Monument Road

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. (Dec.)