Sometimes survival means pretending to be someone you're not.

New York. 1919.

​

In Death Avenue, writer J.I. Jung introduces readers to Eddie Rum. Rum is mixed race Chinese American passing for white during the Chinese Exclusion Act, a series of laws and court rulings that render his very existence illegal.

​

Eddie returns to New York from the Great War. He earns money by doing odd jobs but he survives by keeping his background a secret. When he is paid to clean a Chinese corpse off of Tenth Avenue, Eddie is compelled to discover the man’s name. But Eddie’s investigations leads him through the half-lit streets of a city where violence is a form of negotiation, gambling is a kind of insurance and lies quickly turn into facts.

​

Death Avenue is an historical noir for anyone who knows the weight of keeping secret. J.I. Jung revises the hardboiled tradition through the lens of history with a focus on Chinese Americans.

​

“A deeply intriguing novel, emotionally powerful and unburdened by cheap sentimentality.” – Kirkus Reviews