After the Earthquake a Fire

From the acclaimed author of The Accidental Terrorist: Confessions of a Reluctant Missionary comes a controversial new look into the lives of Mormon missionaries.


Elder Rigby is a young Mormon from Utah serving a mission in northern Idaho, though to him the experience is more like serving a prison sentence. He and his partner, Elder Crews, do their best to fill their days with meaningful work, but there are only so many doorbells to ring in a town as small as Bonners Ferry.

Then, between the boredom and broken rules, they meet Minnie, an elderly Russian Jew scarred by some of the worst atrocities of the early 20th century. She will force Elder Rigby to confront the bleakness of his own existence, and the limits of his faith.

This novelette, based on the author’s experiences as a missionary and originally published in Bloodstone Review, is now available for the first time as a standalone ebook.