller’s newest book, Burn. Like The Dog Stars, which presented an unforgettable vision of a post-apocalyptic world, Burn is about survival in a dystopian world and finding comfort and meaning in unexpected places. Again, Heller tackles the reasons for living and the hopeless cycles we all must go through. Here, the setting is rural Maine, where two long-time friends who go off the grid on a hunting trip emerge to confront a world where secessionist violence has destroyed much of the familiar landscape.
At first, the two bonded men forging their way through dystopia seemed too evocative of The Dog Stars. The reader is as mystified as the characters: who is responsible for the violence, why are entire buildings and homes and bridges burnt to the ground, and how can these two friends possibly survive in a new “game” without any definable rules?
Left in the dark, I kept reading, and I’m glad I did. As the book progresses, the men chance upon a five-year-old girl who changes their perception of what is at stake and unlocks their own childhood memories. It will also showcase what’s in the balance for our characters, Jess and Storey, and for mankind if we don’t quickly wise up and heal our political divisions. As in all Peter Heller’s books, a thread of hope lies loosely, particularly through the power of friendship.
I am so pleased to be an early reader and thank Knopf and NetGalley for providing me with this opportunity in exchange for an honest review.
May 21, 2024
This story goes back and forth between the present and the past, a story of two men, Jess and Storey, who have been friends since they were boys, who find themselves in their country, but it is no longer the country they remember. As the country becomes more and more divided, talks of secession become actions, and people are either hunting or being hunted.
Early on in this story these two come across a small town, and a bridge that has been blown up, and more, buildings that have been torched, abandoned cars, and eventually, a very young girl, seemingly abandoned. And so, they set out to find her family.
As dark and filled with destruction and danger as this story is at times, this is a beautiful story, an ode to nature and the beauty found there, to love and friendship, as well as the lifeline of becoming a chosen member of a family, for all.
Pub Date: 13 Aug 2024
Many thanks for the ARC provided by Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor / Knopf
June 9, 2024
Imagine emerging from the woods after a hunting trip with your best friend to find yourself immersed in a world turned upside down?
Jess and Storey, lifelong friends, enjoy their once a year trip into the Maine woods where they reconnect and enjoy the peace and quiet friendship often brings. There had been some turmoil before they left, all of it the secessionist kind, but figured someone would handle it and yet.
As they come upon a totally destroyed bride and a town, they come to the realization that things have changed dramatically and they themselves are the hunted. A civil war has begun. Trying to head home, dodging bullets, and being pariahs, they find a little girl hidden in the confines of a boat.
Plans change as they decide to try and return this child to her parents.
This was a frightening tale of how hatred can drive a nation and its people to desperation. It is also a beautiful story of friendship, love, and couage in a time where their world seems to have gone mad.
Thank you to Peter Heller, Knopf, and NetGalley for a copy of this story due out in August.
Jess and Storey, lifelong friends, enjoy their once a year trip into the Maine woods where they reconnect and enjoy the peace and quiet friendship often brings. There had been some turmoil before they left, all of it the secessionist kind, but figured someone would handle it and yet.
As they come upon a totally destroyed bride and a town, they come to the realization that things have changed dramatically and they themselves are the hunted. A civil war has begun. Trying to head home, dodging bullets, and being pariahs, they find a little girl hidden in the confines of a boat.
Plans change as they decide to try and return this child to her parents.
This was a frightening tale of how hatred can drive a nation and its people to desperation. It is also a beautiful story of friendship, love, and couage in a time where their world seems to have gone mad.
Thank you to Peter Heller, Knopf, and NetGalley for a copy of this story due out in August.
August 14, 2024
Peter Heller is one of my go-to's, a writer of perception and skill who always makes me think and often makes me shiver. Such is the case here, particularly given the current divisions in our country. Two best friends who have been off the grid hunting moose in rural interior Maine, exit the woods to find a world of blown bridges, incinerated towns, and entire populations missing. With highly limited access to information, they are flummoxed as to how to proceed, in which direction to go, and even who to trust. What makes this so incredibly chilling is the perception that news of the real world indicate that this dystopian vision could become possible, not just the work of imagination.
June 27, 2024
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Boyhood friends, Jess and Storey, head to rural Maine to camp and hunt. When they emerge from the woods, they are greeted by a nightmare. Bridges have been destroyed, homes have been reduced to ashes, cars on the road have been torched. Without communication, they have no idea what has occurred. Once their vehicle runs out of gas, they travel on foot, trying to make their way home.
