Logan Ryan Smith

The God of Salt & Light Logan Ryan Smith

From the author of MY EYES ARE BLACK HOLES: "In the shadow of the Sea, one should expect a rebirth, again and again. One should expect to be pressed into Her clay and molded, shaped, throughout a lifetime. Throughout eternity. And there, again, so was I."On the bone-sand shores of the Salton Sea, a man's faith is tested. There, in a sunbaked desert land, he gives himself over to the Sea, for She is the soul's salvation. She is the source of everlasting freedom, this accidental lake, this manufactured God. Daily he baptizes in Her thick waters and watches his hands crystalize from the salt. Daily he cleanses his lungs with the stench left behind by floating islands of rotting fish on Her surfaces. To Outsiders, the Salton Sea, and the lawless squatter's town of Slab City where he lives, are eyesores. Something to be ignored or forgotten. But he knows She's special. And he's going to tell the world about it. He spends sleepless nights awaiting Her Word so that he may write it down. He gathers together The People of the Salton Sea so that they may sing songs of Her, worship Her, and follow with reverence and obedience. When the Sea orders him to write a book, he does, and distributes it. But soon his little group of believers is overwhelmed by a swarm of people that threatens to take everything away. And now the government wants to sell the land out from under them and displace them all. Desperate for a sign, desperate to know which path to lead his people on, he discovers the Sea relishes in his pain and sacrifice. Has he sacrificed too much? And what will the Law make of those sacrifices? The Sea always leads him toward the light. But at the heart of the Sea, a fearsome monster stirs. When the sleeping giant awakes, will he be left with nothing? Or will the Sea fulfill his every desire?