Introducing: Max West

In a city built on secrets, where neon lights cast long shadows and every high roller has a skeleton in their closet, one man is willing to chase ghosts—both the metaphorical and the literal kind. Max West isn’t your typical private investigator. He’s not interested in cheating spouses or insurance fraud. His cases deal with the unexplained, the supernatural, and the downright terrifying.

A native son of Las Vegas, Max has spent his life navigating the city’s underbelly, from glitzy casinos to the desolate outskirts where the desert swallows the unwary. He’s a modern-day take on a classic gumshoe. Dressed in tailored sports coats over well-worn jeans, carrying himself with the confidence of a man who’s been in enough fights to know he can handle himself, Max is the kind of investigator who attracts trouble like a high-stakes poker game attracts sharks.

But Max’s story isn’t just about the cases he takes—it’s about the questions that haunt him.

A Past That Refuses to Stay Buried

At just twelve years old, Max’s world was shattered. His parents, both employees of the Department of Energy, were declared dead in what the government called a workplace accident. To the outside world, it was a tragedy. To Max, it was a lie. The government awarded him a substantial settlement, but no amount of money could buy him peace of mind. He never believed the official story, and the unanswered questions surrounding their deaths became an obsession that shaped the man he would become.

Max was taken in by Benny Russo, his father’s best friend and a former boxer turned gym owner. Benny’s gym wasn’t just a place for aspiring fighters—it was a haven for cops, ex-cons, and anyone looking to carve out a second chance in life. Benny raised Max like a son, teaching him how to throw a punch and, more importantly, when not to. But no matter how much Benny tried to push him toward a different path, Max’s thirst for the truth—and the strange—led him to become something entirely his own: a paranormal private investigator.

The Lone Wolf and His Pack

Max isn’t a man who makes friends easily. Trust doesn’t come cheap in his world, but the few he does let in are more than just acquaintances—they’re family.

Jerome “The Saint” St. Pierre

Max’s oldest and most loyal friend is Jerome St. Pierre, better known as The Saint. Their bond goes back to childhood, forged on the rougher streets of Las Vegas. The Saint is a bail bondsman, the kind of guy who knows all the right people in all the wrong places. But his past is more complicated than most. Born in Haiti, The Saint’s family was deeply entrenched in the world of voodoo, a connection that eventually made them enemies of the local government. Forced to flee, he built a new life in Las Vegas, but the past has a way of following you, and The Saint’s knowledge of the supernatural often comes in handy when Max finds himself in over his head.

Detective Phillip “Flip” Ives

Then there’s Flip. Detective Phillip Ives isn’t the kind of cop who normally associates with private investigators, let alone ones who claim to hunt ghosts. But Max and Flip’s friendship began the old-fashioned way—with a fistfight. While on a stakeout, Max saw Flip get jumped by a gang of would-be tough guys and didn’t hesitate to step in. A few broken noses later, a reluctant friendship was born. Flip is a straight shooter, a good cop in a department where good cops don’t always last. He doesn’t believe in ghosts, but he believes in Max—even if he doesn’t approve of his methods.

A Man Who Walks Alone

Romance isn’t high on Max’s list of priorities. He’s had his fair share of flings, but commitment? That’s another story. The one serious relationship in his life was with Fiona, a forensic anthropology professor at UNLV. They met in college, back when Max was still trying to live a so-called normal life. It didn’t last. Fiona wanted stability; Max was chasing ghosts—literally.

Though their relationship ended, the connection between them never fully faded. Now, Fiona is one of the few people Max turns to when he needs scientific expertise to back up the supernatural mysteries he investigates. She doesn’t believe in the things he chases, but she believes in the man he is, even if she wishes he’d let go of his past.

The Cases That Keep Him Up at Night

Max doesn’t take on ordinary cases. His clients aren’t looking for help with insurance scams or petty theft. They come to him when they’ve seen something they can’t explain—when the shadows in their house move on their own, when something whispers their name in the dark, when they wake up with scratches on their back and no memory of how they got there.

He’s tangled with things that don’t make sense, things that make even the most hardened skeptics question what they believe. A cursed hotel room where no guest survives past the third night. A missing girl who was found walking the streets a decade later, unchanged. A man who swore he was being hunted by something he couldn’t see—until Max found the claw marks on his walls.

But no matter how many cases he solves, one mystery remains—the truth behind his parents’ deaths. Every case, every lead, every whispered legend in the dark corners of the city brings him one step closer. Because Max West isn’t just hunting ghosts. He’s hunting the past.

Why Readers Will Love Max West

Max is the kind of protagonist who sticks with you. He’s tough but not heartless, a man who stands between the living and the dead with nothing but his wits, his fists, and an unshakable resolve. His story is one of loss, obsession, and redemption, wrapped in the neon glow of Sin City, where every alley hides a secret and every gambler is playing against the odds.

If you love detective stories with a supernatural twist, if you crave mystery laced with the eerie unknown, if you’re drawn to complex characters who walk the line between skeptic and believer, then Max West is your kind of investigator.

Because in Las Vegas, the house always wins. But Max West? He’s betting against the devil himself.