The Burn Line: A Novel

by Jonathan Sims

From the dark and twisted mind behind the podcast sensation The Magnus Archives comes a suffocating, socially charged nightmare that reveals how fear festers in the cracks of everyday life…

Beneath the streets of London, it hungers…

It's the hottest summer on record and the city is suffering. Prices are high, pay is low. And on one fateful morning five travelers find themselves trapped in a tube car deep in the London Underground. 

It will change their lives forever. 

By the time they leave the train they will be bound together as witnesses to a single horrific event. Something terrible, irreversible, and monstrous. Something hungry.

But they can't remember what it is.  

On their own, they each begin to experience strange dissociative events. Time gets lost. Friends disappear. Something stalks them in the shadows. They make an unlikely team, but to remember what they encountered that day on the train, they will have to work together. Because now it's up to them to understand what horror they saw – and stop it in its tracks before it drags everyone else down below. 

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Adult, Dark, LGBT, Thriller, Queer

384 pages, Paperback

Expected publication July 9, 2026

About the author

Jonathan Sims is a writer, performer and games designer whose work primarily focuses on the macabre, the grotesque, and the gentle touch of creeping dread. He is the mind and the voice behind acclaimed horror podcast The Magnus Archives, as well as story-game design duo MacGuffin & Co., and some of your favourite nightmares. He lives in Walthamstow with the two best cats and an overwhelming backlog of books that he really should get round to.

Reviews

[Becky Spratford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading for review in the June 2026 issue of Library Journal

Three Words That Describe This Book: Multiple Points of view, Social Commentary, Horror-Mystery

Other words: Eldritch, found family. bonkers (but just the right amount, still serious horror), dark humor, stifling, claustrophobic immersive, popular podcast now writing a book, entertaining, terrifying, multiple points of view

First, it must be said that the author is the creator of the very popular original, horror-mystery podcast The Magnus Archives. It has a Welcome to Nightvale feel, but instead of a town it is focused on an archive and the supernatural mysteries that come from that.

So right away, you have an audience for this book at your library-- the millions of people who have enjoyed the podcast. Also fans of Welcome to Nightvale and its spin off books.

The story is original, entertaining, with an eldritch feel, and so stiflingly claustrophobic. We start on a London Underground car. It is the middle of the worst heat wave in London ever. This is important to the story because everyone is sweatier and more out of it than normal.

There are 6 people on the car. Part 1 of the novel is 5 of those people telling the story of their day on that train car. Elise (works for the transit ministry as a coder), Senyo (an Underground driver and union leader), Tash (an overnight hotel clerk), Will (a finance guy), and Aaron (young homeless man).

One by one they tell their story of that day. This is a great way to start the book because readers get to meet each character from inside their head. It sets up the fact that all 5 had a moment of dissociation on the train and that they knew something strange happened. They also note a strange bad smell-- very different from regular Underground smells and a weird flaky film that gets on them. The dread and unease from that experience followed them throughout their days and even moved into something stalking them (maybe) at home in their nights.

(Side note, I had two books with smell playing a big part in the story for this column-- Fabulous Bodies is the other)

And it increases the mystery around the 6th person. Which comes into play.

But the bouncing around of character helps to keep the story moving and allow the reader to understand the motivations of each character before they understand each other.

Here is the thing that Sims does well-- all the details matter. The five characters notice and work on things in their jobs, things that all get used in the story-- but not in a way that feels forced. I liked that. So for example, the heat wave and how and why the Underground is so hot and how people have been trying to fix that for years that comes into play. That is one example.

I always appreciate when the details that build characters and place also playing a role in the plot.

Like all good horror, the story is resolved but the chance of the monster coming back to find them is very possible. Sequel?

The social commentary about how hard it is to live in London with rising costs, racism, and how poorly the homeless are treated, and how the rich are getting richer, etc...it is all woven in to the story.

The monster deep in the tunnels is well built. It is more than they even realize at first and how they seek it all out and fight it is believable. Everyone uses the skills and professions they have to help solve the mystery. They really need to work together as a unit to save themselves from being the next victim. For example, Senyo has access to the Underground CCV for each car at anytime. Will has access to a very rich man who may know something about all of this. etc...

