August Snow

by Stephen Mack Jones Narrated by Luis Moreno

Overview

August Snow, an ex-police detective who was fired from the Detroit PD, brought down the entire corrupt department and the mayor with a wrongful dismissal lawsuit. The son of an AfricanAmerican cop and a Mexican-American painter, August Snow is
most at home in Detroit's Mexicantown neighborhood, where he grew up-the neighborhood he's now returned to and hopes to revitalize with his settlement money of $12 million. The trouble is August has old enemies with scores to settle.

When an old acquaintance, finance magnate Eleanore Paget, hears August is back in town, she tries to hire him to investigate suspicious goings-on at her investment bank. August declines- detective work is no longer his beat. When Eleanore is found dead the next day of an apparent suicide, August doesn't buy it for a minute. His search for her killer will drag him into a rat's nest of Detroit's most dangerous criminals.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

11/21/2016
Convincing smartass dialogue brings the Detroit denizens of poet and playwright Jones’s first novel to life. Police officer August Snow was fired from the force for whistle-blowing on the city’s mayor and a bunch of crooked cops. His wrongful dismissal suit got him $12 million. After traveling the world, he’s home in Detroit’s Mexicantown when he’s summoned to posh Grosse Pointe by Eleanor Paget, the head of a private wealth-management and investment bank, whose husband he once investigated for embezzlement and murder. She’s convinced someone’s trying to take over her empire and wants August’s help. When Eleanor turns up dead, a supposed suicide, the plot starts to go off the rails. In pursuit of justice, August and his buddies, armed with countless military weapons, take on hired assassins working for evildoers whose crimes against the bank include extortion, racketeering, and implausible cybercrimes. Strong prose and a hero with a distinctive multicultural background (August is half African-American, half Mexican) make up only in part for muddled storytelling. Agent: Stephany Evans, FinePrint Literary Management. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

Winner of the 2018 Nero Award
Winner of the Hammett Prize for Crime Fiction
Finalist for the 2018 Shamus Award
Strand Magazine Critics Awards Best First Novel Nominee
A 2018 Michigan Notable Book
A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Best Book of 2017

Praise for August Snow

“August Snow is one of my favorite books that I've read recently, and I'm not just saying that . . . The plot just takes off . . . This book is so good, I actually put it down, and I briefly entertained the notion of moving back to Detroit.”
—Nancy Pearl on NPR’s Morning Edition

“All of us begin in grace and great promise and, staring at the door left open behind, wonder where they’ve gone. Stephen Mack Jones knows this, as does his narrator August Snow, as does their battered city, Detroit. Jean Cocteau believed the world is a misunderstanding. We read searching for stories that help us untangle some of that misunderstanding; August Snow is one.”
—James Sallis

“[A] witty, mayhem-packed first novel . . . Snow’s own voice has echoes of Raymond Chandler’s. Be assured that when the showdown comes, Snow—an action-hero with the heart of a mensch—and his crew prove up to that task.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“Man, if you haven’t read Stephen Mack Jones’ Detroit crime novels about an ex-cop named August Snow, you ought to.”
—Mike Lupica, The New York Daily News

“Wonderful.”
—Nancy Pearl for KUOW Seattle

“Stephen Mack Jones's rock-solid debut, August Snow, is powered by the outgoing personality of the title hero and his deep affections for his hometown of Detroit. This author proves himself a natural entertainer.”
—Chicago Tribune

“Jones, a Detroit-area poet and playwright brings the city, its environs, and its eateries to vital life in a mystery coiled around the contemporary crime du jour of cyber-finance meddling. His is that rare tale that, despite its thriller-level violence, maintains a fiercely warm heart at its core—and ends far too quickly.”
—The Boston Globe

“Snow—an ex-Detroit cop who won a sizeable settlement after his wrongful dismissal from the force—is the son of an African American father and a Mexican American mother; this ancestry adds nuance to Jones' creative canvas, which is as much about identity as it is intrigue.”
—Mystery Scene

“[Stephen Mack Jones] has deftly created a unique multi-faceted character in the best hard-boiled tradition, easily enjoyed by those who appreciate quick-thinking, fast-shooting detectives. This is a well-polished first novel with exceptionally strong characters and unexpected plot twists; it’s a superb start for a new series.”
—Lansing State Journal

“​Mack Jones’s prose is razor sharp and bleeds compassion. Set in Detroit, this noir novel has energy and wit to spare. A stellar debut.”
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ​

