"Ms. Shriver portrays [her characters] with psychological depth and
wry humor, dramatizing a subject that's rarely been exploited in
fiction, and pulling off a novel that not only works, but rocks." --New
York Times Book Review
From the author of the New York Times bestseller The Post-Birthday
World and the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin, a
tender, hilarious story of youth and envy, ambition and rock and roll,
hero worship and heroism, and, especially, love
Beautiful and charismatic, nineteen-year-old Checker Secretti is the
most gifted and original drummer that the club-goers of Astoria, Queens,
have ever heard. When he plays, conundrums seem to solve themselves,
brilliant thoughts spring to mind, and couples fall in love. The members
of his band, The Derailleurs, are passionately devoted to their guiding
spirit, as are all who fall under Checker's spell. But when another
drummer, Eaton Striker, hears the prodigy play, he is pulled inexorably
into Checker's orbit by a powerful combination of envy and admiration.
Soon The Derailleurs, too, are torn apart by latent jealousies that
Eaton does his utmost to bring alive.