And in the process-- the found family they create is heartwarming. Even after the terror.

This is a solid, entertaining horror story with some social commentary. The mixture of dark humor with serious social issues and terror was done well, but it is a little over the top at times. That makes is a fun read and I cannot fault the author for that.

Paris nicely with Alma Katus's Fiend (ancient evil tied to the rich and social commentary) and Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle (bonkers, smell plays a part, social commentary, mystery aspects) And of course fans of Welcome to Nightvale.

[Julia Bodwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story that’s equal parts creepy & intense. You’ll be rooting for the main characters and the bonds of friendship & family they form in this wholly original horror standalone!

[rhys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a copy of this e-ARC!

The Burn Line was my first exposure to Jonathan Sims and it is safe to say I believe that the hype is well deserved. This book was eerie, placing a new spin on a beloved horror trope of mine, vampires. Sims’ ability to produce dread is fantasy, the description of these monsters are revolting and nasty, the body horror was excellent when it became present.

However, the biggest gripe I had with this story was the character’s relationships. I enjoyed all of the individual characters from what we got of them, but I think this story would’ve benefited a lot more from either: a) being longer to show rather than tell the development between the cast, especially with the family dynamic. Yes, the situation is high stakes, and there’s a nasty white freak chasing them around; but, whenever the dynamics between the characters were mentioned I found myself wanting more out of it (ie Tash and Elise, Aaron and Senyo) or b) having the amount of POVs cut down to strengthen individual characterization, as I personally felt as though it felt spread thin.

I would have found myself rooting for them and their individual arcs a lot more if I were shown bonding rather than largely told about it. A lot of it seemed to have happened off page and that aspect disappointed me the most in this story, especially when it becomes so vital to the narrative later on.

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This is a really good example of the kind of thing you can do with horror as a social commentary. More than anything, this book is a big, bundled class discussion and dissection, and the things that happen to the characters are in aid of that discussion.

The thing is, the characters are equally well fleshed out and developed, and so you get a delicious horror banquet that hits all the right notes in all the right places.

While we have five characters to follow, all of which are interesting but not overwhelming. All of them are well developed, and they don’t tend to take too much or too little of the narrative. I think my favourite characters were Elise and Aaron, just because they were so well written. The description of the public service was very apt, and I laughed more than once at some of the absurdity.

The monster threat in this was exceptional, and I think a really good twist on the normal lore. It just felt like it had a lot more work and care put into it, and I really appreciated it from a horror standpoint. The only thing I did feel could have been improved was the ending, but even that was only by a little bit.

The writing was exceptional too, and I think it’s definitely a testament to what horror should be- social commentary, a touch of wry humour, and, at the heart of it all, really good characters who make reading the book a delight.

[Trisha]

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

[lupo ⋆.˚⟡ ࣪ ˖ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

✦

3.5/5

There is a heavy, echoing sort of tension to this story that makes reading it feel as claustrophobic as living it would.

I found myself really liking the general direction of the plot, and I absolutely loved the characters: almost everyone was genuinely likable, and I appreciated that their personal growth felt like it naturally belonged to them rather than just being filler for the mystery. Seeing them all slowly lean on each other felt earned and very real for the world they’re stuck in.

I did find the second half of the book bit of a mixed bag, though: some of the twists didn't quite land for me, and they felt either too fake and forced on the characters or a bit too easy to spot. Even if those payoffs lacked the sharp punch I was hoping for, the moody atmosphere and the people made it a solid, lingering read.

✦

I thought it was “eat the rich”, not get eaten by them??

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars!

I received an e-ARC of The Burn Line, but that did not affect my rating or review.

This was really unsettling in a way I liked. One of my favorite things about it was the way the creature was described. I thought the descriptions of its physical appearance, the way it moved, and the way it kept appearing and disappearing were all really effective. It was deeply creepy and horrible, and the fact that it stayed mysterious for so much of the book made it even more unsettling.

The barely seen, hard-to-understand creatures are always the scariest to me, and I thought this book handled that really well. The whole thing felt unstable and off in a way that made the horror work even better.

