One Good Deed by David Baldacci
It’s 1949. Aloysius Archer, a war veteran, is sent to Poca City on parole after being released from Carderock Prison. He is given a short list of dos and a much longer list of don’ts, including the following: do report regularly to his parole officer, don’t go to bars, definitely don’t drink alcohol, do get a job, and never associate with loose women.
The small hamlet swiftly turns out to be more challenging and hazardous than Archer’s years spent fighting or in prison. In the course of one night, he stumbles onto a small tavern where he is hired for what appears to be a straightforward task: to collect a debt owing to Hank Pittleman, a wealthy local businessman.
Archer quickly learns that it won’t be simple to have the debt paid back. Hank’s cunning mistress has her own aspirations for Archer, and both Hank and Archer’s strict parole officer, Miss Crabtree, are keeping a close eye on him. The indebted man has a bitter hatred for Hank and refuses to pay.
Archer becomes aware that the crime might send him back to prison if he doesn’t utilize every tool at his disposal to find the real perpetrator when a murder occurs right in front of him, raising police suspicions against the ex-convict.
One Good Deed by David Baldacci
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Baldacci doesn’t follow convention, but he still creates a darn terrific story. He’ll pen a heartfelt family drama one year, political or FBI-based thrillers the next, and right now, a riveting noir crime novel set in the 1940s after World War II. Following a WWII combat veteran who has recently been released from prison and been offered a job to collect a debt, One Good Deed shows how quickly he becomes involved in a small-town murder. Although this novel has lovely prose and an interesting plot, the anti-hero protagonist really makes it stand out.
Aloysius Archer, the protagonist of this stand-alone book by Baldacci, is released from jail (for a crime he did not commit) and travels to Poca City to start his probation. The story takes place in the late 1940s.
Archer is portrayed as one of those people who just can’t seem to get a break. He encounters a lot of people, and it seems like almost all of them have some sort of chronic issue that works against them. He is usually the obvious murderer when someone is killed. When a trial reaches its conclusion, the only person who still believes in him turns out to be a police officer who gets sick and must miss work…
