PREDACEOUS

Juman Swift’s part in the “drug game” is selling the heroin that Julio Gomez supplies. But Juman, who’s based in Detroit, yearns for something more—he wants to do what Julio does, be the connection who distributes narcotics to dealers. But there’s a problem; while his crew, The Savage Clique, transports a van full of heroin, armed and masked men rob them. Now Juman is out hundreds of thousands of dollars. As he’s reluctant to increase his debt to Julio, he turns to a rival crew with the prospect of teaming up and becoming stronger. Meanwhile, Winter Swartz gets released from juvenile detention, having spent four years inside for killing the college student who drugged and raped her when she was barely a teen. She lands her dream job as a flight attendant and later reunites with Summer, one of her friends from juvie. The young women are soon horrified to learn they may not have completely escaped the predatory correctional officer who repeatedly assaulted and tormented them when they were still incarcerated. Juman and Winter ultimately cross paths in a chaotic world of unstable alliances and shocking betrayals.

The author skillfully builds tension in this grim tale, gradually assembling a cast that generates a string of absorbing, interlinked subplots as the characters make precarious side deals, plot coldblooded murder, and secretly harbor malevolence toward supposed friends. As distrust grows among so many people, it’s often difficult to predict who’s going to walk away from any encounter unscathed. The frequent depictions of violence are graphic, including more than one sexual assault scene, though they’re mercifully brief. Ali doesn’t glorify any of what unfolds but rather observes it with an unflinching eye. Many of the characters involved are distinctly unlikable or downright appalling (“He carefully looked into each cell, making a point to pause if something caught his eye. C.O. Wilding was not looking for contraband. He wanted to see which one of his favorite girls would flash him a peek at their perfectly well-kept, well-defined, perky breast”). Even Juman puts making money above everything else and gets worse in the novel’s latter half, growing more aloof and narcissistic. At the same time, Winter’s enthralling subplot fleshes out her character, but she, like the other women herein, endlessly suffers at the hands of men who treat her as little more than an object. Once again, the author isn’t championing this behavior; there’s no hero to be found in this dreary world of ruthless criminals and the horrid things they do. Dialogue comes loaded with slang and racial slurs, though only among people of color. It’s also snappy, and characters’ exchanges flow smoothly, further energizing a story that rarely slows down. Ali may have a sequel in mind; the book ends with a few knockout cliffhangers.