Description

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An epic novel of star-crossed lovers set in a doomsday cult on the Texas prairie that asks: What would you sacrifice for the person you love?

“Symphonic and suspenseful . . . In an epic act of empathy, Bret Anthony Johnston inhabits every point of view, from doomed devotees to perplexed law enforcement.”—Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of March

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice

Waco, Texas, 1993. People from all walks of life have arrived to follow the Lamb’s gospel—signing over savings and pensions, selling their homes and shedding marriages. They’ve come here to worship at the feet of a former landscaper turned prophet who is preparing for the End Times with a staggering cache of weapons. Jaye’s mother is one of his newest and most devout followers, though Jaye herself has suspicions about the Lamb’s methods—and his motives.

Roy is the youngest son of the local sheriff, a fourteen-year-old boy with a heart of gold and a nose for trouble who falls for Jaye without knowing of her mother’s attachment to the man who is currently making his father’s life hell. The two teenagers are drawn to each other immediately and completely, but their love may have dire consequences for their families. The Lamb has plans for them all—especially Jaye—and as his preaching and scheming move them closer and closer to unthinkable violence, Roy risks everything to save Jaye.

Based on the true events that unfolded thirty years ago during the siege of the Branch Davidian compound, Bret Anthony Johnston’s We Burn Daylight is an unforgettable love story, a heart-pounding literary page turner, and a profound exploration of faith, family, and what it means to truly be saved.

About the Author

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Bret Anthony Johnston is the author of the internationally bestselling novel Remember Me Like This and the award-winning Corpus Christi: Stories. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he’s the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, a 5 Under 35 honor from the National Book Foundation, and The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. He wrote the documentary film Waiting for Lightning and is the editor of Naming the World and Other Exercises for the Creative Writer. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Esquire, The Paris Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Virginia Quarterly Review, Best American Short Stories, and elsewhere. Born and raised in Texas, Johnston is the director of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas in Austin.

Praise For…

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“Literature of the highest order . . . Even the most flashy stylistic flourishes [are grounded] in convincing, unexpected detail. . . . Ultimately, what keeps us reading a novel is the promise of revelation, and it’s in the smallest and most seemingly off-handed of its surprises that We Burn Daylight is most alluring.”—The New York Times

“A heartfelt yet unsparing read, one that manages to return to the victims of the Branch Davidian cult their humanity, making us see more of them than their misdeeds.”—The Boston Globe

“Great care is used to humanize every character, from the teenagers the novel revolves around to the adults who clumsily decide their fates. . . . The high stakes of federal agents confronting a cult are thrilling, but it’s the quiet spark of connection, understanding, and recognition between his star-crossed lovers that will touch readers long after the novel ends.”—Texas Monthly

“A magnificent portrait of how even as the rivets of our republic are popping loose, plumes of beauty still rise from the soil upon which so much wrong continues to repeat.”—Rick Bass, author of For a Little While and Why I Came West
 
“Who decides what we believe? Johnston allows curious onlookers inside the compound and the hearts of Waco in a perfect marriage of history and art.”—Booklist, starred review
 
“Amid the plethora of stories about cults, this stands out.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“A moving and epic tale. I would expect no less from Johnston.”—CrimeReads
 
“Symphonic and suspenseful, We Burn Daylight reimagines events at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco.”—Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March

“A colossal achievement of We Burn Daylight is that it demands to be read in a breathless rush, and afterward, demands deepest and most private reflection.”—Megha Majumdar, New York Times bestselling author of A Burning

“With bravery and compassion, Bret Anthony Johnston takes on a watershed moment in American history, cutting through the myth and messiainism to reveal a story that is profoundly—and tragically—human.”—Cristina Henriquez, author of The Great Divide

“Fascinating characters and an engaging, authentic style give We Burn Daylight a fine shot at the Great American Novel sweepstakes. Few people can bring Texas to life on the page like Bret Anthony Johnston.”—Gary Shteyngart, New York Times bestselling author of Our Country Friends

“Yes, it is spellbinding. Yes, it is explosive. Yes, it is a must-read book. An ineffable work of fiction, We Burn Daylight is full of characters grappling with the ways loss and language and space and desire make it so hard to speak not to the loss but to each other.”—Morgan Talty, bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez and Fire Exit: A Novel
 
“Fast-moving and emotionally sophisticated . . .”—Kirkus Review, starred review