The Burn Line
The gripping new London Underground horror thriller from the creator of podcast sensation The Magnus Archives, perfect for fans of Stephen King and Jordan Peele
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The Burn Line
Narrated by:
Jonathan Sims, Jude Owusu, Kay Eluvian
Buy Now for £17.94
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Narrated by:
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Jonathan Sims
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Jude Owusu
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Kay Eluvian
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By:
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Jonathan Sims
There's something lurking in the stifling darkness and labyrinthine tunnels that run below London... something old, something vicious, and something very, very hungry.
It's the hottest summer on record and London is dying. Prices are high, pay is low, and stressed commuters are packed onto London Underground trains again like the pandemic never happened. To add to the misery, the temperatures underground just keep climbing and climbing, the heat trapped in the clay with nowhere to go.
Then one fateful morning five travellers on an unlucky tube carriage find themselves bound together as witnesses to a single horrific event - an event they can't quite seem to remember.
They make an unlikely team - a weary tube driver, a disillusioned civil servant, an ambitious city trader, an overwhelmed hotel worker, and an unhoused young man just trying to get by - but now they must come together to confront what they have seen and stop it in its tracks before it kills them all.
From the dark and twisted mind behind Thirteen Storeys, Family Business, and podcast sensation The Magnus Archives, The Burn Line is a sinister and socially conscious horror masterclass perfect for fans of Stephen King, Jordan Peele, and Black Mirror.©2026 Jonathan Sims (P)2026 Orion Publishing Group Limited
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Critic reviews
Stuck on a Tube train in a record heatwave, during a pandemic, in a city being tangibly ruined "by the corrupt incompetence of the parasites in power," doesn't sound much fun to begin with. THE BURN LINE by Jonathan Sims (Gollancz, £25) then adds another element to go with economic collapse, social decay and environmental disaster. The five passengers in one particular carriage on that train are vaguely aware afterwards that something awful happened during the delay. Something inhuman. But they can't remember what.
With leading characters including an RMT activist and a lad who's sleeping rough, you know from the start whose side this book is on. The first half is a tense mystery, which then turns into a galloping monster-hunt thriller, with as many jolts and shocks as any horror fan could possibly want.
The novels carries, without being burned by, two important life lessons: that whatever the problem, solidarity is quite likely to be the solution - and that you must never trust the rich, even when they're dead. (Mat Coward)
With leading characters including an RMT activist and a lad who's sleeping rough, you know from the start whose side this book is on. The first half is a tense mystery, which then turns into a galloping monster-hunt thriller, with as many jolts and shocks as any horror fan could possibly want.
The novels carries, without being burned by, two important life lessons: that whatever the problem, solidarity is quite likely to be the solution - and that you must never trust the rich, even when they're dead. (Mat Coward)
Jonathan Sims' The Burn Line combines the best of British class satire with real grindhouse fun. You will laugh, you will cry, you will gnash your teeth with righteous indignation, but most of all you will root for this ragtag gang of underdogs on their literal descent into a modern hell of the London Underground to face off with the demons you wouldn't expect. Kind Hearts and Coronets meets The Midnight Meat Train!
Rich, character-driven and very scary, The Burn Line is a master-class in sweaty urban horror. Read it on your next shadowy subway ride through the underground and try not to feel like something is watching you from the tunnels
Jonathan Sims breathes life into a found family worth rooting for and a mysterious menace worth losing sleep over. The Burn Line is an immersive fever dream that drags you into the depths of a subterranean hell and leaves you gasping for fresh air
I love it. Nobody does the creeping dread of liminal spaces quite like Jonathan Sims; the sweltering hell that is the London Underground in The Burn Line channels the glorious uncanny shiver of some of the best episodes of The Magnus Archives. The endless urban maze and the villainy of the super-rich are some of Sims' hallmark motifs and it's scintillating to see them shown in novel-length glory here. The multiple-perspective structure means that we get a many-faceted view of the horror, so the shape of the book is a kind of dark, unnerving gem.
Sims, as the originator of creepy drama podcast The Magnus Archives, is great at getting inside characters' heads, and in this book each of his five main cast members is given a distinctive viewpoint, making for a pleasingly multi-layered read. There surely can't be a more nightmarish place than the London Underground at is stifling, sweltering worst.
Fantastic story
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The story wasn't bad, I did like it, but I can predict with confidence that many readers/listeners might give up on the story before it really gets going. The first part moves very, very slowly.
If you are looking forward to listening to narration by Jonathan Sims you will be disappointed. He narrates a minute portion of the story. Of the other two narrators the one was fine and the other sounded like he was reading an instruction manual.
Somewhat disappointing
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Not his best
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