The New Lots apartment complex, located in one of Brooklyn's most dangerous neighborhoods, has become a war zone. A Hasidic realty group called Arbor Realty has purchased the complex from the city for little money, as it's infested with the worst kinds of vermin: crack gangs, prostitutes, and squatters. But Arbor Realty has the solution: MS-2, or Muslim Security-2, run by the stony Rachman Abdul X. On the face of it, MS-2 is a legitimate security company, but its backbone is made of cold, hard steel. The "gun-men," hardened hit men straight from Muslim prison gangs, patrol the shadows of New Lots, and seek retribution from the wicked. They are on a holy mission to eradicate the crack gang running New Lots—a gang headed by Archie Reynolds, a smart yet incredibly vicious killer.

Normally, the NYPD would stand back and lets the two gangs kill each other off. But the body count is getting too high, too fast. And there's a bigger hitch: Justine Banks, the Police Commissioner's daughter, has just opened a shelter for women and children directly in the line of fire. When she is injured in a battle between the crack gang and MS-2, all hell breaks loose.

Enter Loyd Shaw, Detective First Grade, NYPD. With eighteen months to go before retirement, Shaw is about to be booted off the force, and he doesn't much give a damn. He is the smartest detective they have, but he's been in one too many shootouts with black suspects. He's seeing the police shrink, and she thinks he's ready to explode. The Commissioner demands that the Chief of Detectives end the New Lots war. The Chief needs someone who can get the job done, or who can be used as a scapegoat, or both. Shaw is given two choices: do this job and all is forgiven, or be labeled a racist, a rogue cop, stripped of his pension and sure never to work in law enforcement again.

Shaw takes the job.

He's told to build his team, but only from a select group. Like Shaw, each of the group's members has a noose around his neck, just waiting for the door to drop beneath his feet. They are a "Dirty Half-Dozen," and they are on a holy mission of their own: to save their careers and stop the killing at New Lots. In just that order. 

"NEW LOTS is prime-time crime fiction. The action starts fast, roving past drug-ravaged streets, deadly dealers, killers hunting their next target, jamming a zoom lens on a world at whose feet many have suffered. Clarkson writes with a fierce reality, pages filled with characters tabloid-fresh, corner dialogue vibrating with the fear which populates the hard zones of the city.

"NEW LOTS is a roller-coaster thrill ride, from the opening rift down to a pulse-shredder of a climax. As with many of the characters he has created, Clarkson has bagged himself a hit. NEW LOTS is the proof."—Lorenzo Carcaterra, NEW YORK TIMES best-selling author of SLEEPERS and APACHES

"I enjoyed [NEW LOTS] immensely. Mr. Clarkson is not only a very talented writer, but he has a great feel for the urban jungle. He puts it all together, from the inner workings of the NYPD to the violence of the streets and the motivation of the vigilantes trying to clean up the public housing development. The novel is gritty, street wise and extremely interesting reading."—Hugh Holton, author of CHICAGO BLUES

"Thrillingly complex...with steel-edged dialogue, and intensively researched...a helluva shoot-'em-up...Hard-driving realism."—KIRKUS REVIEWS

"...the charming love story between black Burton and white Shaw—and the violent battles for control of New Lots—will satisfy readers looking for a fast...cop thriller with sympathetic leads."—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (August 17, 1998)

"The exciting story of Loyd Shaw...reads like the script for a Die Hard movie. Stories like this live or die with their characters, and Clarkson has created an assortment of vibrant, realistic players...."—BOOKLIST (September 1, 1998)

"NEW LOTS by John Clarkson is a top-notch, adrenaline-charged, action-packed thriller, ideal for those who are bored with slow-paced cerebral novels. . . .Gritty, explosive. . . . Carefully orchestrated. . . . [Clarkson] solidifies his reputation with a bleak, well-researched, utterly realistic saga of tough life and death on the urban streets."—Ray Walsh, owner of THE CURIOUS BOOKSHOP, in the LANSING STATE JOURNAL