Adam Kowal

Soottown Adam Kowal

An intricately woven novel of pop-culture, socioeconomic, and technological chicanery, Soottown follows the interlocking fates of three sets of characters over the course of a year in metro Detroit: A grocery store greeter who embraces a misunderstood calling and sends the lives of the police officers, criminals, and victims he encounters spiraling; A modern-day Mad Scientist, hell-bent on understanding the human condition, covertly enlists couples into experiments where nothing is quite as it seems; and an uber driver, whose interactions with a fare accused of one of the most heinous acts in the history of the city, lead him on a journey to find a family he never knew existed.

Plagued by lust, power, compassion fatigue, careers, and inner demons, these characters battle through encounters ranging from the brutally existential, to the uncomfortably realistic, to the ridiculously absurd on their path to find purpose, meaning, and ultimately, love.

From the harsh urban realities of the inner-city, to the strange frivolities of suburban life, this kaleidoscopic ensemble paints a vivid picture of a city where spiritual texts and urban legends impact lives as much as poverty, police brutality, and infertility. Using heart and intelligence, the bizarre and the extreme, and a surprising amount of humor, Soottown is an uncertainly amoral parable of our time.