Dead By Popular Demand - Softcover

Teddy Hayes

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1902934024 ISBN 13: 9781902934020

Publisher: The X Press, 2000

Synopsis

Book by Teddy Hayes

About this title

Review:

Harlem renaissance man Devil Barnett probes the death of two rising rappers. The sublime sound of the seven-man group Dancehall Dogz, Jamaican with a touch of hip-hop, has taken the music world by storm, and the London group is living high in New York City. But their success threatens to come crashing down when two of the Dogz, Shogun and Man O War, are found dead in Harlem of decapitation and a drug overdose, respectively. Man O War's uncle Livingston Holmes, a wealthy neighborhood real-estate broker, enlists the help of Ernest "Devil" Barnett, ex-CIA agent, owner of the popular Be-Bop Tavern and sometime sleuth (Blood Red Blues, 2004), in finding his nephew's killer. Devil's cool first-person narrative is interspersed with italicized passages that bring victims and perps up close. Never one to tread softly, Devil takes only a single day to visit the lawyer who crafted the group's latest contract, the All-Star Rehearsal Studios, where the remaining Dogz are working on their new release, and the offices of Grooveline Records. Devil's scorched-earth investigation unmasks slick Reverend Jennings of God's Holy Tabernacle. Proving the Reverend's guilt, though, is another matter that will require an extended game of cat-and-mouse. Hayes still writes with a heavy hand, but his sophomore effort deepens the evocative portrait of his community and eschews mystery for a stronger p.i. model. (Kirkus Reviews)

From Booklist:

Devil Barnett returns in a second outing that finds the CIA hit-man-turned-Harlem-barkeep up to his neck in a case involving murdered members of a London hip-hop act, warring cocaine dealers, dark family secrets, and enough willing women to form several hot combos with the jazz-loving private dick. Despite constructing an overly convoluted plot, Hayes delivers a fun read by exposing the dirty underside of the record business and salting a handful of engagingly original characters among the urban stereotypes. The book is at its best when it takes a break from the brisk narrative flow and focuses on, for instance, Benny Sweetmeat, an aging sandwich maker recognized by a couple of colleagues from his porn-star days who want to relive old times. Also compelling is Devil's extended hallucination after he gets shot and suffers a sickle-cell crisis. Devil is an interesting guy--he delivers heartfelt monologues about how much he enjoys helping people right after meting out sadistic punishment. When Hayes gives the investigator interesting things to do and people to mingle with, the series clicks. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: The X Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1902934024
• ISBN 13: 9781902934020
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240