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City of Forts
Paperback
Series: City of Forts, Book 1
Mystery & ThrillerGeneral Fiction
Publisher: Jason Beech
Published: Mar 14 2026
Pages: 384
Weight: 0.84
Height: 0.85 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
The 2nd of 3 explosive novels. One unforgettable anti-hero. A story about the places, and families, that shape us, whether we want them to or not.
Fans of gritty American noir, small-town corruption, and morally complicated heroes will tear through this trilogy from Jason Beech, author of Never Go Back and Moorlands. Beech's prose has been praised for it's serious grip and its refusal to look away from the darkness in ordinary people.
A dead body in the basement. A summer that won't let go. A town that eats its children.
Thirteen-year-old Ricky Nardilo just wants to run wild with his friends through the abandoned houses and rusting factory they call the City of Forts-their last patch of freedom before adulthood swallows them whole. But this summer, freedom comes with a body count.
When Ricky and his friends stumble on a corpse in the basement of their favorite hideout, they make a decision that will haunt them: bury him, say nothing, keep their sanctuary theirs. But the dead don't stay quiet for long, and neither does the man who wants him found. As gangs, dealers, and a self-styled guardian angel with blood on his hands start circling, Ricky's summer curdles into something far darker-one where every adult offers help with a hidden price, and the person watching over his little brother might be the most dangerous of all.
Between a first love slipping away to someone older, a foster kid running from a past he won't name, and a wealthy stranger across the river who sees something useful in a boy from the wrong side of the river, Ricky has to decide what he's willing to bury-and what will bury him.
Gritty, unflinching, and shot through with dark humor, City of Forts is a coming-of-age crime novel for readers who like their innocence lost the hard way. Perfect for fans of Mystic River, Winter's Bone, and anyone who believes the scariest monsters wear a smile and offer to help.
Book 1 in the City of Forts trilogy.
What Readers Are Saying
A stunning tale of crime, corruption, friendship, and betrayal.
- Amazon Review
Tense, atmospheric, and haunting.
- Paul D. Brazill, author of Man of the World
A haunting tale of death, love, and the American Dream on a U.S. town's mean streets.
- Keith Nixon, author of the bestselling Konstantin series
Helluva storyteller... He can take you to a dark place one page and then have you laughing out loud on another.
- Stephen J. Golds, author of Always the Dead
A brilliant read that balances the nostalgia of youth with the brutality of a very grown-up and dark town.
- Aidan Thorn, author of When the Music's Over
...a gritty coming-of-age tale from a master of description. Compelling reading.
- Brendan Gisby, author of The Bookie's Runner
Bad choices. Worse consequences.
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