Judgement day is here. It’s the 25th anniversary of the standoff in Waco, and my debut novel, Breaking the World, is now available in stores. With the book now available, I thought I’d corral the early reviews in one spot. The response to the book has been phenomenal. I can’t wait to hear what you think!

Check out the reviews below, read an excerpt of the book, and consider picking up a copy from:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

An absorbing blend of history and narrative fiction which elevates the Waco tragedy into an unforgettable exploration of society, faith, and truth. Breaking the World by Jerry Gordon is a compelling novel that thunders, and challenges, from page one. The characters are genuine, the struggles throughout are powerful, balanced, and thoughtful. The novel’s conclusion and Gordon’s ideas within do what great fiction often hopes to — defies and then transcends what we thought we knew.

— Geoffrey Girard, Bram Stoker Award-Nominated Author of Project Cain and Truthers

The things we do to each other are more awful than any haunted house, ghoul, or demon could ever be, and in BREAKING THE WORLD, Jerry Gordon delivers an unflinching look at real-life horror. This novel will gnaw its way through your skull, burrow into your brain, and mess with you in the best way possible. It’s a pitch-black tale of moral ambiguity, with sympathetic characters facing a home-grown apocalypse of twisted faith, fire, and madness. It’s one of the strongest horror debuts in recent memory, which not only entertains but provides penetrating insight into a dark chapter of American history. This is horror done right.

— Tim Waggoner, Bram Stoker Award-Winning Author of Like Death and Some Kind of Monster

If Breaking the World had solely been about life within the Branch Davidian compound during the FBI standoff, I would have been perfectly content with this book. Gordon, however, ups the ante considerable… What Gordon does here is ballsy, of the big brassy kind, and I have to applaud him. It’s a move that I’m fairly certain will land Breaking the World as one of my best reads of 2018, and I’ll be thinking about this work for a good long while. Few books have jolted me or left me clamoring for a follow-up quite like this.

— Michael Patrick Hicks, High Feever Books

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Apex Book Company just revealed the cover for my debut novel, Breaking the World. Before I gush over Noah Aust’s stunning artwork and tell you how to preorder it, I wanted to say a little something about the history behind this day.

Twenty-five years ago today, over one hundred ATF agents stormed the Branch Davidian Church in full body armor, guns drawn. Military helicopters circled overhead as both sides traded gunfire on church grounds. When the smoke cleared, four government agents and six church members were dead. What followed was the largest and longest standoff in law enforcement history.

For fifty-one days, the government surrounded the Branch Davidian Church, cutting the congregation off from the rest of the world. At the time, FBI press conferences provided the only source of public information about the standoff. Twenty-five years later, a truth far stranger than you can imagine is ready to be revealed … and now it has a book cover!

Noah Aust’s original artwork perfectly captures the duality of the central figure of the standoff, David Koresh. The self-declared prophet claimed to be anointed by God but ended up reviled as a cult leader. His Jesus meets Jim Morrison look befits his progression from rock musician to preacher to reluctant savior. Behind him, the state of Texas burns, and behind the flames, blood drips down newspaper headlines from the tragedy.

Pre-orders start today, the first day of the standoff. The book will be released fifty-one days later, on April 19th, the end of the siege.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

I’m proud to announce that Apex Book Company will be publishing my debut novel, Breaking the World.

The apocalyptic thriller takes place during the fifty-one day standoff between the FBI and the Branch Davidian Church. It focuses on three outcast teenagers, nonbelievers dragged to a Christian commune in Texas by their born-again parents.

When a botched government raid on the church turns deadly, the teens must take charge of their own destiny in order to survive a clash between infamous cult leader David Koresh, an erratic FBI, and a growing pandemic that seems to confirm the worst of the church’s prophecies.

The novel takes readers deep inside the standoff, offering a perspective on the government raid that questions the news media’s reporting of the event, the wisdom of militarizing domestic law enforcement, and the blurry line between religion and cult.

The book will be released on April 19th on the 25th anniversary of the standoff.

Press Release

I’m happy to report six stories from Streets of Shadows made Ellen Datlow’s list.  Stories recognized for excellance include:

Gerard Brennan – “Morrigan’s Girls”

Jonathan Maberry – “Toby’s Closet”

Nick Mamatas – “Der Kommissar’s in Town”

Tom Picirrilli – “What I Am”

Laurie Tom – “Unfilial Child”

Doug Warrick – “The Man Who Has Been Killing Cats”

The supernatural crime anthology can be ordered from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Alliteration Ink.

On Saturday, I was honored with the Sara J. Larson Award at the tenth (and likely final) Mo*Con. I didn’t know about the award in advance, and I’m still a bit choked up. The award’s namesake was a beloved member of my writing family, gone far too early, and I still feel her impact on my work.

I feel the same way about Mo*Con.

The gathering Maurice Broaddus organized ten years ago grew into something much greater than a yearly convention.  Mo*Con became a place where differences could be bridged, where friendships could be forged, and where family could be found.  In that way, it became the conversation Maurice always dreamed it would be.

If you can’t tell, I already miss it.

Looking around the room on Saturday, award in hand, I couldn’t help but think of something Kurt Vonnegut’s uncle used to say to him.

If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.

Google revised its search engine algorithms to favor mobile devices this month.  The old website was decidedly not phone friendly and already in need of a refresh.  So welcome to the new digital home.  We built up some equity in the old place and then traded up.

More square footage.  Room to expand.  You get the idea.  For you that means a much cleaner, mobile-friendly interface and more regular updates.

Grab a drink out of the fridge and make yourself at home.