The 12th Commandment

Swirling with secrets and their consequences, exploring how revelation and redemption might be accessed through sin, and driven through twists and turns toward a startling conclusion, The 12th Commandment is a brilliant novel by award-winning author Daniel Torday.

The Dönme sect-a group of Jewish-Islamic adherents with ancient roots-lives in an isolated community on rural land outside of smalltown Mt. Izmir, Ohio. Self-sustaining, deeply-religious, and heavily-armed, they have followed their self-proclaimed prophet, Natan of Flatbush, from Brooklyn to this new land.

But the brutal murder of Natan's teenage son throws their tight community into turmoil.

When Zeke Leger, a thirty-year-old writer at a national magazine, arrives from New York for the funeral of a friend, he becomes intrigued by the case, and begins to report on the murder. His college girlfriend, Johanna Franklin, prosecuted the case, and believes it is closed. Before he knows it, Zeke becomes entangled in the conflict between the Dönme, suspicious local citizens, Johanna, and the law-with dangerous implications for his body and his soul.

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The 12th Commandment

Swirling with secrets and their consequences, exploring how revelation and redemption might be accessed through sin, and driven through twists and turns toward a startling conclusion, The 12th Commandment is a brilliant novel by award-winning author Daniel Torday.

The Dönme sect-a group of Jewish-Islamic adherents with ancient roots-lives in an isolated community on rural land outside of smalltown Mt. Izmir, Ohio. Self-sustaining, deeply-religious, and heavily-armed, they have followed their self-proclaimed prophet, Natan of Flatbush, from Brooklyn to this new land.

But the brutal murder of Natan's teenage son throws their tight community into turmoil.

When Zeke Leger, a thirty-year-old writer at a national magazine, arrives from New York for the funeral of a friend, he becomes intrigued by the case, and begins to report on the murder. His college girlfriend, Johanna Franklin, prosecuted the case, and believes it is closed. Before he knows it, Zeke becomes entangled in the conflict between the Dönme, suspicious local citizens, Johanna, and the law-with dangerous implications for his body and his soul.

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The 12th Commandment

The 12th Commandment

by Daniel Torday

Narrated by Keith Szarabajka

Unabridged — 8 hours, 44 minutes

The 12th Commandment

The 12th Commandment

by Daniel Torday

Narrated by Keith Szarabajka

Unabridged — 8 hours, 44 minutes

Audiobook (Digital)

$19.95
(Not eligible for purchase using B&N Audiobooks Subscription credits)

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Overview

Swirling with secrets and their consequences, exploring how revelation and redemption might be accessed through sin, and driven through twists and turns toward a startling conclusion, The 12th Commandment is a brilliant novel by award-winning author Daniel Torday.

The Dönme sect-a group of Jewish-Islamic adherents with ancient roots-lives in an isolated community on rural land outside of smalltown Mt. Izmir, Ohio. Self-sustaining, deeply-religious, and heavily-armed, they have followed their self-proclaimed prophet, Natan of Flatbush, from Brooklyn to this new land.

But the brutal murder of Natan's teenage son throws their tight community into turmoil.

When Zeke Leger, a thirty-year-old writer at a national magazine, arrives from New York for the funeral of a friend, he becomes intrigued by the case, and begins to report on the murder. His college girlfriend, Johanna Franklin, prosecuted the case, and believes it is closed. Before he knows it, Zeke becomes entangled in the conflict between the Dönme, suspicious local citizens, Johanna, and the law-with dangerous implications for his body and his soul.