The book didn’t work on a few different levels. First, the book is about two guys who find themselves in a dystopian setting, yet the majority of the book is about their friendship and their past. One obsesses over “losing” his wife. Turns out he didn’t “lose” her, she left and for good reason. Second, the complexity of why Maine has become a war zone is oversimplified and never really examined. Third, the writing lacks continuity. The guys find an abandoned sugarhouse where they might take refuge, but that abruptly becomes 20 pages of when they were in a sugarhouse 30 years ago. After such a slog to read, the ending was a disappointment.
https://candysplanet.wordpress.com/
Boyhood friends, Jess and Storey, head to rural Maine to camp and hunt. When they emerge from the woods, they are greeted by a nightmare. Bridges have been destroyed, homes have been reduced to ashes, cars on the road have been torched. Without communication, they have no idea what has occurred. Once their vehicle runs out of gas, they travel on foot, trying to make their way home.
The book didn’t work on a few different levels. First, the book is about two guys who find themselves in a dystopian setting, yet the majority of the book is about their friendship and their past. One obsesses over “losing” his wife. Turns out he didn’t “lose” her, she left and for good reason. Second, the complexity of why Maine has become a war zone is oversimplified and never really examined. Third, the writing lacks continuity. The guys find an abandoned sugarhouse where they might take refuge, but that abruptly becomes 20 pages of when they were in a sugarhouse 30 years ago. After such a slog to read, the ending was a disappointment.
https://candysplanet.wordpress.com/
January 28, 2024
this comes out in august. when it does, fuckin read it.
August 30, 2024
2.5 stars
Burn reminded me a lot of Breath, both in terms of the writing and the way it explores the long friendship between two men, including a detailed examination of an icky past sexual relationship that should not have happened but which ends up feeling like the author is just giving it a wink. The difficulty is that Burn also purports to be a survival story.
I don’t know about you, but if I woke up and found myself in the midst of deadly civil unrest instigated by Maine secessionists (is this a thing?) and apparently in mortal danger I would not be spending my mental energy contemplating my relationships and musing on the Beauty of the Universe. Or, I guess I would if this book was a lit fic meditation on life as opposed to the advertised near future survival story.
I can’t really complain about the quality of the writing per se; it definitely checks the literary fiction boxes. But I was a bit impatient with it all because that’s not what I thought I was signing up for, and also because the whole thing came off a bit obvious and smug: look at these ordinary bros, they are lifelong friends who hunt and chew tobacco, professionally successful sensitive intellectuals who also appreciate the beauty of the moment, who are able to process the essential emotional truths of their oh-not-really-that-privileged-lives while simultaneously protecting a lost girl child and navigating via paper topographical maps. Their names aren’t Gary and Stu but may as well be.
Yes, I did find this slightly boring and self-indulgent. Until wrote all this down I thought this was a 3 star read for me, but it turns out it really wasn’t.
Burn reminded me a lot of Breath, both in terms of the writing and the way it explores the long friendship between two men, including a detailed examination of an icky past sexual relationship that should not have happened but which ends up feeling like the author is just giving it a wink. The difficulty is that Burn also purports to be a survival story.
I don’t know about you, but if I woke up and found myself in the midst of deadly civil unrest instigated by Maine secessionists (is this a thing?) and apparently in mortal danger I would not be spending my mental energy contemplating my relationships and musing on the Beauty of the Universe. Or, I guess I would if this book was a lit fic meditation on life as opposed to the advertised near future survival story.
I can’t really complain about the quality of the writing per se; it definitely checks the literary fiction boxes. But I was a bit impatient with it all because that’s not what I thought I was signing up for, and also because the whole thing came off a bit obvious and smug: look at these ordinary bros, they are lifelong friends who hunt and chew tobacco, professionally successful sensitive intellectuals who also appreciate the beauty of the moment, who are able to process the essential emotional truths of their oh-not-really-that-privileged-lives while simultaneously protecting a lost girl child and navigating via paper topographical maps. Their names aren’t Gary and Stu but may as well be.
Yes, I did find this slightly boring and self-indulgent. Until wrote all this down I thought this was a 3 star read for me, but it turns out it really wasn’t.
September 2, 2024
The latest book by Peter Heller, Burn, is a meditative dystopian thriller that will keep one turning the pages. And as we associate with the lyrical writing of Heller, there are beautiful passages and descriptions of nature that always leaves me in awe. There are also sparkling philosophical ruminations throughout the prose giving this dystopian thriller an emotional depth that keeps one grounded as the tale becomes more bizarre.
