A Gorgeous Excitement

Weiner debuts with a lush and thrilling study of preppy teenagers in 1986 New York City, inspired by the real-life slaying of an 18-year-old woman who was found dead in Central Park. The crime takes place in August and has little to do with the plot, which is devoted to another 18-year-old in the months leading up to the killing. It’s June, and Nina Jacobs is desperate to lose her virginity before leaving at the end of the summer for Vanderbilt. She hopes to accomplish this with Gardner, the handsome bad boy she frequently runs into at Flanagan’s, a dive bar on the Upper East Side. One day, she meets Stephanie, a girl her age, in Central Park, and Stephanie turns her on to cocaine. She offers some to Gardner, who was caught the previous winter breaking into Tavern on the Green, and they start sneaking off to the park together to snort it. Before the summer ends, a young woman is found dead in the park, and though it would be a spoiler to reveal the identities of the victim and suspect, the case makes Nina reevaluate her priorities and relationships. Weiner vividly captures her protagonist’s adolescent yearning, which adds to the tension as Nina continues pursuing Gardner despite the red flags. This is worth a look. Agent: Lisa Bankoff, Bankoff Collaborative. (Jan.)