Will Holloman
Will is the novel's narrator and protagonist. A fifteen-year-old Black teen, Will has grown up in an unnamed impoverished neighborhood with a high incidence of gun violence, drug abuse, and gang activity. When Will's older brother Shawn is shot dead on the playground outside their building, Will takes Shawn's gun and sets out to avenge his death. In the elevator down from his mother's eighth-floor apartment, Will encounters the ghosts of several people he has known and loved, all of whom were shot dead. While the ghosts challenge Will's ability to carry out his plan to kill Carlson Riggs, who he suspects to be Shawn's killer, Will attempts to put forward a tough-guy attitude that conceals his grief, uncertainty, and fear.
Shawn Holloman
Shawn is Will's older brother. Shawn is shot dead on his way home from buying specialty soap for his mother, who has eczema. Shawn shares a room with Will and keeps a loaded gun in the middle drawer of his dresser. When alive, Shawn would show affection for his little brother by putting him in headlocks and spritzing him with cologne. Will learns that the single bullet missing from Shawn's gun was used in a shooting Shawn carried out to avenge the death of his friend and mentor, Buck.
Buck
Buck—real name James—is Shawn's older friend and mentor, and the first ghost Will meets in the elevator. Shawn looks up to Buck like an older brother, much like how Will looks up to Shawn. Buck is a petty criminal and drug dealer known for showing off his flashy jewelry. Buck dies when he tries to take a gun from Frick, a man who tried to rob Buck as an initiation into the Dark Suns gang. The gun in Shawn's and Will's possession used to belong to Buck. Every time Buck strikes a match to light a cigarette, the elevator stops and a new ghost steps on.
Frick
Frick—real name Frank—is a light-skinned man who shot Buck while attempting to rob him. Will never knew him when he was alive, so he doesn't recognize him when he steps on the elevator. Will learns that Frick wanted to join the Dark Suns gang, and that's why he was robbing Buck. Shawn kills Frick before he has a chance to be initiated into the gang.
Dani
Dani is another of the ghosts in the elevator. Will doesn't recognize her as a fifteen-year-old because he last saw her when she was eight, at which time she was hit by a stray bullet and killed before Will's eyes. Dani and Will flirt initially, but her attitude toward him shifts as she questions his certainty about shooting Riggs.
Uncle Mark
Mark is Will's uncle who died of a gunshot. A wannabe filmmaker, Mark walks Will through his plan to shoot Riggs like it is a movie. When alive, Mark got into selling crack to save up for a new camera. When he kept selling, a rival dealer who wanted to take over his corner eventually killed him.
Mikey Holloman
Mikey is Will's and Shawn's father. Will has no memories of his father, who was killed when Will was three. Mikey was so overcome with grief over his brother Mark's murder that he couldn't focus on being a parent or husband. He decided to avenge Mark's death, unwittingly killing the wrong person. In retaliation for Gee's death, Mikey too was shot dead.
Will's and Shawn's Mother
Will's and Shawn's mother is a widow who lives in a two-bedroom eighth-floor apartment. She moans over Shawn's dead body when he is killed and spends the night sobbing at the kitchen table. When she eventually falls asleep, Will sneaks out to avenge Shawn's death.
Carlson Riggs
Carlson Riggs is a Dark Suns gang member and former friend of Shawn's. After Shawn is killed, Will convinces himself that the shooter must have been Riggs. Will remembers Riggs as an annoying figure whose allegiances changed after he moved away to another neighborhood in the Dark Suns' territory. However, Will has little evidence supporting his claim that Riggs was the killer, and when he seeks confirmation that Frick knows Riggs, Frick doesn't appear to.
Gee
Gee is the man Mikey shoots, suspecting him of being his brother Mark's killer. However, it turns out that Gee was not the killer, but simply a kid trying to become a dealer and gang member.
