Bosstown

The Big Dig is underway and the urban renewal that’s following in its wake threatens to reveal Boston’s long-buried secrets, in Abramowitz’s promising debut. Will Meyers once operated the backroom poker games where political deals were cut and problems fixed. Suffering from dementia, Will is running out of time and memory; he has one last fix to make before it’s too late. Meanwhile, Will’s son, Zesty, races through Boston’s maze of streets delivering packages by bike, never planning his future further ahead than the next pickup. But when a pickup leads to a near fatal hit and run, Zesty can no longer outrace his family’s past. With the FBI, the police, and a legendary gangster looking for the money from both a recent armed-car robbery and a long-ago bank heist involving Zesty’s mother, Zesty must use every trick he’s ever learned to keep himself from becoming part of the body count. The plot occasionally gets lost among the verbiage, but Abramowitz brings Boston alive with rich descriptions and caffeine-fueled dialogue. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Aug.)