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Table of Contents
About the Book
“An urgent, plausible, upsetting, and unexpectedly moving look at our gradual descent into dystopia.” —Daniel Krauss, Pulitzer Prizer winner
From an acclaimed screenwriter comes a provocative, propulsive debut novel about a billionaire tech visionary who creates a method to stop aging, putting him in the crosshairs of an extremist group and forcing a tense reunion with his estranged son, who is dying of old age.
Paul Whitmore, the world’s wealthiest man, begins each day on his secluded Marin, California, estate with a guided meditation, an hour of exercise, and a proprietary nutritional shake. These are the first three steps in a strict, monastic protocol known as The Method—a protocol which arrests the aging process. Paul is 122 years old, yet he appears no older than fifty; he has unlocked the secret to eternal life and is ready to bring his breakthrough to market. The world is poised to enter a post-aging future.
But not everyone wants Paul to succeed, and his enemies are prepared to use violence to keep The Method from launching. Alone in his private Xanadu, Paul is well-insulated from the steady stream of death threats. But when a new threat emerges that targets Paul’s estranged son, Max, he is forced to take action. Max is eighty-five years old, living in a nursing home, and has not spoken to his father since he was a child. As far as he’s concerned, Paul Whitmore can rot in hell. Paul brings Max to his compound to protect him, but the real test soon becomes clear: can he care for his son? Is it ever too late to be a father, or a son? Unfortunately, the answers to these questions require time—and time is suddenly in short supply. The men who have threatened his son are coming for them both, and the gates surrounding his compound are less secure than he realizes.
A “haunting, humane, and utterly compelling” (Barry Jenkins, Academy Award–winning director) page-turner with unusual depth and substance, The Natural Order grapples with issues of technology, longevity, and the true value of time.
From an acclaimed screenwriter comes a provocative, propulsive debut novel about a billionaire tech visionary who creates a method to stop aging, putting him in the crosshairs of an extremist group and forcing a tense reunion with his estranged son, who is dying of old age.
Paul Whitmore, the world’s wealthiest man, begins each day on his secluded Marin, California, estate with a guided meditation, an hour of exercise, and a proprietary nutritional shake. These are the first three steps in a strict, monastic protocol known as The Method—a protocol which arrests the aging process. Paul is 122 years old, yet he appears no older than fifty; he has unlocked the secret to eternal life and is ready to bring his breakthrough to market. The world is poised to enter a post-aging future.
But not everyone wants Paul to succeed, and his enemies are prepared to use violence to keep The Method from launching. Alone in his private Xanadu, Paul is well-insulated from the steady stream of death threats. But when a new threat emerges that targets Paul’s estranged son, Max, he is forced to take action. Max is eighty-five years old, living in a nursing home, and has not spoken to his father since he was a child. As far as he’s concerned, Paul Whitmore can rot in hell. Paul brings Max to his compound to protect him, but the real test soon becomes clear: can he care for his son? Is it ever too late to be a father, or a son? Unfortunately, the answers to these questions require time—and time is suddenly in short supply. The men who have threatened his son are coming for them both, and the gates surrounding his compound are less secure than he realizes.
A “haunting, humane, and utterly compelling” (Barry Jenkins, Academy Award–winning director) page-turner with unusual depth and substance, The Natural Order grapples with issues of technology, longevity, and the true value of time.
Appearances
OCT 27
7:00PM
In Person
Learn MoreMrs. Dalloway's Literary & Garden Arts
2904 College Ave
Berkeley, CA 94705
OCT 29
6:30PM
In Person
Interviewed by Carrie Seim
Village Well Books & Coffee
9900 Culver Blvd
1B
Culver City, CA 90232
NOV 8
2:00PM
In Person
Mysterious Galaxy
3555 Rosecrans St
Ste 107
San Diego, CA 92110
NOV 9
7:00PM
In Person
appearing with Adam Plantinga
Poisoned Pen
4014 N Goldwater Blvd
#101
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
NOV 17
7:00PM
In Person
Third Place Books
6504 20th Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98115
About the Author
Jennifer Carroll Corbett
Matthew Aldrich, a renowned writer for film and television, is best known for cowriting Disney Pixar’s Coco, which won two Academy Awards, including Best Animated Feature. His screenplay also won top prize at the International Animated Film Association Awards and was nominated for the Humanitas Prize. The Natural Order is his first novel.
Product Details
- Publisher: Atria Books (October 27, 2026)
- Length: 352 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668217399
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Raves and Reviews
“A book that can't be read fast enough—an urgent, plausible, upsetting, and unexpectedly moving look at our gradual descent into dystopia.”
—Daniel Kraus, bestselling author of Angel Down, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
“A bold, profound, and deeply moving novel. Matthew Aldrich takes a premise that could have been a pure high-concept thriller and turns it into something richer: a story about fathers and sons, grief and repair, and the terrible beauty of being mortal.”
—Glen Powell, the Golden Globe-nominated star of Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone But You, Hit Man, and Twisters
“A gripping and well-paced story full of philosophical questions and emotional gut punches. . . . The scariest thing about this book is that it seems plausible. That said, while it feels like a portrait of a not-too-distant dystopian future, it’s still a very human story—a tale of family and regret, of two men at what might be the ends of their lives, reflecting on what it would mean to do away with death and still feel like there’s not enough time.”
—Kirkus (starred review)
A dystopian thriller with the heft of a philosophy textbook and the heart of a feel-good movie.
“Compulsively readable and genuinely moving. . . . This thriller is equal parts propulsive and thoughtful, weaving together questions of parenthood, mortality, and inequality without ever losing its grip on readers.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
“The Natural Order is a novel of tremendous intelligence and feeling. Matthew Aldrich understands that the question is not whether we can live forever, but what forever might cost us, and whether love, grief, hunger, family, and time are the very things that make us human.”
—Richard LaGravenese, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter of The Fisher King and writer of The Bridges of Madison County and Behind the Candelabra
“Matthew Aldrich has written a beautiful contradiction: a page-turner about stillness, a futuristic thriller about ancient wounds, a story about living forever that becomes, in the end, an argument for being fully alive. The Natural Order is haunting, humane, and utterly compelling.”
—Barry Jenkins, the Oscar-winning director of Moonlight and Mufasa: The Lion King
“With his terrific debut novel, Aldrich offers up big-swing storytelling anchored by wholly relatable, sympathetically drawn characters. A highly entertaining thriller with a conscience and a heart.”
—Kevin Wade, screenwriter (Blue Bloods) and author of Johnny Careless
“[A] clever speculative debut. . . . The novel’s high-concept premise drives the action-packed plot, but its heart is in Paul and Max’s broken relationship. . . . This is a blast.”
—Publishers Weekly
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