fbpx
Reverse-Gentrification of the Literary World

Akashic Books

||| |||

Subject: Literary Fiction

The Schrödinger Girl

By:

When a young woman appears to split into four different versions of herself, protagonist and behavioral psychologist Garrett Adams must decide what is vision, what is science, and what is delusion.

Adios Muchachos

By:

More Cuban noir from Akashic! (Following the success of Outcast by José Latour—nominated for Edgar, Anthony and Firecracker awards.)

The Age of Dreaming

By:

The Age of Dreaming explores the history of Los Angeles, the heady beginnings of the movie industry, and the interplay of race and celebrity.

Alice Fantastic

By:

Estep’s best novel to date explores with deep wit and insight how a shocking family secret impacts the lives of an eccentric mother and her two daughters.

American Visa

By:

Bolivia’s #1 novel is finally translated into English. Translated by Adrian Althoff, with an afterword by Ilan Stavans.

Andean Express

By:

Bolivia’s preeminent fiction writer eclipses the successful English translation of American Visa with a riveting murder mystery. Translated by Adrian Althoff.

The Angels’ Share

By:

A Jamaican father and his adult son travel across the island together in a touching and humorous novel that explores family reconciliation.

The Anger Meridian

By:

Following her husband’s suspicious death, Merryn Huntley flees with her daughter to Mexico, where she discovers she can’t outrun self-deception.

Around Harvard Square

By:

Race, class, and hormones combine and combust when a Harvard freshman and his two friends attempt to join the staff of the Harpoon, the school’s iconic humor magazine.

Beautiful Music

By:

A funny, poignant, thoughtfully rendered novel about love, fear, death, race, music, and the intense passions of youth.

While supplies last, books ordered through the website will have bookplates SIGNED by Michael Zadoorian!

Berkeley Noir

Edited by: and

Berkeley brings its own unique blend of Bay Area noir, complementing the grit and grime that preceded it in San Francisco Noir and Oakland Noir.

Berlin Noir (Germany)

Edited by:

Now, Berlin’s noir tradition—fueled by history, geography, and various literary traditions—adds up to a powerful volume of riveting short stories.

Better

By:

A riveting and sexually charged posthumous novel from the author of Leaving Las Vegas.

Bicycle

By:

The latest release from Hotel St. George Press, following The Session and The Musical Illusionist.

Bivouac

By:

The death of a Jamaican man’s father raises questions about the father’s political endeavors, and about the plight of 1980s Jamaica.

Black Lotus

By:

Finding the Black Lotus murderer is Detective Wolf’s chance to avoid an Internal Affairs investigation. That’s when things get personal.

*While supplies last, books ordered through the website will include a bookplate SIGNED by K’wan!

Black Lotus 2: The Vow

By:

After the death of a police officer, assassin Kahllah (aka the Black Lotus) is forced out of retirement in an attempt to clear her name while outrunning a mysterious enemy.
*While supplies last, books ordered through the website will include a bookplate SIGNED by K’wan!

The Boy Detective Fails

By:

Following the best seller Hairstyles of the Damned (more than 100,000 copies sold) with a spectacular coming-of-age-30 tale, Joe Meno proves once again why he’s the hottest indie author in America. Also check out Office Girl, Demons in the Spring, How the Hula Girl Sings, and Tender as Hellfire.

Download:

Boy Genius

By:

Selected for the 2002 Kiriyama Prize Notable Books List & selected as a finalist for an Asian American Literary Award.

Cane Warriors

By:

Moa, a fourteen-year-old slave, gets caught up in the most significant slave rebellion in Jamaican history, paying homage to freedom fighters all over the world.

Caught Up

By:

Author of the mega–best seller B-More Careful (350,000 sales) is back with an irresistible hard-boiled crime story.

City Mouse

By:

City Mouse is an irresistible debut that examines what it means to find your place, revealing unspoken truths about motherhood, friendship, and the thorny pursuit to have it all.

Cityside

By:

Once one of New York’s most respected investigative reporters, Pulitzer Prize nominee Heffernan takes readers behind the scenes at a major New York newspaper.

The Cocaine Chronicles

Edited by: and

The best fiction anthology of cocaine-themed tales to blow through in years, featuring all-new stories from Susan Straight, Lee Child, Jerry Stahl, Ken Bruen, Laura Lippman, Bill Moody, Nina Revoyr, and many more.

The Committee

By:

Professor Tom Stall’s career and life are threatened when a nefarious government-affiliated group of men begin investigating the private acts of innocent people in late 1950s Florida.

Cornelius Sky

By:

A doorman at a posh apartment building gets lost in the mean New York City streets, battling his demons as he searches for life’s higher meaning.

Curse the Names

By:

Robert Arellano, author of the Edgar-nominated crime novel Havana Lunar, returns with another spine-tingling noir from Akashic Books.

