The Desire Card by Lee Matthew Goldberg

Any wish fulfilled for the right price. That's the promise the organization behind The Desire Card gives to its elite clients - but sometimes the price may be more menacing than anyone could ever imagine. Harrison Stockton has lived an adult life of privilege and excess: a high-powered job on Wall Street fuels his fondness for alcohol and pills at the expense of a family he has no time for. Quite suddenly all of this comes crashing to a halt when he loses his job and at the same time discovers he almost certainly has only months left to live. Desperate, and with seemingly nowhere else left to turn, Harrison activates his Desire Card. What follows is a gritty and gripping quest that takes him from New York City to the slums of Mumbai and forces him to take chances, and make decisions, he never thought he'd ever have to face. When his moral descent threatens his wife and children, Harrison must decide whether to save himself at any cost, or do what's right and break his bargain with the mysterious group behind The Desire Card.

The Desire Card is a taut fast-paced thriller, from internationally acclaimed author Lee Matthew Goldberg, that explores what a man will do to survive when money isn't always enough to get everything he desires.

Harrison's life is falling apart. Faced with a crumbling marriage, a failing liver, and loss of his job, he makes a choice that will effect not just the rest of his life but put others in danger as well.
With his wife too wrapped up in her activities, and his kids grown accustomed to his frequent absences none of them notice how seriously ill he has become, and he chooses not to share his diagnosis. Normally I'd have had some sympathy for such a character but Harrison was such an unlikable and weak willed person it was hard to muster up much concern for his well being. However, the events that unfolded after he received his "Desire card" as part of his severance were intriguing  enough to keep me glued to these pages through the surprising reveal at the end. Regardless of my feelings for Harrison the author did a great job of conveying his sheer heart pounding terror and desperation.
4 out of 5 stars
I received a complimentary copy for review.

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About the author

Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of the novels SLOW DOWN, THE MENTOR, and THE DESIRE CARD. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the 2018 Prix du Polar. PREY NO MORE, the second book in The Desire Card series, is forthcoming. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in the anthology DIRTY BOULEVARD, The Millions, Cagibi, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Underwood Press and others. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series (guerrillalit.wordpress.com). He lives in New York City. Follow him at leematthewgoldberg.com and @LeeMatthewG