Black Hornet [Hardcover]

James Sallis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1994

During the racial turbulence of the sixties, after a sniper kills his companion, a white woman, detective Lew Griffin must make of sense of this murder with the help of a mixed group of allies.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With two fine crime works in the tales of black operative Lew Griffin (Moth and The Long-Legged Fly), Sallis here delivers another: a prequel and a grim, utterly absorbing novel set in 1960s New Orleans. Griffin, a boozer, freelance investigator and occasional saint to the poor, reads a lot, hangs out with his tender lover, a whore named LaVerne, and views the radical black movement with an anesthetized detachment. He gets a crash course in radical anger when he meets a prominent white woman journalist, then watches as she is gunned down, the latest victim of a black shooter, a pro gunman bound for either hell or glory. He becomes a pal to a white cop whose brother is another of the recently slain. Although most of Lew's waking hours are spent close to drunk and absorbed in books that help him reflect upon the demons that dog him, he nevertheless reaches a resolution that seems a perfect tying up of loose circumstances. Sallis's New Orleans sparkles gaudily even in the passionate economy of his prose, marked by such arresting images as that of 12-string blues shot through with the amber from the dregs of a shot glass.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Black tough guy/narrator Lewis Griffin inhabits the often murky streets of New Orleans in a not-too-distant past-the early 1960s. Griffin strikes back after an admired reporter acquaintance of his is killed right in front of him by a rooftop sniper. With the help of a white policeman, the "support" of his working-girl lady friend, and news gathered from various dives, Lewis gets dangerously close to the shooter. Not a historical mystery in the strictest sense, perhaps, yet a vivid, focused portrayal of crime and the underlying racial tensions that can accompany it.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 154 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub; First Edition edition (October 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786701188
• ISBN-13: 978-0786701186
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,696,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sallis is Simply One of the Best, October 24, 2003

By 

Daniel Olivas (West Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Black Hornet (Lew Griffin Mysteries) (Paperback)

James Sallis is simply one of our best, living writers. And this slender book is a delight to read. Once again, Lew Griffin is plunged into the criminal world, this time murders in 1960s New Orleans. White people are being picked off by a sniper including a beautiful reporter whom Griffin has just gotten to know. With racial tensions at the burning point, and with suspicions that the sniper is an African-American, Griffin finds himself walking a tightrope between a radical Black organization and white police officers. Drenched in booze and books, Griffin is at times lost, at times securely in control. The dialogue is crisp, the characters real. Bravo!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars RIVETING NARRATION OF A SUSPENSEFUL STORY, January 11, 2009

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Black Hornet: A Lew Griffin Mystery (Library Binder) (Audio CD)

James Sallis makes numerous contributions to the literary world - to date he has penned some 24 volumes among them are works of poetry, fiction, biography, translation, essays, and criticism. (He also writes a column for the Boston Globe's review section). Not the least recognized and appreciated among his works are the Lew Griffin series, crime stories. With these books he has created an intriguing lead character in Griffin, a complex, often violent, sometimes compassionate private investigator who happens to be black.

Black Hornet is set during one of 1960s hottest summers in New Orleans. Now, the heat isn't just reflected by the thermometer but by the escalated temperatures of the people - they're angry, hostile, riled by separatists and the Black Panthers. Not a good place to be when nothing and no one is cooling off.

Five people have been killed - randomly shot by a sniper. The sixth victim, a white woman, happened to be standing right by Griffin when she was shot. Too close for comfort and too much for Griffin to take so he sets about finding the crazed killer.

Sallis is a superb storyteller, an eloquent writer whose prose packs an even greater wallop in part due to its spareness. His writing is authentic and atmospheric, his wording taut as this novel races to an unexpected finish.

G. Valmont Thomas, a member of the acting company at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival delivers a riveting narration as Griffin wrestles with his private demons and chases down a killer.

Gail Cooke

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretentious, August 22, 2011

By 

J. Ernst - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Black Hornet (Lew Griffin Mysteries) (Paperback)

Late 1960s, New Orleans. A sniper shot a woman Lew Griffin had just become acquainted with so off he goes. Or does he? More people than expected ring his bell and every one of them is invited for a cup of coffee or a drink. People drop in and out like stage characters that have missed the right play, all good guys whose main claim to being in this small book is that they fill up space. The bad guy does not ring Lew's bell, he hurts him. Lew meanders. Lew reads good books (The Stranger). Lew drinks a lot of whiskey. Lew gets beaten up badly twice but recovers to old form in next to no time. What's in this gumbo? A bit of Chandler, Ellison, Himes, and others: yes; some existentialism especially in regard to black/white tensions of the time: sure; interesting thoughts on human memory: yes; a good story: no. Lew gets the killer, of course.