In a near-future american theocracy where the state-church is law and propaganda is prayer, the safest way to survive is to stay silent. for twenty years, that is exactly what calvin has done. once a promising minister-in-training, his life and calling were shattered when his personal identity collided with the church's rigid doctrine. now cast out and broken, he lives a life of quiet isolation, haunted by a past betrayal. but after he witnesses the regime's true brutality firsthand during a violent arrest, a divine and long-forgotten calling is reawakened within him. god has put words of rebellion in his mouth. to speak them is treason. to remain silent is to betray his own soul. for a man who believes he has nothing left to lose, the most dangerous act of faith is pressing 'record'. apostate: the first heresy is the gripping first installment in a new dystopian series that explores the intersection of faith, identity, and rebellion, asking what it means to be a true believer when the church itself has become the oppressor.