Bad Day On The Bayou

The body of teenager Antwan Driggers is found handcuffed to a fence in a swampy area south of Mobile, Alabama. His throat has been slit. The cuffs preventing Antwan’s escape belong to veteran detective Russ Hampton, who is found just yards away unconscious and bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. When he awakens 36 hours later in a hospital bed, Hampton is rebuked by his ex-wife, informed of his prisoner’s gruesome fate, and set upon by colleagues from homicide and internal affairs who demand explanations and answers that Hampton doesn’t have. A former clergyman, Hampton believes all that’s required of him is to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly…” But as a cop in trouble, this appears increasingly insufficient. Meantime, news media trumpet “Black Youth Slain in Police Custody.” Roiling speeches are delivered to restive crowds by itinerant justice warriors. Property is damaged, people are injured. The Department publicly puts Hampton on medical leave, but he’s informed that it’s administrative leave as well. Prioritizing damage control, PD command staff view Hampton as a liability. Unreported is the little-known fact that Hampton and Driggers were friends. Hampton knows the family; he’d promised Antwan’s mother he’d do all could to keep her son out of trouble. Vowing to find Antwan’s killer—with or without the department’s cooperation—Detective Russell Hampton embarks on a rogue investigation which triggers a rolling gunfight and two abductions, introduces him to political intrigue and an exotic dancer named Felanie, and leads him on an international manhunt. Praise for Bad Day on the Bayou: “Johnson knows the turf and it shows. Bad Day on the Bayou is a rich, evocative Southern cop novel that manages to be both bruising and thoughtful with characters who are just the right kind of flawed.” —Sgt. Adam Plantinga, San Francisco Police Department, and author of 400 Things Cops Know, Police Craft, and the forthcoming novel Nothing Like Easy “Reminiscent of Joseph Wambaugh’s police novels, Johnson’s Bad Day on the Bayou catches the essence of a complex murder investigation amid the conflicting political agendas of community leaders and local government. It will keep you turning the pages!” —Doug Lamplugh, 30-year law enforcement officer (local, state, and federal) and author of Murder at Mardi Gras “Mark Johnson’s Bad Day on the Bayou is the gripping tale of former clergyman turned cop Russ Hampton who, while in the line-of-duty, finds himself in a heap of trouble after a suspect in his custody is mysteriously murdered. Johnson is a master story-teller and as an ex-cop he knows the ins and outs of police work and uses his former life to give the reader special insight into what makes cops tick. Skillfully weaving in today’s news in a red-hot climate of mistrust and anger, Johnson has created a memorable character, in the tradition of Joseph Wambaugh and Michael Connelly.” —Charles Salzberg, two-time Shamus Award nominee for Swann’s Last Song and Second Story Man “Bad Day on the Bayou is one of those wonderful reads that can only come from a writer who has experienced the life. It is a book loaded with suspense, authenticity, and wonderful character development. Highly recommended.” —David Swinson, author of A Detailed Man and The Second Girl

Louisiana is our most exotic state. It is religious and roguish, a place populated by Cajuns, Creoles, Rednecks, and Bible-thumpers. It is a state that loves good food, good music, and good times. Laissez les bons temps rouler -- let the good times roll -- is the unofficial motto. Louisiana is also excessively corrupt. In the 1990s, it plunged headlong into legalized gambling, authorizing more games of chance than any other state. Leading the charge was Governor Edwin Edwards, who for years had flaunted his fondness for cold cash and high-stakes gambling, and who had used his razor-sharp mind and catlike reflexes to stay one step ahead of the law. Gambling, Edwin Edwards, and Louisiana's political culture would prove to be a combustible mix. Bad Bet on the Bayou tells the story of what happened when the most corrupt industry came to our most corrupt state. It is a sweeping morality tale about commerce, politics, and what happens when the law catches up to our most basic human desires and frailties.

