-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
by John Vercher
A harrowing and spellbinding story about family, the complications of mixed-race relationships, misplaced loyalties, and the price athletes pay to entertain—from the critically acclaimed author of Three-Fifths.
Xavier "Scarecrow" Wallace, a mixed-race MMA fighter on the wrong side of thirty, is facing the fight of his life. Xavier can no longer deny he is losing his battle with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), or pugilistic dementia. Through the fog of memory loss, migraines, and paranoia, Xavier does his best to stay in shape by training at the Philadelphia gym owned by his cousin-cum-manager, Shot, a retired champion boxer to whom Xavier owes an unpayable debt.
Xavier makes ends meet while he waits for the call that will reinstate him after a year-long suspension by teaching youth classes at Shot's gym and by living rent-free in the house of his white father, whom Xavier was forced to commit to a nursing home. The progress of Sam Wallace's end-stage Alzheimer's has revealed his latent racism, and Xavier finally gains insight into why his Black mother left the family years ago.
Then Xavier is offered a chance at redemption: a last-minute high-profile comeback fight. If he can get himself back in the game, he'll be able to clear his name and begin to pay off Shot. With his memory in shreds and his life crumbling around him, can Xavier hold on to the focus he needs to survive? John Vercher, author of the Edgar and Anthony Award–nominated Three-Fifths, offers a gripping, psychologically astute, and explosive tour de force about race, entertainment, and healthcare in America, and about one man's battle against himself.
"The fight-game story is enough to drive most novels, but this one goes way beyond that. The scenes involving Xavier and his father are agonizing in their soul-shattering horror; the portrait of the Black nursing-home worker who absorbs Sam's abuse is breathtaking in its complexity; and Xavier's internal battle as his brain functions fail him brings home the quintessential noir emotion of powerlessness. This is a difficult novel to read, but there is a deep and sustaining humanity at its core." —Booklist (starred review)
"Vercher (Three-Fifths) strides back in the ring with the explosive story of a troubled Philadelphia MMA fighter whose career has stalled ... expertly captures the brashness and discipline of combat sports as well as the harsh realities of the fighting life, delivering all of it in a swiftly paced triumph complete with a surprising one-two punch of a conclusion. This is simply brilliant." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"John Vercher's latest is a spellbinding tour de force. It's the gut-wrenching story of Xavier 'Scarecrow' Wallace, an over-the-hill MMA fighter still looking for that last shot at redemption, even as his mind and body succumb to the ravages of his years spent in the cage. Written in deft and visceral prose—Vercher's trademark—After the Lights Go Out is one of the best books I've read this year. I loved every moment of it, even the ones that broke my heart." —Lauren Wilkinson, author of American Spy
"Vercher gives us a nuanced, troubled protagonist trying to keep his head up in a dark and dangerous world. His novel is troubling, powerful, and ultimately, surprisingly, poignant." —Ben H. Winters, author of The Last Policeman and Underground Airlines
This information about After the Lights Go Out was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
John Vercher lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife and two sons. He has a Bachelor's in English from the University of Pittsburgh and an MFA in Creative Writing from the Mountainview Master of Fine Arts program. He is a contributing writer for WBUR Boston's Cognoscenti, and NPR features his essays on race, identity, and parenting. His debut novel, Three-Fifths, was named one of the best books of the year by the Chicago Tribune, CrimeReads, and Booklist. It was nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, and Strand Magazine Critics' Awards for Best First Novel.
If you liked After the Lights Go Out, try these:
by Lucas Schaefer
Published 2026
For readers of Jonathan Franzen and Nathan Hill comes a haymaker of an American novel about a missing teenage boy, cases of fluid and mistaken identity, and the transformative power of boxing.
by Denne Michele. Norris
Published 2026
In this heart-wrenching debut novel, a young Black gay man reckoning with the death of his father must confront his painful past—and his deepest desires around gender, love, and sex.
by Jamel Brinkley
Published 2019
Jamel Brinkley's stories reflect the tenderness and vulnerability of black men and boys whose hopes sometimes betray them, especially in a world shaped by race, gender, and class - where luck may be the greatest fiction of all.
All my major works have been written in prison...
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
