Chris Tusa Dirty Little Angels In the City of Falling Stars New Orleans writer crime fiction crime noir New Orleans fiction

Work-in-Progress

In the City of Falling Stars, a novel by Chris Tusa (in progress)

Summary

Dead birds are falling out of the sky, and Walter Mullgrave suspects that the air in New Orleans may be unsafe. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries claims the birds were poisoned, while meteorologists suggest they were killed by a sudden change in temperature. There’s even talk of terrorism, Bird Flu, or that high levels of mold spores left over from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina might be to blame. When Walter expresses his fear, his family assures him that there’s nothing to worry about. Gradually, though, he becomes increasingly fearful of the world around him, and when he begins having strange religious visions, he soon becomes convinced that the dead birds are a sign from God, and that the government is hiding an ominous secret. Set in the early months of 2006, against the backdrop of Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq War, In the City of Falling Starsis a tragicomedy that examines the increasing paranoia following the September 11th attacks, as well as a commentary on the devastating psychological scars that Hurricane Katrina left on the city of New Orleans.

» Read Chapter One of In the City of Falling Stars

Mean Blood, a novel by Chris Tusa (in progress)

Summary

Set in the summer of 1878, Mean Blood follows the story of Mollie Shepherd, a sixteen year old girl from Algiers, Louisiana, who’s recently been abducted to work in a New Orleans brothel. As the novel begins, Mollie arrives in New Orleans with her abductor, Lemuel Bates, and is introduced to her new home (a brothel that locals refer to as The Meat House) as well as the owner, Lilith O’Malley, a vicious, abusive woman who mistreats the girls. As Mollie gets acquainted with her new life as a prostitute, she soon meets Lucien, “a trick baby” who lives in the brothel, and they begin to fall for one another. Lilith soon begins mistreating Mollie, and Lucien eventually decides to confront Lilith, a decision which, for Mollie and Lucien, will have both violent and tragic consequences.

» Read Chapter One of Mean Blood