Soon to be a Showtime documentary, Murder in the Bayou is a New York Times bestselling chronicle of a high-stakes investigation into the murders of eight women in a troubled Southern parish that is “part murder case, part corruption exposé, and part Louisiana noir” (New York magazine). Between 2005 and 2009, the bodies of eight women were discovered in Jennings, Louisiana, a bayou town of 10,000 in the Jefferson Davis parish. The women came to be known as the Jeff Davis 8, and local law enforcement officials were quick to pursue a serial killer theory, stirring a wave of panic across Jennings’ class-divided neighborhoods. The Jeff Davis 8 had been among society’s most vulnerable—impoverished, abused, and mired with mental illness. They engaged in sex work as a means of survival. And their underworld activity frequently occurred at a decrepit motel called the Boudreaux Inn. As the cases went unsolved, the community began to look inward. Rumors of police corruption and evidence tampering, of collusion between street and shield, cast the serial killer theory into doubt. But what was really going on in the humid rooms of the Boudreaux Inn? Why were crimes going unsolved and police officers being indicted? What had the eight women known? And could anything be done do stop the bloodshed? Mixing muckraking research and immersive journalism over the course of a five-year investigation, Ethan Brown reviewed thousands of pages of previously unseen homicide files to posit what happened during each woman’s final hours delivering a true crime tale that is “mesmerizing” (Rolling Stone) and “explosive” (Huffington Post). “Brown is a man on a mission...he gives the victims more respectful attention than they probably got in real life” (The New York Times). “A must-read for true-crime fans” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), with a new afterword, Murder in the Bayou is the story of an American town buckling under the dark forces of poverty, race, and class division—and a lightning rod for justice for the daughters it lost.

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jana DeLeon comes a mystery and romance from deep in the Louisiana bayous. Deputy Dorie Berenger knew the day would go from bad to worse when she found a stoned alligator in the town drunk’s swimming pool. Then DEA agent Richard Starke shows up in Gator Bait, Louisiana, giving out orders and tossing out insults faster than you can cast a fishing line. Dorie knows the residents of Gator Bait aren’t going to talk to a stranger, especially a Yankee, but she’s stuck with Richard until he catches his bad guy. With no other alternative to restore peace to the small town, Dorie agrees to help Richard catch a criminal and in the process, uncovers decades of secrets that have been hiding deep in the Louisiana bayou. Rumble on the Bayou is a humorous mystery and contemporary romance set in the bayous of southern Louisiana. Rumble on the Bayou has a cozy mystery feel and features a strong heroine, a sexy hero, and a ghost unlike any you’ve ever heard of. It appeals to fans of romantic comedy, cozy mysteries and also to fans of the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. "Southern wit at its best!" - NYT Bestselling author Gemma Halliday "Sinfully funny!" - NYT Bestselling author CC Hunter/Christie Craig “DeLeon is excellent at weaving comedy, suspense and spicy romance into one compelling story.” – RT Book Reviews “I don’t know where she comes up with this funny stuff, but I can’t wait to read the next book…” – Night Owl Reviews “Jana DeLeon has a breezy style with enough of a comic touch to leave you smiling.” – The Romance Reader “Son of a gun, we’re having fun in the bayou!” – Fresh Fiction “The quirky characters keep the action moving…” – Barbara Vey, Publisher’s Weekly Blogger To learn more about Jana and her books visit her at: http://janadeleon.com http://facebook.com/janadeleonauthor

