Violent Spring, Gary Phillips
Violent Spring, Gary Phillips
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Violent Spring

Author: Gary Phillips, Walter Mosley

Narrator: William DeMeritt

Unabridged: 7 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 05/07/2024


Synopsis

THE MYSTERY THAT LAUNCHED A LEGENDARY CRIME WRITING CAREER

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 liquor store 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 questions who the real perpetrators are and whether he can prevent more from dying, including himself, before he uncovers the truth.

“A landmark novel."—The New York Times Book Review

About Gary Phillips

Gary Phillips is the author of numerous novels, including the Ivan Monk series. He coedited and contributed to the acclaimed Black Pulp and wrote Big Water, a graphic novel about the fight for that most precious of resources. He lives in Los Angeles.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Tom on May 24, 2024

Los Angeles, 1992. The heat of the Rodney King riots might have cooled, but the city is still a tinderbox. On a wrecked corner lot at the infamous Florence and Normandie intersection, ground is broken on a new community store. It was supposed to be the first steps towards recovery – then the body of......more

Goodreads review by Jake on February 26, 2021

I've read several Gary Phillips books and either this or The Jook would be my favorite. Man, this is so good. A layered mystery examining the many corners of Black and Korean Los Angeles at a time immediately following the uprising over the assault on Rodney King and the death of Latasha Harlins, Mo......more

Goodreads review by Judy on December 14, 2024

Set in Los Angeles, this mystery covers the year following the Rodney King riots. It is the first in a series featuring Private Investigator Ivan Monk, a black man with a Japanese girlfriend who is also a judge. I moved to Los Angeles from Michigan at the end of 1991 and started a new job in Pasadena......more

Goodreads review by Benjamin on May 27, 2016

Very cool. Crazy L.A. Noir, complete with hunchbacks, set in South Central the year after the Uprising. I plan to read everything else this guy has written. Any crime book that mentions both the Panthers and the IWW, twice each, and keeps its politics there without losing character and plot, is goin......more

Goodreads review by Sandi on November 22, 2008

Decent debut set a couple of years after Rodney King in LA but too many characters and a bad guy that was too obvious made this a bit of a slow read.......more