Colson Whitehead seems to be able to move from genre to genre seamlessly so I felt in good hands when it came to his latest, The Nickel Boys.
It is a slim book but it does pack a punch in telling the stories of Elwood and his fellow Nickel inmate Turner. Whitehead could have gone overboard with the violence but he has modulated it so that it stays horrifying instead of numbing the reader. The fact that a place like this existed creates enough sadness on its own as well. The two main characters come through vividly and the twist at the end leaves a pit in the stomach. There is no universe or karma coming to punish the violent men in this book while the scars show both physically and emotionally on the boys and men from Nickel.
There is no cool or fun beer link for a book like this but since it does leave a bad taste in the mouth, I would suggest finding a beer brewed for charity and putting some good into the world to offset the crap the kids in the book had to put up with. Or, even better, instead of buying an overpriced 4-pack, donate that money to a charity to help the Bahamas recover from Hurricane Dorian like the World Central Kitchen.