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John Florio

The latest sequel in the Prohibition-Era crime series is “hard-boiled enough to remind readers of Hammett and Chandler,” featuring the biracial bartender up against a corrupt cop (Kirkus Reviews).
 
 Jersey Leo knows what it means to be the underdog. After all, he’s the guy known on the streets as “Snowball,” a biracial albino working the bar at Philadelphia’s Ink Well, a Prohibition joint serving up moonshine to a mostly Black clientele. So when death row inmate Aaron Garvey calls to ask for one last favor, Jersey can’t say no. Aaron may be a convicted cop-killer, but he’s also the childhood friend who stood up to Jersey’s bullies. As a Black kid with the kind of colorless features only the mother who abandoned him could love, Jersey had a lot of enemies.
 
 And the numbers keep growing, though this time it’s crooked cops looking to break Jersey’s legs—or worse—after Aaron springs himself from prison just moments after he and Jersey share his last meal. But that doesn’t stop Jersey from hiding the escaped convict while he uncovers the real story about what happened that night Aaron pulled the trigger. Even Jersey’s father, a former boxing champ, is on his side this time, along with Jersey’s childhood crush, Myra Banks. With his dad in his corner and a good-looking dame on his arm, will Jersey uncover the truth before it’s too late?

 “Compelling. . . . Florio has an unerring feel for the era and people, and we believe in these characters. Readers will cheer for Leo, a tough guy with a heart of hurt.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
 
 “Hits a comfortable niche between hard-boiled and breezy.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer

Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller

The Jersey Leo Novels

Blind Moon Alley

The debut novel in a “riveting” Prohibition-era crime series “for readers who follow Kelli Stanley’s Miranda Corbie series or Reed Farrel Coleman’s Moe Prager books” (Library Journal).
 
 On the streets of Prohibition-era New York, Jersey Leo is one of a kind. A biracial albino known as “Snowball,” he makes his living as a bartender at a mob-run speakeasy. Abandoned by his White mother and frowned upon by his Black father, a former boxing champ, Jersey’s about to discover why he was always warned against working at a dive bar owned by one of New York’s most notorious gangsters.
 
 Duped into purchasing counterfeit moonshine, or “sugar pop moon,” with his boss’s money, Jersey must go undercover to track down the bootlegger who took him in—before his boss does him in. The clues lead him to Philadelphia, where his attempt to lure out the cheat nearly gets him killed. With a price on his head, Jersey seeks help from the only man he can trust, his father. But as Jersey and his dad delve into the origins of the mysterious sugar pop moon, stunning secrets about Jersey’s past come to light—truths that could pave the way to a very different future for Jersey. . . .
 
 “Funny, poignant, and thrilling. A terrific read!” —Kevin Baker, bestselling author of Dreamland, Paradise Alley, and Strivers Row
 
 “Harsh as a slug of 190-proof moonshine.” —Rebecca Cantrell, New York Times–bestselling author of A City of Broken Glass 
 
 “Authentic period, savvy style, and memorable characters.” —Kelli Stanley, award-winning author of City of Dragonsand City of Secrets
 
 “Sure to appeal to fans of Mickey Spillane, Raymond Chandler, and . . . Robert Fate’s edgy Baby Shark series.” —Booklist

Sugar Pop Moon