Going Off

When Caruso Cristiano's father disappeared under the suspicion of mafia involvement in 1980s New York City, it was like removing the pin from a hand grenade: Shrapnel exploded in a dozen directions, destroying everything, reducing it to mental, physical, and financial rubble. Forced into traumatic survival mode living in a car tucked away in the woods with his agoraphobic mother and hellraising little brother, fifteen-year-old Caruso fights to replace his rage and frustration with something positive-for his own sanity and future but more so for his increasingly hotheaded brother.

Shunned but feared by classmates and faced with growing threats and uncertainties on the crime-infested streets of New York, it's hardcore punk music that finally absorbs and redirects the energies of these two menacing yet clever and industrious teens. Centered around the city's music mecca of CBGBs, they're indoctrinated into the unforgiving world of intense music and mosh pit violence and painstakingly form a band of their own. How will this hardcore punk scene, a missing father, and the constant struggle and strife shape the future of the Cristiano family?