Hope Landing (the Second Chance Series, Book One)

Fifty-year-old widower Nolan David returns to his hometown of Erie to seek forgiveness from his parents for blaming them for all his mistakes in life and to conduct his own investigation of the thirty-year-old cold case death that drove him away.

Nolan discovers Erie teetering on financial ruin and the residents divided by despair. The city’s decay appalls him, yet the plucky character of the populace inspires him to help. He leads a determined group of citizens in the development of a theme park named Hope Landing, designed to celebrate the diverse cultures that built America. When he pokes at evidence about the old death, though, he clashes with an aging detective with plans for his own style of economic recovery without room for the Hope Landing project.

He grasps the help of the girl he loved as a teenager and the mettle of citizens who won’t surrender. There might still be a path to remake the city and allow Nolan to feel he has finally made his parents proud while giving the city of Erie and its residents a second chance.