Hofman’s two best friends are his roommates, Matt and Jacob. The former is an impulsive heartbreaker, the latter a contemplative intellectual. Spurred by them, Philip is more and more drawn into the alienated student’s life.

Then he meets the beautiful Karen. Her presence sets up a chain of events that shatters the carefully constructed illusion of the Orphanage, with huge consequences for its residents.

The Empty City is a novel about friendship, love, cheating, a ruthless city, and the price of false expectations.