South by South Bronx — Abraham Rodriguez

From an American Book Award winner, “a poetic thriller . . . A very different and rewarding mystery” (Booklist).
 
When Puerto Rican ladies' man Alex awakes one morning to find a mysterious woman in his bed, he assumes he's suffered another embarrassing blackout. He soon learns, however, that Ava is not a one-night stand. In fact, he's never met her before.
 
As her story begins to unfold and her reason for appearing in his bed emerges, it is not just Alex's life that she risks, nor her own, but the entire character of the South Bronx, in this twisting novel involving criminals, an NYPD detective, and one man caught in the middle.
 
From the author of Spidertown, called “a crackling good read” by the Los Angeles Times Book Review, and the New York Times Notable Book The Boy Without a Flag, this is a dark and distinctive crime thriller.