In Burn, Peter Heller walks a fine genre line through dystopian fiction

Peter Heller’s 2019 novel, The River, was a fast-flowing tale with hidden depths and dark currents. Wynn and Jack, two best friends at Dartmouth who share a passion for the great outdoors, leave their studies behind one summer to canoe the Maskwa River in northern Canada. On their travels, they spot a forest fire: “The silence of it and the way it seemed to breathe scared them to the bone.” They also encounter a married couple arguing — then learn from the man the next day that his wife has disappeared. What should have been a fun expedition quickly becomes a fraught mission to evade a killer, look for a missing woman, and stay one step ahead of advancing flames, all while navigating a perilous waterway.