Time is running out for Shane Stoller. Hidden behind the anonymous online profile Burner_911, Shane is the figurehead of a vast anti-establishment movement. He’s also trapped in prison right now, charged with domestic terrorism. The death penalty is looming above his head.

Outside the prison walls, a violent uprising is surging across San Francisco. Rioters are tearing across the city, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. A gang of “BurnOutz”—dedicated followers of Burner_911—have kidnapped Chloe Corbin, a socialite, philanthropist, and daughter of a tech billionaire. She also happens to be Shane’s ex. Unable to communicate with his followers from his prison cell, Shane says he has unleashed a terrible force upon the world—and he must act fast to save the woman he loves.

An informed, insightful look into the shadowy world of extremism in the digital age, BURNER hurtles the reader into a world very like our own: fraught with wealth disparity and underpinned by toxic online countercultures. Author Mike Trigg takes a number of real-world incidents as inspiration for plot points, including the QAnon online conspiracy theory, the January 6 Capitol attack, the GameStop short squeeze, and the rise of the crypto market.

This novel is part court intrigue, part economic drama. It’s also a tech thriller and a Romeo and Juliet-style romance—but, more than anything, BURNER is a tragedy. Burner_911 uses his online platform to preach a philosophy, at the heart of which is an essential truth: the rich will keep on getting rich, no matter the cost to anyone else, and the system we live in is built by and for those at the top of the food chain. Trigg explores how quickly these ideas become swallowed up by an unstable large-scale movement—but also how they become warped by human failings.

Disenfranchised youth turned cult-like leader, Shane is an entirely unlikable character. He’s intelligent but paranoid, arrogant, and emotionally immature—quick to see himself as a victim of nearly everything from “left-wing biases” to “activist judges,” spouting vitriol at everything from tech oligarchs to hipster coffee shops. His defense attorney Wayne (also a BurnOutz) attempts to cast Shane as a scapegoat, even after the riot in his name leads to several deaths. Whether he likes it or not, Shane’s words command the attention—and actions—of his massive online movement.

Trigg uses an epistolary framework, telling the story through multiple first-person narratives, news bulletins, handwritten letters, court transcripts, text messages, and social media posts. BURNER’s writing is snappy, and the author’s ability to capture a range of convincing voices is particularly good. This is just one of those voices: “Wayne is writing notes, his nicotine-stained fingers pressing the ball-point so hard it leaves grooves in the page, like he’s anxious I’m about to say something stupid. Which I probably am.” However, what is most impressive about BURNER is the author’s ability to take a number of hefty themes—the corrupting nature of online cultures, technology’s potential to level the playing field or destroy lives, the impact of wealth inequality—and condense them within the novel to create an engaging story.

An informed, interesting, and well-paced novel set in a world very similar to our own, Mike Trigg’s BURNER is a cautionary tale for the digital age.

~Emily Jessica Turner for IndieReader