Vengeance Is Mine

By Dorian Sykes

"Hold your peace, and let me fight your battles."

At sixteen years old, high school basketball star, Jalen, is full of promise. Just weeks away from attending the junior prom with Sasha, the girl next door, he has his whole life ahead of him--until one day, he finds himself surrounded by police, with their guns drawn. His bright future is cruelly stolen in a case of mistaken identity, bringing the worlds of his divorced parents crashing down and throwing the entire city of Atlanta into upheaval.

Massive protests course through the city streets, as Jalen's grieving mother demands justice from a slow-acting police department. Distraught and seeing red, Jamera's inner Mama Bear is unleashed, as she vows to avenge her baby boy--by any means necessary.

Before their divorce, Jalen's father, Rick, and Jamera, were at once a symbol of the American Dream and Black excellence personified. Having attended Morehouse and Spelman, respectively, they raised their son in the suburbs, wanting to give him a better life than they had. Rick gave this all up when he walked out on his family, lured by the temptations of Atlanta's slick and seedy underworld. Now, the former Homecoming King-turned-drug Kingpin is filled with regret and wants blood.

When the city is suddenly upended by another shocking murder, the question this time is: Who's the killer?

Vengeance Is Mine follows the stories of Jamera, Rick, and a cast of police officers, detectives, students, and more, as a community mourns the tragic loss of one of its brightest stars.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1645568083
• ISBN13: 9781645568087
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: Urban Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.