by Gary Krist
First published 1999
Jason Rourke and Dennis Monroe are college-bound high school friends from suburban Washington D.C. On a Sunday night, Dennis convinces Jason they should drive to the city's rough neighborhoods to buy marijuana. The black Audi makes them easy targets. When their dealer tries to grab them through the car window, they speed away in panic. The man's arm catches in the door. He gets dragged behind the vehicle until his arm breaks and he falls into the street after gunshots ring out. The boys race home, hearts pounding, grateful to be alive. The next morning's newspaper destroys their relief. The man died from his injuries. Worse, he was an undercover police officer. What began as teenage rebellion becomes a murder investigation. As authorities close in, Jason and Dennis discover the dead officer had ties to a larger political conspiracy. The case pulls them deeper into Washington's corrupt underbelly, where racial tensions and class divisions turn deadly. Their failed attempt to buy drugs transforms into a fight for survival.
Genres: fiction, mystery, crime, political-thriller
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fight-for-survival, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Washington DC
Period: 21st-century
Paperback · Fischer (Tb.), Frankfurt
Content warnings: death, graphic-violence, murder