The Hierophant of 100th Street

The Hierophant of 100th Street is a rarity: a metaphysical novel set in a violent world of gangs, prisons, and the army. Drawing on the author’s experience of growing up in East Harlem in the 1960s, the story follows 17-year-old Adam Kadman and his 9-year-old brother John through their respective initiations into the hardscrabble life of the streets while simultaneously introducing real-life characters who dwell in the life of the spirit.

After drugs invade Spanish Harlem and a mafia goombah sets up shop with his mistress, the characters’ lives take dramatic turns with murders, betrayals, and poignant love affairs that end tragically. Adam is drafted, but never makes it to Vietnam, as he leads a soldier revolt and is then imprisoned and dishonorably discharged. He travels to Egypt, where in a harsh world of theocrats and misogynists he falls in love with a young Arab woman. Out of his element, he attacks the social structure—and ends up running for his life. Back in New York, John gets embroiled in gang warfare and lands in jail. By chance Adam is taken under the wing of “magus” Clifford Bias and discovers his own psychic abilities, entering his mentor’s secret society and a world of mysticism and love. Tapping the same rich spiritual vein as The Da Vinci Code and The Celestine Prophecy and written in the stark language of the streets, this daring, cinematic novel explores the ancient truths and heady mysteries hidden in the fabric of everyday life.