By Marissa Wells
Contributing Writer
“What Death Revealed: A Story of Virtue, Vice and Violence,” by Jonathan Lash, explores the divide between a city’s affluent capital and its neglected districts, eight years after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination sparked an uprising.
When District Attorney Jimmy McFarland uncovers corruption tied to a massive subway project, he joins forces with Larry Williams, a pragmatic Black police sergeant, to investigate. Together, they navigate a treacherous web of racism, corruption and murder, risking everything to challenge a deeply flawed system in pursuit of justice.
Lash who has authored numerous works of non-fiction, was inspired to write his first novel during his participation in a writer’s group that he joined for fun following retirement. The prompt was to write about a dark scene.
“For some reason, the vision of an early morning meeting with three vice squad cops 45 years before when I was a federal prosecutor flashed into my thoughts,” Lash said. “For the next several days, my thoughts were full of characters and events that came to me unexpectedly and completely unbidden.”
“What Death Revealed” allowed Lash the opportunity to consider the racism, anger, violence and hypocrisy he witnessed during the mid 1970s.
“It’s a very human story and I think that the narrative about Williams and McFarland trying to solve a series of crimes is also a narrative about what constitutes justice, where justice can be found, and whether the so-called criminal justice system can produce justice,” said the author.
“What Death Revealed” will interest readers who enjoy mysteries and those fascinated by what Lash describes as “the two-faced city that is our nation’s capital.” It may also prove eye-opening for some readers.
“I hope that the book is a really good read, populated by engaging characters and driven by a suspenseful plot,” Lash said. “The book also tells the story of a turbulent time in our nation’s capital when Congress finally stopped treating the city like a plantation, asking the question, how much justice was possible?”
Lash is currently working on book two that will follow the unlikely duo once more.
In addition to being an author, Lash is a former federal prosecutor, environmental litigator and college president. He is an avid fisherman and gardener who lives with his wife in western Massachusetts. For more information about the author and his work, visit jonathanlash.com.
“What Death Revealed: A Story of Virtue, Vice and Violence” is available for $23.95 on Amazon and at bookstores.
