#theholly

I wasn't sure I'd ever find a better story than that of Attila Ambrus, the so-called Whiskey Robber and subject of my first book. It took a while but eventually I did—in my hometown of Denver, Colorado, a place people remind me all the time they don't associate with gang violence, police informants, and undercover federal anti-gang operations. After seven years of work, my new book, The Holly—set in an invisible part of Denver where such forces are prevalent—will be published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on May 11.

Pre-publication reviews have been Starred notices from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and Booklist, which called The Holly “a shattering piece of investigative journalism about street gangs, race relations and law enforcement.”

The Holly is a multi-generational story of crime and gentrification, featuring a cast of interconnected characters—from gang members to elected officials to cops, billionaires, developers, activists and non-profit executives. It is a story that spans 50 years, ending in present day 2021, when the main character, the former gang leader turned activist Terrance Roberts, was arrested in a city park and charged with “inciting a riot” for his efforts at a peaceful protest he co-led as an organizer of the Justice for Elijah McClain movement.

Terrance currently faces prison time for these charges, as his story becomes legend in gang and activist communities. "We saw it in the past with Fred Hampton," Skipp Townsend, the LA-based anti-gang activist told me last week. "Terrance Roberts has become the new model for how the system will shut down the passionate movement for peace." Meanwhile violence in Denver, as across the country, soars despite heavily-funded efforts to stop it.