Walt Nash was a successful executive at Sybaritic Investments when he was approached by FBI Special Agent Reed Morris. (Read the review.) Nash’s boss, Barton Temple, and his son, Rhett, were working with a Chinese drug organization headed by Victoria Steers, and Morris wants Nash to be a mole and gather evidence. 

There’s a leak somewhere in the FBI, and when Steers learns about Nash, she comes up with a plan that accuses him of unspeakable acts, alienating his family and friends. Forced to flee for his life, Nash works with one of his father’s friends, Isaiah York, aka Shock, to hide out and completely change his appearance. Now as Dillon Hope, Nash has put on muscle, shaved his head, covered his body with tattoos and become a killing machine, all to get back at Steers, the woman he blames for upended his life and killing his daughter. 

To get close to Steers, Hope signs on as a bodyguard for his former boss, Rhett, who doesn’t recognize Nash as his former employee. Nash Falls ends, and Hope Rises begins, with Dillon and Rhett on a plane to Hong Kong to meet Steers. Although Hope knows he’s placing himself in grave danger, he also knows this might be his only chance to get near enough to Steers to kill her.

Steers turns out to be a formidable opponent, killing one of her assistants with Nash’s gun. While her men take out the body, Steers tells Nash and Temple that she has an assignment for them: to break into a prison near the Chinese border and rescue her mother. If they refuse, Steers will turn them over to the Chinese police for her assistant’s murder. 

Steers reviews the rescue plan, but executing it will be difficult and place both Nash and Temple in grave danger. Steers has arranged for reinforcements along the way, but Nash knows he can’t trust anyone but himself. Surprisingly, one of the men, Thura, is not only resourceful, but ends up saving Nash’s life.

Masuyo Steers turns out to be even more mercenary than her daughter. And when the two women are reunited, Nash sees that there’s no love or loyalty in this relationship. Masuyo once ran the drug operation and she makes it clear she wants once again to be in control, even if that means killing her daughter.

Victoria had escaped death as a young girl when the plane she was riding in with her father, who was British, and her nanny, Hiroko, was brought down by a bomb. Her father died, but Victoria was pulled out of the burning wreck by Hiroko. She still bears the scars on her arms and neck.

When Victoria asks Nash to guard her mother, he finds himself in a difficult situation. On their outings, Masuyo seems to be passing information along to someone else. Nash has no choice but to tell Victoria who already knows her mother is working to sideline her. 

What begins to alter Nash’s opinion of Victoria are long conversations he has with Hiroko. Nash was told by Reed that Victoria killed her brothers and sisters so she could take over the business. Hiroko tells Nash it was Masuyo who murdered her children because their father was British. While Victoria was close to her British father, her biological father was Japanese, something more acceptable to Masuyo. 

Just when Nash begins to trust Victoria, he finds a box that holds Maggie’s things, including a ring he gave her and she never took off. Reed continually warns Nash not to fall under the woman’s spell and finding his daughter’s belongings strengthens his resolve to make Victoria pay.

Now that her mother is safe, Victoria has one more assignment for Dillon and Rhett – find Walt Nash. With the walls closing in, Nash has to be careful to do nothing that might reveal his true identity. Unfortunately, Rhett becomes a bulldog, eager to find Nash and free himself from Victoria’s grip. But in finding Nash, Rhett might be writing Hope’s death sentence.

Hope Rises is a brilliant follow up to Nash Falls. As Baldacci has done before with his Will Robie and Amos Decker series, Nash is a character that holds our interest and makes us want to root for him. Even though some plot lines are wrapped up in the end, we hope this isn’t the last time we will see Dillon Hope.

Nash Falls
Hope Rises
David Baldacci

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