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The Occidental Book of the Dead
Not yet published
Expected 6 Oct 26From the PEN/Faulkner finalist and National Book Award longlisted author of Welcome to Braggsville, comes this long-awaited, visionary new novel centered on a Black cop in an Atlanta precinct, whose façade of white alliance begins to crumble after a highly publicized murder.
George Washington Jonson is determined to forge a new life. After growing up in one of Atlanta’s poorest housing projects, he enlists in the U.S. Army and finds some relief serving abroad. When events lead him back home, he joins the police force. It’s 1992, and Jonson is patrolling the streets he grew up on alongside his new partner, a shady legacy cop and self-described “redneck” who takes Jonson under his wing.
After a decade on the job, Jonson has fashioned a new life for himself in an affluent suburb with his white wife and stepson, though he’s still policing his old neighborhood, and now tasked with training hot-headed rookie recruits. One night on patrol a split-second confrontation with a white teenager takes a violent turn. That single gunshot sets into motion a series of escalating lies—all threatening to be exposed as investment in the case mounts to a fever pitch.
When the white-washed veneer of Jonson’s life begins to crack, the story splits, presenting two contrasting versions of the American experience as he’s forced to confront the history that shaped him and the compromises required of a good man in a broken system.
Employing a bold, inventive structure and spanning two fraught decades, vividly evoking the complexities of the South, and written with the same virtuosic dissonance and insight as his previously acclaimed novels, The Occidental Book of the Dead is a propulsive, pyrotechnic exploration of systems of corruption and conspiracy—and an epic, unflinching portrait of a nation divided.
George Washington Jonson is determined to forge a new life. After growing up in one of Atlanta’s poorest housing projects, he enlists in the U.S. Army and finds some relief serving abroad. When events lead him back home, he joins the police force. It’s 1992, and Jonson is patrolling the streets he grew up on alongside his new partner, a shady legacy cop and self-described “redneck” who takes Jonson under his wing.
After a decade on the job, Jonson has fashioned a new life for himself in an affluent suburb with his white wife and stepson, though he’s still policing his old neighborhood, and now tasked with training hot-headed rookie recruits. One night on patrol a split-second confrontation with a white teenager takes a violent turn. That single gunshot sets into motion a series of escalating lies—all threatening to be exposed as investment in the case mounts to a fever pitch.
When the white-washed veneer of Jonson’s life begins to crack, the story splits, presenting two contrasting versions of the American experience as he’s forced to confront the history that shaped him and the compromises required of a good man in a broken system.
Employing a bold, inventive structure and spanning two fraught decades, vividly evoking the complexities of the South, and written with the same virtuosic dissonance and insight as his previously acclaimed novels, The Occidental Book of the Dead is a propulsive, pyrotechnic exploration of systems of corruption and conspiracy—and an epic, unflinching portrait of a nation divided.
672 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication October 6, 2026
About the author
T. Geronimo Johnson
6 books209 followersAvailable September 2026: "The Occidental Book of the Dead"
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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Johnson is the bestselling author of Welcome to Braggsville (William Morrow), longlisted for the National Book Award and Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, and Hold It ’Til It Hurts (Coffee House Press), a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. He has been awarded the Ernest J Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and the Rome Prize. He received his MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he taught writing, and has held Stegner and Iowa Arts fellowships.
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Johnson is the bestselling author of Welcome to Braggsville (William Morrow), longlisted for the National Book Award and Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, and Hold It ’Til It Hurts (Coffee House Press), a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. He has been awarded the Ernest J Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and the Rome Prize. He received his MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he taught writing, and has held Stegner and Iowa Arts fellowships.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Did Not Finish
May 25, 2026Got to the part about dog fighting and I was done.
Did Not Finish
August 15, 2026Thank you to publisher for the gifted ARC.
I can't give a star rating as I didn't finish book. I made it a third of the way through and couldn't find the book that was in the synopsis. Structurally it didn't work for me and it's quite long to be struggling the entire time. More's the pity as I was familiar with the era in which this story is told and was looking forward to this being explored. I would have preferred a more straight-up method of storytelling. I appreciate the novelty but ultimately, it wasn't for me.
I can't give a star rating as I didn't finish book. I made it a third of the way through and couldn't find the book that was in the synopsis. Structurally it didn't work for me and it's quite long to be struggling the entire time. More's the pity as I was familiar with the era in which this story is told and was looking forward to this being explored. I would have preferred a more straight-up method of storytelling. I appreciate the novelty but ultimately, it wasn't for me.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
To make a VERY long story short, The Occidental Book of the Dead was not a good fit for me.
A book has to be really engaging and really good at moving a story forward (or a biography of someone who lived a long and momentous life) for me to commit and stay interested over the course of almost 700 pages.
