It is likely that fans of the Anna Pigeon series might be put off by several aspects of this novel. To begin with, it takes place in the urban setting of New Orleans rather than the accustomed [for this series] wide open spaces of a national park. Then there is the topic: not only child abuse, but child sex and white slavery. Also there is much, if not excessive, violence (which does not mean that there has not been some in previous entries).
With that said, we can turn our attention to “Burn.” It is an intriguing work, albeit somewhat heavy-handed. Anna is on leave to recover from some sort of mental breakdown, visiting a friend in the Big Easy. Instead she becomes involved in what appears to be a voodoo curse as well as assisting a stranger in recovering her daughters, apparently kidnapped to be imprisoned in a sex emporium.
This reader found the novel slow to read and bogged down in a lot of unnecessary detail. The plot – - child sex – - certainly is worthy of an important look, and the book does achieve that aim. Somewhat confusing to this reader were the various descriptions of the “character” changes in the distraught mother, a professional actress, as she takes on each role as the situation arises. On the whole, however, it is an interesting read, and recommended.
