alok joddha hernandez

Set in a remote valley, surrounded by mountains and obscured by fog, In the Smoky Air tells the story of Sean, an ordinary college student, and Allie, his beautiful, brilliant, and troubled girlfriend. About to celebrate their one-year anniversary, Sean unexpectedly meets a mysterious woman named Olivia who claims he will have to call her soon. "Don't worry," she assures him, "everything's going to be fine." Suddenly confronted with mystical experiences he cannot explain, Sean's relationship with Allie begins to unravel. But in the midst of it all, Sean's awareness also begins to expand and soon breaches the boundaries of what he ever believed possible.

"Alok Joddha Hernández subtly nudges you out of reality into a liminal world so vivid you slowly realize you've been living there all along. In the Smoky Air is a meticulously crafted debut novel, richly layered and full of surprises, and Hernández is a new writer you must put on your watch list."

-- Heinz Insu Fenkl, PEN/Hemingway Finalist, author of Memories of My Ghost Brother