Review by Booklist Review
Brooks (Promise Boys, 2024) offers up another compelling whodunit with this story of a shooting at protest. In the sweltering D.C. summer, Cooper's feeling aimless, since the teen jobs program he was relying on was unceremoniously canceled. When his best friend, Jay, recruits him to stand watch during a smash-and-grab, he reluctantly follows. Soon, though, he's toting thousands in stolen goods during a protest when a murder occurs, in which Jay's the top suspect. Cooper joins up with Jay's sharp, determined sister, Monique, to prove Jay's innocence while trying to conceal his own involvement. Brooks' cinematic mystery is full of twists involving crooked cops and charismatic leaders. Brooks treats the issues of police violence and the reverberating effects of disinvestment in Black communities with plenty of meaningful nuance, including how the precarity of systemic poverty can ease the way for bad actors to take advantage of vulnerable communities. While a few plot holes might irk some readers, teens who love procedural detective TV shows will appreciate this satisfying mystery.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Sixteen-year-old Cooper King has always tried to heed his late mother's words: "Actions have consequences. Make your own choices." After his best friend, Jason--whom Coop views as an older brother figure--persuades him to go looting during a protest, however, he finds himself implicated in a murder following a woman's death. When Jason is arrested as a suspect, Coop worries he could be next. Then Jason's younger sister (and Coop's childhood crush) Monique enlists Coop's help in clearing her brother's name, setting the two teens on a dangerous path. Romance blossoms as Monique and Coop track down clues together; all the while, Coop keeps his part in the looting a secret. As Jason's involvement in an underground organization comes to light, and as each of Coop's friends get drawn into the murder investigation, time starts ticking down. Monique and Coop's alternating perspectives unspool in this intense thriller by Brooks (Promise Boys), who cleverly utilizes classic murder mystery elements to craft an expansive story that contends with issues surrounding racism, police brutality, and corruption. Readers will root for the protagonists' dynamic relationship and quest for justice. Cooper, Jason, and Monique are Black. Ages 14--up. (May)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up--Multi-hyphenate author/filmmaker/rapper Brooks undeniably reflects his celluloid experience with a cinematic murder mystery set in Brooks's native Washington, DC, complete with enhancing soundscapes, including helicopter blades and buzzing cellphones. That two Hollywood actors make their audiobook debuts here seems fitting, taking turns voicing the "he said/she said" solution team. Still reeling from his mother's death, Cooper (brash, concerned Joseph) relies much more on his big-brotherly relationship with Jason, even if that means occasionally doing the wrong thing. One bad decision--carrying Jason's stolen loot during a BLM protest--triggers life-changing consequences when a protestor is murdered and Jason is arrested for the crime. Jason's sister Monique (confident, determined Sousa, especially affecting when she performs Mo's resonating poetry) knows her brother is innocent. Coop joins his forever crush to clear Jason's name--and hopefully his own. VERDICT Brooks's all-too-timely, aurally proven, close-up ready thriller just needs that studio contract.
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Review by Horn Book Review
Sixteen-year-old Cooper King has always tried to follow his father's admonition to avoid political protests for his own safety. But then a schoolmate is shot by the police, and Jason, who is like a big brother to him, plans to loot a high-end fashion boutique during a peaceful protest against racist police violence: "Every time they take one of ours, it's tax season...I'll use that bread to build up the neighborhood, on some real Robin Hood type shit." Cooper is caught between his father's advice and wanting to help the cause. He decides to join Jason in robbing the store -- but then shots are fired, a woman is dead, and Jason is arrested for murder. His younger sister, Monique, collaborates with Cooper to find the real culprit and free her brother, but Cooper doesn't tell Monique of his own involvement, even as their friendship turns increasingly romantic. Tension escalates during their sleuthing as they encounter "dirty cops, double agents, [and] confidential informants." As he did in Promise Boys (rev. 1/23), Brooks writes with easily readable prose, abundant dialogue, multiple points of view, and astute social commentary, artfully constructing a complex murder mystery that will engage and involve readers. Dean SchneiderJuly/August 2025 p.92 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
After a woman is shockingly murdered during a Black Lives Matter protest in Washington, D.C., two teens team up to find the real shooter before someone they both care about takes the fall. Cooper King, a Black teen, has been directionless since the death of his mother, which is why he reluctantly agrees to help his mentor, Jason, loot stores during an anti--police violence protest, even though it goes against everything he was raised to believe. Cooper desperately wants to hide his involvement in the theft from his childhood friend and secret crush, Monique, a young poet, activist, and high-achieving student. But she becomes involved nonetheless after Jason, who's her brother, is arrested for the murder. The pair are sure that Jason is innocent and resolve to clear his name by finding the culprit. Their investigation reveals a conspiratorial web of lies and relationships that complicates the potential motive and exposes the racial inequities, political corruption, and social unrest in their city. Each new clue and twist is revealed through Cooper's and Monique's alternating points of view, as they gradually piece together answers to an increasingly dangerous and high-stakes whodunit, all while falling in love. Brooks deftly explores the everyday growing pains of Black boyhood and girlhood alongside the threats of racial injustice and police violence faced by youths, often drawing parallels to real activists and movements. A thrilling, heart-racing mystery with a page-turning budding romance at its center.(Mystery. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
