The Dying Ground

Billy: dead. Felicia: missing.. None of the words made sense together but the doom I''d expected announced itself. I felt iron in my mouth like I''d gargled with pennies a taste like blood a bitter taste that always followed bad news.. The setting is Oakland 1989; the crack epidemic is at its height and turf wars are brewing. Maceo Redfield currently on hiatus from college is walking a fine line between respectability and involvement in Oakland''s drug underworld. As he waits in the neighborhood barbershop one of his closest childhood friends Holly Ford brings him the news of the murder of Billy Crane the third member of their childhood trio and a successful drug dealer. Felicia Billy''s girlfriend and Maceo''s true love is on the run and suspected of setting up the hit. As he searches for Felicia and the answer to the mystery of Billy''s murder Maceo is drawn deeper into a world in which dealers players and interlopers obeying a code of honor all their own engage in a deadly game to capture the heart of Oakland. When Maceo uncovers the truth about Billy the story builds to a terrifying and painful climax.