CapaCapa
Scan Sign in
Cover of Ash Dark as Night

Ash Dark as Night

Gary Phillips

Ages 15–18

313 pages · Released Apr 2, 2024

Content report card

Ash Dark as Night parent’s guide: what’s inside

Medium confidence

LGBTQ+ themes

What it offers

A note for parents

This is an adult crime noir novel set during the 1965 Watts riots, featuring police brutality, violence, and corruption as central themes. While the story rewards courage and moral witness-bearing, the content—including graphic depictions of riot violence, police abuse, and criminal activity—is most appropriate for mature teens and adults interested in historical fiction. The atmospheric historical detail and social justice themes elevate the narrative, but the violence and mature themes require reader maturity.

Analyzed by AI · 1 month ago

Read it with your kids?

Rate it and suggest an age to help other parents.

Log in to review

From the publisher

In the follow-up to One-Shot Harry, fearless crime photographer and occasional private eye Harry Ingram finds himself in the LAPD's crosshairs after capturing damning evidence of police brutality. An atmospheric dive into a city on the brink that's brimming with remarkable historical detail, Ash Dark as Night is perfec... In the follow-up to One-Shot Harry, fearless crime photographer and occasional private eye Harry Ingram finds himself in the LAPD's crosshairs after capturing damning evidence of police brutality. An atmospheric dive into a city on the brink that's brimming with remarkable historical detail, Ash Dark as Night is perfect for fans of Walter Mosley and James Ellroy. Los Angeles, August 1965. Anger and pent-up frustrations boil over in the Watts neighborhood after a traffic stop of two Black motorists. As the Watts riots explode, crime photographer Harry Ingram snaps photos at the scene, including images of the police as they unleash batons, dogs, and water hoses on civilians. When he captures the image of an unarmed activist being shot down by the cops, he winds up in the hospital, beaten, his camera missing. Proof of the unjust killing seems lost—until Ingram’s girlfriend, Anita Claire, retrieves the hidden film in a daring rescue. The photo makes front-page news. A recuperating Ingram is approached by Betty Payton, a comrade of Anita’s mother, who wants Ingram’s help tracking down her business associate Moses “Mose” Tolbert, last seen during the riots. Ingram follows the investigation down a rabbit hole of burglary rings, bank robberies, looted cash, and clandestine agendas—all the while grappling with his newfound fame, which puts him in the sightlines of LAPD’s secretive intelligence division. Ash Dark as Night is a nail-biting ride-along through midcentury Los Angeles with a crime fiction legend in the driver’s seat.

Shelved under

  • Fiction

Share this guide

ISBN 9781641294751 · Soho Press

We use cookies to keep you signed in and for anonymous usage stats. No ad tracking. Privacy