When people read powerful books with strong messages, they call the work "important." This book is important. It hits hard and paints a picture that is hard to read about, but necessary to see. It uses strong language and vulgar imagery to create truth and show the grit and ugliness that was present in 1995 and continues to plague us. This book hurts. It grabbed ahold of me and didn't let go. I still find myself thinking about it. And even when the pages made me cry and want to slam the book down, I read every word.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Published for the ARC of the book.

Description
A compelling and timely debut novel from an assured new voice: Three-Fifths is about a biracial black man, passing for white, who is forced to confront the lies of his past while facing the truth of his presence when his best friend, just released from prison, involves him in a hate crime. Pittsburgh, 1995. The son of a black father he’s never known, and a white mother he sometimes wishes he didn’t, twenty-two-year-old Bobby Saraceno is passing for white. Raised by his bigoted maternal grandfather, Bobby has hidden his truth from everyone, even his best friend and fellow comic-book geek, Aaron, who has just returned home from prison a hardened racist. Bobby’s disparate worlds collide when his and Aaron’s reunion is interrupted by a confrontation where Bobby witnesses Aaron assault a young black man with a brick. Fearing for his safety and his freedom, Bobby must keep his secret from Aaron and conceal his unwitting involvement in the hate crime from the police. But Bobby’s delicate house of cards crumbles when his father enters his life after more than twenty years. Three-Fifths is a story of secrets, identity, violence and obsession with a tragic conclusion that leaves all involved questioning the measure of a man, and was inspired by the author’s own experiences with identity as a biracial man during his time as a student in Pittsburgh amidst the simmering racial tension produced by the L.A. Riots and the O.J. Simpson trial in the mid-nineties.

A book set in the 90s. But, so relevant today. It is gritty, real and what life has been then and now. Beautifully written.

John Vercher’s Three-Fifths is a powerhouse of a debut, unflinching and honest in its portrayal of race, injustice, and identity. Set against the backdrop of the OJ Simpson trial in 1995, racial tensions are high, and the neighbourhood lines are strictly drawn in a wintry Pittsburgh. The reunion of two childhood friends—one biracial who hides behind the identity of a racist white man, the other just released from a horrific prison stint and newly girded with the dogma of white supremacy—is the harbinger of shocking violence, a hidden crime, and a young man’s quest for identity, justice, and absolution.
Vercher’s writing is intelligent and crisp in style, the tale tightly told without a wasted word. There are no stereotypes here, only characters who are emotionally raw and intimately portrayed. Marriage, motherhood, fatherhood, and friendship are viscerally unpacked and exposed on the page. Race, identity, masculinity, and authenticity to oneself is explored in a thought-provoking, eloquent, pointed manner. The slant of the justice system, the brutality and racism of the police, and the appalling violence of the prison system are highlighted throughout the course of the tale. This story has a wealth of themes seamlessly woven together without ever feeling overcrowded, and the pace drives the reader toward an ending that is both inevitable and surprising.
This is at once a riveting crime thriller and a striking social commentary. A literary edge to the writing style gives this tale even more teeth. Compassionate, thoughtful, and gritty, Three-Fifths is a compelling, timely read. John Vercher’s talent is evident, and this is an author to be watched.
Highly recommended for fans of thoughtfully rendered, tense crime fiction with social discourse interwoven into the plot