Path of Affliction by Nick Campanella is a crime thriller with an intelligently written plot and conflict that enriches the other elements of the story. Four friends are out in the woods, deer hunting, when they hear gunshots. Curious, they search the area to find where the gunshots came from. They then stumble on a gory site of a massacre with bags of drugs and cash left behind. Instead of calling the police, Frankie Buccetti and his friends decide to keep the money and cover their tracks. What follows is a nightmare involving a drug cartel with a reputation for violence and an investigation that features corrupt cops and other dangerous characters. Frankie hoped to just fade away, but when an old friend, Ivan Mortenson, with a particular interest in getting his share of the money, is involved, things become even more complicated.

For a debut novel, Path to Affliction is stellar, a thriller that deftly discusses the theme of choice and consequence and keeps readers absorbed as they follow the unpredictable plot. Nick Campanella’s characters are rock-solid, elaborately developed, and each character is rooted in a background that is interesting. The conflict is strong as readers encounter an average man who digs trenches but stumbles on a fortune that can end his life. His fight to survive is central in the story, and the author weaves twists and surprises that I never saw coming. The author’s storytelling skills excel in his writing, the prose is crisp and enticing, and the characters are as real as they can get.

Frankie Buccetti isn’t supposed to be there. He would rather dig trenches than go deer hunting, but his friends talked him into it. In pretty much any work of fiction, what could go wrong with a character making an honest living and then deciding to get out of his comfort zone to try something new? Nick Campanella's Path of Affliction clearly rationalizes this idea when Buccetti and his pals hear gunshots that didn’t come out of their barrels. As a fusillade of semi-automatic fire breaks the silence, instinct dictates the four-man hunting party flee, but something inside Buccetti stirs him to convince his friends to help him investigate—because it is the right thing to do. What they find are warm dead bodies riddled with bullets and three duffel bags filled with cash and dope. Greed kicks in as they decide to keep the money and cover their tracks. What they didn’t know is that the money belongs to a ruthless drug cartel, and things will only get worse when the FBI and some crooked cops enter the scene to investigate. This mess will show Buccetti the Judas among his friends.

You can be pretty sure that the protagonist is going to learn a hard lesson on what people will do to get money. It certainly puts a different perspective on money being the root of all evil. They could have called 911 upon hearing the gunshots, but no. Buccetti’s resolve to do the right thing ironically serves as the match that ignited the whole ruckus. Campanella’s text is not complex in intent or execution. As a crime writer, his work is animated by the voices of the involved rogues intensifying the conflict as they operate within their self-interest. But it is Buccetti’s voice that establishes continuity under Campanella’s uncompromising writing. Path of Affliction develops many key criminal perspectives so that explicit language and violence become essential in driving content. This sets the bar for what crime fiction should be.

Very entertaining! I found myself up all night turning the pages to see what was going to happen next. The characters and their dialogue was original and surprisingly familiar. An easy to read book with some unexpected twists and turns. Good read.