Nelson George is an author and filmmaker. His books include the first four novels in his D Hunter mystery series: The Accidental Hunter, The Plot Against Hip Hop, The Lost Treasures of R&B, and To Funk and Die in LA. Among his many nonfiction works are The Death of Rhythm & Blues, Hip Hop America, and The Hippest Trip in America: Soul Train and the Evolution of Culture & Style. Former bodyguard D Hunter has moved to Los Angeles to become a talent manager. Business is good: he has signed a hot Atlanta rapper named Lil Daye and negotiated a lucrative endorsement with a liquor brand. But then D learns of the liquor CEO’s unsavory sexual habits and reactionary political views and worries that he has sold his soul. Back in Brooklyn, a body has been found and it connects D and the retired hit man Ice. The FBI wants to speak to D, which is making Ice nervous. Meanwhile in London, Serene Powers, a vigilante and sometime collaborator with D, breaks up a human trafficking ring. When she returns to the US, D asks her for assistance with a sensitive matter involving Lil Daye, his wife, his mistress, and a thug on his payroll. Nelson George ‘s The Darkest Hearts (Akashic Books) reflects the challenges of being a black businessperson in an era when the rules of entrepreneurship are constantly shifting beneath an increasingly polarized political environment. Filmmaker Spike Lee praised George: “I’ve known Nelson over thirty years and he has been our cultural storyteller for that length of time. Keep telling. Keep writing our stories. I know I will keep reading them too.”