Blow Up the Ashes, Vol 2 of American Mayhem, reveals the story of Pierre Doucet, a gambler and then a killer for the New Orleans mob during World War 2 who at one time admires from afar a yellow-haired girl. When decades later he travels to New York, he meets KJ again. They discover she was his “yellow-haired girl. “ KJ learns Pierre is a killer, but instead of drawing back in horror joins him. KJ and Buckles come together at the novels’ end when Buckles wreaks revenge on Big Bill.

Perry Glasser
　　has been awarded prizes for his work as in the novel, the novella, short fiction, memoir, and flash fiction. His work has twice been read on National Public Radio and has three times won P.E.N. Syndicated Fiction Awards. He has been a fellow at The Norman Mailer House, Ucross, Yaddo, and a scholar at Bread Loaf. His memoir, “Iowa Black Dirt,” about his being a single parent, was awarded First Prize by The Good Men Foundation, and appears in the Foundation’s anthology. His story, “I-95, Southbound” in 2009 received First Prize in the Gival Press Short Story Award contest. His memoir, “Excelsior” won an award from Memoir (and) in 2010. Perry has been a Contributing Editor of North American Review since 1994.
　　Perry began his career in 1969, standing before chalkboards in an inner city high school in Brooklyn, NY, a place that was everything you imagine “inner city” means—except that this public school was all girls. He stayed a decade before going for his MFA degree in Fiction Writing at the University of Arizona. He taught until his retirement and has written ever since.