Billie Morgan

Billie Morgan, a 46-year-old gift shop owner, reminisces about her reckless past and the bloody secret that crippled her with its "dirty stain of regret" in Brit Denby's gritty, forceful latest. After the death of her philandering father, a brutal rape and the steady neglect of her family, Billie joins a motorcycle gang called the Devil's Own and spirals down a path of self-destruction brightened primarily by her relationship with Mickey, an affectionate giant with a bad reputation. When a confrontation with Terry, a malevolent junkie, leads to murder, Billie and Mickey must cover it up. Billie has to learn to live with her guilt while supporting Jasmine, the heroin-addicted wife of the man she killed; Natty, her beloved, rebellious godson; and Monkey, Natty's faithful, handicapped best friend. This web of dependability is threatened when a reporter investigates Terry's "disappearance," fueling a chain of events that uncovers all kinds of skeletons. The diary format gives the book a raw power, and the creeping moral degradation is as fascinating as it is difficult to read about. (Sept.)