The Chicago Phoenix (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781961181052)

Before Larry Hall and the events of Black Bird, Jimmy Keene already had a life that most people couldn't begin to imagine.

As the athletically gifted son of a beauty queen and a decorated police officer, it appears that young Jimmy Keene's promising future may take him all the way to a professional sports career. But then, his family is torn apart and everything changes. Jimmy begins secretly running a dangerous marijuana business at thirteen years old to claw his way out of his poverty-stricken environment and to support his family. At a young age, Jimmy weathers shootouts, brawls, and robberies and even foils a heist or two. Survival is never guaranteed.

Jimmy's business thrives for two decades as he builds an empire in a glamorous world of power, money, and corruption. But in 1996, he is federally charged for his involvement in an illicit conspiracy during Operation Snow Plow and sent to prison. Less than a year and a half later, Jimmy earns an early release and a clean record for aiding the FBI as an undercover operative-but his future has still gone up in smoke.

Newly freed from his perilous prison life, Jimmy is left with nothing but the memory of his former financial success and a blazing determination to redeem his past mistakes. This thrilling, all-new follow-up to the critically acclaimed AppleTV+ series Black Bird spills all the stunning details of Jimmy's action-packed early years and his rise from the ashes to rebuild a better life as a successful businessman who forges his own path all the way to Hollywood.