Marcus Clay's record store is at the epicenter of the drug trade in Washington, D.C., in the mid-1980s. Dimitri Karras, his best friend and store manager, is rapidly developing a nasty drug habit. But things get worse when the two men witness the theft of the bag of a local drug lord who is willing to destroy the entire neighborhood to get it back. "A detailed and emotionally powerful crime novel."--"Chicago Tribune."

It's 1986 and Washington DC is being torn apart by the cocaine trade. The Mayor is too busy chasing coke and hookers to care, and the police force is manned by corrupt rednecks like Richard 'King' Tutt. Down in the neighborhoods, black children are shooting each other over nickel bags and the outside world just doesn't care. The only man prepared to do anything about it is Marcus Clay whose new record store - Real Right Records - is in the heart of the ghetto. Business is okay. What isn't okay is that his wife has thrown him out and his best friend, Dimitri Karras, is hitting the recreational substances way too hard.