Nobody by Creston Mapes
is introducing
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Creston Mapes is a talented storyteller whose first two novels, Dark Star and Full Tilt, made him a finalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year awards and the Inspirational Readers Choice awards. Creston has written for major corporations, colleges, and ministries, including Coca-Cola, TNT Sports, Oracle, Focus on the Family, and In Touch Ministries. Committed to his craft and his family, Creston makes his home in Georgia with his wife, Patty, and their four children.
He's been married for twenty-one years to the girl he first loved way back in fourth grade. They have three lovely girls and a boy in a very close-knit family, spending a lot of time together - watching old classic movies, going on outings, and taking in various school and community events and activities. Creston loves to go for morning walks with his dog, read, paint watercolors, meet friends for coffee and Bible study, watch hockey, take his wife on dates, and spend time in God's Word.
Creston Mapes' website: http://www.crestonmapes.com/
and cool blog: http://crestonmapes.blogspot.com/
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Not everything that happens in Vegas has to stay in Vegas!They said, “He’s a nobody.”
They were dead wrong.
When reporter Hudson Ambrose hears an early morning call on his police scanner about an injured person at a bus stop on Las Vegas Boulevard, he rushes to the scene to get the scoop.
His world is blown off its axis when he discovers a murdered homeless man with a bankbook in his pocket showing a balance of almost one million dollars. Should he wait for the police, knowing the case will get lost in reams of red tape, or swipe the bankbook and take the investigation–and perhaps a chunk of the money–into his own hands?
With sirens bearing down on the scene, Hudson makes an impulse decision that whisks him on a frantic search for answers, not only about the mysterious dead man, but about the lost soul lurking within himself.
Uncovering bizarre links between a plane crash, a Las Vegas pit boss, a dirty cop, and a widowed Atlanta business mogul, Hudson is forced to find out: who was Chester Holte, what was he doing on the streets, and why are his homeless friends convinced he was an angel in disguise?
“Nobody was absolutely riveting from the opening scene to the final page. With compelling characters, a plot that surprised me at every turn, and a subtle, yet profound message that moved me to tears, this book goes straight to the top of my highly recommended list.”
- Deborah Raney, author of Remember to Forget and Within This Circle
“A taut, entertaining novel of mystery, intrigue, and spiritual truth. Creston Mapes delivers a winner in Nobody.”
- James Scott Bell, bestselling author of No Legal Grounds and Try Dying
“Nobody had me fascinated from the first paragraph and kept the surprises coming to the very end. Somehow, as the pages flew by, it also managed to convey a beautiful picture of faith the size of a mustard seed. From now on I’ll read anything by Creston Mapes the instant it hits the shelves.”
- Athol Dickson, Christy Award—winning author of River Rising and The CureMy Review:
This was an excellent book! When reporter Hudson Ambrose goes to the scene of a dead body and gets bored waiting for the police to come, he decides to investigate the dead body himself. This decision sets off a series of events that will change everything! Hudson ends up discovering that this deceased homeless man has a lot more going--in fact, he's quite wealthy! Driven by his curiosity, Hudson investigates and discovers that the wealth is not the only thing surprising about this homeless man. Once he determines that the dead man is Chester and that Chester was more than he ever imagined a homeless man could be.
Hudson pieces together a picture of Chester that shows him to be kind, merciful, full of faith in God, generous, and wise. Through his own hardships and loss, Chester had become a man on a mission to bring others to God. Everywhere he went, his impact was powerful and life-changing.
Mapes does a beautiful job of depicting this by changing voices periodically through the book. While he mainly uses Hudson's voice, he switches to other characters to help them depict the enormity of Chester's influence in their lives. This makes the experiences with Chester even more real and striking.
During Hudson's look into Chester's life he meets Holly. Holly credits Chester with saving her life and leading her to Christ and she is determined to do the same for Hudson, especially as she developes feelings for him. Hudson and Holly team up against bad cops and others determined to keep them from discovering what really happened to Chester.
In the end, as the story twists and turns from Hudson's struggle to let go of past hurts and his current struggle to bring the truth to light, to Holly's childlike faith in spite of her troubled circumstances with an abusive relationship, to the flashbacks of Chester's pure, unselfish love of any of God's children, no matter their situation, and the poignant struggle of a pastor who has let pride overrun his faith, this book is amazing. I can't wait to read more from Creston Mapes!
A big sunny day rating for this book!
