Riot Recommendation

Riot Recommendation: Books About Bad Guys Gone Good

Amanda Nelson

Staff Writer

Amanda Nelson is an Executive Director of Book Riot. She lives in Richmond, VA.

This week’s Riot Recommendation is sponsored by Sins of Our Fathers by Shawn Lawrence Otto.

sins of our fathersFrom the screenwriter of the Oscar-nominated House of Sand and Fog, a fierce, elegant, page-turning novel about race, money, and the American Dream.

JW is a small-town banker. His specialty: teaching other bankers in towns near Indian reservations how to profit from casino deposits without exposing themselves to risk. His problem: having lost his son in a car accident a year ago, JW is depressed, his wife is leaving him, and he can’t stop gambling.

When he is caught embezzling funds to support his addiction, JW’s boss offers him a choice. He can either accept responsibility and go to prison, or use his talents to sabotage a competing Native American banker named Johnny Eagle. With the clock ticking, JW moves into a trailer on the reservation within sight of his prey. But as he befriends Eagle and his son, JW finds that his plan to reclaim his freedom will be more dangerous than he ever could have imagined.

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Everyone loves a story about a bad guy (or gal!) gettin’ what’s coming to him, where the good guy wins the day. But what about stories that are a little more complex- where the main character is allowed to be both the bad guy and the good guy? Where we get to read about a complicated so-and-so who gets a shot at redemption and takes it? So tell us: what’s your favorite book about a bad guy gone good? Let us know in the comments below, and check back next week for a reading list!