Michael Kramer, an eighteen-year-old talented martial artist, is blamed for the accidental death of his best friend James Basset.

Sentenced to five years for involuntary manslaughter, Michael is forced to navigate a prison system where race dictates every opportunity and every threat.

In this harsh world, trusting someone like Ijal, a drug mogul from a different background, is a risk. Yet when Ijal intervenes to stop a violent attack, Michael discovers that loyalty can outweigh the rigid hierarchy, and he will forever be indebted to the inmate for saving his life.

Upon his release, Michael returns to his hometown and reconnects with Ijal, only to be pulled into the dangerous criminal world that he and his cousin Cory inhabit.

Michael tries to rebuild his life, build a relationship with his father and return to his martial arts path. But prison has changed him in ways he can't ignore.

Loyalty becomes its own kind of cage. To repay his debt, Michael crosses lines he once believed he never could, sinking deeper into violence.

Bound by murder, Michael and Ijal flee - because the next time they're caught, there will not be any second chances.

Chris Young lives in New Zealand. The Debt is his first novel.