WHITE LINES is Tracy Brown's blunt yet strangely evocative urban epic starring Jada Ford, a girl who life is turned upside down by her indifferent mother and her mother's cruel boyfriends. The first boyfriend, drunk and abusive, causes Jada's sister to attempt suicide. The second boyfriend, seemingly nicer but ultimately more malicious, feeds Jada's budding crack addiction and trains her to become one of his whores.

Drugs and prostitution lead to her arrest and first try at sobriety. Then Jada meets Marquis Graham apply nicknamed "Born." Born had a rough start of his own. Before he was thirteen, Born had seen his father shot, knew his father was a murdered, and lost his virginity in a whorehouse. Instead of creating a sense of grittiness, Brown describes Born with a nostalgic hint of tenderness and sadness. "[He] was drained. He was also slightly uncomfortable. He wasn't sure why, but he was." Born may not be the perfect romantic hero, but you get the idea that if ever there was a hero in White Lines, it's Born Graham.

Tracy Brown's urban saga draws its strength on believable characters in extraordinary lives. The story chronicles the drug world of New York with simplicity. You feel pity for Jada who struggles to stay clean and fails, and you also feel pity for Born who struggles for power and trust and also fails. There are explicit scenes of drug use, violence, and sex. Other scenes are tempered with quiet moments of connection, redemption, and love.

Born and Jada's relationship spans an edgy and emotional ten years. When they finally meet up as friends, Jada hopes that "...she could completely regains is trust. And his heart." As readers, we hope for the same thing.