This book did not. The format is unique, introducing a character in a brief few chapters that the reader will not know the significance of until almost a third of the way through a book told by a different character and actual protagonist of the story.
As part of this first part, the story is then told by George Washington Jonson, a Black officer in the Atlantis Peace Department, first partnered with the white Tucker as a man new to the job and recently returned from a stint in the military served in Germany. Fast forward in his career and Jonson is now serving as the senior officer with a white rookie cop when the events of a single night paired together result in disaster not just for the two men, but for almost everyone else in their orbit.
This first part of the book is the screenplay story as told by Jonson. Then comes the next two thirds of the book where he tells the real, unvarnished story in full detail.
I appreciate the perspective, especially when race is involved, that the true story is often not the one that gets told, and presenting the contrast between the two can be enlightening, but I just got so lost and turned around in the second part of the book, and that was after having some difficulty following along in the first part of the book.
Half the time Jonson doesn’t seem to know what’s playing out around him, and who is planning on throwing whom under the bus either to clean things up or to cover their own back. He refuses to see anything bad in Tucker despite people’s claims to the contrary. The whole thing was so convoluted for me.
Then mixed in with the timeline of events is Jonson’s ruminations on race relations, desiring to achieve acceptance by assimilating with white culture, marrying a white woman (but not a trashy one), and how white people couldn’t possibly begin to understand what Black people deal with on a daily basis and how Blacks are going to be at the bottom of the pecking order no matter what because the system is set up for them to fail.
I’m white, and I will try to never claim to understand things from a Black perspective. But with as much as this seemed to go in circles over and over again it didn’t seem to provide a whole lot of clarity beyond the concept that no matter how I act, and no matter how good my intentions are, I’m doing something wrong.
If I hadn’t been reading this for review I probably wouldn’t have made it far into the Second Gospel before calling it quits out of exhaustion, confusion and boredom. While reading this I was also reading Last Summer on State Street, and in contrast, the power of that novel to express the inequality and unfairness experienced by so many Black people, especially the poor ones, took my breath away and had an emotional impact on me as a reader.
I made the effort to read this over the course of a week both to pace myself for the intense nature of the material and to avoid just started to skim pages that started feeling very repetitive to me, but this was just not a good fit for me.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
A book has to be really engaging and really good at moving a story forward (or a biography of someone who lived a long and momentous life) for me to commit and stay interested over the course of almost 700 pages.
This book did not. The format is unique, introducing a character in a brief few chapters that the reader will not know the significance of until almost a third of the way through a book told by a different character and actual protagonist of the story.
As part of this first part, the story is then told by George Washington Jonson, a Black officer in the Atlantis Peace Department, first partnered with the white Tucker as a man new to the job and recently returned from a stint in the military served in Germany. Fast forward in his career and Jonson is now serving as the senior officer with a white rookie cop when the events of a single night paired together result in disaster not just for the two men, but for almost everyone else in their orbit.
This first part of the book is the screenplay story as told by Jonson. Then comes the next two thirds of the book where he tells the real, unvarnished story in full detail.
I appreciate the perspective, especially when race is involved, that the true story is often not the one that gets told, and presenting the contrast between the two can be enlightening, but I just got so lost and turned around in the second part of the book, and that was after having some difficulty following along in the first part of the book.
Half the time Jonson doesn’t seem to know what’s playing out around him, and who is planning on throwing whom under the bus either to clean things up or to cover their own back. He refuses to see anything bad in Tucker despite people’s claims to the contrary. The whole thing was so convoluted for me.
Then mixed in with the timeline of events is Jonson’s ruminations on race relations, desiring to achieve acceptance by assimilating with white culture, marrying a white woman (but not a trashy one), and how white people couldn’t possibly begin to understand what Black people deal with on a daily basis and how Blacks are going to be at the bottom of the pecking order no matter what because the system is set up for them to fail.
I’m white, and I will try to never claim to understand things from a Black perspective. But with as much as this seemed to go in circles over and over again it didn’t seem to provide a whole lot of clarity beyond the concept that no matter how I act, and no matter how good my intentions are, I’m doing something wrong.
If I hadn’t been reading this for review I probably wouldn’t have made it far into the Second Gospel before calling it quits out of exhaustion, confusion and boredom. While reading this I was also reading Last Summer on State Street, and in contrast, the power of that novel to express the inequality and unfairness experienced by so many Black people, especially the poor ones, took my breath away and had an emotional impact on me as a reader.
I made the effort to read this over the course of a week both to pace myself for the intense nature of the material and to avoid just started to skim pages that started feeling very repetitive to me, but this was just not a good fit for me.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read
July 27, 2026Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing an ARC.
