Sergeant Stone, the unforgettable character from James Prine's Tales From the Id, is back in his own enthralling collection of short stories by Prine's nephew, Daniel Barker. Stone is a New Orleans beat cop, but he is also much, much more. His jurisdiction extends from pre-pyramid Egypt to the distant future, from New Orleans' dark alleys to other dimensional realms. Ride with him on an unparalleled journey of imagination and unlock the secrets of the Nazca Plains, the Salem Witch Trials, the Great Chicago Fire, the Battle of Tours, the true Camelot and other mysteries. Confront bloodthirsty pirates, ninja assassins, barbarian hordes, Soviet tanks, vicious street thugs, and even supernatural beings. All this action, plus passionate romance and a desperate chase to control the Ultimate weapon of mass destruction awaits you inside...

The inimitable Sergeant Stone returns with fifteen new short stories in this exciting follow up to Sergeant Stone, NOPD! He still guards the Crescent City against threats both ordinary and otherworldly, but that is not his only beat. Journey with him from the wars of ancient India to a dystopian future where a one-world state wields irresistible weapons against a rebellious populace. Along the way he will lay down the law in the Old West, join the French Foreign Legion in a desperate stand, explore the seas in a Viking longship, fly a fighter plane over war-torn Europe, battle the Mafia, train with Shaolin monks, duel Nazi commandos, and witness the tragic final hours of the Byzantine Empire. There are adventures within New Orleans as well, a place so colorful that it is a microcosm of the world. It is there that he will meet the daunting challenge of marriage! And it is there that he will face the fight of his life when his deadly enemies finally find him

James Prine introduces a variety of interesting characters in this unique collection of short stories: a mysterious police sergeant who knows more about crucifixions than he should; Vikings who got a little more than they bargained for; Leviticus seen in a new way; an unforgettable war-time event in North Vietnam; the quest of a middle-aged man longing for the past; fighting a house fire in New Orleans; attending a policeman's funeral; and an individual who flies like a bird. These stories are highly recommended for anyone who occasionally enjoys straying off the beaten path.

It's been a brutal year for the rookie New Orleans cop Maureen Coughlin. Her first arrests, her first black eye, and, after a stinging brush with the corrupt heart of her adopted city, her first suspension. As she waits out the suspension, hoping to save her badge, Maureen finds increasingly dark and dangerous ways to pass the time. Justice, she tells herself, is being served. No need for the NOPD to know what she's doing. Maureen believes getting back to the job she loves is worth any sacrifice, any risk, that it's the only thing she really wants. But wearing the badge again means stepping back into the crosshairs of ruthless people who want her out of the way and don't care who else gets caught in the crossfire. Driven by a lead character Megan Abbott calls "a hero with whom we will go anywhere," Let the Devil Out raises the bar for sharp-witted, compelling cop fiction. As The New York Times says of Maureen, "She finds herself wrestling with ethical issues that fictional cops, especially fictional female ones, rarely talk about, leaving that stuff to real-life cops--and smart guys like Bill Loehfelm."

Travel beyond Bourbon Street into the macabre history of one of the most haunted cities in the United States with the author of Wicked New Orleans as your guide. New Orleans—the Big Easy, the birthplace of jazz, home of Cafe du Monde and what some call the most haunted city in America. Beneath the indulgence and revelry of the Crescent City lies a long history of the dark and mysterious. From the famous “Queen of Voodoo,” Marie Laveau, who is said to haunt the site of her grave, to the wicked LaLauries, whose true natures were hidden behind elegance and the trappings of high society, New Orleans is filled with spirits of all kinds. Some of the ghosts in these stories have sordid and scandalous histories, while others are friendly specters who simply can’t leave their beloved city behind. Join supernatural historian Troy Taylor as he takes readers beyond the French Quarter and shows a side of New Orleans never seen. Includes photos!

In the 1990s, the New Orleans murder rate exploded. In 1996, 350 people were killed—the highest number in the city’s history, and the highest rate in the nation. In response to this crisis, gallery owner and artist Jonathan Ferrara and artist Brian Borrello, launched a powerful project: Guns in the Hands of Artists. Over sixty artists, including painters, glass artists, sculptors, photographers, and poets, used decommissioned guns taken off the city streets via a gun buyback program to express a thought, make a statement, open a discussion, and to stimulate thinking about guns and gun violence in America. As gun violence continues to devastate the nation on a daily basis, Guns in the Hands of Artists reemerged in 2012 as a community-based social activist art project that has since traveled to six cities across the US. Using art as a mirror for life and interweaving the works of thirty diverse artists with the voices of seventeen national thought leaders, this book is an important outgrowth of the exhibition and an extension of its efforts to employ art as a vehicle for dialogue, as a call to action, and—ultimately—as an agent of change. Essays by: Walter Isaacson, Senator Tim Kaine, Lupe Fiasco, Richard Ford, Joe Nocera, Trymaine Lee, Lolis Eric Elie, John M. Barry, Dan Cameron, Lucia McBath, Harry Shearer, Jonathan Ferrara, Brian Borrello, Maria Cuomo Cole, Michael Waldman, E. Ethelbert Miller, Mayor Mitchell J. Landrieu, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Captain Mark Kelly.