THE SLIP

An audacious debut novel in the tradition of Michael Chabon and Jonathan Lethem. Weaving across the canvas of a changing country, it is a daring look at sex and race in America that builds to an unforgettable collision in the center of the ring.

Austin, Texas: It's the summer of 1998, and there's a new face on the scene at Terry Tucker's Boxing Gym. Sixteen-year-old Nathaniel Rothstein has never felt comfortable in his skin, but under the tutelage of the swaggering, Haitian-born ex-fighter David Dalice, he comes into his own. Even the boy's slightly stoned uncle, Bob Alexander, who is supposed to watch him for the summer, notices the change. Nathaniel is happier and more confident. Then, one night he vanishes, leaving little trace behind.

Across the city, Charles Rex, now going simply by "X," has been undergoing a teenage transformation: He trolls his mother's phone sex hotline, seeks an outlet for everything that feels wrong about his body, and looks for intimacy and acceptance in a culture that denies him both. As a surprising and unlikely romance blooms, X feels, for a moment, like he might have found the safety he's been searching for. But it's never that simple.

More than a decade later, Nathaniel's uncle Bob receives a shocking tip, propelling him to investigate his nephew's disappearance. The search involves gymgoers past and present, including a down-on-his-luck twin and his opportunistic brother; a rookie cop determined to prove herself; and Alexis Cepeda, a promising lightweight who crossed the US-Mexico border when he was only fourteen, carrying with him a license bearing the wrong name and face.

Lucas Schaefer has published short fiction and essays. He received a GW Jackson Multicultural Society grant and an MFA from the New Writers Project at UT-Austin.