The Heart of the City’s Podcast

The Heart of the City: Back Stories — RunTell “Tings A Gwaan”
Every city has a man who knows everything — and in this one, his name is RunTell.No gun. No badge. Just dreadlocks, dark shades, and an ear to every street corner.
In Tings A Gwaan, we uncover how a quiet hustler from Spanish Town became Brooklyn’s most connected man — the whisper between cops and kingpins.From Kingston dancehalls to Flatbush backrooms, RunTell moves through the city like a ghost, trading secrets instead of bullets.When he crosses paths with Detective Mike James, Pretty Lou Martinez, and Malcolm James, he becomes the thread that ties every side of the city together.
Because when RunTell says “Tings a gwaan,” trust him — something’s already happening.
The Heart of the City: Back Stories — RunTell “Tings A Gwaan.”He hears it all… and tells just enough.

The Heart of the City: Back Stories — Mike James “The Good Guy”
Before he was a detective… before the badge defined him… Mike James was just a kid trying to live up to his father’s shadow.
In The Good Guy, we follow the rise of a man who believes integrity still matters — even in a city built on compromise. Raised by a cop and standing opposite his hustler twin, Malcolm, Mike carries the James legacy into law enforcement with purpose, charm, and a weakness for the women who call him “LL Big Mike” — Ladies Love Big Mike.
Partnered with the stylish and smooth-talking Luis “Pretty Lou” Martinez, Mike learns that being a good man in a dirty city means walking a line that gets thinner every day.
Duty. Loyalty. Temptation.For Mike James, doing the right thing isn’t about staying clean — it’s about surviving with your soul intact.
The Heart of the City: Back Stories — Mike James “The Good Guy.”Every good man has a story… and a price.

Before the empire. Before the badge. Before the war between brothers — there was blood.
Bloodlines dives into the origins of Malcolm James, the man who turned family legacy into an empire.Raised between two worlds — a father in blue and a grandfather in the streets — Malcolm learned early that power comes with a price. While his twin brother Mike followed their father’s path into law enforcement, Malcolm chased the shadow of a legend named Big Lou James… and found his destiny in the cracks of the same city they both called home.
This is where loyalty meets ambition, and where the line between right and wrong disappears entirely.
The Heart of the City: Back Stories — Malcolm James “Bloodlines”Every empire has a beginning.

The city is on edge. Malcolm James’ empire is cracking under federal heat, and new players like Crackmatic are seizing the streets of the Bronx. Detectives Mike “LL Big Mike” James and Luis “Pretty Lou” Martinez are trapped between corruption, loyalty, and love—while Queen Glam maneuvers through chaos with dangerous ambition. In this third installment, power shifts, alliances break, and every move could tip the balance of the empire forever.

The streets of New York grow darker as the Oak Street Goons push from Yonkers into the Bronx, forcing Malcolm James into dangerous alliances. Nikki’s loyalty to him crumbles under the Cartel’s grip, while MayBac and the ruthless Aqueduct Hittas unleash chaos across the boroughs. Detectives Mike and Pretty Lou face mounting pressure from Internal Affairs, even as Lou’s affair threatens to expose him. And in the shadows, undercover agent Queenie Glam walks the razor’s edge between duty and desire. Alliances shift, betrayal cuts deep, and the Bronx becomes the battleground for control of the city.

The Heart of the City is the first installment in a gripping detective thriller series by Milton Johnson and Cole Manning. Set in New York City, it follows detectives Mike “LL Big Mike” James and Luis “Pretty Lou” Martinez as they navigate crime, corruption, and betrayal—while Mike’s twin brother, Malcolm James, rises as a powerful criminal kingpin. This is the story that launches a saga of loyalty, secrets, and survival in the city that never sleeps.