SCORCHED

A businessman’s unruly past threatens to upend his present-day success in Silver’s novel.

Philly high-schooler Jonas Shore isn’t terribly upset when his cruel father unexpectedly dies in 1974. But peddling drugs to support himself and his mother only lands the teen in trouble and forces him to flee the township. He enrolls in Lafayette Academy, where things start looking up as he bonds with his four roommates. That friendship, however, only lasts until senior year, when the friends become entangled in a crime so unnerving that they vow to break all contact with one another. Twenty years later, Jonas is married with kids and runs a thriving company. Surprisingly, one of his ex-roommates, Douglas “Dugie” Wasserstein, tracks him down, apparently intent on elbowing his way back into Jonas’ life. It’s only the start of the Lafayette crew’s unorthodox reunion, which proves a virtual necessity when that decades-old crime stirs up ill will. Silver masterfully develops a dynamic cast featuring a complex lead—Jonas suffers from a mental condition that first shows up in high school and that he later fights with meds; this apparent illness destabilizes his marriage. The narrative is consistently engrossing, as Jonas often finds himself in precarious circumstances, including earning cash through illicit means, being pitted against rival students (with his roommates), and becoming entangled in a murder mystery. Pithy writing electrifies even seemingly mundane scenes, as when Jonas feels restless: “He leaves the TVs on. Goes to bed early with the radio playing. Wakes in the night. Paces. He puts the lights on timers. He gets a cat. A tuxedo he names Wily.” Notwithstanding the story’s grim overtones, hope sometimes prevails, as when Jonas learns he’s able to rely on at least one friend.

This relentless coming-of-age tale demonstrates how some life choices can leave indelible marks.