The Natural Order: A Novel

“An urgent, plausible, upsetting, and unexpectedly moving look at our gradual descent into dystopia.” —Daniel Kraus, Pulitzer Prizer winner

From an acclaimed screenwriter comes a provocative, propulsive debut novel about a billionaire tech visionary who creates a method to stop aging, putting him in the crosshairs of an extremist group and forcing a tense reunion with his estranged son, who is dying of old age.

Paul Whitmore, the world’s wealthiest man, begins each day on his secluded Marin, California, estate with a guided meditation, an hour of exercise, and a proprietary nutritional shake. These are the first three steps in a strict, monastic protocol known as The Method—a protocol which arrests the aging process. Paul is 122 years old, yet he appears no older than fifty; he has unlocked the secret to eternal life and is ready to bring his breakthrough to market. The world is poised to enter a post-aging future.

But not everyone wants Paul to succeed, and his enemies are prepared to use violence to keep The Method from launching. Alone in his private Xanadu, Paul is well-insulated from the steady stream of death threats. But when a new threat emerges that targets Paul’s estranged son, Max, he is forced to take action. Max is eighty-five years old, living in a nursing home, and has not spoken to his father since he was a child. As far as he’s concerned, Paul Whitmore can rot in hell. Paul brings Max to his compound to protect him, but the real test soon becomes clear: can he care for his son? Is it ever too late to be a father, or a son? Unfortunately, the answers to these questions require time—and time is suddenly in short supply. The men who have threatened his son are coming for them both, and the gates surrounding his compound are less secure than he realizes.

A “haunting, humane, and utterly compelling” (Barry Jenkins, Academy Award–winning director) page-turner with unusual depth and substance, The Natural Order grapples with issues of technology, longevity, and the true value of time.