Only The Strong

"Jabari Asim’s captivating first novel introduces the close-knit community of Gateway City (which is not unlike his hometown, St. Louis) in the tumultuous year of 1970, two years after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. His cast includes “Guts” Tolliver, a one-time gangland enforcer who now runs a taxi business; Tolliver’s former boss, a crime lord trying to go legit; a beloved pediatrician who is a community leader with a secret, and her high-spirited foster child — all characters so complicated, flawed and beguiling you can imagine you know them as well as your friends and neighbors."