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There's Only One Sin in Hollywood
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Expected 2 Jun 26A cinematic, razor-sharp novel following a backlot fixer’s daring investigation into the suspicious death of a closeted Black actor within the glamorous world of Hollywood, from the bestselling author of My Government Means to Kill Me
Xavier C. Barlow, one of Hollywood’s young Black stars taking the industry by storm in the late 1950s, is Skyline Studios’s ambitious attempt to rival Sidney Poitier's burgeoning success. His arrival into the industry is calculated, his charm is magnetic, and his seductive screen presence appeals to both audiences and celebrities across generations.
But years later, after Xavier dies at the height of his fame, Aaron Touissant—Skyline’s designated backlot fixer who helps the studio’s stars stay as deep in the closet as humanly possible—is finally ready to expose the powerful culprits responsible for his untimely death.
Written as part-confessional, part-cris de coeur from Aaron's panoramic lens, There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood is a searing portrait of the movie industry as a manicured minefield and a compelling journey into the queer history of Los Angeles.
Xavier C. Barlow, one of Hollywood’s young Black stars taking the industry by storm in the late 1950s, is Skyline Studios’s ambitious attempt to rival Sidney Poitier's burgeoning success. His arrival into the industry is calculated, his charm is magnetic, and his seductive screen presence appeals to both audiences and celebrities across generations.
But years later, after Xavier dies at the height of his fame, Aaron Touissant—Skyline’s designated backlot fixer who helps the studio’s stars stay as deep in the closet as humanly possible—is finally ready to expose the powerful culprits responsible for his untimely death.
Written as part-confessional, part-cris de coeur from Aaron's panoramic lens, There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood is a searing portrait of the movie industry as a manicured minefield and a compelling journey into the queer history of Los Angeles.
304 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication June 2, 2026
5 people are currently reading
7013 people want to read
About the author
Rasheed Newson
2 books349 followersRasheed Newson is the author of the national bestseller "My Government Means to Kill Me." The novel was a Lambda Literary finalist for Gay Fiction and was named one of the “The 100 Notable Books of 2022” by The New York Times.
His forthcoming novel, "There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood," is slated for publication by Flatiron on June 2, 2026.
Rasheed is a 2025–26 American Library in Paris Visiting Fellow. He is also a television drama writer, producer, and showrunner. Along with his screenplay writing partner, T.J. Brady, he co-developed and is an executive producer of "Bel-Air." The drama series has won two NAACP Image Awards and has been nominated several times for Best Drama Series.
Additionally, Rasheed has worked on "The Chi," "Animal Kingdom," and "Narcos," among other drama series.
Rasheed was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is a graduate of Georgetown University. He currently lives with his husband and their two children in Pasadena.
His forthcoming novel, "There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood," is slated for publication by Flatiron on June 2, 2026.
Rasheed is a 2025–26 American Library in Paris Visiting Fellow. He is also a television drama writer, producer, and showrunner. Along with his screenplay writing partner, T.J. Brady, he co-developed and is an executive producer of "Bel-Air." The drama series has won two NAACP Image Awards and has been nominated several times for Best Drama Series.
Additionally, Rasheed has worked on "The Chi," "Animal Kingdom," and "Narcos," among other drama series.
Rasheed was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is a graduate of Georgetown University. He currently lives with his husband and their two children in Pasadena.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Out and proud was the opposite of a thing in Hollywood in the fifties and sixties, especially if you were Black. Which is exactly who Rasheed Newson writes about in There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood.
The book’s narrator is Aaron Toussaint, a fixer in Hollywood after he serves a stint in the Navy. He’s introduced to the reader at the point where the two men who have the biggest impact on his life briefly meet, setting two storylines into play that eventually intertwine, with devastating consequences.
Aaron figures out pretty early in life that he’s gay, as do his father and brother, leading to Aaron fleeing home and joining the Navy, where he’s sees charismatic fighter pilot Lieutenant Horace “Hornet” Dixon as a way out of the miserable duty he’s been assigned-and as a major source of attraction.
The men have an intense and complicated relationship and they land in Hollywood after serving in the Korean War, with Horace trying to get his life story made into a movie, with him in a starring role. But when you’re Black during the mid twentieth century it can be hard to land a starring role (unless you’re Sidney) even when the studio bosses think you’re straight. So Horace leaves, but Aaron sticks around to see what kind of life he can make for himself, and Xavier Barlow lands in his lap.
Unlike Horace, Xavier is willing to put in the time to work his way up to fame and fortune, competing with Sidney to be Hollywood’s leading Black man. As his star ascends the opportunity to tell Horace’s story comes around again, this time for Xavier, but it comes at a time when he wants to tell the true story of who he is to the world and help kick down the door of the closet all the queer people have been afraid to come out of.
