A novel of identity, the allure of rebellion and conformity, and the enduring legacy of the 1980s.

Kinetic Blue is a vivid coming-of-age journey set against the sun-soaked backdrop of coastal Southern California. Hans, a gifted student, swimmer, and emerging cultural observer, navigates the shifting sands of adolescence-from high school Model United Nations simulations, a summer working at Disneyland, college parties, and attending school with the privileged and spoiled. Along the way, he confronts questions of love, ambition, identity, and belonging.

As Hans moves through high school, college, and then law school, the novel captures not just the trials of growing up in the rhythms of a decade shaped by music videos, the Reagan revolution, punk rebellion, the HIV crisis, and the shadows of terrorism and the Cold War. With a soundtrack worthy of a mixtape, Kinetic Blue paints a nostalgic and deeply personal portrait of a young man coming to terms with who he is and who he's expected to be.

Kinetic Blue is both a love letter to 1980s California and a bold exploration of cultural transformation, set in a time when the world-and its youth- redefined everything.