The Burn (Jessica Mansour-Nahra, Hachette)

How well do we ever really know the people closest to us? Jessica Mansour-Nahra poses this unsettling question in The Burn, a near-future speculative novel that slowly evolves into an eco-thriller.

Set in 2030, as Australia emerges from Airlock, a government-enforced lockdown following devastating nationwide bushfires, the novel follows Carmen, who has grown comfortable in isolation. Reluctantly persuaded by her friend Eleni to join a road trip with Eleni’s boyfriend, Dan, and their friend Rhett, Carmen hopes it will help her reconnect with her friends and the outside world. Instead, a trip into a remote national park exposes hidden tensions and uncomfortable truths about the people they thought they knew.

While Mansour-Nahra’s debut, The Farm, relied on atmosphere and unease, The Burn is more character-driven and is richer for it. The novel unfolds at a measured pace, allowing its emotional dynamics to develop naturally rather than racing from one plot twist to the next. Flashback chapters explore Carmen’s strained relationship with her sister, while her friendship with Eleni highlights the contrast between the families we are born into and the ones we choose.

The novel explores isolation not only as physical separation but also as a state that can foster psychological vulnerability. Mansour-Nahra examines conspiracy culture, toxic online communities and the radicalisation of young men with unsettling realism, creating a villain whose beliefs feel disturbingly plausible rather than exaggerated.

Readers expecting a fast-paced thriller packed with constant twists may find its deliberate pace surprising, but those seeking a character-focused eco-thriller will be rewarded. Mansour-Nahra crafts a frighteningly believable vision of Australia’s near future, anchored by nuanced characters who inspire equal measures of empathy and exasperation.

The Burn will appeal to readers of Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore, as well as those who enjoy suspense novels driven as much by human relationships as external danger.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Jess Lomas is the reviews editor at Books+Publishing. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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