A sniper appears in 1960s New Orleans, a sun-baked city of Black Panthers and other separatists. Five people have been fatally shot. When the sixth victim is killed, Lew Griffin is standing beside her. He's black and she's white, and though they are virtual strangers, it is left to Griffin to avenge her death, or at least to try and make some sense of it. His unlikely allies include a crusading black journalist, a longtime supplier of mercenary arms and troops, and bail bondsman Frankie DeNoux. Yet it is the character of Lew Griffin that takes center stage, as in each of Sallis's highly praised books. He is by now, in this prequel, well on the way to becoming what he will be; violent, kind, contradictory, alcoholic. Both naïve and wise, he is a man cursed by unspeakable demons, yet seemingly encircled by redemptive angels awaiting an opening.
Reviews
Publishers Weekly...
“[A] grim, utterly absorbing novel…. Sallis's New Orleans sparkles gaudily even in the passionate economy of his prose, marked by such arresting images as that of 12-string blues shot through with the amber from the dregs of a shot glass.”
About the Author
JAMES SALLIS is the author of the Lew Griffin novels and over a dozen other books, including the biography Chester Himes, a New York Times Notable Book. He has been shortlisted for the Anthony, Nebula, Edgar, Shamus, and Gold Dagger awards. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
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