Donald Pfarrer is the author of A Common Ordinary Murder, The Fearless Man, Cold River, and Neverlight. Pfarrer was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat V and the Purple Heart in Vietnam. On completing his service he covered the antiwar movement for the Milwaukee Journal, and then shifted to reporting on crime and politics. His work for the Journal earned him the American Political Science Association’s award for excellence in public affairs reporting. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the father of two daughters. He lives with his wife, Anne Burling, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

No Blue-Eyed Devil

A Novel by Donald Pfarrer

 

 

 

"Can one man kill another and call it justice?" This question rings throughout this powerful, lost classic crime novel by former reporter and master storyteller Pfarrer. One fateful night brings together Shipman, a brilliant young black man mistakenly suspected of rape, and Temple, a hair-triggered, once-promising white cop. Temple's corrupt partners are willing to do anything to avoid blame for the unprovoked beating that kills Shipman. But can Temple escape what he's done?

The tragedy of that night echoes through a small mid-western town as Shipman's father looks for justice, or is it vengeance? To write No Blue-Eyed Devil, Pfarrer spent months riding with police officers through the rough neighborhoods of urban Ohio. No Blue-Eyed Devil is a timeless literary fable that explores the racial divide with Biblical resonance—as well as a thrilling novel of crime and redemption. No Blue-Eyed Devil rivals the best work of Pete Dexter, Ed McBain, and Richard Price. Originally published as Temple and Shipman, No Blue-Eyed Devil is now available as an ebook for the first time.

 

“A stunning achievement of the novelist’s craft.”
– Sidney Offit

“This is a story about aspiration, race, rage, and real life.”
– David B. Offer

“Temple and Shipman could be described as a crime novel, just as Homer’s Odyssey could be called a seafaring yarn.”
­– Roberto Mighty