Monument Road

September 15, 2017
The creator of Joe Kozmarski and Daniel Turner (Black Hammock, 2016, etc.) kicks off a new series that releases a convicted killer from a Florida prison just in time to entangle him in a fresh bouquet of homicides.Franklin "Franky" Dast spent three years on death row and another five in Supermax. But that's nowhere near enough punishment to suit Bill Higby, the homicide detective who arrested him for the rape and murder of Duane Bronson, 15, and his 13-year-old brother, Steven, all those years ago. Higby, who celebrates Franky's release by getting in his face, won't be satisfied until he's dead. And despite the best efforts of Hank Cury and Jane Foley of the Justice Now Initiative, who worked ceaselessly with Franky to uncover the lost evidence that finally cast reasonable doubt on his conviction, it's hard to imagine that Higby won't get his wish. True, Hank and Jane have offered Franky a job doing God's own work by helping JNI dig up evidence or elicit statements that will help exonerate other condemned criminals. But Franky, who's learned more about survival skills than respecting other people's boundaries, recklessly pushes the envelope with witnesses, cops, and even Eric Skooner, the prosecutor who rode into a chief appellate judge's chambers on the backs of lowlifes like Franky and still has his eye on more scalps. The result is a grinding series of confrontations and, inevitably, more murder, including one victim Franky kills himself. Too bad Higby won't be able to enjoy his old quarry's downfall: the very first new fatality, Judge Skooner's son Joshua, has been shot eight times by none other than Higby himself--a twist that sends Franky improbably scrambling for evidence that will exonerate his nemesis. Like your noir pitch-black? So does Wiley, whose leading question here seems to be how his hero can possibly survive, spiritually, mentally, or even physically, to anchor the promised series.

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October 2, 2017
This engrossing series launch from Wiley (Black Hammock Island) set in Jacksonville, Fla., introduces Franky Dast, who was convicted and sentenced to death row at the age of 18 for the rape and murder of two adolescent boys. Eight years later, the verdict is overturned thanks to Dast’s tireless petitioning and to the relationship he’s established with the Justice Now Initiative, a shoestring operation that specializes in cases of wrongful imprisonment. The JNI offers him a job doing research and sets him up with a reintegration therapist. But being free from prison doesn’t mean being free from the past. When the police detective who arrested and coerced a confession from him is accused of shooting the son of a prominent judge, Dast finds himself—after the initial rush of schadenfreude passes—believing that the cop might indeed be innocent. He delves deeper and begins to see a pattern that stretches back decades and involves other deaths. Readers will want to see more of the complex Dast, who’s both fragile and strong, cynical and naïve. Agent: Philip Spitzer, Philip G. Spitzer Literary Agency.