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D Hunter #1
The Accidental Hunter: A D Hunter Mystery
The first assignment is unusual. The second will set D Hunter in urgent pursuit of a mysterious entity that is kidnapping Top Forty hitmakers.
Always cloaked in the color black, security specialist D Hunter lives on the periphery of the monied Manhattan nightlife. But he's the man people come to when they need help without the interference of the NYPD. When a rising singer called Night is kidnapped, music manager Ivy Greenwich hires D Hunter to deliver the ransom. Mission is accomplished, but Greenwich isn't finished with Hunter.
Greenwich has devised a tried-and-true plan to transform Bridgette Haze's mega-pop-star image from the tween-bubblegum-pop genre to an edgier urban bring her to New York City where she can be seen at the right night spots and work with leading hip-hop producers. But the recent near tragedy with Night convinces him that she'll need extra protection. D isn't really in the bodyguard business anymore, but he needs the money. So he reluctantly agrees, never expecting he'll need to fight both a surprising sexual attraction to Haze and the determination of one who is seeking revenge for betrayals of the past.
Set in the hip-hop clubs and shrouded secret hearts of New York City, The Accidental Hunter is a page-turning adventure.
Always cloaked in the color black, security specialist D Hunter lives on the periphery of the monied Manhattan nightlife. But he's the man people come to when they need help without the interference of the NYPD. When a rising singer called Night is kidnapped, music manager Ivy Greenwich hires D Hunter to deliver the ransom. Mission is accomplished, but Greenwich isn't finished with Hunter.
Greenwich has devised a tried-and-true plan to transform Bridgette Haze's mega-pop-star image from the tween-bubblegum-pop genre to an edgier urban bring her to New York City where she can be seen at the right night spots and work with leading hip-hop producers. But the recent near tragedy with Night convinces him that she'll need extra protection. D isn't really in the bodyguard business anymore, but he needs the money. So he reluctantly agrees, never expecting he'll need to fight both a surprising sexual attraction to Haze and the determination of one who is seeking revenge for betrayals of the past.
Set in the hip-hop clubs and shrouded secret hearts of New York City, The Accidental Hunter is a page-turning adventure.
292 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
About the author
Nelson George
79 books119 followersNelson George is an author, filmmaker, television producer, and critic with a long career in analyzing and presenting the diverse elements of African-American culture.
Queen Latifah won the Golden Globe for playing the lead in his directorial debut, the HBO movie 'Life Support'. The critically acclaimed drama looked at the effects of HIV on a troubled black family in his native Brooklyn, New York. He recently co-edited, with Alan Leeds, 'The James Brown Reader (Plume)', a collection of previously published articles about the Godfather of Soul that date as far back the late '50s. Plume published the book in May '08.
He is an executive producer on two returning cable shows: the third season of BET's American Gangster and the fifth airing of VH1's Hip Hop Honors. George is the executive producer of the Chris Rock hosted feature documentary, Good Hair, a look at hair weaves, relaxers and the international black hair economy that's premiering at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
Nelson George serves as host of Soul Cities, a travel show that debuted in November 2008. on VH1 Soul. Nelson visited Los Angeles, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Memphis, New Orleans and the Bay Area. He eats food, visits historic sites, and hears lots of music. LaBelle, Robin Thicke, Babyface, Rafael Saadiq, Angie Stone and Jazmine Sullivan are among the many artists who talked with Nelson and perform. The second season starts shooting in Spring 2009.
Throughout the '80s and '90s George was an columnist for Billboard magazine and the Village Voice newspaper, work that led him to write a series of award winning black music histories: 'Where Did Our Love Go: The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound'; 'The Death of Rythm & Blues'; and 'Hip Hop America'. He won a Grammy for his contribution to the linear notes package on the James Brown 'Star Time' boxed set. George co-wrote 'Life and Def', the autobiography of his old friend Russell Simmons. He's also had a career writing fiction, including the bestselling 'One Woman Short', and the story, 'It's Never Too Late in New York', which has been in several anthologies of erotica.
As a screenwriter George co-wrote 'Strictly Business', which starred Halle Berry, and 'CB4', a vehicle for Chris Rock. His work with Rock led to his involvement with 'The Chris Rock Show', an Emmy award winning HBO late night series. He was an executive producer of Jim McKay's film, 'Everyday People', which premiered at the Sundance festival, and Todd Williams' Peabody award winning documentary 'The N Word'. In 2009 Viking will publish his memoir, 'City Kid', a look at the connections between childhood in Brooklyn and his adult career in Manhattan, Los Angeles and Detroit.
Queen Latifah won the Golden Globe for playing the lead in his directorial debut, the HBO movie 'Life Support'. The critically acclaimed drama looked at the effects of HIV on a troubled black family in his native Brooklyn, New York. He recently co-edited, with Alan Leeds, 'The James Brown Reader (Plume)', a collection of previously published articles about the Godfather of Soul that date as far back the late '50s. Plume published the book in May '08.
He is an executive producer on two returning cable shows: the third season of BET's American Gangster and the fifth airing of VH1's Hip Hop Honors. George is the executive producer of the Chris Rock hosted feature documentary, Good Hair, a look at hair weaves, relaxers and the international black hair economy that's premiering at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
Nelson George serves as host of Soul Cities, a travel show that debuted in November 2008. on VH1 Soul. Nelson visited Los Angeles, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Memphis, New Orleans and the Bay Area. He eats food, visits historic sites, and hears lots of music. LaBelle, Robin Thicke, Babyface, Rafael Saadiq, Angie Stone and Jazmine Sullivan are among the many artists who talked with Nelson and perform. The second season starts shooting in Spring 2009.
