The Doorman: A Novel

Chicky Diaz is the beloved doorman at the Bohemia, a prestigious Manhattan apartment building home to celebrities, financiers, and cultural elites. In the penthouse, Emily Longworth lives a seemingly perfect life with her wealthy husband, though she has grown to resent him, especially after learning troubling details about his finances. Their prenup is ironclad, keeping her trapped. Downstairs in apartment 2A, Julian Sonnenberg, a successful art world figure, receives a devastating phone call that deepens his sense of obsolescence after fifty years of a cosmopolitan life. Meanwhile, the building's working-class staff—predominantly Black and Hispanic—learns that a Black man has been killed by police uptown, sparking demonstrations, counterdemonstrations, and violence across the city. As Chicky prepares for his shift, he breaks a fundamental rule: he carries a gun purchased hours earlier, before the city descended into chaos. He understands that more is happening on his stretch of sidewalk than anyone realizes. That night, enemies will confront each other, loyalties will fracture, secrets will surface, and lives will be lost.