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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
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MIGHTY MIGHTY

Wally Rudolph

Following up on his impressive literary crime debut with Four Corners, Wally Rudolph’s new novel is set in Chicago, where two families struggle to get out from under their history of violence and poverty. But one mistake puts them in the crosshairs of a twisted ex-cop.
Mighty, Mighty is an urban fable about two sisters barely getting by in a filthy Chicago. Dirty apartments, tattoo parlors, food kitchens – these are the markers of home for the struggling girls. Stefy is an artist at Ghost Town, the local tattoo shop, trying to provide for her younger sister Amanda and their ailing grandfather. Amanda is hoping for something better, seeking to escape a past riddled with addiction and an abusive boyfriend. Then comes a drunken encounter in a bar, a violent attack, and Amanda’s ex-boyfriend winds up dead in the bathroom. This puts both sisters in the crosshairs of a violently unstable ex-cop who wants revenge for his son’s murder – and will stop at nothing in seeking his own brand of justice.


Wally Rudolph, born in Canada to Jamaican immigrant parents, had a fifteen-year affair with illicit drugs that forced him to drop out of college and travel across the American Midwest. His fiction can be found in the literary journals Milk Money, Lines+Stars, Palooka, Slush Pile, The Brooklyner, and the anthology, Literary Pasadena. As an actor, he has appeared in numerous films and TV shows including Street Kings, Bang Bang, and Sons of Anarchy.
Available products
Book

Published 2015-10-01 by Soft Skull

Book

Published 2015-10-01 by Soft Skull

Comments

Mighty Mighty lets it all hang out, a boldly affecting story written with flow and swagger, like the best hip-hop.

interview with Wally Rudolph on Stuff & Nonsense Read more...

Mighty, Mighty is a gem: dark, hard, and filled with surprising beauty. It is also noir as hell, filled with the kind of people you always worried were down at that bar on the corner, waiting to turn on you.

A gritty urban tale of poverty, violence, and the desperate need to overcome both … Wally Rudolph’s depictions of Chicago are stark and unsettling, but his characters are authentic and impossible to forget. This is a finely crafted novel, rhythmic and flowing, from a writer to watch. Read more...

Fans of Barry Hannah, Daniel Woodrell, Denis Johnson, and Pedro Juan Gutiérrez will find it hard to put this novel down. Read more...

Wally Rudolph captures the dark and gritty underbelly of Chicago (including drug addicts, dive bars, sketchy tattoo parlors, and a corrupt cop seeking revenge). This is the actor’s second novel in as many years—you may recognize him from his stints on Sons of Anarchy and Hawaii 5-0—and he an adept voice at capturing the pain and violence of the impoverished. Read more...

A wild, violent ride of a page turner, Mighty, Mighty is also a thoughtful contemplation on how we love and grieve. A beautiful book that wears its messy, empathetic heart on its sleeve.

Wally Rudolph's Mighty, Mighty is a hard-boiled hat trick of a novel: a searing family drama, a gripping crime thriller, and a raw, unflinching portrait of lives lived on America's violent edge.