Two strangers meet over the hood of a used car in Texas: Marcus, who is fleeing his financial and personal failures, and Marie, who after years of dodging her mistakes, has returned to her hometown to make amends. One looking forward, one looking back, they face off over a car they both want and think they need. It’s a low-slung, sky-blue 1984 Buick Electra, and after knowing each other less than an hour, they decide to buy it together.
This novel looks at love, the power of friendship and the ways we must forgive ourselves if we are ever to move on. Published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, and written by Michael Parker, who teaches in the MFA writing program at UNC-Greensboro. Softcover, 320 pages, $12.01; e-book $9.99.

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