Praise for Violent Spring A Parade Best Mystery Book of 2024 "In the tradition of Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op, Ivan Monk takes on a corrupt world . He makes us feel that the war he's waging is for our own salvation." --Walter Mosley, creator of the Easy Rawlins series "A landmark novel set during and after the 1992 L.A. riots." -- The New York Times Book Review "A crime classic." -- The Washington Post "Riveting . 30 years after its first publication, this hard-boiled novel's trenchant political commentary still rings true .

While the page-turner sharply critiques race relations, politics, and wealth in L.A. and the plot is suspenseful, Gary Phillips has also written something meaningful, just shy of a love note, about the city as it was and is experienced by its people." -- Alta "One of the high points of the year for mystery fans." -- Parade " Violent Spring peels away the studded rind of the golden orange, exposing its bête noir core." --Mike Davis, author of City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles "Tough, smart, and unabashedly political. Monk is (to paraphrase basketball star Charles Barkley) a P.I.

for the '90s, and Violent Spring is Phillips's perfect intro to him." --Gar Anthony Haywood, author of the Aaron Gunner mysteries "A welcome read . [with] intelligence, political sensibilities, and street smarts. Straight-to-the-point narrative." -- Quarterly Black Review of Books "Monk's sense of absurdity and his perfectly emulsified blend of toughness and tenderness make him one of crime fiction's most appealing heroes." -- Booklist "Wild, freewheeling L.A. noir.

" -- CrimeReads "Gary Phillips knows Los Angeles and gives readers a realistic, gritty portrait of this city in turmoil through the eyes of his African American P.I." -The Armchair Detective "An interesting who-done-it." --African American Literature Review "A titillating murder mystery. Phillips keeps you riveted on each page . He takes you down the front streets and in the back doors of our Los Angeles." -- Turning Point magazine.