Fleeing from ever present wildfires and the threat of the Yellowstone Supervolcano erupting, Lee, Becca, and their daughter Analise embark on a road-trip through the state of Utah to a wedding in Zion National Park. Set in the not-too-distant-future, Utah! is a novel about climate change and the intricacies of relationships-between family, partners, religious structures, nature, and the American West. Featuring a litany of intriguing Utah residents including ex and current Mormons, doomsday preppers, military vets, Presbyterian ministers, and Colombian housewives, these characters eventually find their paths crossing in violence, disaster, and friendship. Through desert islands, climbing gyms, beer bars, suburbia, mountains, coffee shops, long drives, and mass shootings, Utah! seeks to show the true diversity, beauty, and yes, sometimes peculiar, aspects of one of the most misunderstood states. It's a novel about the smoldering darkness beneath the surface of our individual selves and society ... and what happens when we refuse to acknowledge our past transgressions. Utah! is a slow burn of a novel that ends with an explosive finish. "Levi Rogers takes on the odd and fascinating juxtapositions of the Beehive State in "Utah!" With humor and deep empathy for the pains of living day to day, he plumbs the question: Does humanity deserve to be saved? Rife with historical, cultural and geologic gems endemic to Utah, he engages readers in a quest that might lead us out of the snarled conditions of hate, greed and global ill health in which we find ourselves today." -Bernadette Murphy, author, "Harley and Me: Embracing Risk on the Road to a More Authentic Life" and proud transplant to Park City, Utah. "Rogers' plainspoken prose deftly depicts ordinary life interspersed with images of personal and societal doom." -Kirkus Reviews BookLife Prize - 2021 Review Plot/Idea: 9 out of 10 Originality: 10 out of 10 Prose: 9 out of 10 Character/Execution: 10 out of 10 Overall: 9.50 out of 10 Plot: This thought-provoking novel captures a reader's attention with its timely subjects and compelling characters, and keeps them on the edge of their seats throughout. The plot points are believable, well-structured, and, most importantly, honest in their depiction of the various shades of gray inherent in every issue. This novel is engaging from start to finish. Prose/Style: Rogers's prose is sophisticated and flows relatively well, with few hiccups. The alternative POV format works really well for the novel's theme and storyline. The dialogue is realistic, and even the internal monologue of an unlikable character is believable. The depictions of Utah—both the state's physical landscape and its cultures/traditions, including the Mormon religion—are well-written and informative without being didactic. Originality: Rogers's timely and engaging novel doesn't shy away from questioning the big issues of today and how the Mormon and evangelical religious faiths are responding to them. Using the threat of a natural disaster as the catalyst that informs the various plot points and characters' actions is smart and works really well at creating a truly entertaining and enlightening novel. Character Development/Execution: Divided up by chapters, each belonging to the voice of a different character, this novel does a wonderful job giving each a distinct voice. Their motivations and true concern about the questions inherent in both religion and life in general are genuine, believable, and thought-provoking. Levi Rogers is a Colorado native, writer, and former coffee roaster currently based in the land of the Chinook and Multnomah people. He has an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Antioch University Los Angeles and a Bachelors of English from the University of Utah. He's published essays, poetry, fiction, and reviews in Entropy, Sojourners, Lunch Ticket, Drunk Monkeys, Akashic Books, Revolv Magazine, Hoot, A Deeper Story, StandArt, Freshcup, Roast Magazine, and Devour Magazine. His debut novel, Utah! A Novel is available from Atmosphere Press on April 20th, 2021. Rogers has attended residencies at the Lighthouse Writer's Workshop in 2020, the Tin House Summer Workshop in 2018, and the Writer's Hotel Conference in 2017. He has read at the Utah Arts Festival and served on Antioch University's literary journal, Lunch Ticket. He owns and runs a coffee roasting company, La Barba Coffee, in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he lived for the last eight years before moving to Portland, Oregon where he lives with his wife and two daughters.  Rogers is also at work on as a collection of memoirs and essays about belonging, faith, and depression called All We Can Hope for in This Dark and Beautiful World.