BookBrowse Reviews The Slip by Lucas Schaefer

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A bold, relevant, and entertaining mystery of a teenager's disappearance intertwining the transformative power of boxing with an eclectic group of characters to delve into identity, gender, race, immigration, and the systems built into American life.

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The Slip by Lucas Schaefer begins with a newspaper clipping highlighting the ten-year disappearance of Nathaniel Rothstein. Nathaniel, a troubled Jewish sixteen-year-old from Newton, Massachusetts, was sent to spend the summer of 1998 in Austin, Texas with his uncle Bob Alexander, a University of Texas history professor, after being suspended for fighting. The summer was meant to be transformative for Nathaniel, and it fulfilled that promise. His Uncle Bob arranged a volunteer opportunity for him at the Shoal Creek Rehabilitation Center, where David Dalice, a Haitian-born former boxer, mentored him. As the summer unfolded and David's guidance extended to the local boxing gym, a bond formed between David and Nathaniel, and both of them underwent personal shifts: "He'd never before spent so much time with someone not his mom in such short order. But that's what was happening, David, ever generous with his advice, Nathaniel always ready to receive it."

As the summer continued, changes in Nathaniel became increasingly apparent. "He was so much more confident, so much more relaxed. So much more … tan." It seemed Nathaniel was finally taking a turn for the better, from caterpillar to butterfly, as everyone hoped he would, until August 8, when he vanished. Within a rich tapestry of characters and intertwining subplots—including subject matter ranging from sex hotlines and illegal immigration to mischievous clowns, questionable Google searches, and race dynamics set against the vibrant backdrop of Terry Tucker's Boxing Gym—the truth behind Nathaniel's disappearance is uncovered with a captivating mix of humor and daring, clever storytelling, and the exploration of themes central to American life.

Terry Tucker's Boxing Gym acts as the central link among the characters and their storylines. The gym draws a diverse array of individuals, including academics, police officers, amateur boxers, high school students, housewives, and trainers, all seeking transformation in the fitting setting of Austin—a city known for its constant evolution, as Bob notes: "Been here forty-five years … Now our little town is all grown up. Not like it used to be, is it?" The varied cast shares a passion for boxing and a desire for change, venturing into self-discovery.

While the sport is a cornerstone of this story, The Slip is as much about boxing as Friday Night Lights is about football. Schaefer has crafted a narrative whose plot is as engrossing as its perfect representation of American life through issues of race, gender, sexuality, desire, power, class, immigration, and policing. We see how Nathaniel's upbringing in predominantly white Newton, Massachusetts, with limited exposure to Black people, fosters a sense of fascination and curiosity when he meets the charming David Dalice. This fascination deepens as David serves as a reminder of the traits Nathaniel lacks, such as self-assurance, confidence, sexual experience, and comfort in his own skin, all of which Nathaniel associates with race. "Nevertheless, as Nathaniel followed his new boss on his morning rounds, that was how he conceived of the question: How did Black people do it? How did David Dalice?" Nathaniel's inner thoughts are honest, even if they touch on some uncomfortable truths about his feelings—almost an obsession—for David. Interestingly, David doesn't seem to care about and even encourages Nathaniel's questionable fixations, viewing mentorship as "a second chance, a second act: to turn the boys they once were into the men they'd never managed to become."

Many of the novel's characters are connected by a search for identity and how they suffer from avoiding their reality while still ultimately finding ways to survive. These include Miriam Lopez, a recent addition to the gym and the police department; Alexis Cepeda, Terry Tucker's newest boxing protégé, who crossed the border with the assistance of a clown; David, as he grapples with the divergence of his career from that of his former subordinate Terry Tucker; and Charles Rex Markham, who is exploring his gender identity and going by the name X. Through their journeys, we witness these characters wrestling with their current selves, their desired selves, and the selves they believe they can become—while navigating a life that doesn't go as imagined, par for the course for adulthood. As the narrator observes of David: "It was not a tragedy, compared to all the other tragedies out there, that the life he'd worked for didn't end up his life. It was not a tragedy: it was life."

One of my favorite aspects of Schaefer's book is watching how every character's storyline interweaves with the others. This keeps you on your toes, making the reading experience engaging. The direction of the narrative consistently defied my expectations ("Stories that start as one thing sometimes become another"), and as Schaefer's novel travels from 2008 to 1998 to show the summer through the eyes of each character, each serves a role and unlocks a new puzzle piece of Nathaniel's disappearance. Subsequently, we see the day Nathaniel disappeared, with continuous flips to the present, 2014. Thankfully, the ending does resolve the mystery, which is both unbelievable in the way fiction allows but also believable within the intricate realities of life in America.

This nearly 500-page novel is a delightful journey filled with moments of humor, witty banter, and lively dialogue, such as when Dr. Gloria Abruzzi, an elderly woman, amusingly relates her Italian identity to David's experience as a Black man: "Gloria's sense that David's experience was her experience — 'Italy and Haiti, we know a little something about being on the outside.'" Every character makes their share of mistakes, and none emerge morally unscathed. Schaefer has crafted a truly gripping mystery that highlights the transformative power of boxing. Preoccupied with serious themes, it remains thought-provoking without becoming didactic. The storylines are seamlessly woven together, creating a bold, sometimes raunchy, and above all entertaining narrative. With a story centered on boxing, you can't help but hope for the opportunity for a clever pun, and The Slip is an absolute knockout.

This review first ran in the June 18, 2025 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.