George Washington Jonson is a Black cop in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 2005 he is out on patrol with his young white trainee, Utner, when a split-second confrontation with a white teenage suspect takes a violent turn – and Utner shoots the teenager dead. The city is thrown into chaos, and order must be restored.
So far, so Hollywood.
But then, a dizzying somersault in the novel’s structure upends the narrative and begins an even darker, more complicated and provocative story about racism, power and corruption – building to an unforgettable portrait of a nation divided.
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“A Black cop’s pursuit of the American Dream becomes a nightmare when he’s ensnared by colleagues — both Black and White — who use moral arguments to justify immoral actions in their quest for justice,” Johnson says of the novel in a quote shared with PEOPLE. “As innocent lives are destroyed, the quest for ‘justice’ is revealed to be nothing more than a vindictive power grab.”
Booklist:
Starred Review
Johnson reinvents the trope of the good (sort of) cop seduced into corruption in this wildly unpredictable tale.
Publishers Weekly:
Starred Review
Nothing is what it seems in this spellbinding and profanely funny novel about race, police violence, and distorted narratives.
Kirkus:
Starred Review
A swing for the fences novel, both a gripping procedural and high literary study of American bigotry.
Library Journal:
Starred Review
A witty, protean novel that delves into the racial and social complexities of the South through the lens of police corruption and one Black cop’s reckoning with his own choices.
A Most Anticipated Book by the New York Times Book Review • Chicago Tribune • TIME • Harper’s Bazaar • Los Angeles Times • Boston Globe • The Millions • Goodreads • AARP • Literary Hub • Chicago Review of Books • Publishers Weekly • Kirkus Reviews • Library Journal ...and more!
"Dazzling, dizzying . . . This book’s sweep is hard to convey. A furious, sly postmodern mystery about a deeply corrupt society, it reads like what you might get if Ishmael Reed and Walter Mosley had scripted Chinatown. Challenging and enthralling in equal measure, The Occidental Book of the Dead is a stunning novel."
-Irish Times
“Johnson pulls no punches, from his dedication (“Dedicated to the future memory of white supremacy”) to his “Axknowledgements,” the first line of which is, “All praise be to the artists unknown to you.” The pages in between, all 650-plus of them, read like Colson Whitehead on acid, and that is meant as a compliment from this privileged white middle-aged woman. It’s strong stuff, yet the dazzling writing makes it go down easy."
- Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times
Internalized racism, overlapping identities, double standards, and the sheer messiness of people's lives are laid bare in this immersive and thought-provoking read.
-The Guardian
"This one is really tricky to explain, which is why it's great. Metafictional hijinks are afoot but it's unpacking three really serious ideas about race and trauma and the disparate experiences of America. This is like if you took Erasure by Percival Everett, mashed it with Homey by Danez Smith, mashed it with Transcription by Ben Lerner . . . but those comps almost don't do it credit because T. Geronimo Johnson has this sensibility of his own. I'm really, really excited for this one."
- MJ Franklin, The New York Times Book Review podcast
"This is the literary crime epic of the year, possibly of the century. T. Geronimo Johnson has woven an emotional powerhouse, a complex conspiracy thriller, a searing indictment of policing, a startling coda on the limits of reform, and a metatextual commentary on the nature of confession."
- Molly Odintz, Crimereads
"The best title of the season is a massive crime novel in present-day Atlanta. Linguistically playful, it's a deep exploration of racism." -
The Boston Globe, Best Fall Books
"No one is having more fun with language than T. Geronimo Johnson. The way his mind works is endlessly entertaining, inviting us into a fantasia. Of men behaving badly in a world behaving worse. Of walking broken hearts with guns. Men, who are somehow, still, trying to bridge a cultural gap, to move toward some understanding, a shared humanity. Johnson’s take on history, his political commentary, and humor read like jazz, as, with this book in particular, he plays with the novel as a form, bending notes, making new music."
- Attica Locke, New York Times bestselling author of Bluebird, Bluebird
A stunning achievement with no clear literary precedent. Welcome to Braggsville . . . is one of the most searing, shocking looks at racial issues and campus activism in a long time. - Men’s Journal, Best Books of 2015
Hold It ‘Til It Hurts is a novel that defies categorization. It is at once a mystery, a meditation, a modern-day myth, an indictment of war and an ode to love. But this much is clear: This masterfully written book, filled with trenchant observations and unafraid of tenderness, marks Johnson as a writer to watch.―San Francisco Chronicle
JOHNSON'S WRITING LEFT ME CONSTANTLY PUSHING TOWARDS THE NEXT PLOT TWIST, NOT JUST AT THE ENDS OF CHAPTERS, BUT AT THE END OF EVERY PARAGRAPH. . . . IT'S THIS ANXIETY-RIDDEN, AND SOMETIMES HEART-WRENCHING, PROSE THAT GRASPS THE ATTENTION OF READERS AND HOLDS IT THROUGH THE END OF THE NOVEL.―Hazel & Wren
HOLD IT 'TIL IT HURTS IS MORE ABOUT LOVE AND REDEMPTION THAN RACE OR WAR. THE BOND THAT CONNECTS ACHILLES TO HIS BROTHER, TROY, IS MAGNIFICENTLY DRAWN, THE DEPTH OF EMOTION UNFORGETTABLE. AND THE SURPRISES IN THE PLOTTING HERALD THE BEGINNING OF AN IMPRESSIVE LITERARY CAREER.―CounterPunch
