Stillwater

Luke Harris knows lots of classic rock songs, but only the first half, because, although his dad, Quin, is a great musician, the man can only concentrate on one thing for so long. Quin’s also hopeless at being a small-time criminal and is in and out of jail. That’s why when Luke’s mom died when he was a child, he had to go to a group home. Now he’s an independent and resourceful young man, studying to be an accountant and working as an aide to disabled youth. Two things crash into that mostly broke existence: he takes a job looking after Phil, a young man whose wealthy father more or less abandons his son to Luke’s care, and Gus, a mobster who forced Luke to work for him when he was younger, finds Luke and wants him back on payroll. A maybe-romance with Emma, Phil’s actress sister, complicates Luke’s struggle to get out of Gus’s clutches, a journey that ends with scary characters and threats meeting in a tense showdown. Scott invites us deep into the tangles of a coming-of-age story that’s fraught with complicated loyalties, love, and desperation. A great read for those who enjoyed T. Jefferson Parker’s A Thousand Steps.