Moonlit Massacre

"Moonlit Massacre is a powerful, deeply-imagined meditation on violence, grief, race, and home. James Cooper has written a novel as engaging as it is thoughtful." – Lou Berney, Edgar Award-winning author of November Road

In the summer of 1978, six employees of a Sirloin Stockade buffet restaurant found themselves forced into a walk-in freezer during a robbery, then executed, leaving no witnesses. The shocking events and resulting nine-month, nationwide manhunt left adeep scar in the psyche of Oklahoma City residents and served as inspiration for a new novel coming this October by English Professor and OKC City Councilor James Cooper. 

Rather than focus on the assailants, Cooper explores a young city rocked by tragedy and presents a diverse Oklahoma landscape overlooked by national news, utilizing elements of true crime, literary horror, and historical fiction to focus on the inner lives of Oklahomans from marginalized backgrounds. Moonlit Massacre, Cooper's debut novel, draws inspiration from one of Oklahoma's most notorious crimes as well as other unsolved murders in the same time frame to knit together a story of a community gripped with fear.