Search results for ""Author Gary Phillips""

Award-winning author, screenwriter, and editor Gary Phillips gathers his most thrilling, outlandish, and madcap pulp fiction in an 17-story collection that straddles the line between bizarro, science fiction, noir, and superhero classics. Aztec vampires, astral projecting killers, oxygen stealing bombs, undercover space rangers, aliens occupying Los Angeles, right wing specters haunting the ’hood, masked vigilantes, and mad scientists in their underground lairs plotting world domination populate the stories in this rip-snorting collection. In these pages grindhouse melds with blaxploitation along with strong doses of B movie hardcore drive-in fare. Phillips, editor of the Anthony Award-winning The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir, and author of One-Shot Harry and Matthew Henson and the Ice Temple of Harlem, said this about pulp. “The most common definition of pulp is it’s fast-paced, a story containing out there characters and a wild plot. There is that. But certainly, as we’ve now arrived at the era of retro-pulp, these stories have elements of characterization: not just action, but a glimpse behind the steely eyes of these doers of incredible deeds.” As an added bonus, Phillips resurrects Phantasmo, a Golden Age comics character created by Black artist-writer E.C. Stoner in an all-new outing of ethereal doings (includes 4 original illustrations by cover artist Adam Shaw).

Read more less

Heat is building in the Rancho Tajuata Housing Projects - and not just because it''s summer in L.A. When a Mexican family is killed by a firebombing, local rage threatens to grow out of control. The pressure is on to solve this case quickly to help deescalate the tense situation. At the request of the tenant''s security force, P.I. Ivan Monk is called in to find the killer. To track the murderer down, Monk must delve into a tangled history leading all the way back to the 1965 Watts riots - a hunt that reveals layers of buried racism and corruption. Monk sorts through the complexities of gang conflicts and governmental kickbacks, only to find himself at odds with the police, disillusioned by his mentor and, after a fierce struggle with some gang members, under indictment for murder. Monk must race to clear his name before time runs out, and a bad night falls on the Rancho Tajuata Projects, this time for good...

Read more less

An atmospheric dive into a city on the brink brimming with remarkable historical detail, Ash Dark as Night is perfect for fans of Walter Mosley and James Ellroy. Los Angeles, 1965. Tempers have boiled over in the Watts neighbourhood, sparked by the traffic stop of two Black motorists, the Frye brothers, by the Highway Patrol. Freelance crime photographer Harry Ingram is on the scene, capturing images of the cops as they unleash batons, dogs, and water hoses on the predominantly Black crowd. When he snaps proof of an unarmed man being shot down by the LAPD, he winds up in the hospital, beaten, his camera confiscated. Proof of the killing seems lost-until Ingram''s girlfriend, Anita Claire, retrieves the film roll in a daring rescue, and the photo makes front-page news. A recuperating Ingram is approached by Betty Payton, a comrade of Anita''s mother, who wants Ingram''s help tracking down her friend Moses ''Mose'' Tolbert. Ingram follows the investigation down a rabbit hole of burglary

Read more less

Half a century ago, Old Man Spears was a hero of the ballpark. In an age when baseball was segregated, he played in the Negro Leagues, providing hope for a generation of oppressed African Americans. Decades later, Spears is an old man in a barbershop making ends meet. An offhand comment about a former teammate, Kennesaw Riles, shocks one of his customers, private eye Ivan Monk, who has deeply buried memories of a ball-playing cousin by that name. Monk knows little of Riles, who has been on the outs with his family since his questionable testimony put civil rights leader Damon Creel behind bars for murder back in the 60s. But before Monk can get the full story, Spears drops dead. Days later, Kennesaw Riles follows suit. Monk knows that the timing is not a coincidence. To understand the pair of deaths as well as his own past, Monk digs into his family history. He follows the mystery to Mississippi, where he further unravels the murder of two civil rights activists and connects the dots t

Read more less

Winner, 2018 Anthony Award for Best Anthology and Winner, Bronze Medal, 2017 Indie Book Awards for Anthologies, Foreword Reviews. Noir meets diverse voices and transforms the genre into an over-the-top, transcendental psychedelic thriller ride of pulpy goodness in THE OBAMA INHERITANCE, a collection of fifteen stories of conspiracy noir curated by editor and award-winning African-American crime novelist Gary Phillips.

