On June 24, 1973, the UpStairs Lounge—a crowded gay bar in New Orleans' French Quarter—was fire-bombed. Thirty-two people died in the greatest mass murder of gay men in history. Yet this seminal event in the story of American crime was little noted and never solved.
JESUS BURNED centers on this tragedy and on one man's tortured search for justice. The novel is populated by quirky and wounded characters, ear-ready dialogue, and more than one gloriously surprising plot twist.
Jim DeFilippi's books have been called:
"Suspenseful, often hilarious." Newsday
"Excellently paced and imaginatively told." Publishers Weekly
"Surprisingly fresh." Booklist
"Moving, funny, ultimately tragic." Philadelphia Enquirer
"Precise and pithy." Library Journal
"...with a jaunty tone and unexpected twists." Library Journal
"Colorful and often hilarious." Austin Chronicle
"Genuinely unsettling." Seven Days
"Sometimes lyrical and sometimes brutally concrete." Seven Days
"Grimly horrific to absurdly comic." Mystery Scene Magazine
"A wonderful book." George V. Higgins (The Friends of Eddie Coyle)
"Terrifically entertaining." Howard Frank Mosher (Stranger in the Kingdom)
"Terrific...superbly crafted." Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Colorful and often hilarious." Austin Chronicle
"So sensitive it becomes universal." Cyber Oasis
"Emotional. Intense. Nostalgic. Real." About.com