Lifelong friends, Jess and Storey, have met each year in the remotest parts of the country to camp, hunt, fish and hike leaving much of their long friendship unspoken. This year they are going to Maine even though there have been rumblings all summer about secession mania. As Jess and Storey emerge after weeks off the grid, it is apparent that a new dystopian world awaits them as they come across towns appearing like ghost towns with no living inhabitants. More frightening is that they realize that major bridges haves been blown apart, buildings burned to the ground and bombed out cars abandoned on the road. As they struggle to find out what is happening and the source of this bewildering violence and pondering how they can get to safety, they discover a 5-year old child. Precocious Collie complicates matters as they decide to try to deliver her safely to her family in spite of a startling discovery that alters their path of escape.
As we become immersed in the wonder of the natural world as described by the beautiful prose of Peter Heller, it is also comforting to be absorbed into the friendship shared between the two men as we learn more and more of their past. This is a book with a warning about a divided country’s political strife as well as the hope that lies in the individual and in families. This was a riveting literary thriller by Peter Heller, one of my favorite authors at work today.
“That’s what it felt like then: that the sea and the stars cradled him like something woven in which he swung in the dark, swung to a beat that was his own and yet belonged also to the ocean and the constellated night. Now, in the middle of his life, as often as not, when he looked to the heavens they answered with a presentiment of death and a cold and distant solace.”
“At dawn there were fleets of dark flat-bottomed clouds skimming the ridges—moving fast, like raiding longboats—and no frost. In another half-hour the clouds had broken up and now, sailing, came the outliers, the sweeps, plying a dark-blue sea, an endless stream, and then the sun broke over the hills and fired the flotilla and lit the fog lying over the fields,”
Lifelong friends, Jess and Storey, have met each year in the remotest parts of the country to camp, hunt, fish and hike leaving much of their long friendship unspoken. This year they are going to Maine even though there have been rumblings all summer about secession mania. As Jess and Storey emerge after weeks off the grid, it is apparent that a new dystopian world awaits them as they come across towns appearing like ghost towns with no living inhabitants. More frightening is that they realize that major bridges haves been blown apart, buildings burned to the ground and bombed out cars abandoned on the road. As they struggle to find out what is happening and the source of this bewildering violence and pondering how they can get to safety, they discover a 5-year old child. Precocious Collie complicates matters as they decide to try to deliver her safely to her family in spite of a startling discovery that alters their path of escape.
As we become immersed in the wonder of the natural world as described by the beautiful prose of Peter Heller, it is also comforting to be absorbed into the friendship shared between the two men as we learn more and more of their past. This is a book with a warning about a divided country’s political strife as well as the hope that lies in the individual and in families. This was a riveting literary thriller by Peter Heller, one of my favorite authors at work today.
August 8, 2024
This was a messy read that turned out way too predictable for me. The beginning will hook you, nice writing. Good depths of friendship. Interesting setting. But this book does include an adult parent figure having sex with a teenager, so avoid if that may trigger you. Honestly that part was in no way necessary for this story or the friendship arc, many other options would have sufficed. The whole thing was creepy.
The ending was very unsatisfying.
The ending was very unsatisfying.
September 12, 2024
I've read Heller and loved Heller. This one, not so much.
There's the usual lovely prose about the physical world these two friends inhabit, giving the reader a visceral sense of what they are living. There's a sense of drama that results from living off the grid for weeks hunting, and coming back to a world that's changed in their absence. There's lots of backstory about how these two became friends and important moments and people inhabiting both of their lives, as well as the losses one or both shared; so much so that it seems to get in the way of the here and now momentum. There's an "awww" addition part way through their dangerous quest to discover what's going on in a world they don't recognize.
But then there's a lack of cohesion in any kind of real "plot" for lack of a better way of saying that the story circles around as the men circle around. It doesn't seem to really GO anywhere, despite movement on their part. And there seem to be lots of loose threads that never tie together in any meaningful way, along with some I'm-not-sure-I-buy that moments. And that ending...or should I say, the page the writer stopped writing...well, I was left quite unsatisfied as a whole. Not my favorite Heller, unfortunately.
2.75 rounded up to 3
There's the usual lovely prose about the physical world these two friends inhabit, giving the reader a visceral sense of what they are living. There's a sense of drama that results from living off the grid for weeks hunting, and coming back to a world that's changed in their absence. There's lots of backstory about how these two became friends and important moments and people inhabiting both of their lives, as well as the losses one or both shared; so much so that it seems to get in the way of the here and now momentum. There's an "awww" addition part way through their dangerous quest to discover what's going on in a world they don't recognize.
