After the Lights Go Out

'Powerful, bruising and beautiful, After The Lights Go Out is a blistering story of love and loyalty, family, class and belonging. Those who haven't discovered John Vercher yet are seriously missing out. Outstanding.' - Chris Whitaker

How do you save yourself when you're the person you trust least of all?

Xavier "Scarecrow" Wallace is a biracial Black MMA fighter on the wrong side of thirty, who is facing the comeback fight of his life. He is also losing his battle with pugilistic dementia - a struggle he can no longer deny.
In the nursing home of his father, a white man suffering from end-stage Alzheimer's, Xavier witnesses shocking episodes that expose ugly truths about his past and his family.

And as the big fight draws near, a sparring session with a younger competitor goes horribly wrong, leaving Xavier faced with a dangerous dilemma: throw his match or suffer the deadly consequences.

'John Vercher writes like a fighter, a dancer, an athlete... Here is a novelist at the height of his power.' - Wiley Cash, author of A Land More Kind than Home
'Thrums with authenticity and the sweat shines on every page.' - The Times