Edge of the Known World - by Sheri T Joseph (Paperback)

About the Book

"Alexandra Tashen is a brilliant student, adoring daughter, merry wit, and exuberant prankster. After a blissful childhood on a Texas ranch, she learns the truth: She is a refus?, an illegal refugee smuggled into the Allied Nations as an infant. Everyone from her birth region carries a harmless but detectable bit of viral DNA from a flu vaccine. If detected by the rapid genetic testing at security screens, Alex will be returned to the Federation and a likely death. Her adoptive father developed a gene therapy to mask her g-marker, but it is not fully effective. Every g-screen presents a nerve-racking one-in-ten chance of getting caught. When her father goes missing, Alex abandons her cloistered academic life in San Francisco for a globe-trotting Commission in a desperate race to warn him of a trap that will destroy them both. As Alex dodges g-screens on her precarious and often-hilarious adventure, a love triangle develops between her and two men: Eric Burton, a commanding and disgraced intelligence officer, and his blood brother, Strav Beki, a charismatic and dangerously unhinged diplomat. Betrayals mount and secrets unravel, building to the most confounding choices that people can face--choices between love, family loyalty, and moral obligation"--

Book Synopsis

Fans of Margaret Atwood and Emily St. John Mandel will be gripped by this high-stakes, timely, and deeply human literary thriller about hidden identity, genetic surveillance, and the difficult choices between love and family.

A USA Today bestseller and winner of the American Fiction Awards and Chanticleer International Book Awards.

In a near future where DNA tests are used at ID checkpoints, brilliant Alexandra Tashen is hiding in the open. After a blissful childhood on a Texas ranch, she learned of the secret in her genes--a harmless inherited marker and ancestry that would get her deported to a brutal regime and likely death. Her adoptive father's experimental gene therapy masks her marker, but not completely. Every security check is a one-in-ten chance of getting caught.

When her father vanishes, Alex risks everything in a headlong and often comic search across nations. A volatile love triangle develops with two brothers--one a disgraced intelligence officer, the other a damaged, charismatic diplomat--each guarding secrets of their own. As betrayals mount and the secrets unravel, Alex must confront the confounding choices between love, family loyalty, and moral obligation.

Edge of the Known World blends the tension of a global thriller with the heart of a love story.

Review Quotes

2025 IBPA Book Awards Gold Winner in Best New Voice: Fiction
2024 Chanticleer International Book Awards Winner in Global Thriller
2024 American Fiction Awards Winner in Best New Fiction
2024 American Fiction Awards Winner in Thriller: Political
2024 American Fiction Awards Winner in Thriller: Techno
2024 American Fiction Awards Winner in Science Fiction: General

"... a riveting novel of the not-far-enough-away future. It's a future of familiar challenges--displaced people, xenophobia, technologies that threaten individual privacy. Joseph uses three key characters, and their love triangle, to examine the politics--and uses the politics to highlight personal conflicts."--Locus Magazine

"A stellar debut! Deftly plotted and expertly executed; Joseph takes readers on a compelling and frightening tale. Alex Tashen is a character worth rooting for. Highly recommended." --Sheldon Siegel, New York Times best-selling author of Special Circumstances

"Edge of the Known World is a compelling story about technology, identity, and privacy that illuminates some of the most pressing questions facing society today."--Corie Adjmi, Best Book Award and American Fiction Award-winning author of The Marriage Box

"Like all great dystopian fiction writers, Joseph holds a magic mirror to our world in a compelling, complex story." --Lori Duff, INDIE Awards Gold Medalist and author of Devil's Defense

"Sheri T. Joseph blends intellect, wit, and passion in an intricate yet thrilling near-future tale. As readers appreciate the myriad exquisite turns of phrase, they must also grapple with burning issues of genetic testing and personal freedom." --Jude Berman, author of The Die and The Vow

"Via pristine details, intriguing characters, and such timely themes as technology ethics and societal collapse, Joseph's broad, bold tale of an any-day-now dystopia never strays from the intimacy of a father and daughter's mutual love." --Anita Gail Jones, finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction and author of The Peach Seed

"The skillful writing makes the book a worthy read. . . . A complicated dystopian political thriller enhanced by lively prose." --Kirkus Reviews

"In this smart, multi-layered debut, Joseph constructs a thoughtful dystopian near-future adventure complete with genetic screening, international thrills, playful wit, and a welcome touch of romance. . . . Throughout, Joseph's vivid worldbuilding and her scarifying descriptions of an oppressive state never detract from the psychological drama of these convincing, complex characters." --BookLife Reviews

"Author Sheri T. Joseph has crafted a riveting novel. . . . a brilliantly original concept that captures you right from the start." --Readers' Favorite, 5-star review

"Brainy, sexy, funny, heartbreaking, and hopeful, this is literary speculative fiction at its best. This romantic thriller is also a real look at the impact of genetic screening on privacy and belonging in a time just a heartbeat away." --Leslie K. Barry, Chanticleer Award-winning author of Newark Minutemen

"Joseph's wild, far-flung, and intrigue-filled adventures offer much for future diplomats as well as scientists to ponder as they seek to deter future genocides and ethnic cleansings." --Mary Carlin Yates, Ambassador of the United States and former deputy commander of the US Africa Command

About the Author

Sheri T. Joseph grew up in a New York beach town until her family relocated to San Francisco. She holds a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley and a JD from UC Law San Francisco. She is passionate about the need for housing and serves as executive director of a nonprofit corporation that supports creation of affordable housing for families, veterans, refugees, and vulnerable populations. She's also a trustee for Homeward Bound, a provider of homeless services and housing. Sheri and her husband have three adventurous children and live in Tiburon, California. This is her debut novel.