Burn Up is the second Secret of Mylin novel by Joe Klingler, continuing the intense mystery and thrills of Tune Up. With her father dead, and eldest brother gravely injured, Mylin has put herself and her orchestra family in the hands of Bear and Joe, hoping to keep them safe. Tuson is still free, though, and with the checks of Elder Wu and Jing holding him at bay gone, he decides to take over the running of the American side of the business. But the GO Orchestra was just a cover for a ring of highly paid prostitutes. No, they were so much more. As Shen seeks to eliminate witnesses and corral the orchestra back under his thumb, bodies begin piling up, making more work for Kandy and Qigiq. Even after they are pulled by the FBI from investigating the Wu case, they keep managing to stumble back into the heart of things. Not that they’d planned to abandon Mylin and the other girls. Question is, can they stop Shen in time?
This installment is even more an action packed ride than the first. There’s international espionage, and science even Tony Stark would be proud of. This go ’round, we had third person chapters following Qigiq, and Mylin, along with first person chapters following Shen, instead of Joe. That was an interesting choice, but certainly fit with Shen feeling the centre of everything, while Mylin and Qigiq worked to help others. I enjoyed once again recignising things from living near Pacifica. The interaction between Qigiq and Kandy was priceless. Just as entertaining is that between Ferd and Petr. We get to see more of Ferd, the computer genius, and I loved it! I think he’s my favourite character after Qigiq. That ending, though! It absolutely floored me, after everything else. This book ended on a far more definitive transition than the previous one. Everyone is left changed, not for the better. I want to know what will happen to Mylin, and if Qigiq will stay in San Francisco. There was a brief blurb for the third Mylin book, Lock Up, but no release date. I want the next one now!!
***This book was reviewed for the Seattle Book Review
