Aloysius Archer, the straight-talking World War II veteran fresh out of prison, returns in this riveting #1 New York Times bestselling thriller from David Baldacci.
The
1950s are on the horizon, and Archer is in dire need of a fresh start
after a nearly fatal detour in Poca City. So Archer hops on a bus and
begins the long journey out west to California, where rumor has it there
is money to be made if you’re hard-working, lucky, criminal—or all
three.
Along the way, Archer stops in Reno, where a stroke of
fortune delivers him a wad of cash and an eye-popping blood-red 1939
Delahaye convertible—plus a companion for the final leg of the journey,
an aspiring actress named Liberty Callahan who is planning to try her
luck in Hollywood. But when the two arrive in Bay Town, California,
Archer quickly discovers that the hordes of people who flocked there
seeking fame and fortune landed in a false paradise that instead caters
to their worst addictions and fears.
Archer’s first stop is a
P.I. office where he is hoping to apprentice with a legendary private
eye and former FBI agent named Willie Dash. He lands the job, and
immediately finds himself in the thick of a potential scandal: a
blackmail case involving a wealthy well-connected politician running for
mayor that soon spins into something even more sinister. As bodies
begin falling, Archer and Dash must infiltrate the world of brothels,
gambling dens, drug operations, and long-hidden secrets, descending into
the rotten bones of a corrupt town that is selling itself as the
promised land—but might actually be the road to perdition, and Archer’s
final resting place.