The Darkest Hearts

By:

Trap music, human trafficking, malt liquor, and the tyranny of President Trump collide in the fifth installment of Nelson George’s D Hunter mystery series.

*Please note, if you’re using Nelson’s friends and family discount code, the discount applies to paperback books only.

Devil’s Midnight

By:

Kapralov depicts the desperate struggles of his characters—Yuri’s stubborn military resistance, Nata’s fanatical commitment to guard the mysterious powers of a sacred meteorite, and Alexey’s struggles simply to survive—with a perfect balance of intensity and nonchalance.

Discretion

By:

Elizabeth Nunez’s reissued fourth novel is a haunting, mesmerizing exploration into the often destructive price of passion.

Dog War

By:

The highly anticipated new novel and debut US publication from the legendary Jamaican author of The Lunatic and The Duppy.

Don Dimaio of La Plata

By:

Celebrating the 400th anniversary of the modern novel, Akashic Books publishes a Don Quixote for the era of graft: racketeering politicians, stolen elections, and total-bullshit recalls!

The Duppy

By:

Oddball sexuality, acts of perversion, and out-of-order behavior from the acclaimed Jamaican author of The Lunatic and Dog War.

How funny is this social satire? Akashic Books’s pledge to our readers: Laugh out loud at least once or your money back. Seriously.

The Failure

By:

California Book Award–winner Greer presents a hilarious and immaculately written story set in LA, exploring the inevitability of failure.

Firewater

By:

Life is teetering on the edge of the apocalypse in and around the tiny Washington State coastal community that occupies the center of Firewater, a posthumously released, brutally funny environmental suspense novel.

The Freedom Artist

By:

An impassioned plea for freedom and justice, set in a world uncomfortably like our own, by the Booker Prize-winner Ben Okri.

Game World

By:

Launching Akashic’s new Black Sheep YA imprint, an adventure novel in a video game turned reality, with giant spiders, malevolent hummingbirds, a not-quite-yellow-brick road, and preteen children learning how to be heroes!

Download:

Getting It Right

By:

Half-sisters Kara and Alex—one the biracial product of foster care, the other of dysfunctional privilege—struggle for redemption and forgiveness.

Glorious

By:

Award-winning novelist Bernice L. McFadden’s highly anticipated new historical novel set amidst the Harlem Renaissance.

TO ORDER THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF GLORIOUS, PLEASE SELECT “HARDCOVER” FROM THE DROP-DOWN MENU BELOW

Download:

Grab Bag

By:

Cult novelist Dennis Cooper launches the third title of Little House on the Bowery, the Akashic series he is editing and promoting.

Grace

By:

The reissue of Elizabeth Nunez’s moving exploration into trust, family, redemption, and love.

Hell’s Kitchen

By:

Armstead Maupin meets Carl Hiaasen in a brilliant black comedy that traces the paths of disparate characters floating through New York, about to collide in a treacherous story that will make you think twice about ever answering a classified ad.

Here Lies a Father

By:

Fifteen-year-old Ian Daly’s moral universe is turned upside down when, at his father’s funeral, he discovers that his father had two secret families.

The Heroin Chronicles

Edited by:

The latest entry in the Akashic Drug Chronicles Series. Heroin has long been understood as the most “literary” of narcotics, and this collection will, for better and worse, have tremendous pop cultural appeal.

Hidden Place

By:

Shiflett’s suspenseful and provocative literary debut, set in Chicago and Puerto Escondido, a small Mexican beach town 150 miles south of Acapulco.

Home Girl

By:

When Naomi, a fourteen-year-old white girl, is placed with a black foster care family, her life takes some dramatic twists and turns.

How the Hula Girl Sings

By:

Paperback reissue of the second novel from the author of the smash hits Hairstyles of the Damned, Tender as Hellfire, and The Boy Detective Fails.

Jonah Sees Ghosts

By:

Jonah Sees Ghosts is a shocking, touching, and humorous first novel that blends magical realism with a figurative study of how alcohol abuse shapes the personalities within a family.

Kamikaze Lust

By:

Kamikaze Lust takes the reader on an electrifying ride through the spectacle of life and death in millennial America.

A Killing for Christ

By:

The fiftieth-anniversary edition of Hamill’s thrilling and provocative 1968 debut novel, with a brand-new introduction by the author.

Knucklehead

By:

A fierce, intelligent, and often hilarious novel about a young African American attorney who struggles to keep his cool in the personally and politically turbulent ’90s.

Las Cucarachas

By:

Award-winning author Yongsoo Park presents a powerful coming-of-age story of a young boy on the edges of New York City.

Like Son

By:

A post-punk story of outsiders, family, inherited drama, and love set in downtown New York, Los Angeles, and Mexico City.

