Recently drummed out of a prestigious local university and its forensic research laboratory for blowing the whistle on pillars of the community, Dr. Cornell Westerly is a promising forensic scientist with a brand-new diploma and a California license plate. He's an apprentice crime scene investigator in need of a steady job to pay the rent. Westerly, an expert in DNA analysis, finds that opportunity with Detective Dash Brogan of the Los Angeles Police Department, a man steeped in the hard-boiled, old-school police procedurals of bygone times. Together, they take on some of the city's most heinous crimes, including Westerly's first gruesome case involving eight hanging children. Rise, Rise, Dark Horses of American Noir follows this young, fresh-out-of-college protege as he braves the notorious mean streets of the City of Angels in search of redemption, love, and forensic truth. In blending the innocence of youth with the verve, grit, and pluck of the classic crime novel, author Konrad Ventana pays homage to the dark horses of Chandler, Hammett, Woolrich, and Spillane while exploring the depths of human depravity."