Gloria Patri - by Austin Ross (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"A great writer-get his novel!"

--SENATOR TIM KAINE

"Ominous, gripping."

--DAN CHAON, author of Sleepwalk

"A terrific novel."

--FRANK SCHAEFFER, author of Crazy for God

"A pulsating literary thriller."

--Washington Independent Review of Books

Several years after the bitter dissolution of the Becker family, Richard and Solomon--father and son--die on the same day. Shortly after returning home and still unaware of the violence ahead of them, Naomi and her mother Ruth travel across the country to collect the remains of both men and confront the legacies they left behind. Along the way, Naomi and her mother discover secrets about their family and each other, and soon encounter the dangerous and paranoid militia extremists with whom Solomon--along with an old childhood friend, Andrew Cook--had become entangled. As violent forces collide, Naomi, Ruth, and Andrew are forced to reckon with their pasts and their place in an increasingly dangerous world.

Review Quotes

"The characters are so well developed. The book contains one surprise after the next but the events also have a sense of inevitability about them. And what a profound meditation on isolation and loneliness. I wish the book didn't ring so true about contemporary american life . . . a great writer-get his novel!"

--SENATOR TIM KAINE

"This ominous, gripping novel is a beautifully observed and cleverly structured thriller, a thoughtful and provocative journey into the dark, bloody heart of american lunacy."

--DAN CHAON, National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Sleepwalk

"A terrific novel... There's a wisdom and a gentleness that's really incredible."

--FRANK SCHAEFFER, New York Times bestselling author of Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back

"Powerful, compelling, propulsive, and timely."

--ELANA K. ARNOLD, National Book Award finalist and author of Damsel

"[An] astute, focused exploration of how fundamentalism and extremism can usurp one's identity to tragic effect . . . moving and beautifully written."

--SINDYA BHANOO, author of Seeking Fortune Elsewhere, finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize

"A pulsating literary thriller."

--Washington Independent Review of Books

"Reminiscent of Tim O'Brien, Jesmyn Ward, and even Faulkner . . . Gloria Patri simply brims with energy and fierce, evocative intelligence. not a book you'll soon forget."

--DANIEL TORDAY, two-time winner of the National Jewish Book Award and author of The 12th Commandment

"This is a stunning debut novel and Ross is a master storyteller."

--KEVIN GRANGE, award-winning author of Lights & Sirens

"So good."

--C. MATTHEW SMITH, author of Twentymile

"Engrossing . . . [A] great novel."

--RACHEL KING, author of Bratwurst Haven

"A journey to a far-off, terrifying country-except the country is ours, the time is now, and the danger is deeper and more pervasive than we could have imagined . . . You won't be able to take your eyes off it."

--KEVIN HAWORTH, author of The Discontinuity of Small Things, winner of the Samuel Goldberg Foundation Prize and runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize

"The kind of magic trick that the best novels strive for. I'm not sure how Ross pulled it off."

--AARON BURCH, author of Year of the Buffalo and founding editor of Hobart

"This powerful novel almost hurts, but it also hints that there may yet be a way to heal."

--JOAN CONNOR, winner of the AWP Award for Short Fiction and author of How to Stop Loving Someone

"If religious extremism, cults, anti-government paramilitary groups, and mass shootings aren't scary, I don't know what is. Read this book if you're fascinated by the dark underbelly of our country."

--KRAMERS BOOKS (Washington, DC), October Staff Pick

"Intensely good."

--CAROLINE ANNE BOCK, author of Lie and Carry Her Home

"I was really blown away. It's a Big Book in the best ways . . . A real achievement."

--DAVE HOUSLEY, author of The Other Ones and founding editor of Barrelhouse