The Heart of the City’s Podcast

Every city has a man who knows everything — and in this one, his name is RunTell.

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.

Because when RunTell says “Tings a gwaan,” trust him — something’s already happening.

The Heart of the City: Back Stories — RunTell “Tings A Gwaan.”

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.

The Heart of the City: Back Stories — Mike James “The Good Guy.”

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.

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”

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.