Joe is ready for a new start in a new town where no one knows about his mother's job and a new school where he hasn't been in any fights. Joe's been working on himself--he knows he's good at violence but doesn't like it, and he hopes this year will be different.

But then he stumbles upon a girl being hit by her boyfriend, the star quarterback. As someone who was bullied (before a rather spectacular growth spurt left him a boy in a large man's body), Joe can't stand to see someone getting bullied. And so he intervenes. Violently.

The repercussions of Joe's attack on the quarterback wind up unlocking the sick, dark underworld of his school and ultimately lead him to discover corruption and cruelty so deep and widespread he feels he has to end it. He enlists the help of his friend Kat, but what can two kids who spend every lunch period in the library reading manga do against an entire school?

Content warning:

I See Red is a noir novel set in a high school. It deals frankly with violence, alcohol use, and sexual assault.