Released January, 2022

When reputed criminal, Theo Jackson, proposes a significant donation to the city for a new youth center, the mayor sends police officer, Denton Jones to negotiate the terms. Theo and Denton were once friends from the same Cincinnati tenement before taking different career paths.  Denton’s efforts on behalf of the city inexplicably make him a target for a corrupt city official, but a dishonest bureaucrat is the least of the city’s problems. Theo uncovers evidence that an international criminal organization has set up shop in the city to facilitate human trafficking. Repulsed by such a crime, Theo enlists an unlikely coalition of clergy, local and federal law enforcement, and criminals to try to stop it.

Readers travel to the uncomfortable gray areas of life where the wrong thing sometimes seems a better choice than the right thing; where a little bad turns into almost good; and where dark white and light black become the same color.

Accolades

Monte

If I remember correctly, The Other Side of Good was promoted as being about human trafficking. It began with this theme, and really didn’t return to it until perhaps halfway through. I decided to read it because of my interest in this subject. But, I was very happy with the book nonetheless. The only real “fault” with the novel is that things were too well wrapped up at the end. In real life, that is very improbable. But, I loved the novel. The characters were interesting, and even many of the “bad guys” had good, human aspects to them. Moral ambiguity tends to make novels much more interesting to me. The actions of the main characters were very plausible and understandable. I ended up caring about multiple characters. None of the action scenes seemed overblown. And, I’m really happy to say that I found no editing errors. So, don’t read it for the human trafficking aspect. Rather, read it for the well-developed plot and characters. It is a fun, thought-provoking novel.  

Monte - Review left on Goodreads

nhoffman0073

If I could give this book 10 stars I would!!! It was one of the most well-written books I’ve read in a while! The book was definitely a page turner! I think my favorite part was the way the author created and wrote about the characters, and the way their histories and current situations wove together throughout the story.

nhoffman0073 - Review left on Booksirens

Katelyn

I did enjoy this book quite a bit. It pulled strong emotions for the situations it revolves around but was well written and had a good ending (in my opinion). I felt like it started pretty well and hooked me in but the middle fell a little flat but hooked me right back in towards the end! I feel like the story could have been shorter, more direct and earned 5 stars from me as well as a different twist to the end. Overall, it was a good book and I do recommend it! I received this as an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Katelyn - Review left on Goodreads

David

     This book is excellent for my tastes. I was engrossed from the beginning and did not let up until the end. The story itself was easy to predict, but was told is such a way that it did not bother me in the least. It centers around two guys that grew up in a neighborhood. One event changed their lives, one turning the one side of the law the other chose the opposite. They both were successful in their lives and had no contact for 30 years. Then they started collaborating on a case that was reprehensible to them both. I recommend this to anyone that likes police stories and follow the actions that they need to take to build a case.

David - Review left on Goodreads

Sondra Johnson

E.A. Coe has a way with words and reading his latest book The Other Side of Good was exciting. It’s a real page-turning, “don’t want to put it down” kind of story that kept me trying to figure out exactly what surprise was going to pop up next!

Sondra Johnson - Author of "Even Now"