Synopsis:
There’s something lurking in the stifling darkness and labyrinthine tunnels that run below London… something old, something vicious, and something very, very hungry.
It’s the hottest summer on record and London is dying. Prices are high, pay is low, and stressed commuters are packed onto London Underground trains again like the pandemic never happened. To add to the misery, the temperatures underground just keep climbing and climbing, the heat trapped in the clay with nowhere to go.
Then one fateful morning five travellers on an unlucky tube carriage find themselves bound together as witnesses to a single horrific event – an event they can’t quite seem to remember.
They make an unlikely team – a weary tube driver, a disillusioned civil servant, an ambitious city trader, an overwhelmed hotel worker, and an unhoused young man just trying to get by – but now they must come together to confront what they have seen and stop it in its tracks before it kills them all.
Review:
Hello again dear reader or listener, I hope you’re ready for the second of my three Poisoned Pen Press books in a row that I promised you, and that is The Burn Line by Jonathan Sims, which comes out in three days!
With thanks as always to the publisher for approving my NetGalley request, please join me for my honest thoughts!
When five passengers on the London Underground are brought together by a mysterious event they only remember the residual terror of, they must set aside personal prejudices and preconceptions to work together and figure it out before something even worse happens.
The Burn Line is my first work by Jonathan Sims even though I have both his Family Business, and Thirteen Storeys, on my Kindle to read! This has certainly moved them up in my list however given how well he renders atmosphere, weaves tension, and shines in his individual character work.
Overall I found this book really well written with only one thing that didn’t gel with me personally; she said as generically bland as possible, but it’s also true and sometimes simplicity does the trick.
But why? Well, for one, Sims does social commentary and political criticism really darn cleverly and seamlessly woven into the story to the point where I was chuckling bemusedly at the zingers without feeling drawn out of the story. His commentary on class struggles and differences could get downright scathing yet none of it felt like a hyperbole or some fussy diatribe. Neither did it feel like a ticking of boxes to cater to certain ideals or pander to others. Sims doesn’t shy away from the no nonsense truth of what the current political climate in Britain has wrought upon its citizens over the last decade. Neither does he let us forget what Covid did and meant for a lot of people.
Not only is this novel a stark mirror to all of the above and the ever growing and oppressive heat that is caused by the world’s most widespread hoax, i.e. climate change of course, but it is also a slowly building creature feature where you need to keep going to see what this thing stalking our protagonists really is. For you see, it isn’t merely the inexorable failing of underfunded infrastructure, or the hoarding of wealth that are the biggest issues for our protagonists, but also something that lurks in the eerie underground network that exists under a city burdened with so much history. The ghosts of London are many and not all are metaphorical.
Not to mention how evocative Sims’ language can be; albeit after the summer we’ve had (and are still having in some parts of the world), the oppressive heat is the most easily rendered and recalled feeling. Indeed, his body horror was superb throughout, with one particular scene really striking me as both supremely tragic and hardcore, but it also caused me to have the most mixed feelings out of the entire book. In fact, I could see him build up to it while also hoping he would ultimately surprise me because it would’ve been a more nuanced and interesting development for the character involved. There’s no way to better explain what I mean without spoiling it terribly for you dear reader but let’s just say that it felt ultimately punishing for no other reason than a stronger proximity to the things the author criticizes compared to the other characters. And, narratively speaking, I found it both unfair and not up to par with the rest of the discourse and development Sims showed throughout the rest of the story. Exploring some kind of “redemption” for the aforementioned proximity would’ve been a much more interesting resolution imo but I can also understand the feelings behind the choice. Sometimes you just need to eat the rich, and Sims brooked no argument on this, with this story that very much has a, “the underdog of society is the only one that actually deserves to make it out”, type of message.
It certainly opens you up for some very interesting discussions with friends, that’s for sure.
All in all, whether you’re looking for some good contemporary criticism to feel a little vindicated/seen for living through these Interesting Times while trying to pretend like life is normal instead of the insanity we’re all going through. Or whether you’re looking for a claustrophobic, sweltering, anxiety filled train ride that will get under your skin and have you shrinking away from or avoiding street grates and dark alleys, The Burn Line is for you and it will arrive at each station this August 25th via Poisoned Pen Press.
Between you and me, dear reader, there is another edition already available but that is an extremely bland and sad cover compared to this one!
Until next time,
Eleni A.E.
Leave a Reply