DARK PARTS OF THE UNIVERSE

Residents of a small town experience a reckoning when a mysterious app leads a group of teens to a dead body.

The first time he plays Manifest Atlas, an app game that people claim can give you anything you ask for, Willie Eckles wants a sign. Life feels stagnant in rural Calico Springs, a predominantly white Missouri town, and Willie yearns for some direction. He’s mystified to find that the app delivers on his requests—albeit with a cryptic twist each time—but no one believes him, not even Bones, his older brother. Eventually, Willie convinces Bones and his friends (including Sarai from neighboring Lawton, a predominantly Black town) to play with him, but they get more than they bargained for when it leads them to the dead body of Sarai’s white stepfather, who was in a rare interracial marriage. Unconvinced by the authorities’ ruling out of foul play, Willie and his group begin an investigation that stirs up tensions in a community that doesn’t like people probing for answers. As Willie tests the limits of the game’s abilities, he finds that their small town holds darker secrets than he ever expected. Willie’s journey is one of awakening—opening his eyes to social problems and choosing to face that reality rather than turn from it. The page-turning suspense is a draw, but the book’s ultimate strength is its skillful exploration of racial injustice in rural America.

A multifaceted thriller with a powerful social message.