Burner

What if your social media addiction jeopardized the person you love?

Inspired by the explosive events of our polarized political climate, Burner is an all-too plausible contemporary thriller that examines the social and personal consequences of the lost sense of identity, trust, and truth itself that characterizes our technology-obsessed culture.

Shane Stoller has just been arrested for domestic terrorism, accused of being the mastermind behind the online profile Burner_911—the anonymous leader of a massive populist movement. Chloe Corbin has just been abducted by Burner_911’s followers in a lawless uprising on the streets of San Francisco, targeted as the socialite daughter of a tech billionaire. What nobody knows is that Shane and Chloe are secretly in love despite coming from opposite worlds. Plagued with regret but unable to communicate with his followers from prison, Shane tries desperately to find a way to save Chloe from the forces he has unleashed. From her own captivity, Chloe becomes more sympathetic to Burner_911’s cause—and transitions from victim to conspirator in an effort to free herself and exonerate Shane.

Part tragic love story, part mind-bending psychological thriller, Burner dives headfirst into the modern zeitgeist of politically motivated disinformation, toxic internet subcultures, and our continuing need for belonging, purpose, and love in an age of distorted online personas.

Author: Mike Trigg

Publication Date: April 16, 2024

 

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Description

“Trigg’s searing, all-too-believable novel reads like a gripping true-crime story . . . readers can expect to be pulled in quickly . . .”
—BookLife Reviews

Burner is a fascinating thriller in which an online movement swallows up the person who started it.”
Foreword Clarion Reviews

“An informed, interesting, and well-paced novel set in a world very similar to our own, Mike Trigg’s Burner is a cautionary tale for the digital age.”
IndieReader

“Political unrest, paranoia, conspiracies, and internet culture—Trigg has brought them all together into a killer novel more relevant now than ever. An absolute page-turner.”
—Tosca Lee, New York Times best-selling author of The Line Between

“In Burner, Mike Trigg shines a light on homegrown domestic terrorism in a way seldom seen before. This thought-provoking thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat. I couldn’t put it down. If you are interested in the shadowy world of domestic, violent extremism and how it affects us all, read this book.”
—Frank Runles, FBI Supervisory Special Agent (Retired), best-selling author of Lies People Tell: An FBI Agent’s Toolkit for Catching Liars and Cheats

“Mike Trigg is fast becoming the go-to writer for high-tech thrillers that lay bare the perils of our digital age. Burner is no exception. Readers are in for a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet set against a San Francisco simmering in a stew of toxic social media conspiracies, wealth disparity, and political unrest. Buckle up; it’s going to be a bumpy ride.”
—Evette Davis, author of 48 States and The Council Trilogy

“Political unrest and domestic terrorism—Mike Trigg gives us a compelling look into the not so distant future. Burner sizzles with tension and reveals the high price of extremism in our digital culture. A must read.”
—James L’Etoile, author of Devil Within and Face of Greed

“Mike Trigg knows how to tell stories that keep you in suspense but also make you think deeply—about culture, politics, ethics, and about who the good and bad guys really are. What does it take to survive in a post-truth world where violent extremism and corruption rule the day? You owe it to yourself to read Burner and find out!”
—Jude Berman, author of The Die

“A man arrested for domestic terrorism and a woman abducted by his followers lead the cast in Mike Trigg’s latest spine tingler. In Burner, Trigg pulls back the curtain on toxic internet stardom and shows how in the wrong hands it can be used to feed political unrest. A powerful, pulse-pounding tale that hits uncomfortably close to home.”
—Kimberly Belle, author of The Paris Widow and Three Days Missing

“Masterfully plotted and thoroughly absorbing, Burner delves into the toxicity of an internet obsessed culture and the dangers of relying on technology for validation and human connection. A thrilling and timely cautionary tale for the digital age, I was hooked from the first page.”
—Lindsay Cameron, author of Just One Look and No One Needs to Know

”Mike Trigg takes a timely look at the world of social media and the propaganda that results from that bias. Great characters and an unpredictable narrative make Burner a must-add to your thriller reading pile!”
—A. J. Landau, author of Leave No Trace

Praise for Bit Flip:

Bit Flip is a crisis-of-conscience tale, a twisty, acerbic corporate thriller . . .”
The San Francisco Chronicle

“As much a compelling narrative as it is a critical analysis of contemporary capitalism, this story worries over the coming future, in which technology could take over much of what people used to do. This helps to make Bit Flip an engrossing novel that satirizes the pretensions of tech bros and billionaires.”
Foreword Clarion Reviews, 5 stars

“Mike Trigg’s novel Bit Flip is exceptionally well-written, with a satisfying balance of action, intrigue, back story, characterization, and description. He weaves together several compelling story elements, some of them technical in nature, with ease and the manner in which he wraps up the narrative is both concise and provocative.”
IndieReader, 5 stars

“In Bit Flip, Trigg aims some wickedly smart satire at the dark beating heart of Silicon Valley, and exposes a lot of moral gray areas along the way. This is the kind of book that’ll make you very afraid—and very angry—about the win-at-all-costs ethos at the core of our self-righteous tech culture.”
—Rob Hart, author of The Warehouse and The Paradox Hotel

“Trigg has worked magic here, combining elements of Citizen Kane and Silicon Valley into a readable bullet of a book. This is a razor-sharp satire with a huge heart.”
—Joshua Mohr, author of All This Life and Damascus

About the Author

Mike Trigg was born in Kentucky and raised in Wisconsin. He earned a BA from Northwestern University and an MBA from University of California, Berkeley. Prior to becoming an author, he was an executive, founder, and investor in dozens of technology start-up companies for over twenty-five years. His first novel, Bit Flip, was released in August 2022 to critical acclaim, lauded by the San Francisco Chronicle as a “twisty, acerbic corporate thriller.” His work has been featured in Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, and Literary Hub. He has been a contributor to TechCrunch, Entrepreneur, and Fast Company, and frequently posts on his author site, www.miketrigg.com. Trigg lives in in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two sons.

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