“[A] polished, gripping debut. Poet Stephen Mack Jones’ novel bristles with energy, compassion, humor and a page-turning plot.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Compelling . . . strong one-on-one dialogue keeps the story moving. August Snow is an entertaining read that gives Jones—and Detroit—plenty to celebrate.”
—Toledo Blade

“August Snow is an absolute joy to read from start to finish; Stephen Mack Jones has infused a real love of Detroit into every page. Characters are full of life, with August being a modern day anti-hero to a T, burdened with responsibility he never asked for but with the moral compass to ensure that he gets the job done regardless . . . We can only hope this isn’t the last we see of him.”
—The Michigan Daily

“[August Snow] is persistent, courageous, true to his friends... Now here is an interesting book.”
—Lincoln Journal Star

“Detective fiction needs a shot in the arm every now and again. That was the feeling of reading Stephen Mack Jones . . . The August Snow series is as promising as any crime fiction to come around in a long while, tapping into the iconoclasm and social justice streaks of midcentury noirs, but taking them in a modern direction, exposing human trafficking rings, abuses of immigrant communities, gentrification, and economic declines and revivals. It’s heady, exhilarating stuff.”
—CrimeReads

“As far as compelling reads, this book is what you want. The book takes the reader into the depths of Detroit, exploring, race, class and the cities that contain it all.”
—The Rumpus

“Lyrical and sly and rich with a mix of poetry and wisecracking... [the] cast of characters is lovingly drawn, and the setting is a 21st-century map of mean streets that say something about our world.”
—Reviewing the Evidence

“No doubt this is detective fiction on steroids, but boy, can that be a lot of fun!”
—Daniel Goldin, Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

“[A] hugely likable hero who uses his wealth to bring his neighborhood back to life; a feel for the vitality and pride in run-down urban neighborhoods as good as George Pelecanos on Washington, D.C.; appealing supporting characters who give life to the book's theme of the solace to be found in communities. It adds up to a very pleasurable read . . . We are at the beginning of an excellent new series.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Drawing on the hard-boiled detective template established by Raymond Chandler and refined by Robert B. Parker, Jones introduces a sleuth who is noble, steadfast in a fight with his fists or guns, and manages to charm the ladies. Readers will definitely want to see more of August Snow.”
—Library Journal 

“Strong prose and a hero with a distinctive multicultural background (August is half African-American, half Mexican) . . . Convincing smartass dialogue brings the Detroit denizens of poet and play-wright Jones's first novel to life.”
—Publishers Weekly

“This debut novel by poet and playwright Jones offers a welcome inside view of a city in turmoil and the viewpoint of a Mexican and African American protagonist who now finds himself among gentrifiers . . . where shelves lack heroes of color, add Jones’s work.”
—Booklist

Kirkus Reviews

2016-12-06
An ex-cop comes home to Detroit and finds himself embroiled in the investigation of a local business magnate's death. August Snow, whose name gives this volume its title, had been framed and drummed out of the force after uncovering corruption at the highest levels of the city. A successful suit for wrongful termination makes him a wealthy man, and he returns to his decaying neighborhood, Detroit's Mexicantown, where he grew up with his Mexican mother and African-American father. As a cop, August had uncovered embezzlement at the bank presided over by the much-despised businesswoman Eleanor Paget. When she dies, an apparent suicide, a day after asking him to work for her, his investigation into her death sets him up to tangle with all manner of local thugs and, possibly, international crooks who turn banks into their own private money-laundering operations. Let's get the flaws out of the way. The author, a poet, playwright, and first-time novelist, tends to overdo both the noir fatalism and the tough-guy stuff (especially when it comes to detailing Snow's arsenal). An important supporting character is made to pay for a past sin in a way that feels very judgmental. There's a shade too much cyberage paranoia. And the book climaxes with two—count 'em—sieges when one would do. But it's easy to overlook those flaws considering what this book gets right: a hugely likable hero who uses his wealth to bring his neighborhood back to life; a feel for the vitality and pride in run-down urban neighborhoods as good as George Pelecanos on Washington, D.C.; appealing supporting characters who give life to the book's theme of the solace to be found in communities. It adds up to a very pleasurable read. This mostly terrific debut holds out the promise that we are at the beginning of an excellent new series.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173327185
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	10/13/2020
Series:	August Snow , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged

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Chapter 1
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Excerpted from "August Snow"
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Copyright © 2017 Stephen Mack Jones.
Excerpted by permission of Soho Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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