From the Booking Desk:

When Chantelle Aimée Osman reached out to see if BOLO Books would be interested in hosting the cover reveal for a new novel coming from Agora, I was immediately on-board. I feel so passionate about the commitment to diversity that is the core message of Agora (a division of Polis Books) that I will do anything I can to help out. The fact that the book in question was the new series launch from Gary Phillips was just icing on the cake. I have been a fan of Gary’s writing for years, following his impressive career that touches on so many parts of the crime fiction continuum: novels, short stories, comics, and more. And here Gary Phillips is launching something that is both old and new – merging modern day sensibilities with a concept that has serious vintage appeal. Wait until you see this cover. It most certainly screams Gary Phillips!

Synopsis:

MATTHEW HENSON AND THE ICE TEMPLE OF HARLEM is the first in a new exciting retro rollicking adventure series. This re-imagined pulp novel follows the Doc Savage-style adventures of the first black man to reach the North Pole —Matthew Henson. The tail end of the Roaring 20s. Harlem. Hired by controversial spiritual leader Daddy Paradise to retrieve his adult daughter who has been kidnapped, adventurer Matthew Henson does just that. Then he must safeguard the two until the firebrand can deliver a momentous speech at a mass rally. Henson must employ all his survival skills to fulfill his task—skills that kept him whole in forbidden jungles, across Asia, and in sub-zero ice storms when he first reached the North Pole. Henson’s charge brings him face-to-face with such illustrious characters as gangster Dutch Schultz, who’s looking to muscle out numbers racket boss Queenie St. Clair, and famed inventor Nikola Tesla who is using his electrical acumen to surveil plutocrats. Henson’s pal Bessie Coleman, America’s first black aviatrix lends a hand as well. With a death ray zeroing in on him, he races against the clock to save lives, and keep a mysterious and powerful meteor fragment he brought back from the Arctic years ago out of the hands of monied evil-doers. Set against the intellectual, artistic and political firmament that was the Harlem Renaissance, THE ICE TEMPLE OF HARLEM re-imagines explorer Matthew Henson in the style of Doc Savage and Indiana Jones. The one the Inuits adopted as their own and considered the best example of those from the distant South.

The Author:

GARY PHILLIPS is a critically acclaimed author of mystery and graphic novels (THE BEBOP BARBARIANS, VIOLENT SPRING, THE KILLING JOKE novelization). He was recently a staff writer on F/X’s SNOWFALL. Raised in South Central Los Angeles, Phillips draws on his experiences as a community organizer, from running a political action committee, to delivering dog cages. He was president of the Private Eye Writers of America and edited the celebrated anthology THE OBAMA INHERITANCE which won the Anthony Award. Visit him at https://gdphillips.com

Publication Date: February 25, 2020

Pre-Order Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound