Book excerpt: A West Virginia PI is out to avenge his son’s murder in this debut crime novel. For the past seven years, Nick Malick has been haunted by the violent death of his young son. In his gut, Malick knows who did it. But the psychopath is in prison for another crime, scheduled to be released in a year. To exact his revenge, all Malick has to do is wait . . . and survive. Having lost his marriage and career in the wake of the tragedy, Malick scrapes by as a private investigator in the blue-collar town of Cain City, West Virginia. His latest case tasks him with finding a young woman gone missing. Seems simple enough. But when his investigation exposes a link between a corrupt police force and a powerful drug cartel, Malick finds himself at the center of an explosive criminal conspiracy. Turns out, when there’s no one to trust and a whole lot of people want you dead, survival and revenge aren’t so easy. “Quick and nimble, peopled with unforgettable characters, Cash City provides everything I hope to find in a hard-boiled crime novel.” —A.F. Carter, author of The Hostage