Bill Hope

The second novel in the Metropolis series. New York City, 1870s: From his cell in the gloomy prison known as the Tombs, young Bill Hope spills out in a torrent of words the story of his career as a pickpocket and shoplifter; his scorn for snitches and bullies; his brutal treatment at Sing Sing and escape from another prison in a coffin; his forays into brownstones and polite society; his brief career on the stage playing himself; his loyalty to a man who has befriended him but may be trying to kill him; and his sojourn among the "loonies" in a madhouse, from which he emerges to face betrayal and death threats, and possible involvement in a murder. In the course of his adventures he learns how slight the difference is between criminal and law-abiding, insane and sane, vice and virtue-a lesson that reinforces what he learned on the streets. Driving him throughout is a fierce desire for better, a yearning to leave the crooked life behind, and a persistent and undying hope."This book is a really good yarn of a story. Bill Hope is a sweet rascal of a character who doesn't give up on people once he's invested in them. Trouble still manages to always find Bill, though and it's great fun to read about how he gets out of it. I can't recommend this book enough. *****" -Nicole Brown BlogSpotClifford Browder is a writer living in New York. He has published a critical study of the Surrealist author Andr Breton, and biographies of the Wall Street financier Daniel Drew and the notorious abortionist Madame Restell. His novel The Pleasuring of Men (Gival Press, 2011) is the first in his Metropolis series of historical novels set in nineteenth-century New York. A collection of posts from his blog, No Place for Normal: New York/ Stories from the Most Exciting City in the World (Mill City Press, 2015), won first place in the Travel category of the 2015-2016 Reader Views Literary Awards; the Tenth Annual National Indie Excellence Award for Regional Non-Fiction; and Honorable Mention in the Culture category of the Eric Hoffer Book Awards for 2016. His poetry has appeared in various reviews, both online and in print.