EHNDALE'S DEFEAT

A wealthy figure with sinister motives wishes to mentor a blue-collar worker in this debut novel.

Ehndale is an affluent but mysterious individual who taught his confidante Vikki the ways of business. She’s since gone on to become an accomplished investor on her own. Now, he wants to take on a new protégé and asks Vikki to find him a worthy candidate. But while she assumes Ehndale plans to teach his methods to someone else, his true objective, though initially vague, is to corrupt this person. During Vikki’s search, Thomas, a cop, pulls her Lamborghini over. He’s a potential candidate, but he also directs her to his blue-collar town with myriad other possibilities. Though Vikki tends to maintain her distance from people, she grows close to the locals, especially Thomas and Kate, who owns a diner. Ehndale ultimately chooses Thurmond, a Smithworks Foundry employee, and offers him a chance at financial success. But there’s a catch—a shocking stipulation that Thurmond is understandably reluctant to go along with. But saying no to Ehndale may not be an option, as the enigmatic individual wants to make certain Thurmond signs an agreement. Cassidy’s series opener moves leisurely, with much time devoted to Vikki’s search for probable candidates. Fortunately, these scenes thoroughly develop Vikki, who at first seems as indifferent as Ehndale but who proves empathetic. While most readers will likely decipher Ehndale’s specific plan prior to its eventual reveal, he remains a thoroughly disturbing character. Likewise, the book’s decidedly more intense latter half includes a suicide and more than one serious accident. The author often writes vividly, whether describing a town festival or Thurmond’s house during a Saturday barbecue. Nevertheless, the text is occasionally repetitive, such as Vikki’s alluding to “interesting” candidates three times in one short exchange or the narrative’s repeatedly calling a character “attractive.”

A slow-moving but enthralling tale of the sometimes-dark road to prosperity.