Hope is the Last to Die

Con artist Jimmy Ford has coerced, stolen, and cheated. Now, in the aftermath of an unspeakable chain of events, Jimmy lands in Naples, Italy, to clear his conscience and dismiss the poisonous notion of inevitable misery from his life. He seeks the help from his cousin Nina, who resides in Naples, all while keeping the truth of what really brought him to Italy away from Nina for as long as possible.

But past lives are difficult to forget, and old tricks are even harder to dispose of as Jimmy accidentally witnesses a brutal act committed by the local mafia, the Camorra. Aiding him through his initial struggle of what to do next is Arianna, a woman who is a prisoner of a failing relationship and whose life ambition is to find happiness and beauty. It is only when Jimmy decides to use his con artist tactics on the Camorra do both he and Arianna try to discover a lost hope in their respective lives. What stands in their way of success are past mistakes, which pull along familiar friends and foes as Arianna and Nina inadvertently get tangled into Jimmy's greatest web of lies and deceit in order to not only save himself but his new love and old.

Hope Is the Last to Die shines a unique perspective on the Neapolitan saying "La speranza l'ultima a morire" as this crime thriller examines how one man attempts to battle fate while taken on a journey through the past, along the present, and into the future of a protagonist the literary world has not seen since Jay Gatsby and a conclusion that will leave readers utterly shocked.