Throughout the '80s and '90s George was an columnist for Billboard magazine and the Village Voice newspaper, work that led him to write a series of award winning black music histories: 'Where Did Our Love Go: The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound'; 'The Death of Rythm & Blues'; and 'Hip Hop America'. He won a Grammy for his contribution to the linear notes package on the James Brown 'Star Time' boxed set. George co-wrote 'Life and Def', the autobiography of his old friend Russell Simmons. He's also had a career writing fiction, including the bestselling 'One Woman Short', and the story, 'It's Never Too Late in New York', which has been in several anthologies of erotica.
As a screenwriter George co-wrote 'Strictly Business', which starred Halle Berry, and 'CB4', a vehicle for Chris Rock. His work with Rock led to his involvement with 'The Chris Rock Show', an Emmy award winning HBO late night series. He was an executive producer of Jim McKay's film, 'Everyday People', which premiered at the Sundance festival, and Todd Williams' Peabody award winning documentary 'The N Word'. In 2009 Viking will publish his memoir, 'City Kid', a look at the connections between childhood in Brooklyn and his adult career in Manhattan, Los Angeles and Detroit.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 6, 2020
This book is ridiculous, but it's supposed to be. I think.
April 18, 2009
This was an exciting fast pace book. Nelson George's descriptive depiction and character development was excellent.
January 3, 2019
ASAP; Group Read OF# Two!?
April 12, 2019
I read the series uncoventionally, yet loved it. I was hooked after the first read. It was nice to go more into D's background. D's story is great!
Did Not Finish
February 2, 2026Nelson George is someone for whom I have had a great deal of respect for many years. I have been reading his work since I was a teenager, and by the time I was a young music journalist in the late 1980s & early 1990s he was one of the leading members of our profession. His books on music are all well worth reading, and his memoir, which I particularly enjoyed, is really excellent. I find his commentary on music interesting enough that I am actually subscribed to his YouTube channel, despite the fact that it is apparently a more-or-less casual endeavour for him. Unfortunately, this present book is far from his usual standard. I was completely unaware that Mr. George had dabbled in the "mystery/detective fiction" genre until a bit more than a week ago; obviously I missed this book when it was first published, and for whatever reason had just never noticed before that he had written novels.
For most of my adult life, I have primarily read non-fiction works, more often than not historical in nature (that description covers a lot of ground, obviously). For the first two decades of my reading life, however, my tastes were much wider- practically omnivorous, in fact, as I would often quite literally read anything I could get my hands on regardless of the content. When I was growing up, I read an awful lot of detective novels, spy thrillers, etc. While many of those I read as a child were quite good, a lot of them were simply awful. I still do read them sometimes, though now mostly as a sort of "palate cleanser", so to speak, or as a small vacation when history becomes so depressing that I simply need a break. Some of those I have read over the years were much worse than this book, and if I were 11 or 12 years old I probably would have continued reading this one until the end. At this point, however, I am well into middle age and simply do not consider that I any longer have sufficient time to waste reading a book even this bad.
I have no idea what the circumstances were which led to this book being published almost exactly 21 years ago today, but I am fairly surprised that either Mr. George or his publisher thought it was a good idea to publish it as is. It is very nearly a perfect example of how not to write a good detective novel. I have no intention of wasting the (most likely substantial) amount of time it would take to eviscerate this book point by point, but in my view it ought to be absolutely indisputable that by 2005 Nelson George was, beyond doubt, clearly capable of far better writing than this...
For most of my adult life, I have primarily read non-fiction works, more often than not historical in nature (that description covers a lot of ground, obviously). For the first two decades of my reading life, however, my tastes were much wider- practically omnivorous, in fact, as I would often quite literally read anything I could get my hands on regardless of the content. When I was growing up, I read an awful lot of detective novels, spy thrillers, etc. While many of those I read as a child were quite good, a lot of them were simply awful. I still do read them sometimes, though now mostly as a sort of "palate cleanser", so to speak, or as a small vacation when history becomes so depressing that I simply need a break. Some of those I have read over the years were much worse than this book, and if I were 11 or 12 years old I probably would have continued reading this one until the end. At this point, however, I am well into middle age and simply do not consider that I any longer have sufficient time to waste reading a book even this bad.
I have no idea what the circumstances were which led to this book being published almost exactly 21 years ago today, but I am fairly surprised that either Mr. George or his publisher thought it was a good idea to publish it as is. It is very nearly a perfect example of how not to write a good detective novel. I have no intention of wasting the (most likely substantial) amount of time it would take to eviscerate this book point by point, but in my view it ought to be absolutely indisputable that by 2005 Nelson George was, beyond doubt, clearly capable of far better writing than this...
July 15, 2024
Get the book with the original cover ( if not downloading). An intro to D Hunter this book situates him within the world of music that others in the series follow. There's a bit of that Machiavelli manipulation in here that he has to navigate ( and maybe contribute to) as D becomes more than a bodyguard!
August 22, 2020
Gripping thoughtful evocative of a specific place and time and people. Won’t be disappointed if you read.
May 18, 2021
Not too bad albeit a tad pulpy. Light and quick.
November 8, 2015
One of the 3 books by Nelson George that follow the adventures of bodyguard/security firm owner D Hunter. The books use Hunter as the central character in a series of quests, one to uncover the plot against hip hop another to find a rare album. The books have a right amount of references to great music in addition to a fast moving plot. If you want some enjoyable quick reads, this is perfect....waiting to see when the movies start to be produced.
November 3, 2017
This is a really good read, although it is a slow read it is a good start to the series. I knew I would like this book because I love to hear Nelson George speak.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews