The Bangbang Boys

About this book

After the brutal drug raid of a back-alley gay spa in Manila, the boys who make it out alive must decide what kind of men they want to become--and what they'll risk--in this steamy crime saga. In 2016, the body of a masseur from Manila's BangBang Touch men's spa is pulled from a sewage drain. The spa's young male staff, known as the BangBang Boys, believed they were safe on-site and savvy enough to be shielded from the chaos and conflict in the streets. But now, their friend is dead and they're in the crosshairs of an escalating drug war. Soon after, a busy night shift is cut short by a brutal police raid that claims the lives of clients and masahistas alike. The scattered survivors attempt to comprehend the tragedy and loss while searching for answers, desperate to understand how and why they became targets. Tough guy Benjie is captured by the police, broken, and reshaped into a professional killer. Gentle Manuel finds safety at an upscale spa where he reunites with a lost love, the kept woman of a corrupt congressman. And Lola, the bakla owner and manager of the massage parlor, is sent to the notorious Bilibid Prison, where she earns the attention of a dangerous gang leader. As their stories fracture and collide, each is forced to sacrifice who and what they love just to survive. Blending propulsive drama, sleazy thrills, and poetic intensity, Peter Zaragoza Mayshle's polyphonic debut unwinds via a chorus of drug pushers, hit men, crooked cops, and rough trade. A wild, sweat-drenched literary crime novel, The BangBang Boys interrogates the costs of pleasure, addiction, and survival in a world imperiled by authoritarian rule.