Ideal Lost, Part One: The Shrikes (Ideal Lost, #1)

A beloved childhood friend that he always idolized isn’t who he thought he was. Because even gods have bloody hands.

Jun hasn’t left his room in the last three months. Finally being dragged to the mall by his roommate Alex, Jun’s world is turned upside down when he runs into Ruki, his childhood best friend. A friend he hadn’t spoken to since Ruki was slaving away to one of the biggest science research companies in the country. Their abrupt encounter left Jun and Alex the repercussions of Ruki’s confidential work that somehow ended up in the dark underbelly of Los Angeles.

With Alex’s harrowed past of LA’s criminal world and Jun’s drive to salvage his relationship with Ruki, the young men dive into the city’s glittering lights by encountering corrupt celebrities, cops and gangsters. As more is revealed, neither of them realize how enormous the impact Ruki left behind. They will have to work out their differences together before their own secrets destroy each other.

For fans of neo-noir films like Pulp Fiction, Fight Club, Drive, and Nightcrawler that’s driven by a diverse found family and a queer love story at its core, Ideal Lost is a three-part crime thriller that deals with the destructive consequences of a young man’s struggle to carry everyone’s idealized expectations on himself.