Detroit Heroic
A Novel
2026
Martha and the Vandellas sang, “Nowhere to Run to, Nowhere to Hide.” That Motown song could have been composed for the desperate Dr. Matt Drummond, who, in 1968, is running. He never thought it would come to this. He only wanted to learn to be a good doctor — and to work in an underserved area to keep himself out of the Vietnam War. His internship began in the inner city on July 24, day one of the 1967 Detroit riot. The Nam would have been a safer destination.
He finds himself pursued by Detroit Homicide, who believe he is responsible for the abortion death of a policewoman, and by rogue police officers who fear he knows the true story behind the murders at the Algiers Motel. They need him just as dead.
His only hope comes from the Detroit underworld. Mr. Vic — a fight fixer, racehorse doper, and numbers czar — can get him into Canada and then Ireland, but he must follow orders. Ireland's Troubles will become his troubles.
He is a fugitive from an apocalyptic year of urban violence, police brutality, racism, misogyny, the Vietnam War, and the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. His plight is really that of 1968 America. There was nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide.
Detroit Heroic is forthcoming in September 2026 from Heliotrope Books.
Author’s Note
Dr. Matt Drummond naively enters the world of medicine. He is confronted early by a veteran police captain who tells him doctors are not nice people. “I am,” he says. “How are you going to fit in?” The words follow him as he witnesses racism, misogyny, interprofessional violence, incompetence, and the violation of the social contract during the tumultuous 1960s.
Dr. Drummond endeavors not to lose his humanity. Oddly enough, so does the police captain. Both are heroes working in dysfunctional systems. My novel deals with physicians who fight the norm for the benefit of their patients and society at large.
The title, Detroit Heroic, comes from Philip Zimbardo's The Lucifer Effect, which describes the corrosive influence of powerful situational forces that push us toward destructive behavior — and lauds the few who, in such settings, remain morally intact. He calls them heroes. My protagonist strives to remain on the side of the angels.
— Olaf Kroneman
Praise
“If you're going to buy one book in 2026, buy Detroit Heroic. It's fast moving and it captures the soul of Detroit at a pivotal point in history. If you like James Lee Burke and Elmore Leonard, you'll love this book by a writer who has all the makings to be the heir to these two masters.”
— Andrew Gulli, Owner and Editor, The Strand Magazine
“Olaf Kroneman takes us back to one of Detroit's most fascinating chapters, capturing the injustice, heartache, and yet unfailing hopefulness of the time. The colorful characters that typify our great city are peppered throughout, in the spirit of Leonard and Estleman. Detroit Heroic is a must-read.”
— Guy Gordon, Detroit radio and television personality and Detroit historian
“Detroit Heroic happened right in front of me — I could see it all from my bedroom window. Bullets flying down the street from the famous Lee Plaza Hotel on W. Grand Blvd and Lawton. I saw National Guardsmen firing into my high school, Northwestern High. I hid out in Reverend Franklin's church — Aretha's father. Dr. Kroneman got it right. The riots divided the city. Sports led our way back. We endured and prevailed.”
— Ali Haakim, professional boxer (ranked #8 in the world) and trainer at Detroit's Kronk Boxing Center
“Detroit Heroic, Olaf Kroneman's ballsy and hilarious hard-boiled novel, follows a young doctor trying to survive in my Motor City hometown right after the 1967 riots, recalling the shady characters of Damon Runyon and Dutch Leonard. A dazzling debut.”
— Susan Shapiro, author of The Byline Bible
“Was it easy to practice medicine in the midst of the race riots in Detroit some sixty years ago? It was not. And Olaf Kroneman's Detroit Heroic explores the America back then that foreshadowed today's America: tense, angry, unsettling — loaded with conflicts that make for courageous, fast-paced, thought-provoking storytelling.”
— Mark Wish, Founding Editor, Coolest American Stories
“As a 15-year-old living on the outskirts of Detroit in 1967, I can still remember the smell of smoke from the riots, as well as seeing the National Guard vehicles rumbling along the main streets. Dr. Olaf Kroneman brings to life those tumultuous five days in late July that changed the landscape of the City of Detroit forever.”
— Dr. Frank Pollina, President, Great Lakes Physiatry
“Motor City in 1967–68 is illuminated in this fast-paced tale covering city riots, baseball triumphs, and medical-school drama. Think baseball, hot dogs, acid, and Corvettes. Individual trauma and tragedy jump off the pages as the city wobbles then steadies itself. A young intern learns a lifetime of experience in a single summer. This is a novel that gets you inside the whirlwind and next to the heroes who saved a city.”
— John Ferron, Air Force Academy graduate and decorated fighter pilot
“As a nurse, this novel moved me deeply. Its portrayal of medicine, women's healthcare, and abortion in 1967–1968 Detroit felt raw and painfully real. It's a powerful, haunting glimpse into a moment in history that still echoes today.”
— Ann Christina, R.N., N.P.