Darktown, published in 2016, is the fourth novel by American author Thomas Mullen. Its sequel, Lightning Men, was published in September 2017. This novel, based in 1948 Atlanta, blends elements of historical fiction and crime fiction to tell the story of Lucius Boggs and Tommy Smith, fictional characters who serve as two of Atlanta's first eight African-American police officers. The pair is tasked with investigating the murder of a young African-American woman and the injustices surrounding her murder, despite the many obstacles and restrictions placed upon them. Author's background Thomas Mullen lived in several cities before moving to Decatur, Georgia. Mullen likes how Decatur has a "real community of writers and readers." The city also "felt like a comfortable place for me to be". Mullen was inspired to write Darktown after reading Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn: A Saga of Race and Family by Gary Pomerantz. He finished his first draft after Michael Brown was shot. parallels between past and present "issues of race and police violence" drove Mullen to continue Darktown so he can remind readers "that nothing that is happening today is completely without precedent". Historical Context Atlanta experienced tremendous growth in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The city prospered from new businesses and new employees. However, the city became divided from "social, political, and racial tensions". Thus, city officials segregated Atlanta into two districts: "Great White Way" for white Atlantans and "Sweet Auburn" for African-American Atlantans. The division allowed Atlantans to live separately without racial mixing. Sweet Auburn allowed African-Americans to "acquire property and live comfortably in modest to wealthy homes". Although Sweet Auburn was home to upper-class African-Americans, sections of Atlanta still had shanties for poor African-Americans. White people used derogatory slang names for these impoverished sections: Darktown and Shermantown. With the city's growing population, the Atlanta Police Department strove for "greater efficiency" by employing more policemen and establishing the Central Headquarters Building. The African-American communities advocated for their own officers. In 1948, Mayor William B. Hartfield negotiated with African-American leaders to hire eight African-American police officers in return for their votes. However, the eight police officers had "many restrictions": they only patrolled African-American neighborhoods, could not arrest white people, and while they were given guns, it was understood that they could not fire the guns. The African-American police officers also had different headquarters, a "basement of the local 'colored' YMCA". The mayor and police