While the City Never Sleeps

by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki (Reader)

A pair of honest cops in a dishonest force…
A ruthless gangland fixer with a surprising soft spot…
A crusading journalist trying to save her dying newspaper…
An unseen crime lord with a secret going back centuries…
And a female vigilante defending the city’s poorest district…
All come together for the mysterious Festival…

When a notorious crime lord’s top lawyer is beheaded by hired killers, it’s clear someone’s sending a message. But Stavros Kefali didn’t get to be top dog by scaring easily, so he sends his go-to guy, Darren Flaxstone, to learn who’s behind it. Two cops, Slade and Slaughter, are also on the case, and one of them has a secret source for street the Lightning Girl, a vigilante fighting crime her way in the city’s poorest section. Meanwhile reporter Rebecca Hutchcraft is determined to unmask the Lightning Girl, while rival gangster Harrison Marley thinks this might be the time to take on Kefali’s organization. Hovering over all this is the upcoming, mysterious Festival, Kefali’s annual super-secret event for the city’s elite where all questions may be answered…if anyone survives to ask them.

1 pages, Audio CD

Published February 3, 2026

About the author

I grew up in west Tennessee an hour north of Graceland (home of Elvis) and twenty minutes from Nutbush (home of Tina Turner). I've been a reporter, editor, photographer and door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman. I now live in a big yellow house in Wisconsin, write before six in the morning and try to teach my two kids to act like they've been to town before.

I write the Tufa novels (The Hum and the Shiver, Wisp of a Thing, Long Black Curl and Chapel of Ease), as well as the Eddie LaCrosse series (The Sword-Edged Blonde, Burn Me Deadly, Dark Jenny, Wake of the Bloody Angel and He Drank, and Saw the Spider). the Firefly Witch ebook chapbooks, and two "vampsloitation" novels set in 1975 Memphis (Blood Groove and The Girls with Games of Blood).

Reviews

[Erin Penn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This dark urban fantasy has a strong superhero vibe, though few heroes. Characters, though, it has in plenty. Everyone is different, with different motives, all trying to better themselves (even in villainous ways). The action is actiony, the characters are amazing, and the plot will make it hard to put this murder-mystery police-procedural thriller down at night.

Full disclosure: I was part of the editing team.

[Tommy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lotta fun. Fresh take on the emergence of a superhero, with a little bit of a nice boomerang throwback to the classics....

Also a thinker about the role of the police, especially in underserved neighborhoods and areas. There's also an eye towards the role of The Press in 2026, and the dangers of gutting and/or not protecting the rights of the press by the judiciary.

And it's funny. Bledsoe turns a good phrase.

And he keeps the story moving quickly... it never rests on its heels

[Sas astro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I've read so far in 2026. Good character building and an engaging story