Newson has clearly done his research on Hollywood and Black Hollywood in particular during the time the book was set and the years leading up to it. While it’s pretty clear that some of the movies are very real by the years they were released being included, he’s makes the characters feel so real that it’s hard to imagine it being a fictional story. I really wish the advance copy I read had an author’s note that broke down how Newson incorporated his story with real history.
I did get a bit turned around at the beginning of the book when the story was jumping back and forth between Aaron’s time in Hollywood and his time on an aircraft carrier with Horace during the war. Once those storylines catch up to each other the book is told in a singular storyline that’s easier to follow and very engrossing. It was agonizing worrying about whether the men would get caught and the stupidity of the world we live in that they couldn’t live openly without worrying about the consequences.
I was a bit surprised that the Red Scare was only fleetingly touched on in a story that took place during the height of it in an industry heavily impacted by it, especially with protagonists who had a major secret they were keeping, and knew many people in the industry who were keeping it too.
This is an engrossing read that will suck you in to both the glamour and the excitement of the times while railing at the unfairness of it.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The book’s narrator is Aaron Toussaint, a fixer in Hollywood after he serves a stint in the Navy. He’s introduced to the reader at the point where the two men who have the biggest impact on his life briefly meet, setting two storylines into play that eventually intertwine, with devastating consequences.
Aaron figures out pretty early in life that he’s gay, as do his father and brother, leading to Aaron fleeing home and joining the Navy, where he’s sees charismatic fighter pilot Lieutenant Horace “Hornet” Dixon as a way out of the miserable duty he’s been assigned-and as a major source of attraction.
The men have an intense and complicated relationship and they land in Hollywood after serving in the Korean War, with Horace trying to get his life story made into a movie, with him in a starring role. But when you’re Black during the mid twentieth century it can be hard to land a starring role (unless you’re Sidney) even when the studio bosses think you’re straight. So Horace leaves, but Aaron sticks around to see what kind of life he can make for himself, and Xavier Barlow lands in his lap.
Unlike Horace, Xavier is willing to put in the time to work his way up to fame and fortune, competing with Sidney to be Hollywood’s leading Black man. As his star ascends the opportunity to tell Horace’s story comes around again, this time for Xavier, but it comes at a time when he wants to tell the true story of who he is to the world and help kick down the door of the closet all the queer people have been afraid to come out of.
Newson has clearly done his research on Hollywood and Black Hollywood in particular during the time the book was set and the years leading up to it. While it’s pretty clear that some of the movies are very real by the years they were released being included, he’s makes the characters feel so real that it’s hard to imagine it being a fictional story. I really wish the advance copy I read had an author’s note that broke down how Newson incorporated his story with real history.
I did get a bit turned around at the beginning of the book when the story was jumping back and forth between Aaron’s time in Hollywood and his time on an aircraft carrier with Horace during the war. Once those storylines catch up to each other the book is told in a singular storyline that’s easier to follow and very engrossing. It was agonizing worrying about whether the men would get caught and the stupidity of the world we live in that they couldn’t live openly without worrying about the consequences.
I was a bit surprised that the Red Scare was only fleetingly touched on in a story that took place during the height of it in an industry heavily impacted by it, especially with protagonists who had a major secret they were keeping, and knew many people in the industry who were keeping it too.
This is an engrossing read that will suck you in to both the glamour and the excitement of the times while railing at the unfairness of it.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Author
A remarkable work. Newson is the undisputed king of gay, historical fiction.
While not literally being a prequel to My Government Means to Kill Me, There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood feels like one. In his previous book, we follow a much younger and less jaded character, Trey Singleton, as he grows up and finds meaning in the New York City of the 1980s. Aaron Touissant, the narrator of There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood, lives on the other side of Stonewall from Trey. He matured in a world much more hostile and dangerous to queerness. As Aaron says while reflecting on the next generation of more activist young queers, “I am haunted by a society that was eviler and crueler than the one you’ve met.”
From the first chapter, we’re told that this will be a tragedy, and it is. Aaron loses so much because of the cruel and evil society that he lives in. But he does live in it. He does find, for however brief the time, happiness and community, sexual fulfillment and even love. Aaron narrates the story like he’s telling it to an old friend over drinks. He is utterly honest, never shying away from deep pain or splendid joy, the brutal facts of Hollywood or his erotic life, triumphs or tragedies. And the story loses nothing despite knowing that it is doomed from page one.
