ADVANCE PRAISE FOR GOOD MAN GONE BAD
“Good Man Gone Bad is Gar Anthony Haywood’s best work yet, keeping a tight focus on Aaron Gunner and his exploration of his city and the meaning of justice. More than a mystery, this book is a mirror held up to society and the world.”
—Michael Connelly, New York Times—best-selling author of the Harry Bosch novels
“Haywood is in peak form, a classic hard-boiled mystery full of sly humor and street wisdom—but also a surprisingly tender treatise on masculinity and the futility of violence. A page-turner as engaging as it is deep.”
—Attica Locke, author of Bluebird, Bluebird,Heaven, My Home, and The Cutting Season
“Good Man Gone Bad is bracing, heart-wrenching fiction from Haywood, and the best in his Aaron Gunner series to date. Gunner is by now part of LA’s contemporary noir canon—cynical, compassionate, and tireless in his pursuit of stubborn truths. Hip and raw. Don’t miss it.”
—T. Jefferson Parker, New York Times–best-selling author of The Last Good Guy
“Aaron Gunner is back! And Los Angeles needs him now, more than ever. Good Man Gone Bad peels away the lies we tell each other to avoid our painful inner truths—the most powerful kind of detective story.”
—Naomi Hirahara, the Edgar Award–winning
author of the Mas Arai mysteries
PRAISE FOR THE AARON GUNNER MYSTERIES
“A masterful mystery writer…. Haywood’s the real thing, all right, a formidable artist with something important to say about some of the most troubling issues of our day.”
—Chicago Tribune
“Gunner yanks the sheet off the American nightmare of race, politics, and murder, LA style.”
—Spike Lee
“The fresh dialogue, raffish atmosphere, and boldly drawn characters leave little doubt as to why Haywood’s mysteries are fast becoming hard-boiled classics.”
—Entertainment Weekly (Page Turner of the Week)
“Haywood is particularly adept at sliding social commentary into his carefully plotted tales. And his descriptions of Southern California are sometimes worthy of Raymond Chandler.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Haywood deserves comparison with Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, and Walter Mosley. Each of these writers has given us a different Los Angeles, and Haywood adds another precinct to this protean city of dreams. If your mystery collection doesn’t include the Gunner novels, begin to remedy the situation.”
—Booklist
“Gunner is one detective you don’t want to miss.”
—The Atlanta Constitution
GOOD MAN GONE BAD
An Aaron Gunner Mystery
Gar Anthony Haywood
Prospect Park Books
Copyright © 2019 by Gar Anthony Haywood
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Prospect Park Books
2359 Lincoln Avenue
Altadena, California 91001
Distributed by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Haywood, Gar Anthony, author.
Title: Good man gone bad : an Aaron Gunner mystery / Gar Anthony Haywood.
Description: Altadena, California : Prospect Park Books, [2019]
Identifiers: LCCN 2019003319 (print) | LCCN 2019005639 (ebook) | ISBN 9781945551673 (Ebook) | ISBN 9781945551666 (pbk.)
Classification: LCC PS3558.A885 (ebook) | LCC PS3558.A885 G66 2019 (print) | DDC 813/.54--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019003319
Cover design by David Ter-Avanesyan
Interior design by Amy Inouye, Future Studio
Printed in the United States of America
For my children:
Courtney, Erin, Maya, and Jackson
The best work I’ve ever done.
CONTENTS
