The Unvarnished Gary Phillips: A Mondo Pulp Collection

High Praise for The Unvarnished Gary Phillips

“Phillips (One-Shot Harry) carves out a niche for himself in this eccentric collection. . . . Readers looking for action-heavy popcorn entertainment will certainly find it here.” —Publishers Weekly

“The Unvarnished Gary Phillipsis a fabulous exploration of the career of a true trailblazer in the crime fiction universe. Gary paved the way for a lot of us writers of color with his fearless artistry and sharp dialogue and his endless wit and wisdom. A magnificent collection.” —S.A. Cosby, best-selling author, Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland

“The Unvarnished Gary Phillips is a blast of a collection by the wizard of pulpy crime stories set in the past and far into the future. Phillips gives us smart-ass characters punching their way through kick-ass action scenes. An incredible read!” —Rachel Howzell Hall, New York Times and Wall Sreet Journal bestselling author 

“Chaotic, funny, insightful and faster than a blast of speeding bullets. Into pulp fiction? Unvarnished is your Shangri La.” —Joe Ide, best-selling author, the IQ Series

“Few people know pulp like Gary Phillips, who is not only a student of the genre, but a master. The Unvarnished Gary Phillips shows him in top form and with the verve and grit that are essential to the best pulp and hardboiled tales. I had a blast reading these. You will, too.” —Alex Segura, best-selling award-winning author, Secret Identity

“Pulp is the jazz of literature, and Gary Phillips is it’s impresario—riffing and improvising on themes from mean streets to the phantasmagorical in seventeen compositions designed to flip your wig!” —Christopher Chambers, author, Scavenger, Standalone

Past Praise for Gary Phillips

For One-shot Harry 

“For thirty years Phillips has been a must-read writer.” —Lee Child

“Phillips is a storyteller first, and the social chronicling never becomes didactic or overtakes the narrative.” The New York Times Book Review

For Matthew Henson and The Ice Temple of Harlem
“A wildly entertaining extravaganza.”―Booklist (Starred)

For The Obama Inheritance
“Cheerfully strange and purposefully bizarre.” ―The Washington Post

“So sly, fresh and Bizarro World witty, they reaffirm the resiliency of the artistic imagination.” ―Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air

For Astonishing Heroes: Shades of Justice
“Gary Phillips is the man. . . . Hand-to-hand combat action, demons and magic to boot, internal dialogue, buckets of high-caliber bullets, plus scantily clad women and the heroes they love. Add a Black Dynamite blaxploitative filter and you’re in.” —Ebony

“A book for anyone who remains nostalgic for the golden age of Toei films, blaxploitation movies, and lusty grindhouse cinema.” —Superhero Novels