Black Hornet
The Lew Griffin Mysteries (Related to this series)
- Author James Sallis
- Narrator G. Valmont Thomas
- Publisher Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date 1 December 2008
- Run Time 4 hours and 20 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Crime and mystery fiction.
Flexible Pricing & Rewards For Listening
At xigxag, the more you read, the less you pay* on select audiobook and x-book® titles, as in the table below. Pricing updates automatically in the app and resets one year after your first purchase. And you can always find a selection of brilliant titles available for only £3.99.
Titles Purchased
- 1-5
- 6-10
- 11-15
- 16-20
- Over 20
Price per title
- £8.99
- £7.99
- £6.99
- £5.99
- £4.99
*Only the full price titles you buy count toward your personal pricing tier. Full price titles don’t include Listen for Less or other books bought with a voucher or discount code.
Listen to a sample
What to expect
A sniper appears in 1960s New Orleans, a sun-baked city of Black Panthers and other separatists. Five people have been fatally shot. When the sixth victim is killed, Lew Griffin is standing beside her. He's black and she's white, and though they are virtual strangers, it is left to Griffin to avenge her death, or at least to try and make some sense of it. His unlikely allies include a crusading black journalist, a longtime supplier of mercenary arms and troops, and bail bondsman Frankie DeNoux. Yet it is the character of Lew Griffin that takes center stage, as in each of Sallis's highly praised books. He is by now, in this prequel, well on the way to becoming what he will be: violent, kind, contradictory, alcoholic. Both naïve and wise, he is a man cursed by unspeakable demons, yet seemingly encircled by redemptive angels awaiting an opening.
Critics Review
“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…Sallis’ New Orleans sparkles gaudily even in the passionate economy of his prose, marked by such arresting images as that of twelve-string blues shot through with the amber from the dregs of a shot glass.”
“Unlike Philip Marlowe and most of his brethren, whose cynicism is only trench-coat deep—a tough-talking veneer masking a moral purist—Lew Griffin is the real thing, a cynic out of Celine or the Hemingway of In Our Time…This is powerful stuff, not for those to whom ‘hard-boiled’ is just a matter of style.”
“Black tough guy/narrator Lewis Griffin inhabits the often murky streets of New Orleans in a not-too-distant past-the early 1960s…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.”
“Enjoy a detective whose personality is complex and out of the ordinary, and a plot which involves the reader in some unusual scenarios.”
| Author | James Sallis |
|---|---|
| Narrator | G. Valmont Thomas |
| Series | The Lew Griffin Mysteries |
| Duration | 4 hours and 20 minutes |
| Release Date | |
| ISBN | 9781481545099 |
| Format | Audiobook |
| Publisher | Blackstone Publishing |
| Genre | Crime and mystery fiction |
| Availability | AU, GB, IE, US |
More from the same
Author
Narrator
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK’s only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at £8.99. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from £3.99. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.