Amazon
Release date: February 19, 2019
Publisher: Fahrenheit
Genre: Thriller
Blurb:
Any wish fulfilled for the right price. That’s the promise the Desire Card gives to its elite clients. But if the Card doesnât feel like theyâve been justly compensated, the âpriceâ will be more menacing than the clients could ever imagine.
Harrison Stockton learns this lesson all too well. Harrison has lived an adult life of privilege and excess: a high-powered job on Wall Street along with a fondness for alcohol and pills, and a family he adores, yet has no time for. All of this comes crashing to a halt when he loses his executive job and discovers he has liver cirrhosis with mere months left to live.
After finding himself far down on the donor list, Harrison takes matters into his own hands. This decision sparks a gritty and gripping quest that takes him to the slums of Mumbai in search of a black market organ and forces him under the Desire Cardâs thumb. When his moral descent threatens his wife and children, Harrison must decide whether to save himself at any cost, or do whatâs right and put a stop to the Card.
THE DESIRE CARD is a taut international thriller that explores what a man will do to survive when money isnâtalways enough to get everything he desires. Itâs the first book in a series followed by PREY NO MORE that focuses on other people indebted to this sinister organization, where the actual price is the cost of oneâs soul.
Excerpt:
HARRISON STUMBLED INTO CENTRAL PARK CLUTCHING THE SILVER BRIEFCASE, HIS BODY SHAKING FROM BEING HUNTED. Clouds clogged the sky. The trees seemed like creatures towering over him. He turned around to see the man in the Humphrey Bogart mask running toward the entrance, a gun bulging from the guyâs inside pocket. The manâs cold eyes scanned the park, zeroing in. Harrison took off down a dirt path until he was alone with only the wind ringing in his ears.
He wanted to collapse; he begged himself to just give in. Nature would destroy him soon anyway, and his shins were starting to feel like theyâd been repeatedly stabbed. He coughed up an excess of blood and mucus that spilled down a rock. Now heâd gone so far down the trail that he couldnât see where he entered. The sound of footsteps came from all directions. A distorted laugh caused all the nearby pigeons to shoot toward the sky. The laugh was followed by an eerie whistle that became louder and louder as he spun around expecting to see his pursuer.
A shadow passed behind a tree, bigger than any animal. He propped himself up against a rock, too exhausted to move any farther, closing his eyes and waiting to die. He could see tomorrowâs headlines declaring his death as a mugging gone wrong.
âGracie,â he cried, trembling. âBrent, my boyâŠoh God.â
He had pissed himself now, the urine hot and sticky as it trickled down his pants leg. He still held the silver briefcase close to his chest, resolving not to let it go without a fight.
The man in the Bogart mask emerged from behind a tree holding a gun.
âJust hand it over, Mr. Stockton,â the man said. The voice box attached to his mouth made him sound robotic, weirdly calm. âYou donât want this to get any more complicated than it already has.â
The man made a grab for the briefcase, but Harrison held on tight.
âYouâll kill me anyway,â Harrison yelled, spooking any pigeons that hadnât already flown away.
âOnly if you force me to do so.â
The man kicked Harrison in the shin, causing him to nearly buckle over. Harrison was thrown to the ground, the man pinning him down. He still managed to hold onto the briefcase as if it was fused to his hand.
âThe Boss doesnât know about what youâve done yet,â the man said, hitting Harrisonâs head against the hard dirt. âDo you understand what that means? That means you can still live. And heâll never find out as long as we get what weâre owed.â
âWhy would you do that for me?â he asked, seeing four masked men spinning around.
The man stepped back and pointed the gun between Harrisonâs eyes.
âThe Boss doesnât like when things donât go according to plan. I could be in as much trouble as you for letting this slip-up happen. So letâs make this easy for both of us.â
Harrison got on one elbow and hoisted himself up.
âDo I have your word?â
The man nodded.
âAnd my family? My wifeâŠmy kids? I wouldnât have to worry about them being hurt?â
âAs much as you might think that you are our sole concern, we have an entire organization to run beyond your pithy life. Now I will count to ten and if you donât hand over the briefcase, Iâll put a bullet between your eyes.â
Harrison thought about what his life had really amounted to. All the hours heâd slaved at Sanford & Co., making rich people boatloads richer. Getting into the office before dawn and often heading home in the middle of the night. Sacrificing his family, his youth, his sanity. How it had made him into a drinker, a serial gorger of all vices, just so he could forget about what he was losing. After all of that, what did he have left to show?
ââŠ8âŠ9âŠ10,â the man said, about to pull the trigger.
âAll right, all right.â
Harrison handed over the briefcase. The man opened it up and appeared to be satisfied, a smirking grin visible through his mask.
âIâll leave you with this nugget of wisdom,â he said, without putting the gun away. âIf what you did manages to compromise us in any way, if there are any rippling after-effects, be prepared to come across the Boss. Heâs known to wear a Clark Gable mask.â The manâs smirk had disappeared. âHe only appears when heâs ready to bloody his hands. Good day, Mr. Stockton.â
âWho are you people? Under the masksâŠwho are you really?â
The man raised the gun over Harrisonâs head.
âI doubt youâll ever find out,â he said, and struck Harrison on the forehead with the handle.
A trickle of blood spilled down Harrisonâs nose and felt cold on his tongue. He slunk down and rested his cheek against the dirt, watching the man in the mask take off through the trees, the silver briefcase shining like a beam of light snaking through the leaves. And then the man finally disappearedâas if he was nothing more than a nightmare brought to life and extinguished once the fitful dreamer finally woke.
Harrison pressed against his rib cage and felt for his engorged liver. Cursed at it. Wanted to tear it from his stomach. Heâd been poisoned from within for too long, his unending punishment for all of his crimes. Blood zigzagged into his eyes as the wound on his forehead opened up even more. With his other hand he reached into his pocket and removed his wallet. A thin metallic card fell from out of a sleeve and sat in a puddle of blood that had collected in the dirt.
He crumpled it up in his fist since it was responsible for letting these psychopaths into his life. He knew heâd never feel completely settled again, always worried that they might come after him and his family. The Desire Card had caused him to seek out gruesome and despicable wishes. From the instant this devilâs temptation had been placed in his hands, his moral compass never stood a chance. So he chucked it into the air and watched it sail over the rocks for some other fool to find.
âIâm sorry, Helene,â he mumbled to the wind. He knew heâd have to come clean about everything. His head throbbed, and he recalled a memory from twenty-five years ago. Spying her in the quad at Chilton College drinking a cherry Coke, tan and shapely from field hockey, the entire campus becoming muted except for her. He took a chance by flirting miserably and changing the course of their lives.
She wouldâve been better off if they had never met. In such a short amount of time, heâd fallen so far. Now because of him people had been sliced up, left for dead, and soon heâd follow them to his own grave. As he drifted off into unconsciousness, he remembered that it all began to spiral out of control on his last day at Sanford & Co. over a month ago, this treacherous path he embarked on, his dark and dried-up destiny.
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