Jon Neumann

Bar Code: a Novel Jon Neumann

Who passes? Who fails? Who lives? Who dies? As they spend the summer studying for the California Bar Examination, four classmates must confront questions of trust or betrayal, love or hate, and life or death; all before they must face the most pressing question of all: pass or fail? Rachel Kress is a young mother struggling to preserve her identity and defend her marriage against the manipulations of an obsessive study partner. Haunted by childhood memories and entangled in past romantic exploits, Lorenzo Carmichael?s days as a law school player are nearing a dark end, as he finds himself the target of a shadowy stalker. Streetwise Mia Tran must save her family?s struggling liquor store while artfully fending off the affections of her future law firm?s senior partner. Harold Van Dorn?s quest for Supreme Court immortality is continually thwarted by endless pleas for intimacy from his fiancée, unsanitary living conditions created by his degenerate housemate and a heart tormented by forbidden desires for the Dean of the Law School, Camille Medeiros. As Exam Day creeps closer, tensions reach a breaking point. An act of violence forces the four classmates to reunite and confront the frustrations, resentments and insecurities that have lurked below the surface for the past three years. Ultimately, all four will be tested by their past before they must take the one Exam that will determine their future.