City in Sunlight

CITY IN SUNLIGHT

A Novel

By Henry LeBas

High comedy meets high stakes in this tale of a sunken ship, a sinking city, and a house divided against itself.

Talon Owen hails from the fading aristocracy of New Orleans, the successor to his father’s blue blood law firm, the prince who would rather not be king.

Beth Chopin is a talented attorney with a minority share in the firm, chafing under Talon’s shaky leadership, beleaguered by history and struggles in her personal life.

Billy Duval is the ace young associate, the son of a Cajun French boxing coach and a Vietnamese seamstress, striving for more in life and love, sustained by high ideals and witty banter with his ne’er do well friend Frank Angelo.

Tension quickly develops over a case involving a colonial-era shipwreck and billions in gold, pitting Talon and Beth against each other. Billy is caught in the middle. The plot turns in unexpected directions. Dark humor lights the way, engaging issues of class and race, wealth and power, and the unwanted legacies of history. When Talon descends like Hamlet into comical madness, he takes the case, the firm, and the house of Owen down with him. Beth and Billy face difficult decisions and an uncertain future, as a new regime rises from the ruins of the old.