Every good person wants to do the right thing. But how do you define the "right thing?" Is it what makes your life better? Or what makes someone else's life better?

This is the struggle that most of the characters in Zenith Rising are facing. Some, like Rob Patterson, a bloated attorney full of hatred and spite, just knows that he feels better when everyone around him is miserable. Others, like Cindy Herringbone, born with a silver spoon, know that money buys them happiness.

But Narrows Burton, the main character of the novel, is direly conflicted. His ex-wife, Cindy Herringbone, exposed him to the finest things that money could buy. His memberships at the Zenith Country Club and Zenith Athletic Club have earned him "friendships" with the most wealthy and influential people in town. But Narrows knows in his heart that what these people call happiness does not mesh with his definition of the "right thing".

A drive through the decaying and crumbling neighborhoods of Zenith's inner city causes him to ask "This is America?" Narrows decides he wants to improve the lives of the most undervalued citizens of Zenith. His attempts in that direction are met with patronizing contempt and scorn by Cindy and the rest of Zenith's elite. That, and a personal vendetta against him by the powerful and connected Rob Patterson, are making a shambles of his life.

Zenith Rising provides a commentary on the problems faced by American cities struggling to redefine themselves in the 21st Century. The plight of inner city families and children is explored in a sensitive and thoughtful manner. Zenith Rising does not sugar coat the situation; the outlook, while not completely hopeless, is startling bleak for even the most well meaning of these urban victims. Every step forward seems to be followed by two steps back.

But Zenith Rising is not only a social commentary, it is a very personal story of personal conflict, romance, struggle, triumph and failure. The last 100 pages of the novel are exciting, intriguing and engrossing. I found myself rooting hard for Narrows and others trying to rise above the greed and corruption that surround and tempt them on a daily basis. For these characters, doing the right thing is not the course of least resistance.

With a re-edit to eliminate a surprisingly large number of typos, and some polishing of the first half of the book to reduce some confusion in character development, I would consider this to be one of the finest pieces of modern literature I've ever read. Zenith Rising evokes thoughts of the great 20th Century American novelists like Sinclair Lewis and Ayn Rand, combining intelligent and compelling personal stories with thinly veiled commentary on today's social, economic and political climate. The dialog, vocabulary and cadence of the novel are first-rate. The characters are real, the story is riveting and the subplots are gripping.

Bravo on this fine first work. I can't wait for the next!