Breitbart News Senior Writer John Nolte — the #1 most-searched author by Breitbart’s millions of loyal readers — will release his highly anticipated debut novel, Borrowed Time (Bombardier Books) on September 26.
In Borrowed Time, a breakneck suspense thriller’s pacing collides with a page-turner mystery to tell the tale of “an everyday man cursed with immortality.”
Unlike the viral columns Nolte’s fans share daily across social media, the author says Borrowed Time is the culmination of five years of painstaking plotting followed by two years of rigorous writing.
“My only goal was to write a page-turner and not be a hypocrite. After years of criticizing Hollywood for breaking the storytelling spell with heavy-handed politics, I wanted to tell a great story by way of compelling characters and universal themes,” Nolte said.
When asked why Breitbart News readers would enjoy Borrowed Time, Nolte replied, “My day job is to write about American politics, culture, and media — what those things mean, where they could take us. The book allows me to explore those same ideas in a deeper and (hopefully) more entertaining way — through allegory, character, and story.”
“What drew me to the story was wondering what immortality would be like — not for a vampire or superhero, but for an everyday man. Would it be a blessing or a curse? My protagonist, Joshua Mason, has lived thousands of years. Yet immortality for him has been a terrible burden,” Nolte continued.
Nolte said, “Then there’s the universal theme of individualism. Mason is the ultimate individual in our current culture, where individualism is frowned upon, a conformist culture enforced by tech corporations, and an increasingly intrusive government. Anyone who wishes to be left alone will relate to how modernity corners Mason.”
Nolte added that there are other themes, including “our universal struggle to understand God, how souls are lost in consumerism, how the ease of modern life robs us of purpose, and how blessed we are without appreciating it.”
After five years of working out the plot and two years of intensive writing, the author explained, “I’m proud of the book, which is not something I often say about my work. Thanks to invaluable input from some smart people and a supportive publisher, it’s something I’m eager for people to read.”
The publisher describes Borrowed Time this way:
Joshua Mason has been alive for thousands of years. He doesn’t know how or why it happened, only that he can die like any man, but will always return.
When you live forever, everything you love will die, so he decided long ago to not become attached. That all changed when he met Doreen. With her, he found something more than the woman he loves, after thousands of years of wandering, he found his place in the world. Now she’s dying of old age. Distraught, Joshua promises to look after Charlie, Doreen’s grandson, who is thirty-six, but forever a child due to a terrible brain injury.
Keeping Charlie safe means making money to keep Charlie’s world — a crumbling motel in the middle of a barren desert — afloat. Mason makes this money by selling his life on the dark web to wealthy people who enjoy the ritual of murdering him.
And now, when Mason only wants to mourn the loss of his wife, he discovers he sold his life to some very dangerous people and that Charlie is not as innocent as he seems.
Some early supporters of Borrowed Time include…
Best-selling author (The Bone Church and Breath series) Victoria Dougherty:
“Borrowed Time is so many things. Epic, thrilling, suspenseful, beautiful. There are horrors in this story that are truly monstrous, and I’m a sucker for a brutal, complicated villain. But it was the love story that got me. When I finished the last page, I actually had to take a moment to breathe.”
Screenwriter (Body Double, A Stranger Among Us) and Emmy-winner Robert Avrech:
“This novel is a high-wire narrative that meditates on life and death and God’s eternal presence…. I read this book in one sitting and look forward to reading it again, out loud, to my grandchildren. This is, quite simply, a great American novel.”
Comedian, writer, director (Upside of Anger, Reign Over Me) Mike Binder:
“[A] … page turner… Sure to be a fun summer read. A love story with a cinematic almost Capra-esque throwback to its feeling and passion, which at the same time is a smart thriller jumping along at a fun clip.”
Lawyer and author David Limbaugh:
“John Nolte has achieved something on which many Christian fiction writers fall short: a riveting, fast-paced novel without sanitizing the characters or the gritty reality of our modern world — and without preaching. Though this book cannot fairly be categorized as Christian fiction, it expresses Christian themes as surely as if it were — and more effectively. I marvel at Nolte’s creative imagination and facility for storytelling. This is a fun but provocative read.”
Oscar-nominated screenwriter and prize-winning mystery novelist Roger Simon:
“John Nolte’s compelling and moving Borrowed Time is no mere first novel. It is the first fictional work to forcefully dramatize the terrifying world we live in today — what Nolte calls the All at Once — while showing us the way out through God and love.”
Breitbart News editor-in-chief Alex Marlow is also a fan:
“I will read anything Nolte writes. He’s sharp, he’s fearless, he’s hilarious. But Borrowed Time is something special. The idea at its center is ingenious, and seeing where he takes this concept is a thrill. I couldn’t put it down.”
“Over three decades, I’ve built an audience going back to my days of writing under the pseudonym ‘Dirty Harry,’ These are the folks who should enjoy Borrowed Time the most,” Nolte explained. “It’s my voice and my view of the world expressed, not with an editorial or preaching, but in a way I hope people will find entertaining, moving, and, above all, gripping.”
Borrowed Time will be released on Tuesday, September 26, and is available for pre-order at Amazon. The unabridged audiobook is also available for pre-order here.