First published 2023
Ben Ravage returns from Harvard Law School to Manhattan's Lower East Side, where Abraham Cahan of the Jewish Daily Forward once rescued him from an orphan's fate. The ghetto teems with corrupt police and con artists. Ben rejects comfortable opportunities uptown and joins the Kehilla, a vigilante organization funded by wealthy patrons to clean up the neighborhood. His mission: track down the Jewish "Mr. Hyde," a deranged predator stalking prostitutes on Allen Street. Ben navigates a world where rogue cops protect criminals and violence lurks behind every tenement door. As he closes in on his quarry, Ben discovers his own destiny connects to this brutal killer in ways he never imagined. The investigation forces him to confront the darkness within his community and himself.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, investigation, redemption
Setting: Allen Street, Harvard Law School, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Period: 20th-century
288 pages · Paperback · Bellevue Literary Press
Content warnings: violence