Saving Angelfish by Michele Matherson

Violence and drug use haunt the characters of this gritty account of the darker world that blisters just below the gleaming surface of Los Angeles, yet they draw together here and there, forever trying to connect.

When we meet Max, she’s lying on the beach, drug sick and hoping to stay clean for the day. As she flails in her attempts to find her way out of debt and off of drugs, her exhaustion deepens to desperate proportions. Violence and drug use haunt this gritty account of the dark world that blisters just below the gleaming surface of Los Angeles. Matheson captures both sides, and she does so with a wink, choosing offbeat and surreal elements such as a talking drugstore angel shoplifted from Rite Aid.