{"product_id":"broken-chords-nick-razer-9798244600346","title":"Broken Chords","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBroken Chords\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is a brutal, unflinching coming-of-age novel set in the raw heart of 1981 Los Angeles-where punk isn't a style, but a lifeline.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwelve-year-old \u003cb\u003eJesse Fallon\u003c\/b\u003e has already learned the first rule of surviving Nickerson Gardens: stay small, stay silent, and hope the world doesn't notice you. Being one of the only white kids in a Bloods-controlled housing project makes him a moving target, and every walk home from school feels like a gamble with pain. His parents-strung-out addicts circling rock bottom-are ghosts in their own lives, leaving Jesse under the wing of his only protector: his eighteen-year-old brother \u003cb\u003eShane\u003c\/b\u003e, a dropout with a shaved head, a studded jacket, and a fierce devotion that's the closest thing Jesse has to safety.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTheir escape hatch is the exploding punk scene of early '80s LA. From \u003cb\u003eThe Starwood\u003c\/b\u003e to the \u003cb\u003eHong Kong Café\u003c\/b\u003e, from alleyway pits to backyard shows in Leimert Park, Jesse is pulled into a world where outsiders finally have a voice-loud, angry, and unapologetic. Punk becomes their family when their real one is collapsing. Music becomes oxygen in a suffocating life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen everything breaks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne night, after coming home from a show, the brothers find their parents dead from an overdose-two bodies slumped into silence while the television hisses static. Shane makes a decision in that moment that changes everything: no funeral, no police, no explanations.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJust escape.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe brothers flee in their father's beat-to-hell \u003cb\u003e'74 Ford Country Squire\u003c\/b\u003e, spray-painted with anarchy symbols, band logos, and the only identity they trust. They become street kids overnight-sleeping in the car on \u003cb\u003eSkid Row\u003c\/b\u003e, stealing food, dodging gangbangers, running from cops, and building a fragile community with other crusty punks just trying to survive another sunrise.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor a while, it feels like freedom. A dirty, chaotic, beautiful freedom.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut LA has teeth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd punk has edges sharp enough to cut deep.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter a show goes sideways, a drunken fight erupts between Shane and a pack of violent skinheads. In an alley behind a club on Melrose, Jesse watches his brother-the person he loves most in the world-get stabbed and bleed out under a flickering streetlight. The one person who protected him is suddenly gone, swallowed by the same violence they thought music could shield them from.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJesse becomes a ghost drifting through the ruins of the scene. Living in the station wagon. Avoiding gangs. Surrounded by people who are drowning themselves one hit, one bottle, one bad night at a time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut something inside him refuses to die.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt sixteen, Jesse finds Straight Edge-Minor Threat's words blasting through his battered Walkman like a revelation. No drugs. No booze. No poison. A clean break from the world that destroyed his family and took his brother. And for the first time since Shane died, Jesse feels direction instead of drift.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe gets in the rusted wagon, now held together by hope and duct tape, and drives east-crossing deserts, highways, and ghosts-toward \u003cb\u003eWashington, D.C.\u003c\/b\u003e, the birthplace of Straight Edge and the promise of a new beginning.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBroken Chords\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is a devastating, visceral portrait of punk adolescence-raw, violent, painfully honest, and fiercely human. Nick Razer delivers a story about brotherhood, survival, addiction, loss, and the desperate search for a life worth living. Set against real streets, real venues, and real history, this novel captures the heartbeat of the underground with uncompromising truth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt's not just a punk story.\u003cbr\u003eIt's a story about what it costs to grow up unprotected-\u003cbr\u003eand what it means to choose life in a world built to break you.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Nick Razer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798244600346\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/19\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 300\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.89lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.67d","brand":"Nick Razer","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49172053917951,"sku":"9798244600346","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/broken-chords-nick-razer-9798244600346","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}