But then there's a lack of cohesion in any kind of real "plot" for lack of a better way of saying that the story circles around as the men circle around. It doesn't seem to really GO anywhere, despite movement on their part. And there seem to be lots of loose threads that never tie together in any meaningful way, along with some I'm-not-sure-I-buy that moments. And that ending...or should I say, the page the writer stopped writing...well, I was left quite unsatisfied as a whole. Not my favorite Heller, unfortunately.
2.75 rounded up to 3
August 26, 2024
5++++Stars
September 22, 2024
Two hunting buddies (they’ve been best friends since boyhood) emerge from their annual weeks-long moose-hunting trip in the deep Maine backwoods to an entirely different world from the one they left just weeks earlier. They come across scenes of destruction and carnage, with whole towns emptied (except for the corpses) and burned out, and soon are running for their lives as they also come under attack, from helicopter gunships, no less. They scramble to try to find out what the bleep is going on as they fight to survive, and they soon realize they’re caught up in the middle of a very ugly civil war, with Maine separatists squaring off against the US government. Neither of them is from Maine, but there’s no being a neutral party here, as both sides are shooting first before asking questions. A tense thriller, with lots of the usual Heller nature settings as the two men use their hunting and camping knowledge and skills to make their way out.
July 7, 2024
Picture the scene: You’re on an extended hunting trip, and you and your lifelong friend emerge from the Maine woods into a war zone. Neither of you have any idea what is going on, but you do know that every town you come across has been completely razed, with no signs of life.
What has happened in the weeks that you’ve been off grid?
And how will you both get home?
Is there a home to return to?
This novel is an interesting mashup of hiding, terror and reminiscence and friendship. It covers many subjects. I enjoyed most of it, but I don’t think it’s compelling enough to reread, probably because some of the reminiscing dwelt on a “relationship” that never should have happened.
Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Publishing for an eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.
What has happened in the weeks that you’ve been off grid?
And how will you both get home?
Is there a home to return to?
This novel is an interesting mashup of hiding, terror and reminiscence and friendship. It covers many subjects. I enjoyed most of it, but I don’t think it’s compelling enough to reread, probably because some of the reminiscing dwelt on a “relationship” that never should have happened.
Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Publishing for an eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.
August 31, 2024
What the heck, this book was a hot mess. It felt like the author just decided to give up at the end and stop writing the story? How did this get past the editing table? Parts of the story with Jess & Storey were great and the book had a lot of potential. I saw no reason to have a story line with Jess sleeping with Storey’s mom, it gave me such the ick feeling. The book lost entire chunks, the entire story line was missing from the time they left the sugar house and got to Collie’s grandparents town. The book built it up like this grand thing that they might get killed and it would be so dangerous and then literally nothing was written about it? The next chapter just drops you off in the town like nothing happened. I even paged back to see wait did I miss something? Same thing with the ending, okay the dad hugs collie and then “the end”. Like what? Just awful.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 29, 2024
Dystopian action that was too high on guns and testosterone, and too low on substance for me. Considered DNF'ing around 40% and honestly wish I would have.
However, I'm probably not the target demographic for this book (despite loving Heller's THE DOG STARS) so there's that.
However, I'm probably not the target demographic for this book (despite loving Heller's THE DOG STARS) so there's that.
September 12, 2024
4 stars
I find that there is nothing that Heller has written that I do not like. He has a mastery of the written word, especially when it comes to nature and the environment. His writing puts you right down into the story, being carried along, chapter after chapter.
Two hunting buddies accidentally find themselves caught in an Orwellian landscape. Death and destruction surround them. They see the possibility of a second Civil War taking place. The two life long friends, and a third, evaluate their lives as they try to trek through the chaos to get back home.
Quick easy read with short chapters. My only displeasure with the book is the ending. I like a tight concise ending and that did not happen with this book. Other than that another great novel by Heller.
I find that there is nothing that Heller has written that I do not like. He has a mastery of the written word, especially when it comes to nature and the environment. His writing puts you right down into the story, being carried along, chapter after chapter.
Two hunting buddies accidentally find themselves caught in an Orwellian landscape. Death and destruction surround them. They see the possibility of a second Civil War taking place. The two life long friends, and a third, evaluate their lives as they try to trek through the chaos to get back home.
