Soma

To outsiders, San Francisco is all one big city. But to those in the know, there is SoMa, South of Market, where sleek eateries are squeezed between bail bonds storefronts and high-priced lofts look out over still rough edges. It's home to a generation of hipsters disillusioned by the dotcom bust, restless and searching for the next thrill, the next high, the next step too far. Sex, drugs, kink - you can find it anywhere in SoMa, if you know where to look. But first, you'll need your tour guides. There's Raphe, a writer torn between two worlds, belonging to neither; Lauren, the poor little rich girl living on the edge and pushing farther out; Mark, beautiful and cruel, who lives for games, the more extreme, the better; Baptiste, hot, smooth, and maybe as real as it gets; and Julie, both an object of desire and a pretty pawn to be played. In a glittering, surreal subculture of private sex clubs and kept boys, identity theft and betrayal, nihilism, redemption, and sometimes love, they're spinning out of control and into each other's orbits, desperately looking for something real - something that will show them who they really are. In this provocative, intense novel, Kemble Scott puts a new neighbourhood on the literary map for good, in a tale that is disturbing, gritty, wholly original, and utterly unforgettable.