The Prophet

Adam Austin hasn't spoken to his brother in years. When they were teenagers, their sister was abducted and murdered, and their devastated family never recovered.

Now Adam keeps to himself, scraping by as a bail bondsman, working so close to the town's criminal fringes that he sometimes seems a part of them.

Kent Austin is the beloved coach of the local high school football team, a religious man and hero in the community. After years of near misses, Kent's team has a shot at the state championship, a welcome point of pride in a town that has had its share of hardships.

Just before playoffs begin, the town and the team are thrown into shock when horrifically, impossibly, another teenage girl is found murdered. As details emerge that connect the crime to the Austin brothers, the two must confront their buried rage and grief-and unite to stop a killer.

Michael Koryta, widely hailed as one of the most exciting young thriller authors at work today, has written his greatest novel ever-an emotionally harrowing, unstoppably suspenseful novel that Donald Ray Pollock has called "one of the sharpest and superbly plotted crime novels I've read in my life."

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Friday Night Lights meets In Cold Blood in this powerful tale...It's a brilliantly paced thriller that keeps its villains at a tantalizing distance, a compelling family portrait, a study in morality that goes beyond the usual black-and-white judgments, and an entertaining spin on classic football fiction. A flawless performance

– Kirkus, starred review

Elegantly written...Koryta shows great sensitivity in examining how each brother deals with these parallel tragedies.

– New York Times

Thriller Award-finalist Koryta (The Ridge) triumphantly returns to crime fiction with this multi-layered exploration of guilt and redemption....Like Laura Lippman, Koryta has a gift for melding a suspenseful, twisty plot with a probing, unflinching look at his protagonists' weaknesses.

– Publisher's Weekly, starred review

A delicious read, intricately woven, with characters who are impossible to forget. Michael Koyta excites and satisfies on every level.

– Elin Hilderbrand

Edgar-nominated mystery wunderkind Koryta (he turns 30 this year) has earned kudos from veteran thriller writers Stephen King and Dean Koontz. He proves plenty worthy of praise in this vivid portrayal of a small Midwestern town and the evils that befall it....With its crisp writing and steady suspense, this is a must-read for his fans both old and new.

– Booklist, starred review

Gut-wrenching at every level.

– Library Journal, starred review

A compelling story...a powerful psychological portrait.

– Tampa Bay Times

Could. Not. Put. It. Down.

– The New London Day

THE PROPHET is a relentless, heart-in-your-throat thriller about ordinary people caught in the middle of an extraordinary nightmare. It's about the sins of the past haunting the hopes of the present and the need to find redemption from the jury of your own conscience. It's also . . . irrefutable proof that [Koryta] has enough game to one day be considered a master of the genre.

– Dennis Lehane

One of the sharpest and superbly plotted crime novels I've read in my life.

– Donald Ray Pollock

I've been an admirer of the hardworking Michael Koryta for many years. I loved SO COLD THE RIVER'S creepy gothic tone; I was enthralled by the eerie world of THE CYPRESS HOUSE. Koryta is a fantastic writer, and a remarkable storyteller. But his latest book, THE PROPHET, finds him at an entirely new level; I suspect it may be the novel that brings him the sort of widespread acclaim he's deserved all along. A gridiron metaphor would seem appropriate, given the crucial role football plays in The Prophet. It's as if Koryta has been wowing us with a brilliant running game for eight novels. We'd be more than happy to see him keep driving the ball up the middle, but here, suddenly, he's gone to the air: THE PROPHET is like a long, heart-stopping pass down the sidelines in the final seconds of a decisive game. It's made me want to leap to my feet and cheer him on.

– Scott Smith

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