Book

A Quiet Return and a Loud City

September 19, 2025

You might have read many books. But we bet nothing like Justice Dunn.

Justice Dunn is a story about coming home, but also about what happens when home is no longer safe. Justice is a soldier who returns from war carrying memories that do not fade. His parents are gone, his brother is lost in drugs, and his aunt Zula is doing her best to keep the family together. From the first pages, the book makes it clear that the city of Pittsburgh is not the same place he left. Unfortunately for Justice, life in the hood is far worse than before.

Before Sergeant Major Dunn was released from his duties, he endured eighteen months in LRMC, a U.S. military trauma hospital near Ramstein Air Base. His long recovery was the result of a tragic mission in Kandahar, where his platoon came under a brutal ground attack by Taliban rebels during an overwatch operation. The objective of that mission was to secure a remarkable geological discovery, an element unlike anything known on Earth, believed to have drifted through space for thousands of centuries before embedding itself in the region.

As the rebels closed in, U.S. forces monitoring the battle by drone authorized a missile strike to prevent the element from falling into enemy hands. The strike triggered a violent chain reaction, unleashing a cataclysmic explosion that released energies beyond human comprehension. The blast devastated the battlefield, fatally wounding every soldier except Justice Dunn. His survival defied explanation. The exposure to the element left him changed, endowed with extraordinary abilities that no one could fully understand. His recovery, and the truth of what happened that day, became part of a tightly guarded government secret, hidden from the world.

Justice tries to rebuild his life with discipline and faith. His training shapes him, but it does not solve the struggles in his community. He is haunted by dreams of war and by the pull of grief that runs through his family. His brother Jerome represents the darker path of addiction and crime. His aunt Zula shows the steady strength of love and prayer. Between these two, Justice tries to carve out a way to move forward. The story is not about quick solutions but about how difficult it is to bring order to a broken place.

Parallel to Justice’s fight is the story of Amber Paul. She is a young photojournalist working with the Pittsburgh Courier and other local groups. She lives on a modest income but carries big dreams. She wants to write books and one day earn a Pulitzer Prize. Amber’s persistence drives her into the most dangerous corners of the city. She follows stories about drugs, violence, and the slow destruction of communities. More than anything, she is focused on one terrifying case — the hunt for a serial child abductor who preys on the city’s most vulnerable.

Amber is relentless. She talks to witnesses, digs for evidence, and does not stop until she finds answers. Her work places her in harm’s way, but she continues because she knows what is at stake. Her determination brings her closer to the truth and also closer to Justice. Their paths cross as the dangers mount. The two begin to act not only as reporters and veterans but as partners standing against the darkness that threatens their city.

The book shows Pittsburgh as a place in deep conflict. Drugs, greed, corruption, and violence spread across neighborhoods. The opioid crisis destroys families. Murders and crime wear down the community. The presence of the child abductor raises the tension even higher. People are afraid, but they are also desperate for someone to act. In this setting, Justice and Amber become vigilantes. They do what the system cannot or will not do. They fight back against the forces tearing apart their city.

All of this unfolds during the reelection of America’s first African American President. The national moment adds weight to the local struggles. It shows a nation at a crossroads while Pittsburgh faces its own. Rossi does not overstate the politics, but he makes them part of the backdrop that shapes the story.

Justice Dunn is more than a simple return-home story. It is about duty after war, the cost of service, and the courage to face danger close to home. It is about family, truth, and the struggle to protect a community from forces that seem overwhelming. By pairing Justice’s steady sense of duty with Amber’s sharp instincts and persistence, the book creates a portrait of two people who refuse to look away. They rise up as heroes who act when their community needs them most.

If you want to read a unique book that will keep you glued to your seat, this is that book. It is not a glamor tale. It is plain and steady. It looks at grief, recovery, and the messy work of trying to make things right. For readers who value clear storytelling and honest people, Justice Dunn offers a strong, readable portrait of a city and a man who does not give up, at any cost.

About the Author

Rossano Paul Stewart was born in Duquesne, Pittsburgh, Pa. He has been an Honorable United States Army Veteran since 1977.

He is a graduate of the U.S. Army School of Communications in Augusta, Ga., and served in West Germany as a Communications Specialist during the Cold War. After retiring from the U.S. Army, he returned to New York City and worked at Doubleday Books in the serial rights department as a correspondent.

Rossano later studied Photography at The New York Institute of Photography and is a proud father of three daughters. After his daughters finished college, he returned to Pittsburgh to pursue a career as a photojournalist with the New Pittsburgh Courier and as a feature writer with Newsweek MSNBC on the internet. During that time, he wrote many feature stories and received various awards for his photojournalism from 2006 to 2016.

Justice Dunn is his first fiction novel in the series.