Close on the Heels of the Day

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A gripping tale that takes the reader on a midnight odyssey in the erratic life of Hector Iorio. Encouraged by his parents to pursue a Mathematics degree at a leading university, Hector chooses to abandon his cherished ambition of becoming an artist. As he embarks on his freshman year, he grapples with outside forces pulling him in various directions, struggling to reconcile the fate he has accepted with the life he believes is his true calling. Closest to him is a sinister group of companions from his South Philadelphia neighborhood, from whom he cannot—or will not—detach himself. Then there’s Gretchen, an outcast Manhattan socialite who relentlessly urges him to break free from societal norms and pursue his true passion. Finally, there’s Leah, an emaciated drug abuser prone to violent outbursts, with whom he endures a tumultuous relationship. While his parents believe his demanding curriculum prevents him from visiting home, he secretly drives three hundred miles every weekend to join his friends and Leah in a lifestyle of revelry. The narrative follows Hector's journey from a stable home life to overwhelming academic challenges, the luxury of lavish mansions, and the buried squalor of the city, all while he descends into psychosis, facing the bitter truth that he may never become the person he hoped to be.