If you like creepy atmosphere, urban horror, and mysterious creature horror, I’d definitely recommend it.

[Gabrielle]

gimme gimme gimmee !!!

[toast · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded to 4

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

First and foremost, The Burn Line is dripping in descriptions of tactile sensation, and I ate up every bit of it. London is drowning itself in sweat, and our motley cast of characters descend into the Underground to bake and broil themselves some more and come back up...haunted?

Each of our protagonists' brushes with the supernatural are paired with their overwhelming, monotonous reality. So which cooks a city faster: the putrefying grotesquerie of a never-ending heat wave, or capital?

My favorite way this conundrum unfolds is through the foiled experiences of two out of the five protagonists, Aaron and Will. As an unhoused person, Aaron's every brush with London at large stamps out even more of his personhood. Unexpectedly, this same experience is mirrored in Will, a banker for the one percent who is managing large levels of wealth that are just out of reach for him to attain. Will, funneling all of energy and determination into this idol of success, is whittling away his humanity just like society whittles it away for Aaron.

What kept this book from being a five-star read for me was the fact that no single character feels fully realized. On their own, these characters exist to embody a different aspect of living under late-stage capitalism and to react to the monster just outside of their vision. Once they gather together, the group coheres into a unit, spurred on solely by the demands of the plot, their own wants and flaws sprinkled in like seasoning instead of substance. This book is single-mindedly focused on weaving a web of society as a machine, where every character is an interchangeable piece of a larger puzzle, confronting the horror beyond their imagination and the horror of their everyday existence.

However, my analysis of these characters begs a question I can't answer. The Burn Line sands down all possibilities of its characters' emotions and expressions until they are trudging along in the darkness together, undifferentiated...but is this the fault of the book? Or is this the fault of capital?

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an e-ARC and am giving my honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this opportunity!

Okay, listen. Do I have a few Magnus Archives tattoos and jumped at the opportunity to read Jonny Sims' new book? Jump would be an understatement, but yes. I knew I was going to love this book and, honestly, didn't even read the summary. As expected, this was phenomenal. The characters were all so incredibly interesting and well written, all being screwed over by capitalism but on different points of the spectrum of livelihoods. Aaron, a sweet unhoused man, Senyo, a transport worker with a nonbinary child and a very understanding wife, Tash, a transfem ball of chaos, Elise, a sweet woman who works with data, and Will, a man who looks and acts a bit higher-class but is struggling like the rest of them.

This novel explored the grotesque and disgusting lows the higher-class would go to in order to stay higher-class, while simultaneously showing us the power of the people. All of the people.

I loved how well things worked together in this book. Each character having their own specialties and them coming to use. How they managed to figure out what was happening despite literally everything working against them. Sims' commentary on the way unhoused individuals are treated in today's society was also incredibly interesting, especially as someone who is American. He did a phenomenal job of also showing Aaron's day-to-day beyond being tracked by an unknown monster. I really can't recommend the way this book explores economic classes without giving an out for the upper-upper class. There is no "well this one is okay actually," and while that may be more realistic, I much more appreciated the lack of realism in this case.

The horror was phenomenal, of course. Sims never goes lightly on the details of the creatures and situation his characters are facing, and that really shined here. There were times where it felt like I could smell that sickening sweet rot along with the characters I was reading.

[ech0reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for giving me an ARC.

This was a really fantastic horror. I appreciated the multiple pov's that set up each character because it meant I had time to get to know them and get attached before the action started. It also enabled the reader to experience what happened from different vantage points, which made piecing together the different fragments of the mystery slightly easier (although I didn't know what was going on until the third act, I'm bad at mysteries).

I loved the amount of representation. All of the characters brought something to the narrative from their own lived experience that enhanced my enjoyment and made it feel much more realistic. I especially loved Aaron; because he's homeless most people dismissed him, but he was the one who pulled everyone else together and attempted to vocalise and articulate what had happened to them. Without him, the others wouldn't have started to realise that something happened on the tube that they all forgot.

