cover image Blinded by the Lights

Blinded by the Lights

Jakub Zulczyk, trans. from the Polish by Marek Kazmierski. Legend (IPG, dist.), $14.95 trade paper (288p) ISBN 978-1-78955-985-9

Polish author Zulczyk makes his English-language debut with a savage contemporary crime novel that spans a week in the life of Warsaw crack dealer Kuba, whose clients include trendy rich youths and social notables. In the course of his work, Kuba encounters depravity, misogyny, homophobia, and racism, and dream sequences reveal his subconscious conviction that he is a sacrifice to ambition and greed, his own as well as others’. Kuba comes to believe his one friend, 30-something nightclub manager Pazina, has betrayed him, and he increasingly uses cocaine as an escape from reality. Kuba’s charming narrative voice and his sense of humor keep the reader riveted as he descends into degrading servitude under a ruthless gang boss, who traps him into committing murder. This gothic odyssey, which has been adapted into an HBO series, is decidedly not for the faint of heart. (Mar.)