Christopher Chambers

Christopher Chambers

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A rare DC native, Christopher Chambers was born at Old Freedman’s Hospital at Howard University in the Nation’s Capital, and was raised at 1607 D Street NE when RFK Stadium was still just a vacant lot. He moved to Brooklyn NY and finally Baltimore, Maryland. He attended public schools in Baltimore City and County before attending the McDonogh School in Owings Mills, MD.

Chris Talks About His Books and The Negative Impact of Street Literature

Mr. Chambers is an honors graduate of Princeton University and the University of Baltimore School of Law, where he was the first African American in the Law Review. Mr. Chambers served with the US Justice Department from 1994-1997, and taught English, Business Law and Communications at Queens University in Charlotte from 2000-2001. Now he’s lecturer in writing at University of Maryland, University College, and a Professor at Georgetown University’s/SCS Master's Program in Journalism. Mr. Chambers led panels writing, politics/culture, and was keynote at Georgetown University’s Father Healy Dinner along with NBA Star Dikembe Mtumbo.

In 2001 Mr. Chambers left the world of law practice forever to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a writer. He’s published the FBI Agent Angela Bivens© series of mystery novels through Random House. The third novel in the series (unfinished) was sold to Lifetime TV. He’s the author of two short story collections, Shades of Black, and Intimacy, and has numerous short fiction works published in magazines such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen and Thug Lit. 2009 will see the release of historical novel about slavery and the War of 1812/Burning of Washington, DC, Yella Patsy’s Boys, and his re-interpretative novel on the iconic figures Amos ‘n Andy. With co-editors Walter Mosley and Gary Phillips, he will publish a graphic/comic book short fiction collection called The Darker Mask. A another graphic novel, based on African American mob-buster Eunice Hunton Carter, Gangsterland, is planned. He is presenter at the Hurston-Wright Awards at the National Press Club in November, 2007.

Mr. Chambers resides in Silver Spring, MD with his wife

Read the transcript of On-line Chat featuring author Chris Chambers Discussing Sympathy For The Devil on Friday November 9th, 2001

Yella Patsy's Boys

In January of 09 Chambers offers his historical novel Yella Patsy's Boys (Algonquin). In 2007 a black British girl uses DNA to locate her slave ancestors--not in the Caribbean where she'd thought, but in Maryland, 1814. She learns the story of two brothers, one passing for white, one a runaway slave, who must face each other through the smoke and ruin of the War of 1812.

The Darker Mask
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by Gary Phillips (Author), Christopher Chambers (Author)

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (August 19, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765318504
ISBN-13: 978-0765318503

Expanding on the concept behind Byron Preiss's Weird Heroes from the 1970s, George R. R. Martin's Wild Card series, and Michael Chabon's McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, The Darker Mask is a collection of original prose stories recalling the derring-do of the beings we call Superheroes and the worlds they fight to save. But unique to The Darker Mask stories is that these plots and characters color a literary universe outside of what has been predominantly white, idiosyncratic, and male in previous homages to pulp. This is the stuff of urban legends, new mythos, and extraordinary folks who might live in a soon-to-be-gentrified ghetto, the dreary rust-belt of the city, or in another dimension. The Darker Mask offers an eclectic mix of popular fiction writers exploring worlds gritty, visceral, and fantastic.

Including stories by: Walter Mosley, L. A. Banks, Naomi Hirahara, Lorenzo Cacaterra, Tananarive Due and Stephen Barnes, Mike Gonzales, Gar Anthony Haywood, Ann Nocenti, Jerry Rodriguez, Reed Farrell Coleman, Doselle Young, Mat Johnson, Peter Spiegelman, Alexandra Sokoloff, Christopher Chambers, Gary Phillips, Victor LaValle, and Wayne Wilson.

A Prayer for Deliverance: An Angela Bivens Thriller
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ISBN: 0609608509
Format: Paperback, 352pp
Pub. Date: February 2003
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Edition Description: 1ST

Read an AALBC.com Book Review

Never try to outrun your past . . .

Tough-minded FBI special agent Angela Bivens is just beginning to put her life back together. Still reeling from the bloody showdown where she took the lives of two serial killers, one of whom was her lover, Angela is hell-bent on facing the future. She’s enjoying the perks of a well-deserved promotion, as well as getting to know her new boyfriend on a romantic camping trip. All that changes when the FBI interrupts her relaxing getaway and puts her on a complicated high-profile case.

Inside a secluded Chesapeake bed-and-breakfast, Dr. Leslie Collins, a prominent African-American obstetrician, has been found dead and mutilated. His white mistress, a Clinton White House advisor, was also dead in their bed, apparently from a poisonous snakebite. And no one at the inn heard or saw a thing. Angela can’t help but be shaken to the core—Dr. Collins was a family friend, and now it’s up to her to apprehend the killer.
Angela’s superiors at the Bureau suspect a shadowy white supremacy group that has been terrorizing abortion clinics and liberal leaders, but such tidy motives are soon discredited as other influential Black men from the worlds of business, politics, and religion start to share the doctor’s gruesome fate. Angela’s quest for justice deepens when she discovers the unlikely connections that link the men to one another, and to Antoine Jones, a convicted murderer on death row. Angela’s investigation also uncovers disturbing evidence that these murders are bound to a world of spells and ancient prophecies rooted in South African witchcraft, and of age-old vendettas being played out in a very modern D.C.

