KingNorbert
Miles from Miami
A gripping debut novel of ambition, loyalty, and the high-stakes choices that define two young Black men coming of age in 1985 America.
In the humid streets of Liberty City, Miami, seventeen-year-old Mason Carter is a high-school quarterback with a golden arm and a full-ride scholarship to the University of Oregon-three thousand miles from the only world he's ever known. As he steps onto the rain-soaked practice fields of Eugene, he faces a new kind of battle: competing against seasoned college veterans, navigating the quiet pressure of the classroom, and proving he belongs in a program desperate to rebuild its reputation after NCAA sanctions. Every snap, every rep, every film session is a chance to escape the cycle that swallowed so many around him.
Back home, his best friend Reggie Alvarez stays behind in Liberty City, trying to hold things together for his grandmother while the neighborhood's pull grows stronger. What starts as small runs for his cousin D-Rock-moving weed, making quick cash-slowly escalates into a dangerous world of model parties, high-rollers, off-duty cops, and decisions that leave blood on the pavement. Reggie wants to stay loyal to Mason's dream, but the money is real, the power is intoxicating, and the streets don't let go easy.
Told in dual, alternating timelines, Miles from Miami follows Mason's quiet rise on the West Coast and Reggie's accelerating descent on the East Coast during one pivotal fall season. As Mason fights for playing time under the lights of Autzen Stadium and Reggie navigates the shadows of South Beach and Liberty City, their lives remain tethered by phone calls, memories, and the unspoken promise that one day they'll reunite. But the farther Mason climbs, the deeper Reggie sinks-and the choices they make thousands of miles apart are about to collide in ways neither can predict.