36 Righteous Men: A Novel

by Steven Pressfield

Overview

The fate of the world hangs in the balance in this futuristic noir thriller.

New York homicide detectives James Manning and Covina “Dewey” Duwai have been called in to investigate a string of brutal and bizarre murders with apocalyptic warnings carved in blood. Their NYPD bosses dismiss this stuff as preposterous. But when Manning and Dewey apprehend a defrocked rabbinical scholar fleeing one of the crime scenes, they are brought face-to-face with the shocking truth: the Jewish legend of the hidden Righteous Men, the 36 who protect the world from destruction, is no legend at all. They are real, and they are being murdered one by one. Manning and Dewey must save the last of the Righteous Men from a killer who may or may not be supernatural and who won’t stop until he has brought about the End Times for the entire human race.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393358407
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	11/24/2020
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	651,339
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Steven Pressfield is the author of the best-selling novels Gates of Fire and Tides of War, as well as The Legend of Bagger Vance. He is also the author of the classics on creativity The War of Art and Turning Pro. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Editorial Reviews

"Steven Pressfield writes as enchantingly of the hard-boiled mean streets of the future as he has of those same byways of the sword-and-sandals past."

David Mamet

"Pressfield keeps the revelations coming at an apocalyptic pace in this page-turner, where the planet’s fate comes to hang by the thread of a single human life."

Wall Street Journal - Tom Nolan

"A page-turning thriller. I couldn’t put it down."

Randall Wallace

"Pressfield keeps the revelations coming at an apocalyptic pace in this page-turner, where the planet’s fate comes to hang by the thread of a single human life."

Tom Nolan - Wall Street Journal

★ 09/30/2019

Set in 2034, when global warming has pushed humankind to the brink of extinction, this un-put-downable apocalyptic thriller from Pressfield (The Profession) is steeped in Jewish eschatology—specifically the legend of the Thirty-Six Righteous Men, whose existence justifies the purpose of humankind in the eyes of God and prevents God from destroying the entire race. But when a serial killer begins murdering the Righteous, New York City police detectives James Manning and Covina “Dewey” Duwai set out to stop the killer before he triggers an end-of-the-world event of biblical proportions. While many narrative elements are noteworthy—the character depth, the powerful political and social commentary, the nonstop action, the breakneck pacing—it’s the author’s meticulously described and alarmingly realistic near-future Earth that will chill readers to their core. This dystopian cautionary tale stands as Pressfield’s most ambitious work to date. Agent: Sterling Lord, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

2019-08-20
In the spring of 2034, during a relative cool spell in New York—it's only 112 degrees outside—a lone assassin has targeted 36 men whose elimination promises to bring about the end of the world.

The letter-shaped bruises found on the crushed throats of four early victims point to a Jewish legend, Biblical scholar Jake Instancer tells NYPD Detective James Manning: After the flood, God promised that "so long as there are Thirty-Six Righteous Men somewhere on Earth, He will never again take action to destroy the human race." Unaware of their special status, these men are hidden around the world. As long as any one of the righteous men remains alive, things are safe. Manning is a "troglodyte," says his hip 28-year-old underling, "Dewey" Duwai, who narrates the story. "The closest he comes to conversation is thinking out loud." In going up against a seemingly invincible villain, Manning puts his Neanderthal traits to good use. With its caustic sensibility, fast and furious action scenes, and brusque dialogue (which is presented in a boxy screenplay format), the book boasts a lively comic-book sensibility. The action extends to Israel, where an intense do-or-die climax takes place in archaeological tunnels beneath accursed Gehenna. This leads to a conference in Cyprus dubbed "Earth's Last Chance," which may leave you wondering whether Pressfield, had he known when he started the book just how fast climate change is progressing, would have put global warming on a more equal footing with his human serial killer as an immediate threat.

Cop mentality meets religious fanaticism meets the future in a highly entertaining pop noir.

Kirkus Reviews