Nikki has been thirteen forever. She drives a stolen car up the Carolina hills to her father’s trailer with a backpack full of pills. She is determined to make her way into his life. Drug deals, pimp wars, chicken shit, ecstasy.

Soon Nikki learns what’s required of her to survive – and to prevail – ­ in this world.

Young God introduces a debut novelist with a startling control of language. Scene by harrowing scene, with flashes of brilliant imagery and terse, tense dialogue, this book brings readers into the lost wilds of America. Just as Nikki fights her way into power among dangerous men, Katherine Faw Morris invades stylistic territory usually dominated by male writers – and demands attention.