David and Israel have an uncommon bond. David, a kid from a broken home hoping to escape the 'hood by playing football, keeps Israel, a brilliant nerd, safe from bullies. Israel in turn helps David keep his grades up to keep in contention for football scholarships. But when Israel joins the military after high school, David flirts with the wrong crowd until a tragic shooting puts him out of athletic contention, and he becomes a much-feared street gangsta. However, he has long had feelings for Israel's sister Ellena. Although she's an aspiring policewoman, they fall in love, and under her care, his future looks bright. But will their romance survive when David's past catches up to him? Meanwhile, out of touch with the world he left behind, Israel transforms into a different man through his time in the military, travels across the world after getting out and years of secret martial arts training. When Israel eventually returns to America and find he's now the uncle to his best friend's child, Ellena's entanglement with a network of corrupt police puts the bond between the two old friends-and their different fighting skills-to the ultimate test. They will take on this network alone to bring their crimes to light...but it will cost one of them dearly. Exploring the outer limits of friendship, loyalty, and the cost of vengeance, The Ballad of David and Israel is an adrenaline-pumping urban action thriller in the vein of Walter Mosley and Eric Jerome Dickey's books that you won't be able to put down.