In this compelling, action-packed sequel to the riveting debut Sympathy for the Devil, Christopher Chambers captivates his readers with an unpredictable plot that pits this strong and savvy female protagonist against a cast of formidable foes—both human and supernatural. His innovative blend of images from traditional African mysticism and the vivid landscape of our nation’s capital breathes new life into the suspense thriller genre. Fans of Walter Mosley, Thomas Harris, and Patricia Cornwell will all love this remarkably spellbinding page-turner.

Sympathy For The Devil
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Format: Hardcover, 320pp.
ISBN: 0609608495
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Pub. Date: September 2001
Edition Desc: 1 ED

Read an AALBC.com Book Review

Be careful what you wish for . . .
FBI Special Agent Angela Bivens has just won a hard-fought racial and sex discrimination lawsuit against the Bureau. She should be euphoric -- all she ever wanted to be was a field agent. But the women she filed the suit with have fled the Bureau, leaving Angela alone to deal with her cynical, ultrapolitical superiors. They throw her a bone by sending her to help the befuddled and apathetic D.C. police solve two seemingly unrelated cases -- the brutal murder of two teenage girls and the macabre, ritualized executions of rival drug dealers.

The cops see the victims as routine casualties of a drug war, but Angela begins to uncover a far more extensive network of horrors. The threads seem to lead right from the case files into her personal life and her hot, burgeoning love affair with Trey Williams, a well-connected D.C. lawyer, scion of an elite family, or, as her girlfriends call him, the "black JFK Jr." Although Trey is everything a woman could want, he is also shackled with a heroin-addicted twin brother nicknamed Pluto who is obsessed with myths and the occult and is fast becoming Angela's prime suspect in this wave of shocking murders.

After she saves the life of a fellow officer in a shoot-out, Angela becomes the FBI's golden girl, a media-anointed local hero. But is the FBI setting her up for an even bigger fall? She can't trust her superiors. She can't trust her boyfriend. Faced with the hard facts and following her gut instincts, Angela feels that she has no choice but to solve these cases and avenge the innocent victims on her own.

Played out against a vivid and realistic portrait of Washington -- from the halls of Congress and swank gathering places of the city's African American elite to the gritty, mournful streets where gang warfare remains a fact of life --

Whispers in the Night: Dark Dreams III
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by Tananarive Due (Collaborator), Christopher Chambers (Collaborator), Brandon Massey (Editor)

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Dafina (July 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0758217412
ISBN-13: 978-0758217417
Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches

Beyond Your Darkest Dreams...

From the deceptive safety of your very own bed to the seeming stillness of country roads and the bustle of urban streets, your darkest realities reveal themselves as you enter hidden realms, crossing the threshold into one man's tortured mind--a mind haunted by the mocking, derisive voices of his youth... Quench your insatiable thirst for terror at a bar where the drinks are abominable and the patrons never leave. Relive the infamous, harrowing Middle Passage that brought millions of African slaves to America, but this time with a spellbinding twist...

Lie Your Deepest Fears...

From scenes of pulsating ecstasy to unspeakable tragedy, surrender yourself to a world inhabited by bizarre sex cults and violent gangs. Meet the malevolent entities that feed on human misery in the midst of a hurricane's wrath. Endure a sweltering summer on a swamp inhabited by mischievous spirits intent on possessing the most innocent within their slimy grasp. Submit to the tantalizing temptation and the irresistible pull of the unknown in nineteen stories that will illuminate the horrors within--and without. And whatever you do, don't turn off the lights...

Voices from the Other Side: Dark Dreams II
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Contributors include Eric Jerome Dickey, Tananarive Due, L.A. Banks, Christopher Chambers, Brandon Massey (Editor)

ISBN: 0758212321
Format: Paperback, 336pp
Pub. Date: April 2006
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation

BEYOND THE SHADOWS...they linger, showing themselves only to those brave enough to perceive them...willing to see beyond human existence and into the heart of darkness. Feel the racing pulse in the primal desire of werewolves. Embrace the aura of two gifted women as they unleash power beyond imagining. Savor the aroma of otherworldly flora planted in a unique patch of earth.

THEY WALK THE NIGHT...prepared to face terrors humans were never meant to confront. Chant with an African mystic as he protects his people from an entity of unbridled malice. Ride the dusty trails of the Old West in pursuit of monstrous legends. Sail on a ship of damned souls as it languishes in the depths of forbidden waters. From the untamed wilderness of ancient times to the concrete jungles of today, these seventeen excursions into nightmares will keep you awake long past the midnight hour--and praying for daylight...

Featuring stories by Eric Jerome Dickey, Tananarive Due, L.A. Banks, Brandon Massey, Christopher Chambers, and many more, this is one collection you don't want to miss.

Related Links

Nat Turner's Revenge
http://natturnersrevenge.blogspot.com/

Doesn't the title speak for itself? This is the blog of writer Christopher Chambers. We talk about culture. We talk about politics. We grind our molars over crazy black folks. We rail against insouciant white folks. Or any folks. Oh, we discuss my books, too. Enjoy...

Official Website
www.chrischambersbooks.com

Contact:
Faith Childs
Faith Childs Literary Agency, Inc.
915 Broadway, Suite 1009
New York, NY 10010
212 995 9600 telephone
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