Bolohead Row

Summary

Set in contemporary Hawaii, Bolohead Row tells the story of a family of three siblings, all with different fathers.

Raised by their mother, a bar owner in Bolohead Row, Honolulu's red-light district, they each face issues of varying addictions. Charlie, the newly divorced stepson, works a dead-end job in an ABC store and spends nights at his mother's bar singing karaoke. Mark is a shut-in who occupies all of his waking hours playing a computer game called Everquest. Within 24 hours of being out of prison, Winnie, the eldest, has a boyfriend, money, and enough drugs to send her back for life. Dangerous people are searching for her, and Charlie is unwittingly swept into her turmoil.

McKinney explores in rich detail the underside of Honolulu's glossy postcard image, where very little separates the good guys from the bad guys.