40th anniversary commemorative essay anthology by writers who survived the Detroit Riot of 1967

"Dark, edgy and riveting, the stories by John David Wells are white knuckles for the mind, capturing the incomprehensible depths of madness, cruelty and despair in modern society. Written from the gut these stories rise up from the same lyrical dark well as Bukowski, Shelby Jr.. and Burroughs." Robert T. Allen A narcissistic, confused college student is brutally raped and murdered; a "bony-headed psychopath" makes his two step-sons clear out rats in the basement; a traveling American finds horror in a Casablanca opium den; a young man is driven insane by the voice of English writer Daniel Defoe; three college students have a drug-fueled menage 'a trios in the back of a Range Rover with disastrous results, and a drummer in a rock band hallucinates the Apostle John from the Book of Revelation flashing out of an MTV video. Reading Solitary Eyes on Fire and Other Stories is like having a veil lifted from your eyes, revealing a world more intense, terrifying, and imaginary than you ever knew. Traveling through the book, we meet a vivid unforgettable cast of characters driven to all sorts of depravitydrugs, sex, murder, madnessas they hurl ninety-miles-an hour down dangerous dead-end streets. Solitary Eyes on Fire and Other Stories reveals in stark detail the omnipresence of the grotesque in everyday life. Mired in dystopia, these characters have lost their their fragile hold on sanity, entering a world where reality is up for grabs, bizarre, and repulsively ugly. Often they innocent victims torn between the heartless demands of society and the desire to maintain their sense of identity and freedom.

"I am not going to let my blindness build a brick wall around me. I'd give my eyes one hundred times again to have the chance to do what I have done, and what I can still do."-Brad Snyder speaking with First Lady Michelle Obama On the night Osama bin Laden was killed, US Navy Lieutenant Brad Snyder was serving in Afghanistan as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal officer with SEAL Team Ten. When he learned of SEAL Team Six's heroics across the Pakistani border, Brad was thankful. Still, he knew that his dangerous combat deployment would continue. Less than five months later, Brad was engulfed by darkness after a massive blast caused by an enemy improvised explosive device. Suddenly Brad was blind, with vivid dreams serving as painful nightly reminders of his sacrifice. Exactly one year after losing his sight, Brad heard thousands cheer as he stood on a podium in London. Incredibly, Brad had just won a gold medal in swimming at the 2012 Paralympic Games. Fire in My Eyes is the astonishing true story of a wounded veteran who refused to give up. Lieutenant Brad Snyder did not let blindness build a wall around him-through tenacity and courage, he tore it down.

Kevin Corvelli---a hotshot New York defense attorney who packed up his bags and hung his shingle in Hawaii to dodge the spotlight---is deep in his mai tais at a resort when an argument erupts down at the other end of the bar. It's a pair of newlyweds, married that very day on the beach. And since Corvelli doesn't do divorces, he all but dismisses the argument. That's at least until the fire breaks out later that night, and he barely escapes his hotel room. Most weren't so lucky, including the new husband. His wife, Erin, becomes not only the police's prime suspect for arson and murder but also Corvelli's newest client, and she has a lot working against her, like motive and opportunity, not to mention a history of starting fires. The heat gets turned all the way up in Douglas Corleone's scorching legal thriller Night on Fire, his second following the MB/MWA's First Crime Novel Competition winner, One Man's Paradise.