"Mr. Dynamite, "Soul Brother No. 1," "The Godfather of Soul," deadbeat dad, convicted spousal abuser... James Brown was all those things and so much more. Yet it can't be denied his music impacted a generation of fans and influenced a grip of musicians who came after him—from David Bowie, Janelle Monae to Usher just to name three. In the tradition then of previous Down & Out Books anthologies such as Murder-A-Go-Go's: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of the Go-Go's and Trouble in the Heartland: Crime Fiction Based on the Songs of Bruce Springsteen, this all-original set of fourteen stories follows in that stead. The idea expressed to the writers was not literal interpretations of any given song by Mr. Brown. Rather to use that title or lyric and the ofttimes edginess behind such efforts as "King Heroin" and "The Payback," or the fun in "Make it Funky," as a prompt, a starting point for the story the contributor wanted to tell. Covers the Godfather of...

Wildly fantastic superhero stories by a cross section of today's cutting-edge urban fantasy and crime writers.Expanding on the concept behind Byron Preiss's Weird Heroes from the 1970s, George R. R. Martin's Wild Card series, and Michael Chabon's McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, The Darker Mask is a collection of original prose stories recalling the derring-do of the beings we call Superheroes and the worlds they fight to save. But unique to The Darker Mask stories is that these plots and characters color a literary universe outside of what has been predominantly white, idiosyncratic, and male in previous homages to pulp. This is the stuff of urban legends, new mythos, and extraordinary folks who might live in a soon-to-be-gentrified ghetto, the dreary rust-belt of the city, or in another dimension.The Darker Mask offers an eclectic mix of popular fiction writers exploring worlds gritty, visceral, and...

The mystery that launched Gary Phillips's career: Black private eye Ivan Monk investigates the murder of a Korean shop owner in the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.This reissued edition features an introduction by Walter Mosley.In 1992, Los Angeles burned. In the aftermath of the Rodney King beating and subsequent riots, a ground-breaking ceremony at the infamous intersection of Florence and Normandie unearths the body of a Korean shop owner. Black private eye Ivan Monk searches for the killer—many suspect the motives for the murder were racial. But then another body turns up, and while the FBI and the Rolling Daltons—the largest gang in the city—dog Monk’s trail, Monk begins to question just how many people will be involved, and how many will die before he can find the truth.

In the follow-up to One-Shot Harry, fearless crime photographer and occasional private eye Harry Ingram finds himself in the LAPD's crosshairs after capturing damning evidence of police brutality. An atmospheric dive into a city on the brink that's brimming with remarkable historical detail, Ash Dark as Night is perfect for fans of Walter Mosley and James Ellroy.Los Angeles, August 1965. Anger and pent-up frustrations boil over in the Watts neighborhood after a traffic stop of two Black motorists. As the Watts riots explode, crime photographer Harry Ingram snaps photos at the scene, including images of the police as they unleash batons, dogs, and water hoses on civilians. When he captures the image of an unarmed activist being shot down by the cops, he winds up in the hospital, beaten, his camera missing. Proof of the unjust killing seems lost—until Ingram’s girlfriend, Anita Claire, retrieves the hidden film in a daring rescue. The photo...

MATTHEW HENSON AND THE ICE TEMPLE OF HARLEM is the first in a new exciting retro rollicking adventure series. This re-imagined pulp novel follows the Doc Savage-style adventures of the first black man to reach the North Pole —Matthew Henson. The tail end of the Roaring 20s. Harlem. Hired by controversial spiritual leader Daddy Paradise to retrieve his adult daughter who has been kidnapped, adventurer Matthew Henson does just that. Then he must safeguard the two until the firebrand can deliver a momentous speech at a mass rally. Henson must employ all his survival skills to fulfill his task—skills that kept him whole in forbidden jungles, across Asia, and in sub-zero ice storms when he first reached the North Pole. Henson's charge brings him face-to-face with such illustrious characters as gangster Dutch Schultz, who's looking to muscle out numbers racket boss Queenie St. Clair, and famed inventor Nikola Tesla who is using his electrical acumen to surveil plutocrats....

Sam and Rachel are working a con in La La Land where the gold is for the asking as long as you can spin a captivating fable. Rachel's character is an indie producer with Silicone Valley roots and Sam a life coach as they work their magic on the mark. All is going according to plan until the smiling gangster shows up and suddenly the scenario they created from fairy dust starts to evaporate as things go sideways...and they just might get out by the skin of their teeth.

The Akashic Noir Series' forensic study of Southern California sharpens its focus on one of Los Angeles's most recognized neighborhoods."South Central Noir, edited by Gary Phillips, is a remarkable anthology of fourteen original tales set in South Central Los Angeles. The stories are vivid, atmospheric, thought-provoking, and entertaining with angry a dud from the first page to the last." —Mystery Scene Magazine"The 14 tales in this strong entry in Akashic's noir series focus on the robust past and present of one of the most notorious areas not just in Southern California but the country . . . Phillips and his contributors dig deep, presenting a rich tapestry of stories varied in tone and perspective."—Publishers Weekly"Editor Phillips packs 33 square miles of one of Los Angeles' most iconic neighborhoods into 14 compact stories . . . These stories offer a strong sense of their community, covering...

