Fourth of July Creek

Fourth of July Creek is a novel by the American writer Smith Henderson, published in 2014. It is set in Montana, and its subject is what happens when the state reaches into the lives of people who have gone as far from it as they can manage.

Pete Snow is a social worker. After he tries to help Benjamin Pearl, an undernourished boy of eleven who is nearly feral and living in the wilderness, he comes face to face with the boy's father, Jeremiah, who is profoundly disturbed and dangerous in his convictions.

Pete slowly earns a measure of trust from the man, a survivalist waiting for a conflict that will signal the end of the world and who does not welcome the attention he is getting. At the same time, Pete's own family is spinning out of control and the suspicion he is under keeps growing.

The father's activities eventually bring in the FBI, and Pete finds himself at the centre of a manhunt. The novel is about freedom and community, and about the suspicion and anarchy on the other side of them.