Senyo worked wonderfully as the foundation of the group. His calm exterior and natural leadership made him the perfect person to put into action what the group was going to do next. I loved his relationship with his wife and child. And he's a union man! I grew quickly attached to Senyo; his pride in his work and his genuine love for the transport system was so cool. I loved Tasha and her expensive mattress; she was so iconic and her relationship with Elise was so sweet.

The narrative was really well paced. I liked the first section being used as an opportunity for the reader to get to know the characters, slowly building up encounters they had with the ghouls, until the final act where it all culminated into a fast-paced, thrilling battle.

I loved the general eat the rich theme of the book. There was so much amazing social commentary wrapped up in a fun horror about a group of strangers who experience something they can't explain.

[Kayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

2⭐️ (ARC review, not finished copy.) Really disappointed in this one. Overall, I thought the first 1/3 was a little frustratingly slow, thought the second 1/3 was pretty good, and thought the last 1/3 was deeply ridiculous.

The writing's biggest flaw is that it over-explains everything- not just once or twice, but over and over and over until you feel like the characters are turning to directly face the camera and deliver the book's thesis statement in case you the reader have somehow missed The Point. Do you get that the vampires/ghouls/evil monsters who feed on the working class and sleep in nests of precious metals are... like... rich people? Do you get it now that every single POV character has directly stated it multiple times in a span of 20 pages? And don't worry, all the Good Characters that you're supposed to root for will make sure to assure you that they have all the correct class-conscious opinions, and the only exception dies at the end anyway because he can't stand to do the hard work of reflecting on the dissolution of his worldview, or something, and the narration makes sure to explicitly spell this out for you too.

Anyways - I really wanted to like this book. There are parts that are genuinely good horror, including the monster descriptions, and especially the drawn-out dread before you learn what the monsters are. Overall, though, it feels like the book is too scared of the possibility of being misinterpreted to tell its own story. Very frustrating, especially since as a fan of the author's other works I know he can and has written better than this.

[Karri · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 out of 5 shivers of terror! My sincere thanks to NetGalley & Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced reader copy of this book.

This story was suspenseful, somewhat twisty and had a fresh take on a classic horror creature you're probably familiar with. Five complete strangers find themselves haunted after an incident on their train commutes, but they can't quite place what is wrong. One by one they start to realize they are each being hunted and must work together to solve the mystery of what is happening to them.

I found this really entertaining and hard to put down. The horror scenes were written very well and I appreciated how good the dialogue was. You could easily pick out each character chapter by how differently it was written for each characters point of view. There was one twist I kind of saw coming, but other parts I did not know what to expect. I was connected to each of the characters, so my only issue is I wish there was a little more time to get to know them and their motivations (aside from the obvious survival aspect). This might sound weird, but I also wish we got to see them struggle more together as a group before the final act, or as pairs and bond more through the horror. What we did get was well done, so I just felt myself wanting more there. You also get the realistic horror of how other people treat each other and the classism that is still pretty present in real life. I personally didn't need covid brought into the story, I don't think it brought any value to it.

I would recommend this to book to anyone wanting a good dark, suspenseful creature horror with a little bit of found family mixed into it.

[AMY DURAN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and to the publisher for the opportunity to review this book!

The Burn Line
5 strangers experience something terrifying on the tube in the London Underground, but they can't remember what happened. Each walk away still strangers, but all sharing a sense of dread that follows. Strange smells permeate the air at odd times and weird moments of disassociation plague their lives along with a creeping dread that something is stalking them. Eventually the five meet and are able to remember the horror that happened that night and realize the horror they have to face if they want to survive.
I am a huge fan of Jonathan Sims, I've read his other two books and was delighted he had written another, something to keep me busy while I wait for the next season of Magnus Archives (hint hint Jonathan). He is a true master of the descriptive word and I felt every sensory experience written; every drop of sweat in the oppressive heat and the suffocating darkness of the underground. The characters were well thought out and represented different socioeconomic statuses. The story is a bit of a slow burn and can take a while to really get going. I did connect deeply to the story, especially with everything happening in the world today, and I really rooted for each character. The only thing keeping this book from 5 stars is the final "battle" was a little anticlimactic for me but all in all a great creepy read!