Three men are shot a few blocks apart, and Ivan Monk looks for a connection Scatterboy Williams is a small-time hustler selling bogus Cartier watches in the dives of Pacific City, a port just south of Los Angeles. He has $250 in his pocket the night a stranger guns him down in the street. The next victim is Ronny Aaron, a crack pusher who's shot to death on his way out of the liquor store. The third is Jimmy Henderson, a college student whose fighting instincts keep him from succumbing to two bullet wounds. They have nothing in common besides the neighborhood where they were shot and the color of their skin.   When the police let Scatterboy's murder fall through the cracks, his girlfriend hires private eye Ivan Monk to find the killer. What looks like an ordinary squabble between thieves turns out to be a racist conspiracy with the potential to upend life all along the West Coast.

Race and civil rights in 1963 Los Angeles provide a powerful backdrop in Gary Phillips’s riveting historical crime novel about an African American forensic photographer seeking justice for a friend—perfect for fans of Walter Mosley, James Ellroy, and George Pelecanos.LOS ANGELES, 1963: African American Korean War veteran Harry Ingram earns a living as a news photographer and occasional process server: chasing police radio calls and dodging baseball bats. With racial tensions running high on the eve of Martin Luther King’s Freedom Rally, Ingram risks becoming a victim at every crime scene he photographs.When Ingram hears about a deadly automobile accident on his police scanner, he recognizes the vehicle described as belonging to his good friend and old army buddy, a white jazz trumpeter. The LAPD declares the car crash an accident, but when Ingram develops his photos, he sees signs of foul play. Ingram feels compelled to play...

Zelmont Raines was once a Super Bowl-winning wide receiver. But recurring injuries, a self-destructive lifestyleand too many run-ins with the law have submarined his career. Back in L.A. after bombing out of the European League, his one last chance is the expansion team in town, the Barons. Unfortunately for Zelmont, the roar of the crowds and the adulation of the fans-not to mention the money and the honeys that go with it-are no longer his for the taking. Bumped, the bitter athlete falls in with Wilma Wells, the smart (and fine) lawyer for the Barons. She's got ideas Zelmont likes…and not just in the bedroom. Soon he and his friend, the switch-hitting ex-pro defensive tackle Napoleon Graham, throw in with Wells to rip off the mobbed-up owner of the Barons. It's only then that Zelmont discovers that no matter how fast he can jook, no matter how tough he can fake, trouble is closing in on him way too fast. Mix elements of Jim Thompson with the street-smart verve of Donald Goines, add a couple of dashes of the compact delivery of Richard Stark, and you get The Jook: a crime novel where football and venal ambitions collide in the end zone. *** "Gary Phillips wries tough and gritty parables about life and death on the mean streets." – Michael Connelly

After a fatal firebombing, gangsters hire Ivan Monk to prove them innocent The Cruzado family wakes in the middle of the night, their lungs burning with smoke. Staggering out of bed, the father tries to rally his family to escape their house. When his daughter and mother don't make it onto the lawn, he goes back in for them, never to return. This small housing development bungalow was supposed to be a new start for the Cruzados. Instead it became a tomb.   The logical culprits are the Ra-Falcons, a street gang that holds sway over the Cruzados' neighborhood. Only gangsters could be twisted enough, the police think, to toss a Molotov cocktail into a little girl's bedroom. But when the gang's leader hires private eye Ivan Monk to prove the Ra-Falcons' innocence, Monk unearths a conspiracy far more sadistic than any violent gang.

Fight the powerAn incendiary mixture of genres and voices, this collection of short stories compiles a unique set of work that revolves around riots, revolts, and revolution. From the turbulent days of unionism in the streets of New York City during the Great Depression to a group of old women who meet at their local café to plan a radical act that will change the world forever, these original and once out-of-print stories capture the various ways people rise up to challenge the status quo and change up the relationships of power. Ideal for any fan of noir, science fiction, and revolution and mayhem, this collection includes works from Sara Paretsky, Paco Taibo II, Cory Doctorow, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Summer Brenner.

How does witnessing a crime change a person? This powerful collection of stories by a star-studded roster of contributors examines this very question, with proceeds benefitting the Alliance for Safe Traffic Stops. Inspired by recent true events, the all-original stories in Witnesses for the Dead are set in motion by the act of witnessing. The characters who populate these pages are not themselves the perpetrators of the crimes they see, but as they grapple with what to do—take action or retreat into the shadows—their lives are indelibly changed. In “Envy” by Christopher Chambers, a sweet, shy wallflower looks on as something horrific happens in his neighborhood—revealing something horrific about himself. Agatha Award–winner Richie Narvaez’s “The Gardener of Roses” sees a Puertorriqueña college student on the run from the FBI for her accidental involvement in a “terrorist”...

In the wake of the Rodney King riots, Ivan Monk investigates a cold murder Just a few months ago, the corner of Florence and Normandie avenues was an inferno. Enraged by the jury that freed Rodney King's brutalizers, people took to the streets of Los Angeles to vent their anger on the city. For three days they smashed, looted, and burned, until South Central L.A. looked like Sarajevo. Now the city is trying to rebuild, and private eye Ivan Monk has come to watch the groundbreaking ceremony for a shopping center meant to symbolize the neighborhood's healing. But death is not finished with South Central.   As the dignitaries' shovels sift through the soft California soil, the mayor's spade finds the corpse of a man named Bong Kim Suh, a murdered Korean shopkeeper. As he looks into the senseless killing, Monk finds that it wasn't racial anger that took Suh's life, but old-fashioned, colorblind greed.