by Rob Franklin
First published 2025
Smith gets arrested for cocaine possession in the Hamptons during a blazing summer. The young Black graduate student enters the court system and mandatory treatment, caught between his class privilege and racial vulnerability. His glamorous roommate Elle, part of the Black elite, died weeks earlier amid tabloid coverage. Smith still questions how well he knew his closest friend and what really happened her final night. He escapes to Atlanta, where his family of doctors, college presidents, and lawyers weighs him down with expectations. When his friend Carolyn spirals, Smith returns to New York and falls back into the city's underground scene. His hunt for the truth about Elle threatens his freedom and future. Smith navigates nightlife circuits, recovery meetings, Atlanta high society, police questioning, and courtroom proceedings as his friend group comes of age. The novel follows his journey between worlds, moving upward socially while falling personally, searching for his way back to hope.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, contemporary, adult-fiction, social-issues, mystery-thriller
Vibes: emotionally-complex, gritty, introspective, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: between-two-worlds, coming-of-age, found-family, mystery-investigation
Setting: Hamptons, Atlanta, New York
Period: Contemporary
320 pages · Paperback · S&S/Summit Books
Content warnings: addiction, death, drug-use, racism