Unassigned Territory

"[An] accomplished new novel that confirms the promise of Nunn's first book, Tapping the Source .... Nunn writes with a keen portentousness about the warped people in this wasteland, creating what might be described as a western gothic. His examination of cultish thought is respectful, intriguing, and funny, in a narrative that never loses dramatic momentum." — Publishers Weekly
Lay preacher Obadiah Wheeler is responsible for conducting a group of missionaries into "unassigned territory," a stretch of Nevada wilderness open to evangelistic efforts. Obadiah's faith is shaky at best and no match for the tempting charms of the co-proprietor of a desert museum, raven-haired beauty Delandra Hummer. Together the two set off into the vast emptiness of the Mojave in search of a buyer for the museum's prize exhibit, an extraterrestrial relic. Their hilarious road trip — punctuated by encounters with UFO cults, wild rednecks, and hippie burnouts — throbs with violence and madness as well as the possibility of spiritual enlightenment. This "desert noir" by National Book Award nominee Kem Nunn was recognized as a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice; the author has also written for and produced numerous TV projects, among them John from Cincinnati, Deadwood, and Sons of Anarchy. 

Surfer Kem Nunn has written five novels, including Tapping the Source, his seminal "surf-noir" book, a National Book Award finalist and the inspiration for the movie Point Break. In addition to writing for the television series Sons of Anarchy, Nunn has collaborated with producer David Milch on HBO's Deadwood and John from Cincinnati.