The best novels to find imperfect heroes redeemed by incorruptible ethics

When I read that homicide detective, Harry Bosch’s motto, “Everyone counts or no one counts,” I was hooked on the character, the book, the entire series.

What I love about Bosch is that physically he is not imposing, his strength emanating from his powerfully focused mind and his mongoose dedication to any case he inherits.

I love his quiet rectitude as he tries to render the permanently wronged justice. In its pursuit, he will unflinchingly bring any means necessary to the job, even at the risk of his life.

I love the idea of Bosch as much as I like the character. I need to believe he is out there.

Not necessarily a fan of Westerns, I loved this original story.

Set in post-Civil War, eastern Texas, an unlikely hero, Jefferson Kyle Kidd is enjoined to return a young white girl, rescued from Indians, to living relatives. Initially reluctant, Kidd commits himself to his mission regardless of challenge.

I love it when I find myself there in a story. I found myself swallowed by the challenges they faced, my attention (and tension) rising with each one. I also love it when I find myself rooting for the characters as I did with this believable story.

Though there is action, I loved that it was Kidd’s quick-witted intelligence (and that of the girl) that set the story apart.

An atypical Western, I loved its unusual, yet believable plot.

A drifter, George Briggs, is hired to bring four women, maddened by the bleakness of the Nebraska plains, east to civilizational care.

Briggs fulfills his contract, guiding them through the threat of Indian attacks and other challenges to safety. A feeling pervaded the story that Briggs had been given one shot at elevating himself above an otherwise unremarkable life and he came through. This is a feature that I love in almost any story–the idea of redemption.

I love to believe that potential exists within me.

What I loved (and appreciated) about this more typical Western and what elevated it in my mind was how the author dealt with the looming specter of racial bigotry toward indigenous people.

Ben Zachary, a physically strong character, is enhanced by his ethical convictions. This is something that draws me to a protagonist, the idea of what he (or she) stands for and will do to live up to it.

Ben risks everything to protect Rachel, his adopted “sister,” who is Kiowa. Abandoned by hate-blinded, white neighbors, Ben proves steadfast in living his moral code.

Always a winner for me, it touched into how I try to live.

A deceptively simple story with subtle social commentary, I loved how the author offered a coming-of-age story about a rural Scot eventually exposed to a wider world and its temptations.

Self-conscious of his puniness as a child, Geordie develops into a behemoth through strength training, his strength carrying him to the Olympics. I loved how Geordie ultimately parried worldly temptations, guided by his moral strength and sense of what was most important in life.

I was also enamored of the story as it struck close to home in terms of my own sense of childhood powerlessness and what I did to combat it.