Overview

""A riveting mystery romp...the ultimate dive into the 1970s underground scene."" -Michael Musto, Village Voice It's New York's hellacious summer of '77. Rampant crime, a city-wide blackout and the Son of Sam murders have knocked Gotham on its ass. When Lucien Lowe, a young poet on the downtown scene, is found dead in his East Village tenement with a heroin needle in his arm, overworked cops rule it an accidental overdose. But Ike's wealthy girlfriend Julie Baroda suspects murder and urges Ike's best friend, the artist and punk rock fashion designer Finn Burdon, to investigate. Despite Finn's own issues with heroin, he shows an uncanny talent for detective work. As Julie, Finn and police detective Benny Cherin dig deeper, their investigation ultimately encompasses some of the most famous names of 1970s New York, including William S. Burroughs, Jean-Michel Basquiat, CBGB owner Hilly Kristal, Allen Ginsberg, Lou Reed, Truman Capote, Roy Cohn, Fat Tony Salerno, Holly Woodlawn, Steve Rubell, Andrew Crispo, Bella Abzug, Leonard Cohen and many others. In the process, they begin to glimpse the outlines of a violent plot to sabotage the opening night of Hilly Kristal's highly anticipated new venue, The CBGB 2nd Avenue Theater, when Patti Smith is playing and it's packed with thousands. Set during the glory days of New York's downtown music, art, literary and fashion scenes, The CBGB Conspiracy mixes fiction with a host of real events and historical figures. Behind them all looms a character just as visceral and ultimately doomed: the crumbling New York of 1977.

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Reviews

""Fusing a variety of semi-documentary elements to create the ultimate dive into the 1970s underground scene, writer/activist/producer Gabriel Rotello brilliantly mixes real events, iconic figures and a healthy dash of fiction for a riveting mystery romp, after which you may want to be sedated."" -Michael Musto, Village Voice

Author Information

Gabriel Rotello is an Emmy-nominated and GLAAD Award-winning writer, director, producer, journalist and musician. His nonfiction book, Sexual Ecology: AIDS and the Destiny of Gay Men, was published by Dutton in 1997. It was favorably reviewed in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The LA Times and received starred reviews in Kirkus and Publisher's Weekly. He also co-authored Mel Cheren's memoir of the disco era, My Life and the Paradise Garage, which Billboard called ""captivating and intriguing."" He founded OutWeek Magazine in 1989 and served as its editor-in-chief. In 1992 he became the first openly gay op-ed columnist for a major American newspaper, New York Newsday, and was also a long-time columnist for The Advocate. He has contributed to The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Village Voice, The Nation, The New Scientist and many other publications. Since 1999 he has written, directed and produced dozens of television documentaries for networks such as HBO, Netflix, Showtime, the History Channel, Cinemax, National Geographic, AMC, Discovery, Bravo and Comedy Central.

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