Wicked Games is the riveting new psychological thriller from author Tommy Bartholomew. When a nefarious stranger offers a dying man a second chance to live, how far will he go to save himself at the lethal expense of those around him? How many Wicked Games are worth his survival?  

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Would you make a deal with the devil?

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Contact us here to request a review copy of Wicked Games

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‘How can I? He thinks. How can he choose himself when all he can see is a little girl’s blonde hair, all he can hear is a small gentle voice reading her poems. A pang of loss petrifies his insides like a stone tumor.

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The needs of many against the needs of the few, or even the one. The destruction and chaos that would crescendo around him, the endless guilt that would weigh around his neck like an anchor and chain for the rest of his life.

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But the alternative?

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Oblivion. Endless.

[…]

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Fifteen minutes to midnight.’

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With fifteen minutes remaining for Heath Valen to make an unfathomable decision of life and death, Wicked Games is a heart-pounding race against time and fate, from start to finish. Underpinning its terrifying, transcendental premise is Bartholomew’s bold dissection of real-life issues from trauma, to morality and addiction. It forces its readers to place themselves in the shoes of its protagonist, and in doing so ask; how far would you go to spare your own existence?

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Electrifying in its relentless twists and turns, at its core, the novel demonstrates a deeply poignant rumination on humanity and self-sacrifice which will resonate with readers everywhere.

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Request a review copy of Wicked Games or an interview with the author here

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Synopsis

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Heath Valen has only nine months left to live. The cancer has consumed his lungs; it’s terminal.

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Unable to confide in his wife Katherine whose after work ‘meetings’ with Richard are becoming ever more brazen, he meets up with an old friend at a local bar to disclose the precarious nature of their marriage which is already marred by his own infidelities.

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In an unseen twist of events, the pair’s evening is disrupted when a strange man enters looking to cause a ruckus. Heath attempts to apprehend the individual and, upon grabbing his arm, shares a transcendent moment with the stranger that seems to stop time.

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From this instant forward, Heath is unable to shake the unfamiliar man from his tail. One thing is made resoundingly clear: this otherworldly visitor knows something Heath does not.

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After a string of increasingly more unsettling encounters, Heath is finally told of his shadow’s true intentions. He wants to recruit him into a malevolent service which would see him perform unthinkable acts against others. The offer is as follows: play along with the stranger’s Wicked Games and in return, he will spare Heath his life. Heath must now make a decision of twisted morality. Will he resign himself to his fate, or survive only to destroy the lives of those around him?

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A superbly executed page-turner of misguided ethics and dire consequence, Bartholomew’s mesmerizing debut is a not one to be missed.

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About the Book:

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Price: £8.99 (Paperback), £2.99 (eBook)

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Pages: 348

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ISBN: 9781523693948

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Copies of Wicked Games are available for purchase on Amazon.

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Author Bio:

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Tommy Bartholomew is the independent author of debut novel Wicked Games.

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Tommy lives and works in London, England. He spends most of his free time at home chasing after an uncooperative Bengal cat, who refuses to engage in rational discussion before knocking glasses off of kitchen sides.

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Having spent most of his working life in customer service jobs in the financial industry, Tommy considers himself a student of human behaviour. As such he tends to favour reading and writing about the shadier parts of the human condition, and the beauty of life when placed against the constant dark backdrop of mortality.

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You can find Tommy on Instagram at @tommybrasko for news and updates.

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ENDS

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