In Goldberg’s novel, a bookish young man in 1968 fights for his life in Baltimore.

If good intentions pave the road to hell, then it’s fair to say that poor choices pave its high-speed highway. That’s the takeaway that readers may have after reading this dark snapshot of the ’60s, in which Bill Rosenstein finds himself caught between his love of books by his favorite authors and the base desires of his friends. The latter instincts typically find an outlet at Jesse’s Clubhouse, a basement haven in Charm City where sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll flow freely and nobody asks any questions—which is just how its operator, self-styled guru Jesse Roberts, likes it. At the other end of the spectrum is Frank’s Bar, whose gentleman’s-club veneer masks a seedier reality involving underage teens, such as Bill’s friend Leslie Green, and the older men who sexually exploit them. She’s wracked by insecurities that she hides “in clothes much too cheap and in make-up too thick,” and sees no way out of her dead-end life. However, when Bill’s unhappily married parents, Rachel and Sidney, separately find out what Leslie is involved in, they decide to intervene. Rachel’s pursuit of the matter exposes an unlikely connection between the two venues, with Jesse at the center of the spiderweb. Goldberg’s deft storytelling twist at this point effectively sets the stage for a rapid-fire confrontation whose outcome is hardly assured. In the final pages of the novel, Bill, Jesse, Leslie, and their respective pursuers must finally face the consequences of their emotional corner-cutting. Readers who enjoy playing the ever-popular parlor game of whether the ’60s counterculture went too far are likely to find plenty of food for thought, and they’ll savor this novel.

Resentments bubble over with unpredictable and fatal consequences in this tale of decades past.