The Blockade

Cub reporter Kris Dillman is excited about the prospect of covering Rush Ramond, Jefferson Highs superstar basketball player who is due to be the first junior selected in the NBA draft. But the broad racial lines that cut through the heart of Kriss beat provide numerous obstacles.

One of which is The Blockade: a stone-covered hill with a cyclone fence topped with V-braced barbed wire. It bisects what was originally a through street, conspicuously at the threshold where the neighborhood goes from predominately white to predominately black.

While negotiating this treacherous terrain, Kris learns about media hypocrisy, bigotry and accountability; public relations hype, manipulation and intimidation; and how a simple news tip can lead to murder