A boy searches for his fugitive brother in 1960s Minnesota in this New York Times bestseller-"a stunning debut novel [of] faith, miracles, and family" ( Publishers Weekly, starred review). An eleven-year-old asthmatic boy, Reuben Land has reason to believe in miracles. But he will soon learn that life, even when touched by the divine, is never easy. Along with his father and poetically inclined sister, Reuben finds himself on a cross-country search for his outlaw older brother who has been controversially charged with murder. The Land family's journey is touched by serendipity and the kindness of strangers, and its remarkable conclusion demonstrates how family, love, and faith can stand up to the most terrifying of enemies-and the most tragic of fates. "A rich mixture of adventure, tragedy, and healing," Peace Like a River is "a collage of legends from sources sacred and profane-from the Old Testament to the Old West, from the Gospels to police dramas" (Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor).

Leif Enger was raised in Osakis, Minnesota, and worked as a reporter and producer for Minnesota Public Radio for nearly twenty years. He lives on a farm in Minnesota with his wife and two sons.

A ?reminder of why we read fiction to begin with? (San Francisco Chronicle), Peace Like a River is Leif Enger's extraordinary debut novel?a heroic quest, a tragedy, a love story, and a haunting meditation on the possibility of magic in the everyday world?with over one million copies sold

Raised on tales of cowboys and pirates, eleven-year-old Reuben Land has little doubt that miracles happen all around us, and that it's up to us to ?make of it what we will.? Reuben was born with no air in his lungs, and it was only when his father, Jeremiah, picked him up and commanded him to breathe that his lungs filled. Reuben struggles with debilitating asthma from then on, making him a boy who knows firsthand that life is a gift, and also one who suspects that his father is touched by God and can overturn the laws of nature.

The quiet Midwestern life of the Lands is upended when Davy, the oldest son, kills two marauders who have come to harm the family; unlike his father, he is not content to leave all matters of justice in God's hands. The morning of his sentencing, Davy?a hero to some, a cold-blooded murderer to others?escapes from his cell, and the Lands set out in search of him. Their journey is touched by serendipity and the kindness of strangers?among them a free spirit named Roxanna, who offers them a place to stay during a blizzard and winds up providing them with something far more permanent. Meanwhile, a federal agent is trailing the Lands, convinced they know of Davy's whereabouts.

With Jeremiah at the helm, the family covers territory far more extraordinary than even the Badlands where they search for Davy from their Airstream trailer. Sprinkled with playful nods to biblical tales, beloved classics such as Huckleberry Finn, the adventure stories of Robert Louis Stevenson, and the westerns of Zane Grey, Peace Like a River unfolds like a revelation.