[Levi Goodson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

I was maybe going to be a liiiittle biased going into this one, I’m a huge fan of Sims and his work. I loved Thirteen Stories and slightly obsessed with The Magnus Archives. I know the man can write an excellent horror but something about this peaked my interest in a way that horror doesn’t really seem to do anymore.

The premise was so interesting and executed phenomenally. I loved the characters, they all felt so real, so human. This is something Sims excels in, he’s excellent at characters that feel grounded and so real I feel as though I could bump into them in the street. The different POVs worked so well, I was turning the pages aching for more from all the different players in this.

The scene setting is just chefs kiss. So so good. He knows exactly how to dress a scene in mystery and fear and just enough disbelief that it leaves you questioning not only yourself but what the characters see too. The pages drip with grime and dirt and heat that you can imagine yourself right there in that place with that character.

Sims has just proved once again he’s phenomenal at horror. He knows exactly what to include and what not to include. He’s already an instant buy author for me, but I’m glad this solidified my faith in him.

[Nikki Kossaris · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s an early morning in London during the hottest summer on record, and you take the train to work with four other people. It’s your first day as a programmer for the government, and that’s all you’re focused on. Nothing strange happens, or at least nothing you don’t blame on the heat, but you touch a greasy, ashy film as you leave.

And then it lingers.

You start to dread the train. Every ride feels wrong, like something is waiting just out of sight. You try to ignore it, chalk it up to nerves, to the heat, to anything but what your gut is telling you. Until you’re sent down into the tunnels beneath the city, testing cables, learning about boreholes, going deeper than you should.

And then the others find you.

And then you see the CCTV.

What really works here is the anxiety. Not jump scares, not gore for the sake of it, but that suffocating, dissociative fear where you can’t trust your own mind. You know something happened. You were there. But whatever it was? It’s been taken from you.

And now it wants you back.

It’s tense, disorienting, and lingers long after you finish. The kind of horror that traps you somewhere you can’t easily escape, like a train car buried deep in the London Underground, with something else riding it with you.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC!

Equal parts social commentary, creepy, and absurd, The Burn Line did not disappoint. This was a wild ride (no pun intended), but I really enjoyed it!

This story features a cast of characters, each getting their own POV chapters throughout the book. We get a diverse range of perspectives from these characters, including several that are not common for lead characters (transgender, homeless, immigrant, etc.) and I felt each portrayal accurately reflected common struggles or societal beliefs for each demographic.

The writing was just the right amount of spooky, funny, sardonic, and (toward the end) gross, which made this a super quick read that I didn't want to put down. I can't give it a perfect five stars, if only because the monster pay off/reveal didn't quite fully meet the mark for me, but it does get major points for managing to mix the commentary, humor, and action in the second half so easily with the suspense/creepy unease and anxiety of the first half.

I'll definitely pick up something else by Sims, especially if it is a monster horror, and I have a feeling I'll be recommending this one to lots of my reader friends this fall!

[GJO AND PUPS · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book!

We start with an incident on a London tube train, where 6 individuals are minding their own business on their daily commute. Through multiple POV we learn about each characters lives, struggles and how, since the tube ride, they have been experiencing unsettling situations. Completely unaware that they each witnessed something they are unable to remember, one by one they regroup and start to reclaim their lives and retaliate.

The characters were written really well, and i was really behind each one of them as the story slowly started to unravel and unerve me. Their relationships and bonds happened naturally through the shared trauma, despite their differences in opinions. The tension really coils, and the author describes the scenes in such detail I could feel and smell the unsavoury entity following everyone.

This story was fast paced and I couldn't wait to discover what corrupt service was creating havoc under the tube stations of London. At one point I did feel like the book could have been a little shorter, however I didnt find any part of the story far fetched, just very creepy and somehow believable.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

(e-ARC provided by NetGalley)

as a reader who doesn’t read horror too often & lowkey only looked into this as a diehard fan of the horror audiodrama/podcast „the magnus archives“ ,, THIS WAS AMAZING. not only did this book strike so many of personally dearly feared aspects like darkness, tight spaces & the utter horror of being perceived in a way nobody likes to be perceived (from the dark, by a pale face with an eerie grin, leaving rot all over) BUT the social commentary hit the exact right spot. „eat the rich“ got uno reversed and earned an entirely different standard for sure. having the plot split in perspectives from multiple social classes added SO MUCH to the storytelling, not to mention the amazing splitting up of situations into said multiple perspectives.

