" I thought about the rage inside me and in the world that had brought me to France, and then to its killing fields in the Great War. War had not killed the Beast of Rage anywhere, though. Rage was flaming up again everywhere, not dying down. Maybe, with my music, I could calm that rage. But I doubted that anything would ever slake it, not even another war or the war after that. "

—Urby Brown, from Rage in Paris

A gifted black clarinetist from New Orleans, Urby Brown decides to leave Jim Crow behind and head to France after discovering his father is living in Paris. Joining the French Foreign Legion, Urby fights in World War I for France, and upon its completion, he decides to settle in Paris, along with a number of other black expatriates, rather than return to the worsening racial climate in America. On the night of February 6, 1934, Urby is hired to track down Daphne, the daughter of Barnet Robinson III, who has run off to Paris with a drummer named Buster Thigpen. 

Swept up in a coup d'état, he soon makes the startling discovery that his father is the leader of the uprising fascist groups, and Buster Thigpen is one of his acolytes. Barely escaping the violent street clashes, Urby must track down Daphne, whose path of self-destruction threatens to destroy everything in its way. Filled with intrigue and adventure, Urby's quest will lead him face to face with a devious Nazi plot against America, all while discovering who he really is.

An expertly blended tale of historical and criminal fiction, this gripping book focuses on the turbulent period of recent history when fanatic political and economic beliefs led to societal upheavals, racial and religious intolerance, and World War II. A riveting work of fiction, this one-of-a-kind story not only captivates readers from the beginning but also shows us all the dangers of a climate gone wrong. Watch short film