St. Louis, summer 1976. The nation prepares to celebrate the bicentennial of its birth...as the metropolis on the Mississippi appears to spiral toward its demise.
Twenty-three-year-old Gus Alterman can't help probing his crumbling city's hidden corners. Adopted at birth by a family that shaped his circumstance but somehow doesn't explain who he is, Gus seeks to uncover the hidden patterns that might guide him-and the city-out of ruts that feel as inescapable as his daily grocery run.
A delivery to a local obituary writer reveals hidden secrets, and with them a path forward. Now Gus must decide: What price will he pay to rescue the missing pieces of a tortured city's past?