Welcome to a city where only the shadows breathe, where evil rises at the darkest edges of Los Angeles and poetry bleeds into murder. Meet Hatcher, a detective unknowingly destined to rescue the enigmatic Lady D, in a noir tale that unfolds through a poetic lens. This is no ordinary mystery, no ordinary collection of verses - it's a genuine fusion that creates something entirely new.

Enter Hatcher - poet, private eye, and the last hope for those caught in the crosshairs of a predator who kills with artistic precision. Armed with his trusted Glock named Betsy and verses that cut like razor wire, Hatcher stalks these mean streets where "guns are fired, lives are lost, but this is not the end."

When the mysterious Lady D glides into Hatcher's world trailing smoke and secrets, darkness follows close behind. But this ain't your grandfather's detective story, and these ain't your ordinary poems. Lawrence Jaffe has created something revolutionary - a fusion where hardboiled noir bleeds into verse, where every shadow holds a stanza, and every dark alley conceals a killer with poetry in his veins.

As #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben notes: "Like all of Larry Jaffe's poetry, the words are tools to tell the story. He offers hope out of the morass we call life. ONLY THE SHADOWS BREATHE is a unique and heady blend of poetry and detective fiction -- poetry noir if you will -- and I loved it."