Cracked: A Danny Cleary Novel

Danielle “Danny” Cleary, the potty-mouthed narrator of Canadian author Leslie’s dark comic debut, the first of a trilogy, is jolted out of a crack binge by news that her fraternal twin sister, Ginger, is dead. With Darren, her rock musician brother, Danny leaves Toronto for Ginger’s swanky home in Orange County, Calif. Crack highs alternate with bouts of withdrawal vomiting and diarrhea as Danny sets out to find Ginger’s missing twin boys and take revenge on the person who killed her sister. Ginger, who started her drug habit after she lost the love of her life, manages to stay detoxed enough to put her preaddiction martial arts training to gory use. Along the way, the emotionally damaged Danny discovers that strangers will help her after all. This welter of drug-scene violence, with its sordid details of Danny’s crack addiction, far-out fanciful plot twists, and shallow characterizations, won’t be to every taste. (Nov.)