Mr. Moonlight

In this fast-paced mystery in the style of Elmore Leonard, Walter Mosley, and Lee Child, the hero isn't a cop, but a reformed gangster hiding out as a middle school teacher in Los Angeles. After his favorite student, a 14-year-old African American girl, is taken hostage, "Mr. Moonlight" uses his extrajudicial skills to find her, one step ahead of the cops, the Feds, and, worst of all, his family.