The Burn Zone

James K. Decker,

James Knapp

James K. Decker,

James Knapp

2013 • 386 pages

Ratings1

Average rating4

Plagued by overpopulation, disease, and starvation, humanity was headed for extinction--until an alien race called the haan arrived. And then the real trouble began. It's been a rough day for Sam Shao. As part of a program that requires humans to act as surrogates to haan infants, Sam has been genetically enhanced to bond with them. So when three soldiers invade her apartment and arrest her guardian for smuggling a dangerous weapon into the country, Sam can sense that something isn't right. One of his abductors is a haan masquerading as a human, and the supposedly fragile haan seems to be anything but. Racing through the city slums, trying to stay one step ahead of the mysterious haan soldier, Sam tries to find the man who, in her twenty years, has been the only father she's ever known. Could he truly have done what he is accused of? Or did he witness something both human and haan would kill to keep hidden? The only thing certain is that the weapon is real--and lost now somewhere in a city of millions. Fighting the clock, Sam finds an ally in Nix, a haan envoy devoted to coexisting with humans, or so it seems. But what she really needs are answers. Fast. Or else everything she knows--and everyone she loves--will burn.--Publisher's description.

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Series

Featured Series

1 primary book

#1 in Haan

Haan is a 1-book series first released in 2013 with contributions by James K. Decker and James Knapp.

Popular Reviews

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Jessica Strider

Pros: interesting story, fast pacing, unique aliens, complex plot

Cons: too many big revelations at the end made it hard to comprehend them all

Sam Shao's apartment is attacked and her adopted military father accused of treason and taken away by four military personel. Aside from the fact that Sam knows her dad's innocent, she's also stunned that one of their attackers is a disguised haan. As a surrogate for haan young, Sam is able to pick up on the aliens' emotions through her brain-band and can't understand how one of the fragile beings could survive the violence of the attack and its aftermath. Running from the authorities, Sam tries to figure out what her father discovered that's worth killing for.

This is a fast paced SF thriller, jumping from place to place as Sam tries to find a twistkey her father acquired and hid. Along the way she gets help from a hacker friend, a rogue haan and friends from her, and her father's, pasts.

The story takes place in an overcrowded future, where street meat and scrapcake (made from human flesh) are illegal substitutes for feeding humans when over 80% of the food produced goes to feed the alien haan in return for haan technology. Some of the descriptions in the book are brutal, as humans are pushed to the brink of reason.

The plot is complex and it's interesting watching Sam try to avoid the various groups hunting her. Information about what's really going on is doled out in bits and pieces, making it hard to put the book down. I did find the ending a bit rushed in that you learn a LOT, too much to process so quickly. I'm sure I missed a lot of the nuances of Sam's discoveries because there were so many all at once.

The aliens were really cool. The more you learn about them the stranger they become.

In the end I really liked the book, though I'm hoping if there's a sequel some of the end of book revelations will get more discussion.