City of Sin — Christopher Ryan

New York City is the best and worst of what humanity has to offer. When things go wrong, its citizens call the NYPD. When things go wrong in weird, dark, unexplainable ways, the NYPD calls Detectives Frank Mallory and Alberto "Gunner" Gennaro, whether they like it or not. In this collection of crisp, sometimes brutal short stories, the detectives face modern versions of classic horrors, take on expressions of the seven deadly sins, and are forced to find ways to hold onto their souls when it all hits the fan. From housing projects to Yankee Stadium to Harlem to the Village to a mid-town bar on Christmas Eve to the Port Authority Bus Terminal during a city-crippling, hellacious blizzard, Mallory and Gunner take on all comers; the weird, the uncanny, the unnatural, and the just pure damned evil. And it costs them more with each case. Author Christopher Ryan was named "Best New Voice in Fiction, 2013" by the Independent Book Publishers Association for his debut novel, CITY OF WOE. Now he's back to answer some readers' questions and satisfy curiosity about how these two detectives got together and case-by-chaotic case were maneuvered closer to the madness unleashed in that novel. It all starts here. CITY OF SIN is a prequel to the award-winning CITY of WOE. Here is what longtime radio personality and book reviewer Bill Thompson wrote about CITY OF WOE: "Christopher Ryan comes from a family of cops, and it shows. And he was an award-winning crime and politics reporter, and that shows, too., in his hard-boiled mystery thriller CITY OF WOE, a compelling story of the hunt for a particularly nasty serial killer -- who may or may not be a demon -- in New York City... Chris Ryan combines a deep knowledge of literary classics and a love of classic rock with a knowledge of New York that rivals Richard Price and Lawrence Block. Ryan's dialogue stands with Carl Hiaasen. His suspense may remind you of Jeffery Deaver... Ryan's dialogue is crisp and memorable. When Gunner, gushing over the homemade lasagna awaiting him at Mallory's house, says of Mallory's wife Gina, 'I love that woman. You ever get killed in the line of duty, I'm marrying her.' Mallory retorts, 'It comes to that, I'm shooting you before I die.'" -- Bill Thompson, thebookcast.com. Come for a deadly ride around the dark corners of the greatest city in the world. Getting back out safely? Well, that's on you...