Like his previous book, My Government Means to Kill Me, There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood is told in the style of a memoir. Newson’s ability to weave together real history, compelling and complex characters, and a propulsive plot into a format that feels utterly truthful is uncanny. Part One sets up Aaron’s early life, his relationship with Black fighter ace Horace “Hornet” Dixon, how he came to be a backlot “fixer” for a major Hollywood studio, and how another hotshot (this time an actor, Xavier Barlow) came into his life. Part Two brings all of the various threads together in a way that feels inevitable and breathtaking. Part Three plays out the almost Greek-level tragedy of Barlow trying to bring Dixon’s story to the screen, homosexuality and all.
As with My Government Means to Kill Me, Newson has done remarkable research into the era and features numerous real life people as characters. The world he crafted of Black stars and homosexuality in 1950s and 1960s Hollywood feels gritty and lived in and real. And it is real. There were real closeted gay movie stars trying to survive and, perhaps, even bring some of their truth to the screen, only to be swatted down by the system. Newson inhaled that truth and life in his research and breathed it out on to the characters in There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood.
While not literally being a prequel to My Government Means to Kill Me, There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood feels like one. In his previous book, we follow a much younger and less jaded character, Trey Singleton, as he grows up and finds meaning in the New York City of the 1980s. Aaron Touissant, the narrator of There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood, lives on the other side of Stonewall from Trey. He matured in a world much more hostile and dangerous to queerness. As Aaron says while reflecting on the next generation of more activist young queers, “I am haunted by a society that was eviler and crueler than the one you’ve met.”
From the first chapter, we’re told that this will be a tragedy, and it is. Aaron loses so much because of the cruel and evil society that he lives in. But he does live in it. He does find, for however brief the time, happiness and community, sexual fulfillment and even love. Aaron narrates the story like he’s telling it to an old friend over drinks. He is utterly honest, never shying away from deep pain or splendid joy, the brutal facts of Hollywood or his erotic life, triumphs or tragedies. And the story loses nothing despite knowing that it is doomed from page one.
Like his previous book, My Government Means to Kill Me, There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood is told in the style of a memoir. Newson’s ability to weave together real history, compelling and complex characters, and a propulsive plot into a format that feels utterly truthful is uncanny. Part One sets up Aaron’s early life, his relationship with Black fighter ace Horace “Hornet” Dixon, how he came to be a backlot “fixer” for a major Hollywood studio, and how another hotshot (this time an actor, Xavier Barlow) came into his life. Part Two brings all of the various threads together in a way that feels inevitable and breathtaking. Part Three plays out the almost Greek-level tragedy of Barlow trying to bring Dixon’s story to the screen, homosexuality and all.
As with My Government Means to Kill Me, Newson has done remarkable research into the era and features numerous real life people as characters. The world he crafted of Black stars and homosexuality in 1950s and 1960s Hollywood feels gritty and lived in and real. And it is real. There were real closeted gay movie stars trying to survive and, perhaps, even bring some of their truth to the screen, only to be swatted down by the system. Newson inhaled that truth and life in his research and breathed it out on to the characters in There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I expected Rasheed Newson to excel in the imagery, the visual storytelling as someone who executive produces Bel-Air and writes for shows like The Chi and Narcos. Exceptional storytellers are in those fields so of course he will be good at that. But I was not prepared for how well written this story is. The story is told from the POV of Aaron, a Hollywood fixer, - think Olivia Pope but for entertainers. He wants to expose those he feels are responsible for the untimely death of Xavier Toussaint, the new it guy in Hollywood films positioned to rival Sidney Poitier. You can read the synopsis. The chapters alternate between Aaron’s life experiences with both Xavier and Horace (who he worked for while in the military). The story is presented as if it is about Xavier. But because of how beautifully written it is, Aaron is really giving us HIS story. We see how he navigates his sexuality through different periods of his life and with different people. It’s a testament how time, maturity and circumstances impact our relationships - platonic and romantic. It’s a reckoning for Aaron and for us as readers as we see how our own internalize biases impact the lives of others especially when it comes to sexuality. And then even with all that we get cameos from Belafonte, Diahann Carroll. It’s giving Black excellence. The book pulls you in immediately. They may or may not be getting a lil hot and heavy in the first chapter. It’s sexy without being sexual - that’ might be a bar. As a historical fiction, you can tell the amount of research that went into this story making me wonder how long it took Rasheed to write this. Baybee Sidney Poitier was a whole ass mess. I was trying to figure out which of the places or events were real. I see this as a series on Netflix. and I mean Rasheed you’re right there. Can’t you option your own book? Anyway, the book comes out June 2026. Definitely pre-order it so it is on your doorstep on the 6th. I’m finta pre-order right now myself because I have to have a physical copy of this one.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I fell in love with historical fiction because of Rasheed Newson’s debut novel MY GOVERNMENT MEANS TO KILL ME, a book about a Black queer New York transplant finding his way to himself during the AIDS crisis. The historical period this book centers is different. It’s the Golden Age of Hollywood, which includes the rise of iconic Black actors like Sidney Poitier and Diahann Carroll. Like his debut, Newson’s extensive research allows him to render fictitious but ultimately authentic interactions of his main characters with these icons. The book follows Aaron, our veteran turned fixer, as he navigated his queerness + race in an era and in spaces where being gay is absolute no-no—the military, the movie industry, everyday life in LA. And as queer folks and Black folks have been doing since the history of time, he manages to assert his agency and experience the full emotional spectrum of his humanity despite the structural constraints he faces. There is so much action that happens in this book—war, love, moviemaking, sex, religion, more sex—so it’s hard to sum up. All I’ll say it’s a page turner, which is why my copy is all tattered up. I couldn’t put it down. For the sociologist in me, it was also a treat to have a front row seat to the literal production of culture, and how all the micro-level decisions that are made can have serious consequences for every actor involved both on and beyond the silver screen.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for advance access to this book!
