Lives Laid Away

by Stephen Mack Jones

Overview

When the body of an anonymous young Hispanic woman dressed as Queen Marie Antoinette is dredged from the Detroit River, the Detroit Police Department wants the case closed out fast. Wayne County Coroner Dr. Bobby Falconi gives the woman’s photo to his old pal August Snow, insisting August show it around his native Mexicantown to see if anyone recognizes her. August’s good friend Elena, a prominent advocate for undocumented immigrants, recognizes the woman immediately. Her story is one the authorities don’t want getting around—and she’s not the only young woman to have disappeared during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid, only to turn up dead a few weeks later. Preyed upon by the law itself, the people of Mexicantown have no one to turn to. August Snow, ex-police detective, will not sit by and watch his neighbors suffer in silence. In a guns-blazing wild ride across Detroit, from its neo-Nazi biker hole-ups to its hip-hop recording studios, its swanky social clubs to its seedy nightclubs, August puts his own life on the line to protect the community he loves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616959593
Publisher:	Soho Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	01/08/2019
Series:	August Snow Series , #2
Pages:	312
Sales rank:	307,807
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Stephen Mack Jones is a published poet, an award-winning playwright, and a recipient of the prestigious Kresge Arts in Detroit Literary Fellowship. He was born in Lansing, Michigan, and currently lives in Farmington Hills, outside of Detroit. He worked in advertising and marketing communications for a number of years before turning to fiction. His critically acclaimed debut novel, August Snow, has been nominated for the Hammett and the Strand Awards.

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Chapter 1
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Excerpted from "Lives Laid Away"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Stephen Mack Jones.
Excerpted by permission of Soho Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

★ 11/12/2018
Jones effectively dramatizes the Trump administration’s approach to illegal immigration in his superior second novel featuring ex-cop August Snow (after 2017’s August Snow). Snow was forced out of the Detroit PD after he began digging into allegations that the former mayor was corrupt. The wrongful dismissal lawsuit he filed yielded a multimillion-dollar payday, and Snow has chosen to invest that money in his old neighborhood of Mexicantown. The community he is working to help comes under threat from an ICE crackdown, an initiative that coincides with the death of 19-year-old Isadora del Torres, an undocumented alien who leaped into the Detroit River while dressed as Marie Antoinette. Snow learns that the dead teenager was the victim of a vicious human trafficking ring that may involve corrupt immigration agents. Snow, who is of mixed African-American and Mexican heritage, is an uncompromising crusader with a sense of humor reminiscent of Robert Parker’s Spenser. He merits a long literary life. Agent: Stephany Evans, FinePrint Literary Management. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for August Snow
A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Best Book of the Year
A 2018 Michigan Notable Book
 
“August Snow is one of my favorite books that I’ve read recently, and I’m not just saying that . . . This book is so good, I actually put it down, and I briefly entertained the notion of moving back to Detroit.”
—Nancy Pearl, NPR’s Morning Edition

“[A] witty, mayhem-packed first novel . . . Snow’s own voice has echoes of Raymond Chandler’s. Be assured that when the showdown comes, Snow—an action-hero with the heart of a mensch—and his crew prove up to that task.” 
—The Wall Street Journal

“Stephen Mack Jones’s rock-solid debut, August Snow, is powered by the outgoing personality of the title hero and his deep affections for his hometown of Detroit. [Jones] proves himself a natural entertainer.” 
—Chicago Tribune 

“Jones, a Detroit-area poet and playwright brings the city, its environs, and its eateries to vital life in a mystery coiled around the contemporary crime du jour of cyber-finance meddling. His is that rare tale that, despite its thriller-level violence, maintains a fiercely warm heart at its core—and ends far too quickly.” 
—The Boston Globe 

“[A] polished, gripping debut. Poet Stephen Mack Jones’ novel bristles with energy, compassion, humor and a page-turning plot.” 
—Minneapolis Star Tribune

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