Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra

This collection of excerpts introduces the reader to the harsh realities of growing up in Hell's Kitchen with four inseparable friends. The narrative details their mischievous youth, marked by go-cart races, petty thievery, and encounters with local figures, painting a picture of a tight-knit community with its own unwritten rules and traditions. A pivotal event involving a hot dog vendor leads to their incarceration at the Wilkinson Home for Boys, a brutal experience that deeply impacts each boy and ultimately shapes their adult lives. Years later, their paths diverge dramatically, with one becoming a prosecutor, two becoming criminals, and the narrator a journalist, all still bound by their shared past and a secret plan for revenge against their former tormentors. The text concludes with the outcome of their elaborate scheme for justice and a glimpse into their altered adult lives.