Black Hornet by James Sallis
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 naive and wise, he is a man cursed by unspeakable demons, yet seemingly encircled by redemptive angels awaiting an opening.
James Sallis is doing some of the most interesting and provocative work in the field of private eye fictionHis New Orleans is richly atmospheric and darker than noir. Black Hornet is terrific -- Lawrence Block
Wry... Powerful... A rich tapestry of social unrest and vividly evoked characters and settings... What Chester Himes did for Harlem... and Walter Mosley is now doing for Los Angeles, James Sallis is doing for New Orleans * New York Times *
Haunting... Black Hornet is fast-moving, elliptical, and like a jazz trumpet solo, has a plaintive note of melancholy woven through it * Washington Post Book World *
Sallis wants to harmonise detective fiction and 'literature' and succeeds so well that, like Walter Mosley, we scarcely even notice -- Gerald Houghton * The Edge Magazine *
A thoughtful, existential tale told in evocative prose -- Rob Kitchin * The View from the Blue House *
Wry... Powerful... A rich tapestry of social unrest and vividly evoked characters and settings... What Chester Himes did for Harlem... and Walter Mosley is now doing for Los Angeles, James Sallis is doing for New Orleans * New York Times *
Haunting... Black Hornet is fast-moving, elliptical, and like a jazz trumpet solo, has a plaintive note of melancholy woven through it * Washington Post Book World *
Sallis wants to harmonise detective fiction and 'literature' and succeeds so well that, like Walter Mosley, we scarcely even notice -- Gerald Houghton * The Edge Magazine *
A thoughtful, existential tale told in evocative prose -- Rob Kitchin * The View from the Blue House *
James Sallis has published sixteen novels, multiple collections of short stories, essays, and poems, books of musicology, a biography of Chester Himes, and a translation of Raymond Queneau's novel Saint Glinglin. He has written about books for the LA Times, New York Times, and Washington Post, and for some years served as a books columnist for the Boston Globe. He has received a lifetime achievement award from Bouchercon, the Hammett Award for literary excellence in crime writing, and the Grand Prix de Littérature policière.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781874061632 |
| ISBN 10 | 1874061637 |
| Title | Black Hornet |
| Author | James Sallis |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Bedford Square Publishers |
| Year published | 1997-03-04 |
| Number of pages | 160 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |