cover image Black Dust

Black Dust

Lynn Charles. Interlude, $17.99 trade paper (312p) ISBN 978-1-941530-63-4

In this moving and heartfelt contemporary, Charles (Chef’s Table) beautifully chronicles the chaos that results from heartbreak and the agonizing efforts one must make to heal after tragedy. In 2000, Toby Spence and Emmett Henderson are on top of the world—young men ready to tackle their music-industry dreams and celebrate their love. In an instant, however, a car accident changes everything: their friend Scotty is instantly killed, and Emmett will require intensive physical therapy to be able to walk again. Painfully, Toby and Emmett part ways. Fast-forward 15 years, and Toby is a celebrated musician in New York City, while Emmett is teaching high school choir in their Indiana hometown. When Emmett brings a group of his students to New York, the two men rekindle their friendship, and later their love affair. But the romance is hampered by Toby’s guilt over Scotty’s death and the way he left Emmett. Readers will agonize, sympathize, and empathize all the way from the beginning of their journey to the end. (Apr.)