This is a hauntingly beautiful, funny, and timely story about two queer Black men’s forbidden love and all they do to gain love and respect when the world seems hell-bent to deny them either. It reminds us that stars that burn the brightest often burn the fastest, going out in a picturesque burst while those that remain can only bear witness.
I've been telling folks to pre-order this book since I finished reading it, and can't wait for this sophomore work by Rasheed Newson to hit the shelves. In these turbulent times, a book full of heart, negotiating discretion and secrecy in personal and professional spheres, and learning about lesser-known queer history is the balm readers need to remember that our own lives and our community will always be worth the effort.
This is a hauntingly beautiful, funny, and timely story about two queer Black men’s forbidden love and all they do to gain love and respect when the world seems hell-bent to deny them either. It reminds us that stars that burn the brightest often burn the fastest, going out in a picturesque burst while those that remain can only bear witness.
I've been telling folks to pre-order this book since I finished reading it, and can't wait for this sophomore work by Rasheed Newson to hit the shelves. In these turbulent times, a book full of heart, negotiating discretion and secrecy in personal and professional spheres, and learning about lesser-known queer history is the balm readers need to remember that our own lives and our community will always be worth the effort.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Newson has quickly become an auto-read for me. After this brilliant sophomore novel I will read anything he puts out.
I was blown away by his first novel My Government Means To Kill Me and I am equally in awe of him here where we go to 1950-60s Hollywood. Newson has a talent for melding a fiction book into the crevasses of true events and telling deeply meaningful stories of the Gay Black men who are often overlooked in these times and places.
Aaron is a well thought out rounded character, and highly believable in this Hollywood machine. Xavier is a force and I enjoyed their relationship, how it felt naturally grew and changed.
A soulful and interesting read that had me questioning what was real and what was fiction throughout in the best possible way.
I was blown away by his first novel My Government Means To Kill Me and I am equally in awe of him here where we go to 1950-60s Hollywood. Newson has a talent for melding a fiction book into the crevasses of true events and telling deeply meaningful stories of the Gay Black men who are often overlooked in these times and places.
Aaron is a well thought out rounded character, and highly believable in this Hollywood machine. Xavier is a force and I enjoyed their relationship, how it felt naturally grew and changed.
A soulful and interesting read that had me questioning what was real and what was fiction throughout in the best possible way.
March 27, 2026
While you can make an easy comparison to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, this novel has the bite and real history that one lacks. Immediately I could see Newson’s passion for old Hollywood and knew I was in good hands. What I appreciated most was the nuance of the characters; the jaded protagonist Aaron who truly cares for the naive idealist Xavier who makes it hard for him to do so. It can be hard to find queer media that truly examines less savory aspects such as political infighting, but this wasn’t afraid to tackle it. The world Newson builds isn’t flat or designed to bring about the happiest ending. There is real value in showing how the world has been, and still is.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Wow. What a banger of a novel. I loved every minute of this deeply researched, dramatic, sexy novel. I was a fan of "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" - so I was very excited to dive into another Hollywood historical fiction novel. And this one didn't disappoint. I really don't want to spoil too much in this review since it doesn't come out until early June, because every turn in this book had me turning the pages furiously (granted it was digital pages). Aaron Touissant and Xavier C. Barlow are two characters that I will be thinking about for years to come. READ THIS BOOK!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Sex, love, power, lust; the want of fame, the desire to leave a mark, the hope of a budding revolution; the money and influence of the establishment that refuses to lose. This was glamorous, gritty, sexy, and propulsively readable.
Want to read
March 20, 2026dnf
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
very well written
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews