Wander In The Dark

If you enjoy chillers featuring the nasty side of snobby elite private high schools as much as I do you are in for a real treat. Jumata Emill's Wander In The Dark is all that and a bag of chips. I read it at camp with no distractions other than an inquisitive red squirrel. It was the cherry topping the ice cream sundae of a perfect weekend.
Amir and Marcel are half brothers, the before and after on their father's time line. He was married to Amir's mother when he was struggling to achieve his dream of restaurant ownership and is married to Marcel's mother for the years of fame and fortune. Needless to say, there's no love lost between the moms. And Amir has stopped visiting his dad. Amir has recently transferred to Marcel's exclusive private school because of his mother's concern that he was in bad company in the local public school. Truman Academy is majority white; Marcel and Amir are Black.
It's the last day of Mardi Gras. Marcel is throwing himself a sixteenth birthday party. In a cringeworthy display of clueless parenting Mom and dad have conveniently retreated to a hotel for the night, leaving him in charge of the mansion.
Amir had decided to boycott the birthday bash. But a friend, Chloe, last minute texted him that he should go. At the party she has fight with her ex boyfriend Trey. Chloe asks Amir to give her a ride home and to stay the night. Her parents are out for the night and she doesn't want to be alone. He falls asleep on her sofa. When he wakes up he looks for her and finds her dead, understandably panics, and runs home.
The police think they have their man. Amir has been caught by a surveillance camera running away from the scene of the crime. Rich white girl, not rich black boy. Not to mention it's an election year. People in high places don't want to be toppled from their positions of power and prestige.
But Amir has an unexpected ally. Marcel has never stopped loving his big bro. Now he's going to do whatever it takes to prove Amir's innocence.
On a purrrsonal note, I am praying for Joe Biden to drop out of the election. It's not about his age. If he was 40 I'd feel the same way. I don't feel that he has the bold, big picture, collaborative leadership needed to tackle the urgent problems of the 21st century. And now he's thinking I can take him down rather than who can do best by this country. I don't think it's Trump either. Who would you like to see win in November? I'd like to see someone with a bold vision like AOC.
A great big shout out goes out to the folks who are trying to get Biden to do the right thing by this nation.
Jules Hathaway.