The Identity Man

"Edgar-winner Klavan's compelling thriller focuses on smalltime criminal John Shannon, who commits petty crimes, usually burglary, out of boredom as much as any need for financial gain. When a job spins out of control and a man gets killed, Shannon goes on the run. After receiving an enigmatic text message, Shannon is captured and taken to a laboratory where he's given a new face, a new name, and a new life, courtesy of the mysterious "identity man." Shannon moves to an unnamed city that resembles New Orleans, where he finds work as a carpenter. In a parallel plot, Lt. Brick Ramsey, a good cop gone bad, finds himself drawn deep into a local political struggle with fatal consequences. How Klavan (Empire of Lies) merges the two plots and saves Shannon may confound some readers, but the inexorable pace and superior quality of the writing lift the story onto a level that feels almost mythic." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
John Shannon is a petty crook on the run from a possible death sentence. Then he's rescued by an anonymous benefactor and transported to a new life in a nameless city, one coping with the Katrina-like aftereffects of flood and fire, lawlessness and corruption.
Shannon assumes the agent-of-change has offered no-strings help because Shannon stopped his own partner-in-crime from raping an innocent person during a high-profile burglary. Arrested, the partner revenged himself by accusing Shannon of a multiple murder. Thus, when Shannon receives a text messagea ""You've made a friend. I can help you."a "while eluding capture, he doesn't hesitate. Drugged and confused, Shannon undergoes plastic surgery and is given a new identity. He finds work as a carpenter in the ravaged city, and even finds an opportunity to employ his artistic talent for wood carving. Too late he discovers that he is an unwitting tool in a shadowy attempt to dismantle a criminal enterprise under the control of the city's popular mayor and overseen by a corrupt police lieuten