In this shattering and iconic American novel, PEN prize-winning writer, Smith Henderson explores the complexities of freedom, community, grace, suspicion and anarchy, brilliantly depicting our nation's disquieting and violent contradictions.

After trying to help Benjamin Pearl, an undernourished, nearly feral eleven-year-old boy living in the Montana wilderness, social worker Pete Snow comes face to face with the boy's profoundly disturbed father, Jeremiah. With courage and caution, Pete slowly earns a measure of trust from this paranoid survivalist itching for a final conflict that will signal the coming End Times.

But as Pete's own family spins out of control, Pearl's activities spark the full-blown interest of the F.B.I., putting Pete at the center of a massive manhunt from which no one will emerge unscathed.

Eventually, Dale knew that something was wrong. The true question was whether it was something that could be fixed, whether it would mean the end of their marriage, or whether it would result in a foray into the milieu of marital unhappiness.

Life has given Dale Little many things to be thankful for: a beautiful home, a successful career, a great son, and what she thinks is a happy marriage. But her life is forever changed when she learns that her husband is having an affair.

Like so many of her friends who have endured a similar fate, Dale is prepared to move forward with her life, restoring harmony to her tranquil existence and keeping her family together. After all, an affair is only sex, right? This is her opinion until she learns that the other woman is pregnant with her husband's twins. Now she is bombarded with dilemmas, questions, and doubts. Does he really love the other woman? Can she live with him, knowing that he fathered two children by this adulteress?

The delicate situation becomes even more complicated when the twins' mother dies of natural causes, leaving Dale and her husband to contemplate the future of the children as well as their own .

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE FOR FICTION WINNER OF THE CWA JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER (award for the best crime novel by a debut author) A dark and powerful debut novel set in the hardscrabble American heartlands. 'If I knew for a certain'ty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life...' After trying to help Benjamin Pearl, an undernourished, nearly feral eleven-year-old boy living in the Montana wilderness, social worker Pete Snow comes face-to-face with the boy's profoundly disturbed father, Jeremiah. With courage and caution, Pete slowly earns a measure of trust from this paranoid survivalist itching for a final conflict that will signal the coming End Times. But as Pete's own family spins out of control, Jeremiah's activities spark the full-blown interest of the FBI, putting Pete at the centre of a massive manhunt from which no one will emerge unscathed. In this shattering and iconic novel, Smith Henderson explores the complexities of freedom, community, grace, suspicion and anarchy, brilliantly depicting America's disquieting and violent contradictions. FOURTH OF JULY CREEK is an unforgettable, unflinching debut that marks the arrival of a major literary talent.