Called "tough, smart, and unabashedly political" (Gar Anthony Haywood), Private Investigator Ivan Monk has taken the mystery genre by storm. Powerful, compelling and thought provoking, Gary Phillips's series has gained thousands of fans and widespread critical acclaim--the Quarterly Black Review of Books agrees that "its political perspective is absolutely refreshing...a welcome read." Once again, the heat is building in the Rancho Tajuata projects. And it's not just because it's summer in L.A. Racial tension and gang violence are menacing the city streets. And when three members of a Mexican family--including a little girl--are killed in a firebombing, local hostility threatens to rage out of control. At the request of the tenants' security force, P.I. Ivan Monk is called in to find the killer. But to track him down, Monk must delve into a tangled history leading back to the Watts riots, revealing layers of 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. Now 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...
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In Phillips's third Ivan Monk mystery (after Violent Spring and Perdition, U.S.A.), the African American Los Angeles PI, who also owns a donut shop, investigates a fatal firebombing in the Rancho Tajuata housing project. Monk is hired by the head of the Ra-Falcons, a Black Muslim splinter group that was hired to work security at the multiracial project, to clear them of responsibility in the fiery death of a family from Mexico. The search for the bombers leads Monk through a minefield of racial tension between the black residents and the burgeoning Latino population and back to some shady financial dealings that started with the 1965 Watts riots. Monk's lady, Superior Court Judge Jill Kodama, is the object of a nasty recall campaign because of her reluctance to enforce the controversial "Three Strikes" law. Both story lines are compelling and supported by convincing characterization and effective action and sex scenes. But these qualities are compromised by numerous instances of ungainly word choice, ungrammatical constructions and clotted metaphors. For example, this is Monk's observation of a lighted room full of young gang members: "A compressed thing of pain and fury, soon to spin off its spirochetes in erratic orbits to zoom, and eventually falter, in a universe of chaos." Without the continual distractions of sloppy writing and/or editing, this novel would have packed a significantly greater punch.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
When three die in a fire in an L.A. housing project, the tenant association aims its ire at the private security force. Antar Absalla, head of the force, hires Ivan Monk, an African American private investigator with the chameleonlike ability to function in the complicated ethnic, social, and financial climate that is contemporary L.A. Monk initially ascribes the fire to a gang-related incident but soon finds much more powerful interests at work. More people will die, and Monk himself will be charged with manslaughter before the source of all the death and destruction can be unmasked. The third Monk novel is solid hard-boiled fare that recalls the fatalistic determination of Ross McDonald's Lew Archer. Paralleling his contemporary peer Wil Hardesty, who copes with personal tragedy in his past in Richard Barre's Ghosts of Morning , Monk struggles to overcome previous social injustices that continue to affect him personally as well as the world in which he lives. A thoughtful and intelligent mystery. Wes Lukowsky
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terric as Phillips ususally is,
By A Customer
This review is from: Bad Night Is Falling : An Ivan Monk Mystery (Hardcover)
Los Angeles is shocked by the fire bombing death of the Cruzado family in the multi-racial Rancho Tajuat housing projects. Just about everyone including the police and the tenants feel that the Ra-Falcons, a Black Muslim group who provide security to the complex, killed the Mexican-American family. The leader of Ra-Falcons, Minister Antar Absalla decides to hire South Central private Investigator Ivan Monk to uncover the identities of the killers. At the same time that Ivan begins to investigate what really happened to the Cruzado family, his significant other, Judge Jill Kodama is under recall pressure for not enforcing the three strikes and your out rule. However, Ivan has little time to provide her comfort as he has his own worries because he is now under indictment for murdering a gang member. With his priorities starting to shift, Ivan knows that while he tries to clear his name, he must discover the real culprit before more trouble leads to a racial civil war in the LA projects. In his third appearance (see VIOLENT SPRINGS and PERDITION), Ivan Monk remains a great private investigator, who brings to life the mean streets of LA. BAD NIGHT IS FALLING is filled with the usual tremendous characterizations and two interesting story lines that actually work well together. Though at times the vernacular is difficult to follow, Gary Phillips continues to rise to the top of the ethnic who-done-it sub-genre. Harriet Klausner
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