After the Lights Go Out is a propulsive exploration of mixed-race identity, the price that athletes pay to entertain, and one man's battle to reconcile his past, from the CWA-shortlisted author of Three-Fifths.
'Powerful, bruising and beautiful, After The Lights Go Out is a blistering story of love and loyalty, family, class and belonging. Those who haven't discovered John Vercher yet are seriously missing out. Outstanding.' - Chris Whitaker
How do you save yourself when you're the person you trust least of all?
Xavier "Scarecrow" Wallace is a biracial Black MMA fighter on the wrong side of thirty, who is facing the comeback fight of his life. He is also losing his battle with pugilistic dementia - a struggle he can no longer deny.
In the nursing home of his father, a white man suffering from end-stage Alzheimer's, Xavier witnesses shocking episodes that expose ugly truths about his past and his family.
And as the big fight draws near, a sparring session with a younger competitor goes horribly wrong, leaving Xavier faced with a dangerous dilemma: throw his match or suffer the deadly consequences.
'John Vercher writes like a fighter, a dancer, an athlete... Here is a novelist at the height of his power.' - Wiley Cash, author of A Land More Kind than Home
