Nobody
Creston Mapes
Multnomah, Sep 2007, $12.99
ISBN: 9781590526248

He heard the report of a dead homeless person sitting at a Las Vegas Boulevard bus stop on the police scanner so Review Journal reporter Hudson Ambrose drives over to see if there is a story although he assumes another "Nobody" was probably mugged over wine. No cops are in sight as he sits down next to the deceased, a murder victim, and though he knows better checks the pockets for identification. To his astonishment he finds a Wells Fargo bankbook with a balance of $689, 800 and a blood stained safety deposit box key; Hudson takes both and leaves the scene.

That morning he goes to the bank and uses the key to open the box. Inside he finds plenty of money, two rings, stock, and articles on Chester Holte and his late wife who died in a tragic accident. Hudson now knows who the victim is. When he follows up on the police action, he finds no homicide reported or for that matter a corpse found; the bus stop has no blood stains. When someone breaks into his house, Hudson realizes that probably the killer knows what he did. As he investigates why Chester worked the streets, he meets Holly Queens of the Downtown Outreach Clinic, who thought Hudson was god sent. Hudson's inquiry angers violent dirty cops and casino employees while the homeless is outraged that their angel was murdered and the police do nothing because he was a NOBODY.

The premise behind this gritty dark yet inspirational look at the other side of Vegas is that there is room for everyone in God's tent so that there needs to be room for everyone in each person's soul. Creston Mapes never preaches as he tells the tale of how Chester became the homeless' guardian angel through cynical Hudson's investigation into the man's life. Readers will appreciate this engrossing gloomy yet moving investigative thriller as even a NOBODY is somebody to someone.

Harriet Klausner