Son of Nothingness - Russell Ona

Los Angeles, 1949. Attorney Andrew Martin, aka Andrés Martinez, is doing what he does best: surviving. His career is stable, he has his pick of women, and his beloved parrot, Emerson, keeps him company. True, he’s still lamenting his rejection from the military, still tormented by memories of his father, and then there’s his leg, which continually feels like an imposter. But he’s learned to live with all of that, too.

         Until the arrival of Penny, that is, a member of the Salvation Army, a stranger with a secret. Andrew’s meeting with the woman is brief, but what he learns from her upends him. Suddenly nothing makes sense. He desperately needs to get away, and it seems the gods are listening, for he’s soon offered a job in Sacramento. And not just any job. He’s been asked to help confirm a plot that the government is using ex-Nazis to spy on communists in the U.S. The timing seems perfect, and Andrew agrees. What he doesn’t know is that this quest will lead him straight into the heart of that from which he is trying to escape.

         Includes Reading Guide