Sunset Empire

Reviews

“Josh Weiss has announced himself as a bold new voice in the world of pulp noir fiction. One part Raymond Chandler, one part Philip Roth, a dash of Ben Hecht — and you’re about halfway there.”—J.D. Lifshitz, co-founder of BoulderLight Pictures and producer of The Vigil “Bright, terrifying, alternate-fiction-that-could-be fact, detective Morris Baker returns full force to the scene of a brand-new crime. Pick up Sunset Empire, and you won’t put it down until the very last word.”—Paul Lally, author of the Amerika and Rise Again trilogies Josh’s writing is beautifully visual, with characters so perfectly realized, that his melding of real history and fiction takes on a poignancy that transcends the ‘What If?’ genre and makes you worry, ‘What If Again?’. I can’t wait for another Morris Baker case!—Ben Parker, writer/director of Burial & The Chamber Praise for Beat the Devils—— "Reading Josh Weiss’s debut novel feels like riding shotgun with a friend who’s driving expertly through a winter storm... Weiss creates palpable emotional depth, particularly for Baker, whose yearslong tactic of burying trauma has stopped working."—New York Times Book Review "Beat The Devils by Josh Weiss blew me away. A brilliant alternate history, a riveting fifties-era noir crime caper, and an edge of your seat thriller—all wrapped into one! This is a stunning novel that takes readers for a mind-bending ride with elements that seem shockingly relevant in our current day and age."—Mark Greaney #1 NYT Bestselling Author of The Gray Man “Tight, well-paced, inventive, and inspirational, Weiss’ splendid debut is classic noir tinged with the slightest pinch of science fiction; readers can thrill to the bits of dissonant history they recognize, even as they revel in the mayhem and suspense that permeate the text.”—Mystery Scene Magazine "Alternate histories are difficult to craft, but the world of Beat the Devils is built with hair-raising perfection. Weiss holds a warped mirror to the American Dream — revealing dark undercurrents thread through with troubling, yet true, history. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!"—Ryan Graudin, award-winning author of Wolf by Wolf “Thrillers involving the 1950s and an L.A. police detective are close to being a dime-a-dozen, but not so with Josh Weiss’s superb Beat the Devils. It takes place in 1958 Los Angeles, but very different from our own history, beginning with the shocking twist that the President of the United States is former Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy. Instead of the relative peace and prosperity of the Eisenhower years, we’re in the nightmare that is the McCarthy years, filled with Communist hunts among government agencies, businesses, and the media, as well as a secret police arresting and sometimes executing those suspected of disloyalty. Into this richly plotted and detailed novel is Detective Morris Baker, a Holocaust survivor who must navigate the dangerous times of this place, where Jews are second-class citizens, subject to pogroms and violence. A murder involving a prominent journalist and a famed film director sets him on a course of suspicion, betrayal, and double-crosses against a background of deep paranoia and permanent war. A remarkable achievement.”—Brendan DuBois, award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Resurrection Day and Amerikan Eagle "To my delight, this book surpassed Beat the Devils. Sunset Empire kept me guessing and I enjoyed all of the story’s twists and turns. If you love noir, crime stories, hard-nosed detectives, history, and alternate reality, then this book is for you. Although it’s a work of fiction, Sunset Empire is very prescient to what’s currently happening in the world. I’m ready for more Morris Baker stories!"—Michael Kronenberg Artist, Graphic Designer Film Noir Foundation/NOIR CITY Magazine "Another clever collision between history and what-might-have-been, but this time with the USA's misadventures in East Asia and Indochina swept into the geopolitical storm. A gripping and intriguing gumshoe adventure laced with gravitas and wit."—Ian R MacLeod, Sidewise Award-winning author of Wake Up and Dream Expand reviews