A combat-tested Army Ranger returns home to investigate the shooting of his grandfather in this debut novel.Van Shaw is recovering from a recent combat injury when he receives a letter from his estranged grandfather Dono asking him to come home to Seattle. He doesn't know why his grandfather wants to see him, and the tension ratchets up when he arrives to find that Dono has just been shot by an intruder. During the police investigation, it becomes clear that Dono may not be an innocent victim because, as Hamilton tersely states, "Dono Shaw was a thief." The novel develops into a divided narrative split between the contemporary investigation into Dono's shooting and flashbacks to Van's experiences of being raised by a career criminal. Van was exposed to a felonious world from which he escaped by joining the Army after high school. Van discovers that Dono's last heist may have led to his shooting, and in the process, he's pulled back into his grandfather's criminal culture. To solve the mystery, Van must make use of the thief's skill set he learned from Dono and reconnect with his grandfather's old cronies in Seattle's underworld. Throw in a buried family secret, a love interest with an alluring woman and some missing diamonds, and you have the recipe for an exciting heir to the classic detective novel. A well-written modern rendition of the old-fashioned gritty noir.