First published 2020
Sportcoat, an elderly deacon at Five Ends Baptist Church, walks into the Causeway Housing project courtyard one September day in 1969. He pulls out a .38 and shoots the local drug dealer point blank in front of witnesses. The fumbling, cranky old man has his reasons, but they remain unclear as chaos spreads through south Brooklyn. The shooting ripples through the neighborhood, affecting African American and Latinx residents, white neighbors, NYPD investigators, fellow church members, and Italian mobsters. Each group responds differently to the violence that has shattered their interconnected world. As McBride reveals the web of relationships binding these characters together, the truth behind Sportcoat's desperate act slowly emerges. The story shows how lives overlap in unexpected ways during the turbulent late 1960s in New York. Through compassion and hope, the characters discover that facing change without fear offers the best path forward.
Genres: fiction, drama, american-fiction, historical-fiction, african-american, crime
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: ensemble-cast, interconnected-stories, redemption, social-commentary
Setting: Brooklyn, Causeway Housing, Five Ends Baptist Church, New York
Period: 1969
370 pages · Hardcover · Riverhead Books
Content warnings: drug-use, violence