Cruising Ink

By: Wake Cruise

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

A novel of LGBTQ+ urban life, set in Chicago's Little Village, where 28-year-old Troy spends another summer cruising the streets - drawn to handsome, tattooed men who come and go without warning. After his recent year-long relationship with Humberto disappointingly vanished last winter, Troy isn't looking for love this time - just connection, maybe comfort. As he had before Humberto, he drives down the city’s traveled streets, crawls along dark side streets, examines dead-end streets, slips through tented underpasses, drifts down alleys, and walks through parks nearly every night. When he hunts, some men offer a spark. Most leave nothing behind. As the summer heat intensifies, so does Troy's sense of detachment. When autumn approaches, with its creeping cold and emptying sidewalks, he's left wondering what, if anything, all of it meant. "Cruising Ink" is a gritty, character-driven novel exploring queer desire, loneliness, and the search for meaning in fleeting connections. For readers of LGBTQ+ literary fiction who appreciate realism, complexity, and emotional depth. Contains mature themes and sexual situations, but no explicit content.