In the tradition of the modern classics The Tender Bar and The Liars’ Club, Blaine Lourd writes a powerful Gothic memoir set in the bayous and oil towns of 1970s Louisiana. In this rags-to-riches memoir of finding your way and becoming a man, Blaine Lourd renders his childhood in rural Louisiana­ with his larger-than-life father, Harvey “Puffer” Lourd, Jr., a charismatic salesman during the exploding 1980s awl bidness. From cleaning a duck to drinking a beer, Puffer guides Blaine through the twists and turns of growing up, ultimately pointing him to a poignant truth: sometimes those you love the most can inflict the most pain. Set against a lush landscape of magnolia trees and majestic old homes, haunted swamps and swimming holes filled with wildlife, Lourd gets to the heart of being a Southerner with rawness and grace, beautifully detailing what it means to have a place so ingrained in your being. Just as the timeless memoirs All Over but the Shoutin’ and The Liar’s Club evoke the muggy air of a Southern summer and barrels of steaming crawfish, so does Blaine’s contemporary exploration of what it means to find yourself among the bayous and back roads. Charting his journey from his rural home to working the star-studded streets of Los Angeles as a financial advisor to the rich and famous, Blaine’s story is about the complicated path to success and identity. With witty grace and candid prose, he pays homage to family bonds, unwavering loyalty, and deep roots that cannot be severed, no matter how hard you try.

The Cajun coast of Louisiana is home to a way of life as unique, complex, and beautiful as the terrain itself. As award-winning travel writer Mike Tidwell journeys through the bayou, he introduces us to the food and the language, the shrimp fisherman, the Houma Indians, and the rich cultural history that makes it unlike any other place in the world. But seeing the skeletons of oak trees killed by the salinity of the groundwater, and whole cemeteries sinking into swampland and out of sight, Tidwell also explains why each introduction may be a farewell—as the storied Louisiana coast steadily erodes into the Gulf of Mexico. Part travelogue, part environmental exposé, Bayou Farewell is the richly evocative chronicle of the author's travels through a world that is vanishing before our eyes.

'Tis the season to be wary... Christmas is coming and all is far from calm in Pointe Judah, Louisiana. Newcomer Christian DeAngelo--Angel to his friends--is at his wit's end trying to manage Sonny, the hotheaded nineteen-year-old everyone believes is his nephew. In fact, Sonny is the orphaned son of a notorious mob boss, a protected witness...and Angel's responsibility. Angel has been commiserating with Eileen Moggeridge, whose lonely son Aaron has latched on to Sonny and gotten into deeper trouble than ever. But nothing could prepare Angel and Eileen for the boys' latest crisis: as they are horsing around in the swamp one afternoon, a shot rings out. Aaron is hit, but was the bullet meant for Sonny? Suddenly, goodwill toward men is in short supply and Angel doesn't know who's more dangerous: the hoodoo mystic with an eerie hold over the boys, the hit man roaming the bayou or Eileen's volatile ex-husband, Chuck.

Bobbie Faye Sumrall knows that a day without disaster is a day in someone else's life. Criminals have kidnapped her good-for-nothing brother and are demanding her Contraband Queen tiara--the only thing of her mama's she inherited--as random. So Bobbie Faye has to outwit the police, organized crime, former boyfriends, and a hostage she never intended to take (but who turns out to be damn sexy!), in order to rescue her brother, keep custody of her niece, and get back in time to take her place as Queen in the Lake Charles Contraband Festival (think Mardi Gras, with more drinking and pirates). Luckily, Bobbie Faye knows how to handle guns, outsmart angry mama bears, drive a speedboat, and get herself out of--and into--almost every kind of trouble. If only that pesky state police detective (who also happens to be a pissed-off ex-boyfriend) would stay out of her way . . . "Bobbie Faye is a true original and Toni McGee Causey a true talent!" --Melissa Senate, author of See Jane Date and Love You To Death "I love Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day by Toni McGee Causey. The tears are still running down my cheeks from laughing. Oh, my. What talent. What verve. What NERVE!" --Gayle Lynds, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Spymaster

Causey's exceptional debut novel is a fast-paced and hysterically funny caper, starring Bobbie Faye--a gutsy, spirited, and take-charge heroine who is equal parts trouble and spunk.

Bett is a story of the triumphs of young black baby boomers bravery in the South to push forward during the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Bett is by no means meant to make the grandchildren of African Americans frown on their past or to make the grandchildren of white Americans feel guilty. The goal is to show our youth how a people with very little to work with overcame in spite of it.