Editorial Reviews

author of Turn of the Century Kurt Andersen

The 12th Commandment is a one of-a-kind pleasure. A dark murder mystery full of surprises, but also a romantic comedy, but also a serious novel of ideas. Featuring a likable millennial journalist, a likable millennial prosecutor, and––only in America!—a cannabis-loving, assault rifle-toting, ultra-orthodox messianic Jewish cult on a commune in rural Ohio. And also: splendidly written.”

author of Redeployment and Missionaries Phil Klay

What a wild, delightful and utterly insane book! The 12th Commandment is a gripping, profound, and utterly absorbing novel in which an investigation into a murder becomes an investigation into mysticism, community, drugs, and what we find when we push our minds to the very limit.”

author of Swamplandia! Karen Russell

Daniel Torday’s third novel is a revelation, a page-turner with bursts of prophecy and poetry. The 12th Commandment feels like a genre unto itself—theological noir, Ohio gothic. Torday is such a sharp observer of the spaces where American communities overlap and where the secular and the sacred collide. It’s thrilling to read one of my favorite writers doing something utterly, dazzlingly new.”

From the Publisher

"Mourning, godless, Zeke makes for an unlikely detective as he investigates the mysterious Dönme cult and its connection to the murder of a teenage boy in Ohio. The novel pairs the gripping mystery of Raymond Chandler with the existential inquiry of Philip Roth, then arms the two with AR15s and a kosher banquet of edibles. A rare, literary delight. Daniel Torday is operating in his prime."
—Michelle Zauner, author of Crying in H Mart

"What a wild, delightful and utterly insane book! The 12th Commandment is a gripping, profound, and utterly absorbing novel in which an investigation into a murder becomes an investigation into mysticism, community, drugs, and what we find when we push our minds to the very limit."
—Phil Klay, author of Redeployment and Missionaries

"The 12th Commandment is a one of-a-kind pleasure. A dark murder mystery full of surprises, but also a romantic comedy, but also a serious novel of ideas. Featuring a likable millennial journalist, a likable millennial prosecutor, and –– only in America! — a cannabis-loving, assault rifle-toting, ultra-orthodox messianic Jewish cult on a commune in rural Ohio. And also: splendidly written." — Kurt Andersen, author of Turn of the Century and True Believers

"Daniel Torday's third novel is a revelation, a page-turner with bursts of prophecy and poetry. The 12th Commandment feels like a genre unto itself—theological noir, Ohio gothic. Torday is such a sharp observer of the spaces where American communities overlap and where the secular and the sacred collide. It's thrilling to read one of my favorite writers doing something utterly, dazzlingly new." — Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia!, Vampires in the Lemon Grove, and Orange World

Kirkus Reviews

2022-09-28
Heavily armed Jewish mystical cult meets weed-legalization conspiracy meets renewed college love affair meets ecstatic highs of various persuasions.

"Zeke turned onto Shabbetai Road, where he encountered all at once: an RV with an immense airbrushed painting of the face of Nathan Fritzman, Natan of Flatbush, Hebrew lettering atop the image; two trailer homes in the near distance; a single two-story colonial set back from the road; and in front of each of these buildings, men in traditional Hasidic garb carrying automatic rifles." Following his exploration of a splinter social movement in Boomer1 (2018), Torday dives deep into the beliefs, text, practices, and marijuana operation of an imaginary Jewish cult with ties to both the Satmar of New York and the Dönme, Turkish Jews who feigned conversion to Islam. His protagonist, Ezekiel “Zeke” Leger, is a New York–based journalist and magazine editor who travels back to Central Ohio for the funeral of a college friend. Shortly after he arrives, an Uber driver suggests he investigate the story of Nathan Fritzman, a Jewish cult leader currently jailed for the murder of his 16-year-old son. Turns out Zeke's college girlfriend, Johanna Franklin, was the lead prosecutor for the state. Those who are interested in the revival of the love affair between Zeke and Johanna, who met as undergrads at William James College, an Oberlin look-alike, may be less interested in the mystical and unconventionally punctuated writings of Natan of Flatbush concerning the tenets of Ein Sofism, which are included here at some length. Those who are following the investigation of the murder of Fritzman’s son and its connection to the various groups fighting tooth and nail for control of legalized weed in Ohio may find themselves floundering during extended descriptions of drug-induced experiences. But through it all, Torday’s redoubtable novelistic chops produce a steady stream of strong dialogue and sharply drawn scenes.

The disparate elements of this ambitious mashup may make it difficult for it to find its ideal readers.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940175856072
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date: 01/17/2023
Edition description: Unabridged
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