Quick easy read with short chapters. My only displeasure with the book is the ending. I like a tight concise ending and that did not happen with this book. Other than that another great novel by Heller.
August 20, 2024
Peter Heller is an auto-buy author for me and I love his writing style. His sentences are artful, he crafts memorable characters, and he captures landscapes vividly.
This book had me riveted. I kept turning the pages hoping to figure out what was going on. The plot at times felt a bit Stephen King-like, which I enjoyed.
However, my major gripe with this book happened about 90% of the way in. After the bulk of the book focused on entire days at a time, with action and plot development occurring the entire way, you're just going to skip forward 4 days and 100 miles of travel and expect me to believe nothing happened?!
The shift was so abrupt I flipped backwards to see if I missed an entire chapter. I had not. WTF. And then that last chapter was the ending. That's it.
It was as though Heller reached a point in this novel's writing process where he said, "Well, not totally sure how to keep this going so I guess I'll just wrap things up now." It just felt like a big ol' eff you to the reader who stuck by him for this post-apocalyptic hellfest.
This book had me riveted. I kept turning the pages hoping to figure out what was going on. The plot at times felt a bit Stephen King-like, which I enjoyed.
However, my major gripe with this book happened about 90% of the way in. After the bulk of the book focused on entire days at a time, with action and plot development occurring the entire way, you're just going to skip forward 4 days and 100 miles of travel and expect me to believe nothing happened?!
The shift was so abrupt I flipped backwards to see if I missed an entire chapter. I had not. WTF. And then that last chapter was the ending. That's it.
It was as though Heller reached a point in this novel's writing process where he said, "Well, not totally sure how to keep this going so I guess I'll just wrap things up now." It just felt like a big ol' eff you to the reader who stuck by him for this post-apocalyptic hellfest.
August 17, 2024
Jess and Storey make an annual hunting expedition to the wilds of Maine.
As they are headed home they run into bewildering violence. Bodies litter the ground. They see a helicopter shoot a woman in a small boat. They strive to find answers and keep being hit by others who want to kill them.
Reminiscent of “The Road.”
Peter Heller is a tremendous author. I simply wish he would have continued the story much further than he did.
As they are headed home they run into bewildering violence. Bodies litter the ground. They see a helicopter shoot a woman in a small boat. They strive to find answers and keep being hit by others who want to kill them.
Reminiscent of “The Road.”
Peter Heller is a tremendous author. I simply wish he would have continued the story much further than he did.
August 20, 2024
A solid, rugged, dystopian/apocalyptic story with heart—it reminds me of The Dog Stars and The River, being almost a combination of the two. In the novel, two lifelong friends emerge from the woods of north-central Maine, after a moose-hunting trip. They find demolished, empty towns, with burned buildings and blown bridges. Mysteriously, there are few bodies and the boats are unscathed. The two friends have no cellphone service. They don’t know what happened, but they know the situation is dire and unsafe. They must travel from town to town, hiking and camping, in search of answers.
“They walked with a round chambered in their rifles, which they usually never did.” (p. 16)
Along the way, they run into a five-year-old girl in a lion suit, and their attention shifts. They must take care of her and try to find her family, while also changing tactics, as she cannot move as quietly or nimbly as they can. She provides some of the story’s heart and moral themes, contrasting the causes of the apocalypse (or civil war) with the value of what existed before it and what was lost in it (family, love).
“Because I love you more than anything on earth.”
The novel alternates between the present—where the two friends, Jess and Storey, are stuck in the midst of violent devastation—and flashbacks to their earlier lives growing up together and spending time with each other’s families. At first, I didn’t understand what Peter Heller was doing with the flashbacks, as some of what happened in the past involved problematic family dynamics and secrets. It quickly became clear, however, that the flashbacks serve to show who the characters are as individuals and to clarify their bond to each other as well as the sense of debt that one of them carries with him.
MEMORABLE QUOTES
“Love is attention … That is all you know on earth.” (p. 5)
“Life might accede to being idealized for a single freeze-frame picture but the characters always cracked. Or went away.” (p. 38)
“No matter how much we think we are prepared, the end is always a shock.” (p. 247)
“They walked with a round chambered in their rifles, which they usually never did.” (p. 16)
Along the way, they run into a five-year-old girl in a lion suit, and their attention shifts. They must take care of her and try to find her family, while also changing tactics, as she cannot move as quietly or nimbly as they can. She provides some of the story’s heart and moral themes, contrasting the causes of the apocalypse (or civil war) with the value of what existed before it and what was lost in it (family, love).