i loved the creature feature. they creeped me out for the entire first half of the book & gave me literal horrors for the second half. what a win!! as someone loving tash more than loving myself,, I FEEL FED. the last few chapters ATE (metaphorically & literally ig)

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up

i’m going to start by saying that Jonathan Sims wrote one of my favorite pieces of media ever made (The Magnus Archives, of course) and i therefore had extremely high expectations of this book.

i love the premise, the class consciousness, the disgusting dread Sims does best, and the Tube being the nexus of the story. however, i felt like i never really got to know the characters beyond surface level, which was a bit disappointing as the survivors had so much promise. there were several instances where a character would reveal a personality trait or facet of their life…. 75% through the book? i almost wish that either more OR less time had been spent on character building. i had just enough morsels to be interested in each of the survivors but not enough to feel connected to them.

this was a good book and i probably would’ve been more forgiving of a different author. but like i said, i’m a big fan of Sims and was expecting to be blown away which i’ll admit was rather unfair.

[Bean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as an ARC from NetGalley

Political and socioeconomic commentary meet supernatural horror in a way that has you unsure which houses the greater evil. This book was a delight from start to finish the story draws you in immediately, and never hit any lulls or felt like it stalled in any one place. The cast of characters spans several people who band together after a horrific chance encounter. The POV switches between them slowing you to feel the story from their unique perspectives which helped make each of them feel very developed and multidimensional. The entities in the book pursing the characters are unsettling and written in a way that feels like an original tale rather than simply a recycled asset which was refreshing. And the atmosphere of being beneath the ground in a seemingly endless system of tunnels really ties the whole thing together with a sweat soaked blood drenched bow! The commentary was punchy, the horror was intriguing and the story all around was a captivating read!

[Ness · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanna give this 3,5 stars, but let's round this up to 4.

I'm honestly not sure what to think about this book but my most prominent feeling is that it was... okay. Maybe I expected too much based on my knowledge about tma world building? Idk man.

- loved the characters to bits (especially tash on speed)
- the pacing was good but the ending felt a bit rushed in my opinion?
- I wish I had felt more of the "horror". While I could definitely see some fears it was touching on, it didn't really get to me. But that also might be a me-problem
- the class commentary had every right to be there but felt really on the nose at some times and I think it stood in the way of the exploration of characters like will and george at times (which is very justified when coming from the prejudiced views of most of the cast). But being rich is probably not the only reason why they make evil decisions. What drives characters like George to pursue this path besides greed? Where do those monsters come from, where do they go? Where do they come from, Cotton-Eye-Joe?

- I'm really glad it wasn't vampires.

[frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and to Net Galley for a copy of this ARC

Jonathan Sims is a name in horror I have come to expect a few things from. One is monsters that feel familiar but fresh and two is a large cast that is well balanced and feels like it’s made up of real people.

Boy does Burn Line deliver on both.

There is a visceral sense of suffocation here, in the heat that permeates the city and the tunnels underneath, in the cloying smell that stalks the cast, in the class divide that looms over them all.

Im torn between enjoying the short length that gives a punchy strait to the point narrative and wishing we got more time with the characters.

I don’t THINK we are getting a sequel but i would certainly like to devour one if there was one.

I think of Sims books this is probably my favorite and it really lets him delve into one specific scenario in a way that the Magnus archives didn’t usually the runtime to spare, but will please fans who know him primarily from his podcast.

[sam ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will preface this review by stating Jonathan Sims has created one of my favorite stories ever: The Magnus Archives. I went into this book with high expectations and it definitely didn't disappoint. I love how Sims is so critical about capitalism and, specifically, how it affects the lives of marginalized people. Sims has done such a wonderful job of utilizing the horror genre for social commentary. The writing is polished, albeit a little frank in some areas but I think it's well executed for the subject matter.