I do enjoy history and biographies. And I really enjoy hearing a different viewpoint on history, challenging what I was taught in school. But I do need to be in the right mood for such books, because I want to follow all the details. And, I do like to have a hard copy so I can sit down with a pad of post its to keep notes. So this book being offered to me now and needing to read it to review, and having an ebook, this was difficult to read and follow, heavy, complicated and includes jargon and cultural references I was not familiar with. Looking up those details kept taking me out of the story. Maybe by the time this is printed, notes or footnotes will be included to help the reader. Also, it's a very long book. That's not a bad thing, but all these ingredients make it "not a good book for me right now". But I do believe this would be an interesting read for those in the mood. I could sense some of the story the author wants to tell us.
I needed to complete the book to write the review, so I didn't feel that I could DNF it, but I did skim through portions after about 25% into the story.
I wish the author all the best and hope this novel finds its way to the right audience.
I do enjoy history and biographies. And I really enjoy hearing a different viewpoint on history, challenging what I was taught in school. But I do need to be in the right mood for such books, because I want to follow all the details. And, I do like to have a hard copy so I can sit down with a pad of post its to keep notes. So this book being offered to me now and needing to read it to review, and having an ebook, this was difficult to read and follow, heavy, complicated and includes jargon and cultural references I was not familiar with. Looking up those details kept taking me out of the story. Maybe by the time this is printed, notes or footnotes will be included to help the reader. Also, it's a very long book. That's not a bad thing, but all these ingredients make it "not a good book for me right now". But I do believe this would be an interesting read for those in the mood. I could sense some of the story the author wants to tell us.
I needed to complete the book to write the review, so I didn't feel that I could DNF it, but I did skim through portions after about 25% into the story.
I wish the author all the best and hope this novel finds its way to the right audience.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
3-1/2 stars. This book is heavy, complicated, difficult to read and follow, but also enlightening, thought provoking and heartbreaking. The protagonist is a Black peace officer who is partnered with and forms an unlikely bond with a redneck. Throughout his career, he is routinely partnered with white rookies whose inexperience and prejudice shapes their approach to the job. You learn a lot about George and the city he lives in, the way its history and present has been shaped by racism, and the way whites somehow seem able to game a system that Blacks get caught up in despite their best efforts to escape. George is married to a white woman and is a good stepdad to her son. He is reflective, sensitive and in over his head in a complex police bureaucracy that is not what it seems. There are a lot of twists and turns in this novel and it is definitely convoluted. It's also very long. I can't say that I can recommend it, but it certainly made me think a lot about and reflect on my own biases, privileges and experiences.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This 672-page novel about a Black police officer with the Atlanta, Georgia PD requires a lot of work from the reader. It is so filled with urban-police jargon, “street speak”, and cultural references (some of them pretty obscure) that I’m having a lot of trouble understanding it, much less getting anything out of it. This, coupled with the novel’s examination of a number of unpleasant subjects, including dog fighting, drug use, racism, and police misconduct and corruption, makes it a DNF for me 170 pages in (i.e., a quarter of the way through). I appreciate the talent, creativity, and diligence that produced this novel, which is why I’m giving it three stars. But sadly, it’s just not for me.
My thanks to NetGalley, author T. Geronimo Johnson, and publisher William Morrow for providing me with a complimentary ARC. All of the foregoing is my honest, independent opinion
My thanks to NetGalley, author T. Geronimo Johnson, and publisher William Morrow for providing me with a complimentary ARC. All of the foregoing is my honest, independent opinion
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This was a different read and format than I’m used to, but it worked really well for the book and what it was trying to convey to the reader. I definitely gained a different insight into things like racial tension, bias, and prejudice that took place in a time when I was too young to understand any of it.
It was eye-opening to see things from a different perspective.
The book is a longer read, and it’s a little more of a complex read with terms and vocabulary I had to look up at times, but it’s okay because I enjoy learning new things and I’m always researching.
Thank you, NetGalley, William Morrow, and T. Geronimo Johnson for the opportunity to read and review.
It was eye-opening to see things from a different perspective.
The book is a longer read, and it’s a little more of a complex read with terms and vocabulary I had to look up at times, but it’s okay because I enjoy learning new things and I’m always researching.
Thank you, NetGalley, William Morrow, and T. Geronimo Johnson for the opportunity to read and review.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
It's a long book divided into two books. The second book seemed to give a behind the scenes look of what happened in the first book. I think I understood the bigger ideas in the book but wished there was a glossary in the book. Maybe my race, age, and not being from the Atlanta area contributed to my not understanding some of the words and phrases used in the book. This book definitely has me thinking differently about police involved shootings I see on the news now.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you, NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC of The Occidental Book of the Dead by T. Geronimo Johnson. I was really interested in reading this book. However after about 20% in I had to DNF. It is over 600 pages and had a very heavy and complicated story with a language/words I was not familiar with. I hope others will w you it and so wish the author much success
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews