a HISTORY OF HEARTACHE: STORIES
“In this debut collection, celebrated journalist Patrick Strickland's vivid and character-driven stories are as true to life as his award-winning reportage.
In A History of Heartache, boys grow up fast in the blazing heat of North Texas and men grow old before their time. A wayward son rides shotgun into a night he can't take back. A janitor at an abortion clinic can’t outrun a ghost—or a camera. Strickland writes with clear-eyed realism and unsparing craftsmanship about common people—fathers and sons; widowers and junkies—poised on the knife-edge of hope.
With taut sentences and a wicked sense of humor, these 14 stories chart the small mercies and big mistakes that make a life: the songs we inherit, the bottles we empty, the tools we fashion from whatever’s at hand. Gritty and tender in the same breath, this debut fiction collection asks what it costs to stay, what it takes to leave, and who we become when we do. Readers of Breece D’J Pancake and Denis Johnson will recognize the hard light, bruised humor, and sudden grace that burn through these pages.” — Melville House
Out April 21, 2026.
You Can Kill Each other after I leave: REFUGEES, FASCISM, AND BLOODSHED IN GREECE
“Dives deep into the world of Greece's far right and monitors the country's political struggle over the treatment of refugees.” — New York Times
“Ten years of reporting have produced a disturbing, keenly observed account of how Golden Dawn evolved from a fringe fascist outfit into the country's third largest political power.” — The New Internationalist
"Star investigative journalist and chronicler Patrick Strickland goes deep into today's Greece and finds an ugly core, an emboldened fascism that provides inspiration to Europe's anti-refugee alliances. This book is a warning that we'd be foolish to ignore." — Antony Loewenstein, author of The Palestine Laboratory
“This is one of the best books written about our current political crisis, and it never loses sight of the real struggle for justice happening on the border and in the streets." — Shane Burley, author of Fascism Today: What It Is and How to End It
“A fine example of good journalism, highlighting those who resisted the rise of the far right.” — Incubator for Media Education and Development
THE MARAUDERS: STANDING UP TO VIGILANTES IN THE AMERICAN BORDERLANDS
“The Marauders is a blistering book, a hard-ass stare into the voracious mouth of the US-Mexico border. Patrick Strickland has done a fine piece of reporting from places we don’t dare to tread.” — Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Hummingbird’s Daughter
Strickland crosses the desert of simplistic, hopeless border narratives and finds an oasis: communities resistant to the disease of militant right-wing extremism ravaging the country. An important antidote to the cartoonish border stories that make ‘news.’” — Roberto Lovato, author of Unforgetting
“This vivid, character-driven report spotlights one Arizona town’s efforts to fight back against ‘a flood of extremely dangerous, virulently racist, and heavily armed outsiders’ who have flocked to the US border with Mexico in recent years . . . A fascinating and often harrowing portrait of a community in the crosshairs.” — Publishers Weekly
“A vital reminder that decency . . . has not been entirely obliterated by paranoia-induced, racist rage. Amazingly, The Marauders manages to be appalling and inspiring at the same time.” — Jeff Guinn, author of The Last Gunfight
“Revealing and worthy reading for anyone with an interest in border and immigration issues.” — Kirkus Reviews
aLERTA! ALERTA! SNAPSHOTS OF EUROPE’S ANTI-FASCIST STRUGGLE
“Patrick Strickland is an incisive and relentless journalist who has spent years immersed in the global currents of rebellion, and in Alerta! Alerta! he provides a clear eyed portrait of Europe's anti-fascist resistance that is utterly essential in the era of Trump.”— Molly Crabapple, author of Drawing Blood
“As a fascist darkness descends over Europe, Patrick Strickland uncovers the bars, squats, fight clubs, and street corners where resistance burns brightest. Each page of his journey breathes with the tumultuous struggles of brave anti-fascists who risk imprisonment, assault, and even death to take a stand. Though struggles differ from Germany to Greece, from Slovakia to Italy, all anti-fascists agree that ‘never again’ means sounding the alarm of anti-fascism before it's too late — Alerta! Alerta!"— Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook
“As much a warning as it is a report, Patrick Strickland’s Alerta! Alerta! is recommended reading for all those who understand that fascists, white supremacists and Nazis need to be actively opposed, not ignored. In fact, it might be even more important that it is read by those who think Nazis should be ignored.”— Ron Jacobs, author of Daydream Sunset: Sixties Counterculture in the Seventies