Excerpt from Saint of the Narrows Street by William Boyle, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

In the last seven months, since watching the Challenger blow up on television while home alone with Fab, she's fallen into crying fits daily. Thinking about that poor teacher. Christa McAuliffe. A mother herself. The squiggle of smoke the spaceship made in the Florida sky. Fab was only a few weeks old at the time, but she'd shielded his eyes from the disaster. Maybe they'd happened before, these crying fits, but something about the Challenger really set her off. The impermanence of existence. The realization that nothing's promised. Thinking about the tragedy's impact on her makes her feel guilty, but she can't help it.

She's tried so hard to figure out how she and Fab can leave Sav, but every scenario ends badly for them. Alone, tired, with no help. Her father saying it's her duty to stay with her husband, no matter that she'd chosen the wrong guy. The problem, he'd say, was back when she was doing the choosing and not now when she has no choice. He's very old-school, her father. Look at how he's handled Giulia, disowning her when she was seventeen after he walked in on her having sex with her high school boyfriend, Marco LaRocca. One less daughter, no biggie. He'd be angry at Risa for talking to Giulia, let alone knowing she's given her black sheep sister a place to stay. Risa doesn't understand her father. His version of God seems to have nothing to do with love and everything to do with shutting the door.

Risa again looks at Giulia holding Fab. Playing with him. She's such a sweetheart. It's brought her comfort to have her sister's company for this bit of time. It'd be nice if it could be this way all the time. The three of them. Some joy in the room. None of Sav's poison.

Excerpted from Saint of the Narrows Street by William Boyle. Copyright © 2025 by William Boyle. Excerpted by permission of Soho Crime. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.