THRIVERS

A
retired mixed martial arts fighter and his college-student son independently
strive to pull their family out of debt in the second installment of Sheridan’s
(The Streets, 2018) series.

Tonio
Franco Sr., a former MMA champ, now coaches hopefuls at his gym, Brawlers, in New
Jersey. But Brawlers can’t keep Franco, wife Julie, and their kids from being
perpetually broke. That’s why 21-year-old Tonio Jr. abandons his plan to teach
and, instead, majors in finance at Jersey State University. TJ also interns on
Wall Street, but a plum job opportunity doesn’t quite pan out. Around the same
time, Franco worries the gym will be even worse off after his star trainee
loses another match. But when Franco’s rival, Umar “The Beast” Basayev, boasts
of having once defeated Franco, the 41-year-old retiree agrees to a rematch. It
could finally mean big money for his family, provided Franco wins. TJ, meanwhile,
starts dating fellow university student Kamara Day. She wants to be a famous
singer, which dovetails with TJ’s dream of someday owning the stage as a
rapper. But he may have to abandon that dream in order to earn a white-collar
salary. As in his earlier novel, Sheridan displays a knack for what he dubs “lyrical
prose” —a narrative rife with wordplay and rhymes. TJ, for example, muses: “So
then why did T…as he drank at the bar with G…think something even more uncouth?
Was there an even deeper Truth? TJ’s eyes started going REM as he heard REM.”
The author’s distinctive writing, however, doesn’t outshine the plot or cast. And
while the novel contends with multigenerational anxieties, it’s consistently
amusing.

Creative,
poetic prose enhances an already potent family drama.