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Skye Maddox is a contract assassin driven by both personal demons and professional discipline. Hired by grieving father Milo Williams to hunt down the chain of men responsible for his son’s death, Skye takes on a mission that escalates into a war with Washington, D.C.’s most dangerous underworld figures led by a man known only as Hetman. As she climbs Milo’s ladder of revenge, Skye uncovers a web of corruption that links drug dealers, judges, mobsters, and even international crime syndicates.
The story escalates through brutal shootouts, betrayals, and psychological games, as Skye pushes deeper into Hetman’s empire. Each success makes her a bigger target. In the end, she must weigh the cost of finishing Milo’s revenge against the danger of becoming just another expendable weapon in someone else’s war.
Read an Excerpt
When Jayla stood, Skye raised a palm to stop her. “Yes. Yes, all right. I just finished an assignment, but it was part of a larger contract so I’m feeling like both the situations you mentioned. I’m on the job, and I just took a player off the board.”
Jayla jotted in her notebook. She always collected the euphemisms Skye used for her profession. “So, tell me about this latest assignment. How do you feel about this player you’ve taken off the board? Was it, in your mind, a just action?”
“You always want to go there,” Skye said, shaking her head. “What did I tell you? The first rule of the assassin’s doctrine. The target has got to deserve it.”
“Oh, yes,” Jayla said with a half-smile. “Your job, while criminal, does have rules
“I misspoke earlier,” Skye said, sliding a slim dagger out of her boot. “It’s not a job. It’s a profession. All professions have their rules. For doctors, rule number one is ‘do no harm’, right? For an assassin, it’s that the target has got to deserve it.” Skye began to absently flip the dagger in the air, catching it by its tip each time. “In this case, this bastard kidnapped my client’s son. I don’t know how they got him. My client kept his family totally under the radar. But once he got the ransom demand, the client agreed to pay, and the ransom money was in transit but not fast enough to suit the kidnappers. They killed the boy, I think just to make a point. Just to be snotty. The action took place overseas and no way the police would ever have gotten close to the killer.”
Jayla nodded. “I think I understand. So, you were hired to…”
“Correct the balance,” Skye said, standing.
Author Question:
What are the pros and cons of writing in your genre?
I love writing thrillers and have never before thought about any negatives. The pros are easy to list.
Writing a thriller allows me to create situations with high stakes. Not just physical stakes but also emotional stakes. I get to create not just excitement but lots of suspense. Intense emotion is what makes these stories so much fun. I also write stories with strong pacing. Things move faster in a good thriller than any other genre I think. I love writing what I love to read, stories that move quickly, with short sentences and cliffhangers at the end of every chapter.
At the same time, because of all that, thrillers allow me to create deep and complex characters. Putting people in stressful and dangerous situations allows me to reveal what makes those characters tick. Unlike my mysteries, I can use multiple points of view in my thrillers. Sometimes I can use this to make the reader unsure about who the hero is, or maybe make them think the people on both sides of the conflict are heroes.
The best thing about writing thrillers, I think, is that it gives me a chance to explore real-life social conflicts. Fiction is a good way to tell the truth, because fictional people can deal with the same social, political, racial, and economic issues we all face.
I guess the only negative I can think of to writing in my genre is that it’s hard. Plots have got to be complex and it’s hard to maintain the pace that will please thriller fans. My fans, and everyone who loves to read thrillers, have high expectations. They demand that I keep every promise I make in terms of hero/villain conflicts. The stakes MUST be high and there needs to be a sustained sense of urgency.
If you write the kind of thrillers I do – crime or crime fighting stories, there’s a certain amount of research called for. My readers know enough about guns, martial arts, poisons and such that if I don’t get it right they won’t come back. I suppose that’s a con too, but I actually enjoy the research so it’s not a bad thing to me.
About the Author:
Austin S. Camacho is the author of eight novels about Washington DC-based private eye Hannibal Jones, five in the Stark and O’Brien international adventure-thriller series, and the detective novel Beyond Blue. His short stories have been featured in several anthologies and he is featured in the Edgar nominated African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey. He is a past president of the Maryland Writers Association, past Vice President of the Virginia Writers Club, and one of the creators of the Creatures, Crimes & Creativity literary conference.
Website: https://ascamacho.com/
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