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The Chicago Trilogy
TO DO JUSTICE, Book 3 of Frank Joseph's "Chicago Trilogy," is forthcoming in 2023 from TouchPoint Press. For advance raves, see below. Sign up now for publication news, updates, appearances and more. You may opt out at any time, no questions asked, and we never share contact info except with your permission. See "Quick Links" (below right).

To Love Mercy

Book 1 of The Chicago Trilogy

 

“What happens when urban worlds collide? TO LOVE MERCY portrays 1940s Chicago from the South Side to Riverview [Amusement Park], with a focus on two boys, one from Bronzeville, one from Hyde Park. What makes it so remarkable is the careful — loving — care to get the words and cadences right from Chicago of the era of our childhood. A wonderful, very special book.” 

—Gary T. Johnson, President, Chicago Historical Society

To Walk Humbly

Book 2 of The Chicago Trilogy

 

After that wild night in June 1948, chasing a mysterious silver talisman across a menacing city, Steve Feinberg and Jesse "Sass" Trimble both knew the world wouldn't let them stay friends. But now it's four years later, the '50s, and that world is starting to crumble. In TO WALK HUMBLY, the second instalment of the "Chicago Trilogy." Steve and Sass meet once more at Hyde Park High School, not sure how to work things out ... and not sure they want to. But the mysterious silver talisman still is missing, and now it is linked to the life -- and grisly death -- of a Black boy from Chicago, tortured and murdered in Mississippi for supposedly flirting with a white girl.

To Do Justice

Book 3 of The Chicago Trilogy - Forthcoming Spring 2023

 

"To Do Justice drops you into the white-hot center of the 1960s Chicago riots and gives you a street-level view of what happened and why. The big names are here -- Martin Luther King, Jesse Jackson, Richard Daley, to name a few. But the beating heart of this dramatic story is that of an orphaned biracial girl forced into the streets by an abusive foster parent ... and the hard-working AP reporter who befriends her and helps solve the mystery of her peculiar parentage. Beautifully written and eerily in-tune with the racial concerns of our own time, To Do Justice is a must-read for anyone interested in one of the most turbulent moments in American history and how it still reverberates in our collective consciousness."

-Richard Armstrong, author, "The Next Hurrah" & "The Don Con"

 

"To Do Justice is a novel everyone should read—powerful, funny, sad, enraging, and ultimately affirming. Writing with the deftness of a true wordsmith, Frank Joseph examines questions of identity, racial politics, and the value of human life. Set in 1966 Chicago, the novel follows spunky twelve-year-old Pinkie as she sets off alone on a hot summer day across the riot-ravaged city to find her real mother. Navigating a sea of crooked cops, indolent government workers, connected politicians, and the constant undercurrent of violence, Pinkie's quest intersects with Mollie's, an Associated Press reporter determined to write the truth. What they uncover will break, and mend, your heart. Joseph's novel proves that sometimes what a hero needs is one steadfast ally."

–Ginny Fite, author of Possession and the award-winning Thoughts & Prayers

 

 

"A novel that burns hot and bright. Pinkie's journey through Chicago to find her white mother delves deep into  the brutal racial complexities at the heart of America. Read this book."

-Amin Ahmad, author, This Is Not Your CountryThe Caretaker and The Last Taxi Ride

 

"In To Do Justice, Frank S Joseph conjures summertime Chicago in the mid-1960s. Sweat beads on foreheads. Angry voices fill the air as plate glass shatters. Smoke billows from burning storefronts and police rampage. Most everyone's angry. Some have an angle. Black rioters and protestors led by Dr. King. Crafty ward bosses and streetwise cops. Reporters not sure what's happening, and a motherless girl searching for where she came from and where in this screwed-up world she can go. It's a powerful tale of a fascinating time." 

-- David O. Stewart, author of The New Land: Book 1 of the Overstreet Saga

 

"Frank Joseph is the real deal. A cub reporter with the AP on the streets in Chicago during the 1966 West Side race riots, he ran through smoke on the frontlines of history, alongside the cast of characters who poured fuel on the flames of racial tension for financial gain, or fostered fear for political purposes. Their story is set to the high octane clatter of the AP newsroom where stories were typed and set, and the presses rolled twenty-four hours a day. Frank paints a word picture of a time and place that changed America a" seen through the eyes of innocents who are caught up in events beyond their control but determined to survive. To Do Justice is a great read and a wild ride through history."

--Juliette M. Engel, author, Sparky: Surviving Sex Magick

 

"Frank Joseph's To Do Justice is set in Chicago during the mid '60s riots, against a backdrop of corruption from election-manipulating precinct captains to a foster care system that takes advantage of the children it purports to serve. Pinkie, a mixed-race eleven year old girl, dodges danger from all sides as she strives to find the white woman who gave her birth. Mollie Hinton, a young, plucky newspaperwoman, risks her career to rescue Pinkie and assist her quest. For insight into the cultural and racial tension of post-migration Chicago, through the eyes of two courageous young women, To Do Justice provides a great read."

—Solveig Eggerz, author, Seal Woman and Sigga of Reykjavik