[1][2] The book was released in hardback on April 14, 2004, through Broadway Books and details the sexual lives of African-American men who are on the "down low" or having sex with men while posing or identifying as heterosexual.

King also discusses his own personal experience with living on the "down low", as well as what he perceives as potential risks and dangers that some forms of the lifestyle can bring.

[5] Critical reception for On the Down Low was mostly positive,[6] with Booklist calling the book "a revealing look at an important social and health issue".

[7] Robert Burns, director of Brother to Brother, criticized the book, stating that it "perpetuates stereotypes" and that the down low culture was "more complex" and "doesn't just exist the way (King) explained it".

[8] In 2005 King's ex-wife Brenda Stone Browder published On the Up and Up, a non-fiction book that was described as both a "survival guide" and a biography of Browder's life before and after discovering King's activities.