A Native's Tongue

As I walked out under the Los Angeles sky, the possibility of becoming something more than a short order cook, living in the valley, and resenting my dysfunctional family occurred to me...

A young man, torn between two women, struggles to find his way in the world in Michael D. Dennis's touching new novel, A Native's Tongue.

Charlie Winters is used to just getting by while living with his single mother and working a dead-end job. Meanwhile, he's constantly grappling with the voice of his sister, who died in a tragic car accident years earlier, echoing in his head.

Soon Charlie finds himself immersed in a destructive relationship with an older woman who still fails to fill the void within him.

But then he meets Jennifer, whose energy and life convinces Charlie to pursue her-even through the darkest corners of Los Angeles.

Escaping to the California coast, Charlie and Jennifer finally find what they've always needed. But a sudden illness quickly pulls them both back to LA.

It is there, amid the sex, drugs, and split-second decisions that pulse through the city, that tragedy strikes-threatening to tear Charlie and Jennifer apart forever.