David Sinclair Arnold’s novella, a top-notch psychological thriller, follows the murderous quest of Elias Thorne as he both avenges the horrors endured by his slave ancestors but also reminds modern-day America that its sordid history is not to be forgotten nor forgiven.

Thorne is a brilliant, accomplished professor of genetics with an expertise in tracing DNA lineage. He is the embodiment of today’s vision of a successful black man. Yet behind his cool demeanor is a calculated plan, honed through meticulous research and executed with precision, as he methodically picks off the high-profile descendants of the Pritchard family—now “titans of finance, politicians, and media personalities”—whose former members had enslaved his ancestors. “They live fat off the bones of the forgotten,” Thorne’s grandmother once remarked of the modern-day Pritchards.

As the body count rises, police detective Maya Cortez is soon on his trail, setting up a battle of wills and skills, which becomes the book’s strength as Cortez finds herself unwittingly part of Thorne’s end game and the circle tightens. “And now she had to ask herself: was she chasing him or was she being led.”

Arnold has crafted his tale with the kind of taut plotting that gives readers just enough insight into his characters’ motivations that the crimes themselves — albeit lurid — become almost secondary. The chapters are short and the writing crisp as the author switches perspective between Thorne and Cortez, setting up the ultimate and inevitable showdown. The brevity in those snatches of narrative work well to enhance anticipation.

A fuller understanding of how and why Thorne settled on his intended targets would have been welcome. They are described only briefly and seen merely as symbolic. Perhaps that was intentional to make them as expendable as Thorne felt his ancestors were. But more development would deepen the storyline.

Still, this is a book not to be missed. And the door feels open to a possible sequel.

Also available in hardcover and ebook.