In the tradition of satirical works of Swift and Twain, with nods to the likes of William Burroughs, Asimov and Philip K. Dick, these tales contain vigilante First Ladies, Supreme Court judges who can clone themselves, gear-popping robots of doom, and races of ancient lizard people revealing their true master plan … and these are just the tame ones mashed up in the blender of fake news bots, climate change is but a hoax by the Chinese and humans roamed with dinosaurs.In an era where the outlandish and fantastic has permeated our media 24/7, where mind-bending conspiracy theories shape our views, THE OBAMA INHERITANCE writers riff on the numerous fictions spun about the 44th president of the U.S. Although Obama himself does not appear in most of these stories, contributors spin deliberately outlandish and fantastic twists on many of the dozens of screwball, bizarro conspiracy theories floated about the president during his years in office and turn them on their heads.THE OBAMA INHERITANCE editor Gary Phillips is a critically acclaimed author of mystery and graphic novels (Peepland, Violent Spring, and Warlord of Willow Ridge). Raised in South Central Los Angeles, Phillips draws on his experiences from anti-police abuse community organizing and anti-apartheid activism. He was the chair of the Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color committee, and is president of the Private Eye Writers of America.Contributors include famed crime-detective author and essayist Walter Mosley, professor and former Department of Justice attorney Christopher Chambers (Sympathy for the Devil), noir raconteur Andrew Nette, actor and novelist Danny Gardner (A Negro and an Ofay), former Maine assistant attorney general Kate Flora (Death in Paradise), award-winning playwright and novelist Désirée Zamorano, and the Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master Robert Silverberg.

Read more less

From Cocaine, that most troubling and fascinating of substances; through Speed, an oft demonized and misunderstood drug and on to Heroin, long seen as the most 'literary' of narcotics - the contributors to this all-new original anthology reveal that those who partake are forever changed, but the price of paradise is often steep. The Cocaine Chronicles: that most troubling and fascinating of substances is the subject, the subtext, the whys and whereofs in this collection of original short stories that are funny and harrowing, sad and scary, but at all times riveting. In this bold anthology by a cross-section of today's most thought-provoking writers, we meet the casual sniffers, the heavy users, the dealers, the victims and the unsuspecting victims - hysterical romps, tragic characters and unfathomable lows - rendering cocaine a drug that is anything but glamorous. The Speed Chronicles - Deprived of the ingrained romantic mysticism of the opiate or the cosmopolitan chic of cocaine, there is no sympathy for this devil. Speed - crystal meth, amphetamines, Dexedrine, Benzedrine, Adderall; crank, spizz, chickenscratch, oblivious marching powder, the go-fast - twice the productivity at half the cost, and equal opportunity for all. It feels so good and hurts so bad. The first contemporary collection of all new literary short fiction on the drug from an array of today's most compelling and respected authors. These are no stereotypical tales of tweakers - the element of crime and the bleary-eyed, shaky zombies at dawn are here right alongside heart-wrenching narratives of everyday people, good intentions gone terribly awry and dreams going up in flames. The Heroin Chronicles - That most "literary" of narcotics - the enigmatic opium poppy and its various derivatives - and as these stories reveal, those who partake of the sacred flower are forever changed, but the price of paradise is often steep: overdose, hepatitis C, degradation and self-destruction. The editor, Jerry Stahl, himself a recovering addict with long-term sobriety, has assembled an impressive array of writers to create this 'encyclopedia of bad behaviour.' Indeed, these tales of chasing the dragon, with corollaries often violent and savage, will satisfy devotees of noir fiction and outsider art alike. The Hard Drug Chronicles runs to over 700 pages and contains more than 40 all new stories from Lee Child, Jerry Stahl, Ken Bruen, Laura Lippman, Nina Revoyr, James Franco, Sherman Alexie, William T. Vollmann, Megan Abbott, James Greer, Tao Lin, Joseph Mattson, Eric Bogosian, Gary Phillips and Jervey Tervalon. CONTENTS - COCAINE Ten Keys - Lee Child The Crack Cocaine Diet - Laura Lippman White Irish - Ken Bruen Beneficent Diversions from the Crackdkins Diet - Donnell Alexander Poinciana - Susan Straight The Screenwriter - James Brown Twilight of the Stooges - Jerry Stahl Chemistry - Robert Ward Shame - Kerry E. West Viki, Flash, and the Pied-Piper of Shoebies - Deborah Vankin Golden Pacific - Nina Revoyr Sentimental Value - Manuel Ramos Just Surviving Another Day - Detrice Jones A.K.A. Moises Rockafella - Emory Holmes II Camaro Blue - Bill Moody Serving Monster - Jervey Tervalon Disco Zombies - Gary Phillips CONTENTS - SPEED How to Go to Dinner With a Brother On Drugs - Natalie Diaz War Cry - Sherman Alexie Bad - Jerry Stahl Labiodental Fricative - Scott Phillips Osito - Kenji Jasper Amp is the First Word in Amphetamine - Joseph Mattson Addiction - James Franco Wheelbarrow Kings - Jess Walter Tips 'n' Things by Elayne - Beth Lisick Pissing in Perpetuity - Rose Bunch 51 Hours - Tao Lin Everything I Want - Megan Abbott The Speed of Things - James Greer No Matter How Beautifully It Stings - William T. Vollmann CONTENTS - HEROIN Fragments of Joe - Tony O'Neill Hot for the Shot - Sophia Langdon Dos Mac + The Jones - Nathan Larson Possible Side Effects - Jerry Stahl Going Down - L.Z. Hansen Baby I Need to See A Man About A Duck - Michael Albo Godhead - Eric Bogosian Gift Horse - Jervey Tervalon Ghost Town Lydia Lunch The Monster - John Albert Black Caesar's Gold - Gary Phillips Sunshine for Adrienne - Antonia Crane Poppy Love - Ava Stander

