Nash Falls, David Balducci, author; Christine Lakin, Larry Herron, Shiromi Arserio, Will Collyer, narrators.
In this novel, Walter Nash is a hard-working executive. He is married to Judith. They have one child, a 19-year-old daughter Maggie. She has taken a gap year before going to college, because she dreams of becoming an influencer. Walter works for a company called Sybaritic Investments. He has been estranged from his father since he was a teen, but when his father dies, he is surprised to learn that he and his daughter are mentioned in his will. She has been provided for substantially, and Walter is named the executor. He also receives a letter from his dad that asks for forgiveness. In the letter, his father tells him that his best friend Isaih Lord, whom he calls Shock, will always stand in for him, if he ever finds himself in trouble or in need of help. Walter is unaware of how much of a part Shock would soon come to play in his life.
On the day of his father’s funeral, Walter is also visited by an FBI Special Agent, Reed Morris. Morris explained that the FBI wanted Walter’s help to investigate the Temples, Barton and Everett (Rhett), who own Sybaritic Investments. The FBI believes that they are into money laundering and drug smuggling, and possibly other things. That fateful meeting with the FBI corners Walter, and it alters the lives of all the people in the Nash family and the Temple family in tragic ways to come.
This is a story of such devious behavior, of such sadistic cruelty and barbarism, that one might think it would turn off the readers, but instead, it invites them in and won’t let them leave. Nash, after being accused of heinous crimes, is forced by circumstances to change into a different person. He becomes Dillon Hope. It is essentially a tale like that of Clark Kent who emerges from the phone booth as Superman. Mild, calm and gentle, Nash becomes Hope, and Hope becomes a merciless killer. However, Hope kills only when he has to kill to avenge the awful death of his daughter and to protect his wife, although she was unfaithful and has placed his own life in grave danger.
When the book ends, Walter Nash as Dillon Hope, is in a private jet, possibly on his way to a date with his own death. He will, however, not die alone. He will take those responsible with him, if it is at all possible. My money is on Hope to do the right thing. He will rescue the damsel in distress, he will avenge his daughter’s murder, and perhaps, he will help rehabilitate his wife. He, however, will never be able to return to what he once was, an Eagle Scout.
This book will introduce you to naïve law enforcement officers who are just looking to speedily close a case, to an honorable FBI investigator who feels genuine loyalty to his investigation and feels responsibility for its failure to protect Nash’s family, to irrational killers for hire who have no moral compass at all, who create the most diabolical ways to control and/or eliminate perceived enemies for the powerful kingpin of this violent, no-holds barred criminal organization, to the arrogant rich who believe they can do and get away with anything, and to hero figures who sometimes appear more like villains, but who have the right values that they try to maintain, even when society and life intervenes to make it almost impossible.
Ladies and gentleman, this book is a winner. Apart from a few scenes in which the reader might have to raise an eyebrow in wonder because they might not be quite believable, upon second thought, the same reader will soon lower the eyebrow, because every bizarre scene just might be possible in today’s chaotic world. This book may prove to be the first in a flawless new series. I hope it goes on beyond Hope Rises, the sequel coming, because if it is as good as this first book, I will be hooked on the series, and so will many others. Dillon Hope will be a keeper, hopefully to reappear in many future books.
Every moral and ethical value will be challenged in order to achieve justice, and the reader will wonder if that is ever even possible? To reveal anything particular about this story, I believe would provide too much advance information and will ruin it for the reader. My advice is to simply get a copy of this book immediately, and enjoy the treacherous ride to its first conclusion, then eagerly await the sequel, like me.