What Boys Are Made Of

Book 1 of the Saint Flaherty series

**Nobody wants to be a murderer, but some don't get a choice. **

Five years after the Second Civil War ended, isolated Appalachia is a minefield ruled by cartels and warlord despots. In the hill town of Buchell, Simon “Saint” Flaherty cage fights for money—until the day a fight gone wrong leaves him a murderer.

In a town that saw the worst of the war, the death only boosts Simon’s reputation, and his coach enters him to headline a local tournament. No one seems to notice that Simon’s in no condition to train, wracked by guilt over his opponent’s death. No one seems to care, least of all his coach—not with a career-defining fight on the line.

But Simon’s coach isn’t the only man in Buchell with an eye for talent. The cartels that keep a stranglehold over the mountains are scouting for new recruits, and the local kingpin has his eye on the teenager with the one-punch knockout.

Although Simon wants nothing to do with the cartels, he’s already involved: his last match was no tragic accident, but a set-up by the kingpin himself.

Already haunted by one death, Simon will do anything to get out of the next fight. In Buchell, anything goes a long way.

*In this gritty debut set in a dystopian Appalachia, S. Hunter Nisbet presents a stunning story of surviving the choices we make—and those that are made for us. *

Part dystopian, part psychological-thriller, fans of Ron Rash and Dean Koontz will love this gripping read.