Introduced in Hayes's Blood Red Blues
(2004), Devil Barnett leaves his headquarters at the Be-Bop Tavern for a second entertaining tough-guy prowl through the dangerous underbelly of Harlem. When two members of the breakout British rap band Dancehall Dogz are viciously murdered, Devil, a former wet-ops hitman for the CIA, gets on the case. Against a music business backdrop of remix fees and "cleans," promotional CDs that often end up for sale in record stores, Devil encounters a cast that includes crooked ministers, crack whores and band managers who "wouldn't have the brains to manage Elvis if he came back from the dead." A sidetrip to London derails the action briefly, but when the setting is Harlem, the reading is fast and fun. Agent, Bob Silverstein at Quicksilver Books. (Nov.)