{"product_id":"only-the-wicked-paperback","title":"Only the Wicked - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eGary Phillips\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePrivate eye Ivan Monk takes on his most personal mystery to date--and chases answers deep into America's haunted past.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLong ago, Marshall Spears was a hero of the ballpark. In a time when baseball--and the nation--was segregated, he played in the vaunted Negro Leagues. Decades later, Old Man Spears is living out his days as a fixture in a barbershop in South Central. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOne afternoon, PI Ivan Monk--a shop regular--learns that Spears's former teammate was Kennesaw Riles. From family lore, Monk knows Riles is his cousin who was ostracized for the damning testimony he gave during a controversial murder trial in the '60s--testimony that put a firebrand civil rights leader behind bars. Before Monk can hear more, Old Man Spears drops dead while listening to a ballgame on the radio. Even stranger, the long missing Riles shows up at the Old Man's funeral services, and dies soon after. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMonk knows the timing is not a coincidence. He follows the mystery to the Mississippi Delta. There, he unravels the truth behind the murder of two civil rights era activists. Eventually Monk zeroes in on a group of shadowy Mississippi businessmen-turned-philanthropists who may not have reformed their ways as they claim. Far from Los Angeles, the tenacious private eye confronts his own family history as well as a brand of hatred thought to have died with Jim Crow.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eGary Phillips \u003c\/b\u003ehas published novels, comics, novellas, short stories and edited or co-edited several anthologies, including the Anthony-winning \u003ci\u003eThe Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir\u003c\/i\u003e. Almost 30 years after its publication, his debut, \u003ci\u003eViolent Spring\u003c\/i\u003e, was named one of the essential crime novels of Los Angeles. He also was a story editor on \u003ci\u003eSnowfall\u003c\/i\u003e, an FX show about crack and the CIA in 1980s South Central, where he grew up.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 360\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.96 x 8.26 x 5.6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 20, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51751521222944,"sku":"9781641294454","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/56b563c50eef8e1f1f5f02e77a59af05.webp?v=1779974940","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/only-the-wicked-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}