Review – Nobody

Creston Mapes’ Nobody scores a homerun for the originality of plot, unique characters, and Hudson Ambrose’s vivid faith journey. In the first exquisite chapter Mapes grips the reader, pulls them into the book, and doesn’t release them until the final page. AND once he lets you go, he leaves you with questions about your own life that keeps you thinking long after the book is closed.

In Nobody, Hudson Ambrose beat report for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, in search of a blockbuster story, races to a potential shooting he’s heard about on the scanner. When he arrives, Hud finds the homeless Chester Holte slumped on a city bench, his lifeblood draining into the very streets he’s inhabited. The police are slow to respond allowing Hud the time he needs to wrestle with proper protocol and throw it to the wind-delving into Chester’s pockets and finding a key along with a bank book touting a $689,800 balance.

It’s at this pivotal moment when you realize Hud’s struggle is your own, one you have fought many times-sometimes winning, sometimes losing-but yours nonetheless and it is the moment that Mapes dares you turn away. Of course you can’t, you’re hooked, and you have to read on.

Through creative and exciting plot twists we follow Hud on his journey to solve the mystery of why wealthy Chester Holte is homeless. On this journey Mapes explores the underbelly of Las Vegas’ homeless population, bringing us a new understanding of the homeless situation and opening our eyes to God’s love for everyone, no matter their situation.

If this isn’t enough, Mapes also gives us Holly, Hud’s love interest, who serves as an example of someone who’s been through tough times and come out the other side with an enduring faith that compels her to share Jesus’ love with others. She’d truly an example for all of us.