This ‘lost’ Beat novel, written a decade before Kerouac and Burroughs found literary fame has been whispered about for over 50 years. In 1944, one of their friends, Lucien Carr, stabbed another, David Kammerer, having grown tired of rejecting his sexual advances. Carr confessed to each Burroughs (who counted Kammerer among his closest friends) and Kerouac, who gave him advice on what do next. In alternating chapters, the two fledgling writers recreate the tension-filled week leading up to the murder, evoking a sharp portrait of World War II era New York and the bohemian crowd who would later be known as the Beats.

Burroughs is bartender cum private eye Will Dennison; Kerouac is merchant seaman Mike Ryko. A fascinating early work and a compelling read in its own right.