First published 2021
Sterling Beckenbauer wakes to violence in their London neighborhood. They suffer an attack, then face arrest on dubious charges. The system turns against them without reason or justice. Sterling refuses to accept this fate. They gather their friends and mount their own trial. They will clear their name and challenge those in power. Their world fills with bullfighters and high fashion, DIY theater and time travel. The Beach Boys soundtrack their surreal journey through a city that bends reality. Sterling navigates this strange landscape as a nonbinary migrant seeking solidarity. They must find new ways to claim justice in a world that denies truth itself. Their fight becomes a search for connection and meaning when institutions fail.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, mystery, crime, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: London
Period: 21st Century
192 pages · Paperback · Graywolf Press
Content warnings: violence