So Far Gone

"Jess Walter has a knack for capturing the absurdity and humanity in the places and eras his novels explore, whether it’s 1960s Italy (Beautiful Ruins) or early 1900s Spokane, Wash. (The Cold Millions). With So Far Gone, it’s the back roads of the Pacific Northwest in our fractured political moment. Retired journalist Rhys Kinnick is content to live off the grid, away from the toxic politics that have strained his relationship with his daughter and conspiracy-theory-obsessed son-in-law. That is until his grandchildren show up on his front porch with news that their mom is missing. Rhys becomes the reluctant hero of a madcap journey that ultimately leads to a face-off with a Christian nationalist militia in rural Idaho. It’s a story that is by turns hilarious, heartbreaking and all too relevant."