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Not on Fire, but Burning
Not on Fire, but Burning: A Novel | Greg Hrbek
7 posts | 7 read | 24 to read
Twenty-year-old Skyler saw the incident out her window: Some sort of metallic object hovering over the Golden Gate Bridge just before it collapsed and a mushroom cloud lifted above the city. Like everyone, she ran, but she couldn't outrun the radiation, with her last thoughts being of her beloved baby brother, Dorian, safe in her distant family home.Flash forward to a post-incident America, where the country has been broken up into territories and Muslims have been herded onto the old Indian reservations in the west, even though no one has determined who set off the explosion that destroyed San Francisco. Twelve-year old Dorian dreams about killing Muslims and about his sistereven though Dorian's parents insist Skyler never existed. Are they still shell-shocked, trying to put the past behind them . . . or is something more sinister going on?Meanwhile, across the street, Dorian's neighbor adopts a Muslim orphan from the territories. It will set off a series of increasingly terrifying incidents that will lead to either tragedy or redemption for Dorian, as he struggles to prove that his sister existedand was killed by a terrorist attack.Not on Fire, but Burning is unlike anything you're read beforenot exactly a thriller, not exactly sci-fi, not exactly speculative fiction, but rather a brilliant and absorbing adventure into the dark heart of an America that seems ripped from the headlines. But just as powerfully, it presents a captivating hero: A young boy driven by love to seek the truth, even if it means his deepest beliefs are wrong.From the Hardcover edition.
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mrp27
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#thistemindsmeof #🔥

This one looks intriguing. Anyone read it?

41 likes1 stack add
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CherylDeFranceschi
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I've never made myself a tiny TBR for the month, so this may change. It's always just been a weird self-imposed rotate-thru-various-TBR-piles... Well, that's my own weird. So- this seems a reasonable stack. We shall see what happens...#augustofpages #bookphotochallenge

Hooked_on_books Love the sign 8y
Bookgirl That sign is my profile pic! It might be my favorite possession 8y
CherylDeFranceschi @Bookgirl I'm pretty fond of mine, too! 😀 8y
See All 6 Comments
jmkeene The Hrbek is one of my all time faves now. It is SO. GOOD. 8y
Matilda Love Burn Baby Burn 8y
TheSpinecrackersBookClub Great pic! Definitely need that block in my life. 8y
65 likes1 stack add6 comments
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jmkeene
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Pickpick

I cannot say enough good things about this book. READ IT.

11 likes3 stack adds
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jmkeene
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Loving this book.

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jmkeene

"We were to admit our wrongs, we children: from whom loved ones, futures, entire worlds had been stolen without apology. Somewhere deep inside, I was thinking: Why should either one of us be sorry."

5 likes1 stack add
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Aluciddream
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2nd book of the weekend😍😍😍😍

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BookishFeminist
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Pickpick

An unknown explosive crashes into the Golden Gate Bridge and starts the beginning of this dystopian tale about fear, memory and loss. Muslim "terrorists" are put in internment camps à la WWII. Hrbek makes timely commentary on religious & racial tension. Haunting story told from alternating POVs.

BookishFeminist DISCLAIMER: I'm unsure whether Hrbek perpetuates harmful stereotypes. He is white and it doesn't look like he consulted people from Muslim backgrounds when discussing very sensitive religious issues and extremism. Still worth a read despite its potential problems. 9y
Megabooks I asked my library to get this, and they didn't. 👎🏻 Good point on the religious issue. The Times had a terrible piece on hijabis the other day, especially according to my Muslim friends. It's rough to write about other cultures. I doubt I would attempt it! 9y
BookishFeminist @Ebooksandcooks Oy I hate that! I'm surprised bc Melville House is a respected Indie publisher, too. I don't think I'd attempt writing about another culture either, especially w/o lots of fact/bias checking. Even more so if the group is unprivileged and already receives lots of undue racism/hatred. 9y
12 likes8 stack adds3 comments