Part murder mystery, part political thriller, Rock Creek is an epic work of historical fiction set in Washington, D.C. It's the most important city in the world in 1952, but at its heart it's still a small Southern town deeply divided along race and class boundaries. With big themes, bigger characters, and enduring spirit, Rock Creek expertly weaves an evocative tale in small, ineffable moments, telling the story of what happens to those who try to cross D.C.'s dividing lines.
Emily Rose is a beautiful Capitol Hill staffer with a tragic past, rooted in the Holocaust, that she can never quite seem to escape. She's dumped and abandoned in Rock Creek Park, a lush urban wilderness with its own haunted history.
Shane Kinnock is a homicide detective at the lowest point of his life and career, still shell-shocked from the war and scarred by loss. He sees the prospect of redemption in the mystery of Emily's death, but he'll find that her story draws him close to insanity.
Race and intolerance, injustice and protest, publishing and politics, sex and ambition, gambling and government: Rock Creek brings to life a time and place that are so distant, yet still seem so close.
In advance of its 2024 publication, Rock Creek has been praised by James Grady, author of Six Days of the Condor, David Swinson, author of The Second Girl, and Andy Kroll, author of A Death on W Street: The Murder of Seth Rich and the Age of Conspiracy.