So Far Gone

Walter (The Cold Millions) serves up a rollicking and heartrending adventure about a broken man determined to set things right in an increasingly divided America. Rhys Kinnick, a retired environmental reporter, has been estranged from his family for several years after punching his Christian nationalist son-in-law, Shane, during a heated exchange over the latter’s anti-government conspiracy theories. When two young children show up at Rhys’s isolated cabin in Washington State, he doesn’t immediately recognize them as his grandchildren, Leah and Asher, now 13 and 9. Bethany, their mother, has disappeared, leaving behind a note for her neighbor to take the kids to Rhys. Shane, who’s off looking for Bethany, has dispatched two members of the Army of the Lord, a militia affiliated with the family’s new church, to retrieve Leah and Asher. After Shane’s goons track down Rhys, they announce they’re taking the kids to the Rampart, the church’s armed compound on the Idaho panhandle, and Rhys’s failed attempt to stop them leaves him with a broken cheekbone. Rhys then sets out to rescue his grandkids, with the help of a retired police detective turned private investigator, whose manic bipolar episode fuels his devotion to Rhys’s cause and adds to its danger. Walter offers an honest and even touching look at the two retirees’ need for purpose while finding deadpan humor in their failings. The propulsive plot also sees Bethany coming to terms with her own choices, and the reader comes to care deeply about all the primary characters—even Shane, who turns out to be more of a misguided seeker than a villain. This captivates. Agent: Warren J. Frazier, John Hawkins & Assoc. (June)