Three-Fifths

‘Mesmerising’ SUNDAY TIMES
‘Short, lucid and harrowing’ OBSERVER
‘Dark, gritty and thrilling’ DAILY MAIL
‘Incredibly suspenseful’ ATTICA LOCKE
***An Observer, Guardian and Sunday Times crime fiction/thriller of the month***

Set against the backdrop of the simmering racial tension produced by the LA Riots and the O.J. Simpson trial, comes this powerful hardboiled noir of violence and obsession

Pittsburgh, 1995. Twenty-two-year-old Bobby Saraceno is a biracial black man, passing for white. Bobby has hidden his identity from everyone, even his best friend and fellow comic-book geek, Aaron, who just returned from prison a newly radicalized white supremacist.

During the night of their reunion, Bobby witnesses Aaron mercilessly assault a young black man with a brick. In the wake of this horrifying act of violence, Bobby must conceal his unwitting involvement in the crime from the police, as well as battle his own personal demons.

Three-Fifths is a harrowing story about racism and brutality that is more urgent now than ever.

NOMINATED FOR THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL
NOMINATED FOR THE ANTHONY AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL
NOMINATED FOR THE STRAND CRITICS AWARD FOR BEST DEBUT NOVEL

Genre: Mystery

"In THREE-FIFTHS, John Vercher uses an explosive act of violence to tell a very harrowing, very relevant story about race, but also family and friendship and masculinity—and all the dangers that come with those things. Keep your eye on Vercher—any writer who comes out of the gate this strong is bound for great things." - Rob Hart

"John Vercher has achieved what few others have: he has swung open a door that others either knew was there and feared what was behind it, or acknowledged what was there and falsely nullified its deceptions and dangers. This is a crime story that masterfully, beautifully, ingeniously reveals the duplicity of racial psychology and the far-reaching violence it spawns on the American landscape." - Stephen Mack Jones

"Feverishly entertaining. Resoundingly important. A book treading this kind of ground should not be able to move this fast. THREE-FIFTHS is an honest, fearless page-burner. Vercher is a writer to watch." - David Joy

"A brilliant page turner. John Vercher is a gifted new voice in the crime fiction genre; I can’t wait to see what he does next." - Sujata Massey