Ashley Rosco works as a bouncer at the only nightclub in a small town, spending his off-hours training as a bodybuilder. He occasionally acts as muscle for his best friend, Darren, a small-time drug dealer whose business is growing under the influence of his criminal father. Darren's girlfriend, Chass, short for Chastity, has had her own problems with drugs, and has lost custody of her young daughter. For years, Chass made money by picking produce alongside migrant workers, known locally, derisively, as Amigos.

Both Darren and Chass have been acting strangely, tense and jittery, but things really change when Ash gets a call from Chass on a bad connection, asking for his help. Chass is Ash's cousin—and, as we discover, the secret love of his life. Chass disappears the next day, and Ash can't shake the feeling that something has gone terribly wrong.

Knucklehead is a riveting, powerful crime novel about fathers and sons, the limits of friendship, and the terrible, necessary choices we make.