Gone to Ground
Morgan Hatch
Black Rose Writing (2025)
ISBN: 978-1685136345
Reviewed by Sheri Hoyte for Reader Views (12/2025)
Gone to Ground is an exciting debut novel by Morgan Hatch. This eye-opening contemporary urban political thriller focuses on the everyday lives of people in a working-class neighborhood that’s being targeted for revitalization.
Javier is an excellent student, a high-school senior with his sights set on college in a few short months. He lives with his mama and his younger brother, 13-year-old Alex. Mama is the glue of the family, but she’s overworked and underappreciated, and the hours she puts in at the slaughterhouse seem barely enough to make ends meet. As the oldest, Javier does what he can to take care of the family, but he’s a kid himself. He balances school and work and looking after his little brother. He’s worried about Alex, who’s being groomed by the local gang. Javier’s attempts to intervene in Alex’s descent put a strain on their relationship and cause Alex to withdraw from the family even more.
Meanwhile, political and real estate interests are orchestrating redevelopment and infrastructure projects to gentrify the neighborhood. A series of seemingly random disruptions follows, including environmental regulations around a protected species, and a mysterious redirection of water causing a flood that destroys Dogtown, an encampment inhabited by the unhoused people in the area. There are also increased inspection violations and safety concerns at Denker Gardens, which result in the demolition of the low-income housing complex. How random can these events be when each destructive action is followed by immediate redevelopment efforts? Javier asks the same question when he stumbles on a clue at work one day, and he starts to put together what’s really going on.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It’s not in-your-face, non-stop adrenaline-inducing action. It’s more like methodical, controlled chaos with the tension building over time. As I was reading, I kept thinking about the frog in the pot metaphor, and sure enough, Javier uses it to explain how gangs recruit their members! To which Alex replies (by the way):
Sucks to be a frog.
Oh, Alex. You are the frog! But it’s not just the gang activity. It’s the politicians, the developers, the destruction, the desperation of never quite getting ahead. The absurdity of the way people are treated and discarded is disturbing. This is such a timely story, bringing issues to light that mirror real-world events happening daily all around us, and makes for a story that keeps you hooked and keeps you reading, out of curiosity (or incredulity).
To me, the story shines through its characters. Javier and Alex add the human element. Javier just wants to do the right thing, while Alex just wants to fit in somewhere. Both are crying for help in different ways. I rooted for them the whole way through, even though there were times I just wanted to strangle Alex for the way he treats his mother and brother. The antagonist, George Jones, is a different case altogether. He is evil to his core, and someone readers will absolutely love to hate. He doesn’t have an empathetic bone in his body, and ultimately, his indifference is what pushed me over the edge. A full supporting cast rounds things out, and it’s this contrast in personalities that great characterization does for a story.
I forgot this was a debut novel until I sat down to write this review. Hatch does an impressive job with his entry into the literary world. The writing is sharp and on point. It shocks without being just empty drama. The most important thing, though, is that Hatch trusts his readers. This is big. It’s so tempting to be heavy-handed in explaining things, which can actually get in the way of the story.
Gone to Ground is (ahem) a groundbreaking story that ticks all the boxes for me. Readers who enjoy socially conscious urban thrillers will find it a story they won’t soon forget. I look forward to seeing what Hatch does next.