“Because I love you more than anything on earth.”
The novel alternates between the present—where the two friends, Jess and Storey, are stuck in the midst of violent devastation—and flashbacks to their earlier lives growing up together and spending time with each other’s families. At first, I didn’t understand what Peter Heller was doing with the flashbacks, as some of what happened in the past involved problematic family dynamics and secrets. It quickly became clear, however, that the flashbacks serve to show who the characters are as individuals and to clarify their bond to each other as well as the sense of debt that one of them carries with him.
MEMORABLE QUOTES
“Love is attention … That is all you know on earth.” (p. 5)
“Life might accede to being idealized for a single freeze-frame picture but the characters always cracked. Or went away.” (p. 38)
“No matter how much we think we are prepared, the end is always a shock.” (p. 247)
August 2, 2024
In some respects, Peter Heller's new book is an exciting survival story, an adventure, an Odyssey, as Jess and Storey, two longtime friends who've been on a two-week camping trip, try to navigate their way home through rural upstate Maine, a state suddenly torn apart by civil war. But it is also Jess's introspective look at his life and his loves, what he's always believed about himself and what he had all wrong. The beauty of the natural surroundings stands in big contrast to the ugliness of what human beings are doing to each other. Another page-turning read from Peter Heller who never disappoints.
Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc of this new novel. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc of this new novel. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
August 26, 2024
I love dystopian novels. But this is not one of them… choppy dialogue and honestly couldn’t figure out how someone could write so many words and not say anything. totally random non sequiturs passages throughout the book. I actually like him as an author and have read two of his other books which were decent. This is not. If you want to read great dystopian books.heres my short list
4)DRY
3) STATIONS 11
2) the ROAD
1) and my all time favorite. THE LIGHT PIRATE.
4)DRY
3) STATIONS 11
2) the ROAD
1) and my all time favorite. THE LIGHT PIRATE.
January 28, 2024
Good story about two lifelong friends who come out of a hunting trip to find the world changed. It made me wonder what I would do in the same situation. Beautifully descriptive of the natural world.
Thanks to Edelweiss, the publisher, and the author for the ARC.
Thanks to Edelweiss, the publisher, and the author for the ARC.
March 3, 2024
I pick up a Peter Heller book whenever I miss the country and its hard-scrabble people and read it over a few breathless few days.
September 18, 2024
3 1/2 stars rounded up. I am a big fan of Peter Heller but this was not my favorite.
August 15, 2024
The subplot of Jess having sex with Storey’s mom completely ruined this for me. One, because it really has nothing to do with the rest of the story (honestly most of the flashbacks didn’t really seem to add anything to the story) and two, because it really seemed like the author was trying to sell us on the idea that their relationship was ok. Jess is described as growing up with Storey’s family since he was 9 or something and spending more time with them than his own family. So at 17 when Storey’s mom wants to have sex with him, it seems very predatory and creepy vs the “nice and natural” way the author tried to describe it.
I read on thinking maybe it was just one, brief, weird, mention in the story but then it kept coming up. And then I thought, maybe there would be a point for it? Like there would be more reflecting on Jess’ past and it would turn out that no, we are not letting Storey’s pervy mom off the hook! But that was not the case either. At least not in a way that felt satisfactory to me after so much went into making it seem ok.
Otherwise, the premise of the “civil war” held my interest and I liked being kept in the dark about what was happening and trying to figure it out along with them. I think this could have been a bigger discussion about the political divide between neighbors, friends, family, etc but it didn’t quite get there.
I’m really not sure what the author was trying to accomplish with this story but it seems like the ideas weren’t fully realized to make this a satisfying read.
I read on thinking maybe it was just one, brief, weird, mention in the story but then it kept coming up. And then I thought, maybe there would be a point for it? Like there would be more reflecting on Jess’ past and it would turn out that no, we are not letting Storey’s pervy mom off the hook! But that was not the case either. At least not in a way that felt satisfactory to me after so much went into making it seem ok.
Otherwise, the premise of the “civil war” held my interest and I liked being kept in the dark about what was happening and trying to figure it out along with them. I think this could have been a bigger discussion about the political divide between neighbors, friends, family, etc but it didn’t quite get there.
I’m really not sure what the author was trying to accomplish with this story but it seems like the ideas weren’t fully realized to make this a satisfying read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2024
Another one ! And the last one…peter, your early books were GREAT. What happened? The writing is disjointed, adolescent at best and the editing is atrocious…WTH. I barely got through this..so disappointed.
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