[QCrit] Everyone Will Hurt, Upmarket Crime Thriller, Adult, 78k, First Attempt
First-time posting, long-time lurker. Any feedback appreciated.
Dear ,
I’m writing to submit my debut novel*, Everyone Will Hurt*, complete at 78,000 words. An upmarket crime thriller—think Netflix’s Adolescence meets Shot Caller—written in the vein of S.A. Cosby and Dennis Lehane, with a George V. Higgins quality of dialogue. I read your agent bio page and............ I hope EWH piques your interest.
Nate Dormann is a high school graduate whose future is wide open, apparently too wide. With not-so-subtle nudging from his close-knit family, he’s feeling pressure to do something ‘real’ from all his people. Nate's decision not to go to college and search for meaning is derailed within a few fateful days. A juvenile game with his best friend ends with him losing his girlfriend, getting in a fight at a backyard party, and leaving a boy dead.
Nate is first targeted by the father of the dead boy, then the motorcycle gang he belongs to. Now he must prepare to navigate prison, a new world where innocence is a liability and loyalty is transactional. He must try to hold on to his sense of self while he evolves into a human animal to survive.
His girlfriend is struggling with the fact that Nate brought all this on himself and jeopardized everything they had. His parents, George and Dorothy, are torn between their unwavering love for him and coming to terms with the crime he committed and the grief that follows such a traumatic series of events, and in the end, everyone will hurt.
Nate, realizing prison is no place for reform, quickly has a target on his back. He accepts an offer he can not refuse to click up with a prison gang after two back-to-back incidents show him who is really in control of the prison. Nate is moving up in the prison hierarchy and is adding time to his sentence, when a former teacher with unique connections comes to his aid with a plan to become an FBI informant.
Nate sees no way to end his downward spiral other than taking the deal, but the reach of the prison gang puts not only himself but everyone he cares for in jeopardy. He must find a way to quiet the human animal this prison is making of him and keep himself and his family out of the crosshairs.
Book Comps: We Begin at the End -Chris Whitaker / Don’t Know Tough – Eli Cranor / The Mars Room- Rachel Kushner
Thank you for your consideration,