A Cormac McCarthy-esque story of a deeply troubled American west, Old King is lyrical, haunting, humane, and unflinching. It reads like an approaching thunderstorm, one from which you cannot shelter.--Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World

Old King is an exhilarating journey through the terrain of our uneasy kinship with the wilderness. Every misdeed and every act of devotion is thrillingly, horrifically, tenderly, magnificently true in these mountains.--Megha Majumdar, New York Times best-selling author of A Burning

Propulsive and thought-provoking . . . [Old King] examines the boundaries of society and solitude, the fine line between genius and madness.--Jamie Ford, New York Times best-selling author of The Many Daughters of Afong Moy

An unforgettable story about what we ask of the wilderness and one another, Old King put its claws in me and didn't let go. In crystalline prose, Maxim Loskutoff conjures an American West animated by both loneliness and love, weaving a kaleidoscopic story that is as historically gripping as it is timely today.--Erica Berry, author of Wolfish

A gripping story of love and compassion, the end of the counterculture movement, and the nihilism and violence that replaced it. Maxim Loskutoff delves deep into America's changing narrative, our lost connection to nature, and our attempts to regain them.--Philipp Meyer, Pulitzer Prize finalist author of The Son

Powerful and suspenseful...Loskutoff's narrative is swiftly paced and deeply textured, with a keen sense of the landscape and its cantankerous human inhabitants. This leaves a mark.-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"

Eerily atmospheric, keep-you-up-late suspenseful.--Alexis Burling "San Francisco Chronicle"

Loskutoff writes beautifully about nature.... He deftly captures how the environment is both enchanting and fearsome.--Mark Athitakis "Los Angeles Times"

The evils of ever-encroaching technology and environmental degradation are admirably presented by Loskutoff not as the bugaboos of an unhinged crank, but as real-life conflicts in the ecotone of town and wild country.--Smith Henderson "New York Times Book Review"

Old King is a compelling, sometimes harrowing and occasionally sweet novel confronting emotional disconnect, the relationship between humanity and nature, and modern fears about technology, all the while giving readers characters who care deeply about each other and the world around them. This smart, captivating and provocative book is highly recommended.--Sarah Rachel Egelman "Bookreporter"

An expert panorama ... Coming on the heels of his outstanding 2020 novel, Ruthie Fear, Old King shows that Mr. Loskutoff is unmatched at evoking the contentious, transitional nature of the American West, which is roiled by changing environmental values and economic realities, a place of new and clashing mythologies.--Sam Sacks "Wall Street Journal"

The undying allure of the West and that attraction's lethal impact on the wilderness is a pervasive theme for writer Maxim Loskutoff ... In Loskutoff's hands, the Unabomber, as Kaczynski came to be known, is real but also a symbol of the ultimate outsider in a state, Montana, that's full of them.--Maren Longbella "Minneapolis Star Tribune"

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Pub date: 2024-06-04

Length: 304 pages