Limbo

By:

An African American man confronts a heart of darkness when his family moves from Los Angeles to a small town in Norway.

Little Beasts

By:

In this evocative debut, the accidental murder of an eight-year-old forces a working-class community to face its demons.

Lost Canyon

By:

In Revoyr’s most thrilling novel to date, four backpackers embark on a trip in the Sierra Nevada that quickly becomes a disaster.

Love Maps

By:

Violence and loss shatter Sarah Marker’s domestic life, causing her to reexamine the roots of creativity and art in New York City.

Loving Donovan

By:

A long-awaited reissue of this deeply thoughtful novel about hope, forgiveness, and the cost of loving Donovan, a complex man with a shattered history.

Makeda

By:

The debut title from Akashic’s Open Lens imprint: a universal tale of family, heritage, and the ties that bind, from the nationally best-selling author Randall Robinson.

Marvel and a Wonder

By:

Grandfather and grandson must journey into the underworld of the American Midwest in search of both courage and redemption.

Click here to read an excerpt from the novel.

Miami Noir: The Classics

Edited by:

The long-awaited sequel to 2006’s best-selling Miami Noir highlights an outstanding tradition of legendary writers exploring the dark side of paradise.

Milwaukee Noir

Edited by:

In Milwaukee Noir, a city of manufacturers and booze, as well as a growing immigrant community, makes perfect grist for the Noir Series mill.

The Names of Rivers

By:

A tightly crafted search for redemption and forgiveness within the shadows of a family’s military past, by the author of Water in Darkness.

Native Believer

By:

The long-awaited debut novel from acclaimed author Eteraz; a darkly comic, provocative, and insightful vision of the contemporary American experience.

The Necessary Hunger

By:

Akashic Books reissues Nina Revoyr’s inspired and groundbreaking 1997 debut novel about women’s basketball, class, racial identity, and friendship.

Necropolis

By:

A gorgeously written and tightly plotted mystery novel that brings the city of Delhi alive, in ways both enchanting and provocative.

The Nervous System

By:

Larson’s antihero Dewey Decimal is back in this bombastic and soulful sequel to The Dewey Decimal System.

We still have a very limited number of the limited edition, signed hardcover copies of The Nervous System available for purchase while supplies last! To place an order, select the “limited hardcover edition” option in the add-to-cart drop-down menu above!

The Nicotine Chronicles

Edited by:

Lee Child recruits Joyce Carol Oates, Jonathan Ames, Cara Black, and others to reveal nicotine’s scintillating alter egos.
*While supplies last, books ordered through the website will include a bookplate SIGNED by Lee Child!

Office Girl

By:

Best-selling novelist Joe Meno is back with a fantastic new novel about two young people and a visionary, doomed art movement.

Download:

On the Way Back

By:

Kobbé’s hilarious social novel centers on a comically failed business venture on the island of Anguilla, brilliantly echoing A Confederacy of Dunces and Herman Wouk’s Don’t Stop the Carnival.

Out of Mesopotamia

By:

Informed by firsthand experience on the battlefronts of Iraq and Syria, Abdoh captures the horror, confusion, and absurdity of combat from a seldom-glimpsed perspective that expands our understanding of the war novel.

Buy on Bookshop
Buy on Amazon
Buy on Barnes & Noble

The Perfume Burned His Eyes—Signed with Limited Edition Hardcover ZOPA WORDS

By: and

This LIMITED EDITION PACKAGE for the paperback edition of Michael Imperioli’s novel The Perfume Burned His Eyes includes a signed book and the limited edition signed hardcover ZOPA WORDS, by Imperioli and his bandmates Elijah Amitin and Olmo Tighe of ZOPA.

THIS PAGE IS FOR THE LIMITED EDITION PACKAGE OF THE PERFUME BURNED HIS EYES. Click [HERE] for details on the regular edition of the book.

Polar Vortex

By:

A novel reminiscent of the works of Herman Koch and Rachel Cusk, in which a lesbian couple attempts to escape the secrets of their pasts.

Prayer for the Living

By:

Topical and timely, Booker Prize–winning author Ben Okri’s new collection of short stories blurs parallel realities and walks the line between darkness and magic.

Random

By:

From Penn Jillette of the legendary magic duo Penn & Teller: a rollicking crime caper that will bend your mind like a spoon.

While supplies last, books ordered through the Akashic Books website will be SIGNED by Penn Jillette.

Buy on Bookshop
Buy on Barnes & Noble
Buy on Amazon

The Reluctant King

By:

The King family is on the political rise in New York City, but must weather the violent storm wrought by their darkest secrets.

*While supplies last, books ordered through the Akashic Books website will include a bookplate SIGNED by K’wan!

