From the acclaimed bestselling author of the "Easy Rawlins "series who has been deemed one of America s best mystery writers ("The New York Times Book Review") comes a tale about a murdered man who does not want to go to heaven or hell he d rather have his old life in Harlem.
Tempest Landry is neither a good nor a bad man, but an average man trying to survive. Sure, he stole money from his mother s church, but he used it to pay for his aunt s groceries while she was recovering from pneumonia. And yes, Tiny Henderson went to jail because of Tempest s white lie, but the brutal rapist and murderer deserved it. After a cop accidentally kills Tempest, Tempest is denied access to heaven for his sins. But he brazenly refuses St. Peter s command to proceed to hell he would just as soon settle for his old life in Harlem. Temporarily stymied, St. Peter grants Tempest his wish but in a different body and with a guardian angel following him around who is determined to convert him to righteousness. But the devil is also in the running for Tempest s soul and he wants it in a bad way. In this episodic and humorous homage to Langston Hughes prescient narrator Jess B. Simple, readers are lured into the never-ending debate on the nature of good and evil. The Tempest Tales explores the provoking questions: Is sin the same for people of different races? Is sin judged the same for the poor as it is for the rich? And ultimately, who really gets to decide?"