Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)
The Real Cool Killers by Chester Himes
Add The Real Cool Killers to bookshelf
Add to Bookshelf

Look Inside

The Real Cool Killers

By Chester Himes

By Chester Himes

By Chester Himes

By Chester Himes

Best Seller

Part of Harlem Detectives

Part of Harlem Detectives

Category: Noir Mysteries

Category: Noir Mysteries

Paperback $15.00

Nov 28, 1988 | ISBN 9780679720393

Ebook $8.99

Jul 27, 2011 | ISBN 9780307803276

All Formats
+
    The Real Cool Killers by Chester Himes
    Paperback $15.00
    Nov 28, 1988 | ISBN 9780679720393

    Buy from Other Retailers:

    See All Formats (1) +

    Paperback
    –

    • Paperback $15.00

      Nov 28, 1988 | ISBN 9780679720393

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Ebook
    +

    • Ebook

      Jul 27, 2011 | ISBN 9780307803276

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Ebook:

    About The Real Cool Killers

    The book that Walter Kirn said was like “Hieronymus Bosch meets Miles Davis” (The New York Times). • Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones get personally involved in a gang dispute in one of the most provocative cases in Chester Himes’s groundbreaking Harlem Detectives series.

    Many people had reasons for killing Ulysses Galen, a big Greek with too much money and too great a liking for young black girls. But there are complications—like Sonny, found standing over the body, high on hash, with a gun in his hand that fires only blanks; a gang called the Moslems; a disappearing suspect; and the fact that Coffin Ed’s daughter is up to her pretty little neck in the whole explosive business.

    About The Real Cool Killers

    The book that Walter Kirn said was like “Hieronymus Bosch meets Miles Davis” (The New York Times). • Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones get personally involved in a gang dispute in one of the most provocative cases in Chester Himes’s groundbreaking Harlem Detectives series.

    Many people had reasons for killing Ulysses Galen, a big Greek with too much money and too great a liking for young black girls. But there are complications—like Sonny, found standing over the body, high on hash, with a gun in his hand that fires only blanks; a gang called the Moslems; a disappearing suspect; and the fact that Coffin Ed’s daughter is up to her pretty little neck in the whole explosive business.

    About Chester Himes

    Chester (Bomar) Himes began his writing career while serving in the Ohio State Penitentiary for armed robbery from 1929 – 1936. His account of the horrific 1930 Penitentiary fire that killed over three hundred men appeared in Esquire in 1932… More about Chester Himes

    About Chester Himes

    Chester (Bomar) Himes began his writing career while serving in the Ohio State Penitentiary for armed robbery from 1929 – 1936. His account of the horrific 1930 Penitentiary fire that killed over three hundred men appeared in Esquire in 1932… More about Chester Himes

    Product Details

    Category: Noir Mysteries

    Paperback | $15.00
    Published by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
    Nov 28, 1988 | 160 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780679720393

    Category: Noir Mysteries

    Ebook | $8.99
    Published by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
    Jul 27, 2011 | 160 Pages | ISBN 9780307803276
    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Praise

    “The action is slapstick, preposterously violent—Hieronymus Bosch meets Miles Davis.”
        —Walter Kirn, The New York Times

    “One of the most important American writers of the 20th century. . . . A quirky American genius.”
       —Walter Mosley

     “For sheer toughness it’s hard to beat the black detectives Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones. Himes never received the recognition he deserved for his books—they combine elements of George V. Higgins, Elmore Leonard, and Richard Stark, with a bleak vision all their own.”
        —The Washington Post
     
    “Himes’s Harlem detective series . . . are remarkable for their macabre comic sense and wicked and nasty wit.”
        —Ishmael Reed, Los Angeles Times

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read
    Get the latest updates about Chester Himes
    And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week.
    And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week.
    By clicking SIGN UP, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and understand that Penguin Random House collects certain categories of personal information for the purposes listed in that policy, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information and retains personal information in accordance with the policy. You can opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information anytime.
    Dismiss
    Thanks!
    Something awesome is on its way.
    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Raise kids who love to read

    Today's Top Books

    Want to know what people are actually reading right now?

     An online magazine for today’s home cook

    An online magazine for today’s home cook