The White House

In a brief preface, Coleman (Dopeman's Trilogy) states, "I intentionally drop subtle gems for the people like me who came from where I came," but this revenge thriller is far from subtle. In the prologue, a woman named Draya is in bed with an unnamed male lover ("He slowly ground his hips in circular motions as he dove deep inside of her leaking love box"). Draya has a secret%E2%80%94she ripped off the man a year earlier%E2%80%94though she didn't recognize him when he picked her up in a bar earlier in the evening. After cuffing and gagging her, the man menaces her with a hot iron, "antagonizing her with the sounds of terror," before the narrative flashes back four years earlier. Back then, Draya was working as a cleaning woman for a wealthy couple in Novi, Mich., and, tempted by their wealth, plotted to steal from them to fund her dreams, one of which was paying for her younger brother's college education. Readers should be prepared for explicit sex, brutal violence, and a foregone conclusion. (May)