Read more less

Times Square, 1986: the home of New York's red light district where strip clubs, porno theatres and petty crime prevails. When a chance encounter for Peepbooth worker Roxy Bell leads to the brutal murder of a public access pornographer, the erotic performer and her punk rock ex-partner Nick Zero soon find themselves under fire from criminals, cops, and the city elite, as they begin untangling a complex web of corruption leading right to city hall.

Read more less

From authors including National Book Award winner Pete Hautman, Deadly Ink 2007 winner Darrell James, and renowned social commentator turned short-story writer Mike Davis, Politics Noir is a chilling and subversive collection of new crime stories featuring greed, corruption, insatiable ambition-and murder in the very highest places.

Read more less

Faced with overwhelming poverty and a pregnant wife, a tragic, struggling comedian is forced to turn to crime. In his first heist, he is immersed in toxic chemicals that disfigure him bizarrely, driving him mad and thus giving birth to The Joker. For years, the Clown Prince of Crime has been caught in a dance of violence with his greatest nemesis, the Batman. Escaping Arkham Asylum, he plots his most lethal caper. This will be the ultimate punch line… his KILLING JOKE. In their mission to protect Gotham City, Batman and Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) pursue ruthless criminals such as the grandiose Maxie Zeus and Antonio “Python” Palmares. Simultaneously, Commissioner James Gordon and Detective Harvey Bullock take on a cartel distributing the latest designer drug—“giggle sniff,” derived from a venom created by The Joker. This rapid-fire sequence of events spirals together to threaten Batman’s closest friends and allies, and locks the two eternal foes in their ultimate death match.

Read more less

***Editor's Choice, NEW YORK TIMES*** A literary coup d'etat, that ponders "What would the White House be like if U.S. Presidents of the past were not restricted by the time-honored hallmarks and traditional behavior of the office, leaving them free to do whatever they wanted, anytime and anywhere?" THE FAKING OF THE PRESIDENT: Nineteen Stories of White House Noir pulls back the curtain on the “new norm” for America’s highest office, with a collection of bizarre new stories by a diverse group of renowned authors that take readers across the chasm of reality into an alternate universe—where Nixon takes a wacky psychedelic trip with Elvis Presley; where a time-traveling renegade targets members of the George Bush administration with disastrous results; where a spy seizes a sudden opportunity for power after Woodrow Wilson’s stroke. The stories are outlandish but—when it comes to the White House of today—no longer implausible. The line-up of award-winning authors includes Eric Beetner, Peter Carlaftes, Sarah M. Chen, Angel Luis Colón, S. A. Cosby, Nikki Dolson, Mary Anna Evans, Adam Lance Garcia, Danny Gardner, Alison Gaylin, Christopher Chambers, Kate Flora, Greg Herren, Gary Phillips, Alex Segura, Travis Richardson, S. J. Rozan, Abby Vandiver, and Erica Wright. In an era where the bar for what is acceptable has shifted beyond what the founding fathers ever imagined, THE FAKING OF THE PRESIDENT is a highly recommended unique creative act of resistance, and a must-have for fans of politics, noir, and speculative fiction.

Read more less