Garbage Town

2026 IPPY Awards Silver Medalist in Suspense/Thriller Fiction

National Indie Excellence Awards Winner in Action/Adventure and Teen Fiction

2025 Foreword INDIES Silver Winner for Mystery

2025 Silver Winner for Mystery - Foreward INDIES

Shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Award 2026

The secrets of Fresh Kills were meant to stay buried.

Raj Patel grew up in the shadow of Fresh Kills, the largest landfill the world has ever seen. At sixteen, he’s watched the Staten Island crime family tighten its grip on his town’s lucrative trash business, but he’s kept his distance from their dirty trade—until now.

When Raj and his friends make a chilling discovery deep within the dump, they embark on a search for answers. But they aren’t the only ones looking for the truth, and their pursuers will stop at nothing to guard their secrets. Faced with an impossible choice—protect themselves or expose what they’ve found—Raj and his friends quickly realize there’s no one left to trust. And the deeper they dig, the higher the stakes. Soon, they’re in way over their heads, and the only way out might be through.

In Garbage Town, Ravi Gupta weaves a heart-pounding mystery with the raw intimacy of a coming-of-age tale. Follow Raj and his friends in this late ’90s adventure as they learn that some secrets can’t be unearthed without a price. This might just be the moment that strips them of their innocence—if they can survive.