Order on Amazon
Order on Bookshop
Order on Barnes & Noble

The Reservoir (Paperback Edition)

By:

Now in paperback, a former Wall Street veteran, quarantined by the coronavirus, becomes consumed with madness—or the fulfillment of his own mythic fate; from author, actor, and musician David Duchovny

*While supplies last, books ordered through the website will include a bookplate SIGNED by David Duchovny!

Order on Bookshop
Order on Barnes & Noble
Order on Amazon

Ruins

By:

A true believer is faced with a choice between love for his family and the Cuban Revolution.

The Shark Curtain

By:

In Scofield’s powerful debut, teenager Lily Asher takes her first steps toward a strange, loving journey to self-acceptance and belonging.

The Show that Smells

By:

Derek McCormack’s most compelling work yet is his second selection in Dennis Cooper’s groundbreaking Little House on the Bowery fiction series.

Some of the Parts

By:

The novel that’s changing the way we define “family.” The Osbournes, Sopranos, and Eminem are only “some of the parts” that make up the whole story of the new American family.

South Haven

By:

Grief, violence, and history collide to offer a radical look at childhood and migration in suburban New England.

A Student of History

By:

A contemporary Los Angeles story of uncrossable social lines, allegiance and betrayal, immeasurable power, and the ways the present is continuously shaped by the past.

Swing

By:

An erotic drama about four sexy couples and one swingers’ club where their fantasies and nightmares collide.

Sydney Noir (Australia)

Edited by:

Australia can no longer be held back from the Akashic Noir Series; herein, Sydney reveals itself to be a world-class hub of noir.

Synthetic Bi Products

By:

Sparrow L. Patterson’s debut novel follows a nineteen-year-old bisexual girl on her whirlwind journey of sexual escapades, drug-induced hallucinations, shoplifting sprees, and other criminal behavior.

Tales

By:

This reissue of a 1967 story collection shows a mind in motion, featuring writing that is provocative, witty, bitter, and aggressive.

Tehran at Twilight

By:

Friendship, betrayal, and international intrigue populate this brilliant novel in the tradition of Graham Greene and John le Carré.

Tender as Hellfire

By:

Paperback reissue of the debut novel by the author of the best sellers The Boy Detective Fails, How the Hula Girl Sings and Hairstyles of the Damned (more than 70,000 copies sold).

Download:

An Unkindness of Ghosts

By:

A breathtaking science fiction debut from a worthy successor to Octavia Butler.

*While supplies last, books ordered through the website will include a bookplate SIGNED by Rivers Solomon!

The Warmest December

By:

The long-awaited reissue of McFadden’s best-selling second novel praised by Toni Morrison, USA Today, Washington Post, and others—published simultaneously with McFadden’s new novel Gathering of Waters.

Download:

We Are All Crew

By:

A satirical adventure story featuring two young teens, in the style of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Wide Eyed

By:

Part of Dennis Cooper’s Little House on the Bowery series, this collection of stories is told by a woman compelled to divulge her secrets, fantasies, and obsessions.

Wingshooters

By:

Revoyr’s novel examines the effects of change on a small, isolated town, the strengths and limits of community, and the sometimes conflicting loyalties of family and justice.

The Wishing Pool and Other Stories

By:

Now in paperback, this blockbuster story collection further cements Tananarive Due’s status as a leading innovator in Black horror and Afrofuturism; featuring the 2023 World Fantasy Award–winning story, “Incident at Bear Creek Lodge,” and two new stories!

*While supplies last, books ordered through the website will include a bookplate SIGNED by Tananarive Due!

Order on Bookshop
Order on Barnes & Noble
Order on Amazon

You Must Be This Happy to Enter

By:

Denial, God, dystopia, academic, and reality TV collide in acclaimed author Crane’s third story collection from Punk Planet Books, the imprint that launched indie smash hit Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno.

Forthcoming Titles

Honolulu Noir

Edited by:

Forthcoming: 11/5/24

The Aloha State enters the Akashic Noir Series arena with a riveting collection, exploring shadows and corners of Honolulu that will never be found in a tourist brochure.

Preorder on Bookshop
Preorder on Barnes & Noble
Preorder on Amazon

My Own Dear People

By:

Forthcoming: 4/1/25

A young Jamaican man struggles to overcome toxic masculinity—his culture’s and his own—in this Caribbean coming-of-age novel.

Now available for preorder. All preorders will ship on or before April 1, 2025.

Preorder on Bookshop
Preorder on Barnes & Noble
Preorder on Amazon

Felony Juggler

By:

Forthcoming: 5/6/25

From Penn Jillette of the legendary magic duo Penn & Teller: a street performer finds himself enmeshed in a crime and must outwit his fellow conspirators in his greatest juggling act yet.

Now available for preorder. All preorders will ship on or before May 6, 2025.

Preorder on Bookshop
Preorder on Barnes & Noble
Preorder on Amazon