I personally found the first half of this book to be a little slow. We are introduced to a fast-paced conflict, and then slow down to meeting the characters through their individual POVs. Sims makes this work, but the change in pacing took some time to adjust to. Overall, I enjoyed my time with this book. I've long enjoyed how Sims never makes you forget about the horrors lurking in the dark.

[Sarah Harney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC of The Burn Line via NetGalley.

I have a lot of conflicting feelings about this book!

What worked for me: I loved the psychological horror aspect of this book...an event that paralyzed the characters, wiped their memory, and had them questioning their sanity really pulled me in! I also really enjoyed the alternating POVs of all the characters separately until they came together as a team. Lastly, the cover art is amazing!

What didn't work for me: This story was set during COVID (a huge pet peeve of mine) even though it had no significance to the plot which made the story feel weirdly dated. There was a lot of social/political commentary and unnecessary detail which spoiled the creepy vibe and made the pace of the story feel so sluggish.

I rarely say this but I do feel like this is a book that would be more enjoyable as a movie.

3 stars

[Cate · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Burn Line is a story about 5 strangers who share a train cabin by chance, and witness a horrifying event that none of them can remember. They’re haunted by something that leaves odd smells and stains, and occasionally eats a person or two. Together, they unravel its mystery. I would say that it’s entertaining enough, and the plot keeps you engaged enough to leave you wanting to read on. For the most part, the characters were likeable and I really liked Tash too!! I liked the social commentary about class differences and the immorality of the rich. There wasn’t anything about the book which particularly surprised me, and the twists themselves weren’t all too surprising in my opinion, but I doubt I have any qualms with the story other than that. I would have loved to see more about the ghoul lore explored, especially with the queen-thing! Would recommend this book to any horror fans who love a good mystery!

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the e-ARC!

[Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Don’t you dare let management win.”

We follow 5 unfortunate Londoners who have experienced something terrible that they can't quite remember...
I don't know how a thriller about something hunting in the London underground system can be so pro working class but it felt raw and realistic.

the first chapter with Elise had me hooked!
I cannot describe this book at all I think it's best to go in almost fully blind - Sims is brilliant at adding tension and suspense and I loved the theming of the novel. The fact that each part is a different tube stop. It is very clear to me that Sims is knowledgeable on the London underground and it added to the realism especially considering some of the things mentioned I already knew to be true and rather niche information when you don't live in London.

Absolutely recommending this to anyone who crosses my path for the foreseeable!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a page turner! I finished this book in a weekend and was invested the whole time. I will state in advance I’m a huge fan of the Magnus Archives podcast so my review may be biased. Jonathan Sims knows how to write unease and suspense as for the first part of the book I was curling in on myself with the characters in certain scenes. I found the various character perspectives easily woven together along with their differing perspectives/prejudices/biases fascinating. The social commentary really grounded the world for me and I didn’t feel lost or the need to look up certain meanings since I’m not from England. It has a solid build up of both suspense and intrigue into what the heck is going on as our characters get together to solve the mystery. All in all a solid read!

[Chevonnika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this novel being a fan of 'the magnus archives' and I was not disappointed.

Five strangers, all on the same train car at the wrong time experience a strange memory loss and disassoctiation find themselves in the same situation...Foul smelling creatures wanting to devour them.

The characters were very believable, all had their own backstreet and personal hardships. I am happy that the characters didnt take too much convincing that something is wrong and they all team up to put an end to their predicament.

The dark, gritty and rather gross atmosphere was portrayed very well, and settings were described nicely. I do like the design of the creatures and the uncertainty of what they truly are.

Overall an enjoyable read, a good supernatural horror to pick up.

[Emma-Louise Wykes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC for review.

This was seriously eerie, and I am glad I don't have to use the London Underground very often!

The story was fast paced and entertaining, despite the writing not being the best. Written from multiple POV's, which I liked, and they all represented different minority groups. Whilst this representation is much needed in literature, it did feel a little contrived in this book, but that didn't take away from the reading experience.

Lots of covid references, overuse of the word 'extruded' and a bit of Queen bashing (and a thinly veiled hint at her being the source of/a major part of the atrocities) which reduced my rating, but overall a really compelling read.