First published 2020
Mary Elizabeth McPherson cuts class with her friend Sofia on the first warm April day, dropping ecstasy in her family's dining room while her Chicago suburb drowses in afternoon quiet. Their neighborhood of Ilios Lane sits between two worlds: Frank Lloyd Wright houses and upscale shops to the west, struggling blocks recovering from urban decay to the east. As the drugs take hold, thieves systematically rob every home on their pristine cul-de-sac. The break-ins shatter more than windows and doors. Neighbors who thought they knew each other discover how quickly fear transforms into suspicion. Long-buried prejudices surface as residents search for someone to blame. The community that prided itself on bridging Oak Park's extremes of wealth and poverty begins to fracture along the very lines it hoped to heal. Through twenty-four hours that change everything, Mary Elizabeth and her neighbors confront what they've built together and what they stand to lose.
Genres: domestic-fiction, mystery, crime, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: community, social-commentary, suspense
Setting: Chicago, Ilios Lane, Oak Park
Period: 21st-century
1 pages · Audio CD · Blackstone Publishing
Content warnings: anxiety, depression, drug-use