Even while writing standalone thrillers like Absolute Power, David Baldacci has always managed to maintain a variety of character-driven series. His latest concerns the exploits of World War II veteran Aloysius Archer, fresh out of prison and using his toughness and street smarts to make his way in mid-20th-century America, hoping to avoid trouble even as it seems to seek him out.
On his way to a fresh start in California, Aloysius Archer meets aspiring actress Liberty Callahan and gives her a lift to Hollywood. Archer gets a job with legendary private eye Willie Dash, investigating a blackmail case involving a 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, descending into the rotten bones of a corrupt town that is selling itself as the promised land—but might actually be Archer's final resting place.