BY WIL CREWS
SPORTSCREWS@OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
OPELIKA —
What makes a hero? That is what former Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes explores in his debut novel, “The Hero Rule: Is It Justice…Or Murder?”
Set to release on Amazon April 11, “The Hero Rule” follows local prosecutor Barclay Griffith, of the fictional Towne, Alabama. Griffith operates under the Hero Rule — which means doing the right thing for the right reason. He inserts himself into a case centered on Charlie Calvin Clements, a man accused of murder and facing the verdict of the death sentence. The web of lies surrounding the case brings Griffith’s own moral code into question, blurring the line between innocent and guilty. What follows is Griffith’s own metamorphosis from noble prosecutor seeking the truth, to a man with one thing on his mind: justice.
“It was this idea of a prosecutor who believes in that,” Hughes said of The Hero Rule. “No matter what, he just wants to do the right thing, no matter what form that takes. But when someone close to him is murdered, and the justice system appears to fail him personally, he finds that following his own moral code to be more difficult than he ever imagined. He tries to live in this black and white world, but comes to realize that the answers he seeks require him to get into the gray.”
Just days before his debut book releases, Hughes reflected on the 10-year journey he has taken to get his work published and available to the public.
“I started it back in 2013,” he said. “I had this notion that I could write something. I had a nugget of an idea floating in my head and just sat down and started. I had no expectations.”
Possessing a love for creative writing that predates his book-publishing goals, Hughes said he was surprised at how the story of “The Hero Rule” evolved on his journey to finishing the book.
“You get to a point where you say, ‘Am I doing it right?’” Hughes said. “I knew how I wanted to end it. But sometimes as the story evolves, the characters evolve, your ending may stay somewhat how you like it, but it also evolves. To some extent, the book somewhat writes itself. I felt like anytime I sat down to write, the next thing you know I had written 5,000 to 6,000 words.
“… One of the things I agonized over writing this was everything had to be real. Even though it is fiction, it still had to be right. What are the holes here? That took a lot of time, just making sure I had everything buttoned up.”
One of Hughes’s favorite writers is John Sandford, from whom he takes much inspiration and reflects in his own writing.
“I really enjoy his writing style probably above anybody else’s,” Hughes said. “It’s some grit, it’s some humor. It’s interesting — sometimes as I am writing I can hear his literary voice, so to speak. There are certain scenes where I sit back and I feel like that is something he would have written … that voice, the style, that sound.”
Hughes served as the district attorney for Lee County from 2017 to 2021. And while he enjoys reading crime thriller books, his experience as a prosecutor oftentimes reveals inconsistencies or errors that could only be spotted by someone who has real-life exposure to these types of cases. That is one of the main reasons he sat down to write “The Hero Rule,” he said.
“I am a pretty voracious reader, particularly in a genre that this novel is set in,” he said. “You read a lot, and sometimes they are good stories but mechanically and logistically, they are written by people who don’t understand how police operations, the legal process, whatever. So I get frustrated reading them. I thought about how much better a book in that genre can be when its written by somebody who understands it.”
Hughes said he is looking forward to seeing how the book will be received.
“Any time you put something out, especially creative stuff, you hang yourself out there,” he said. “There are going to be people who like [it] and some who don’t.”
Ultimately, however, he said his fear of failure is far outweighed by his fear of regret.
“I don’t want to look back and say, ‘what if,’” Hughes said.
That’s why he had to finish this book, and why he’s already writing follow-up stories. With “The Hero Rule,” Hughes said he aims to make the reader think, and by book’s end ask, “Did [the protagonist’s] actions accomplish the Hero Rule?”
“I’m just excited to put my work out there and let folks judge for themselves,” he said. “I hope they enjoy it.”
Readers can order books via Hughes website www.brandonhughesbooks.com.