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The Spades Quartet is the name of my four-volume book series that chronicles the adventures of Charles Adamant, an assassin for hire who loves his family, poker, and tennis.
I started writing in 2006 when I was a junior in college. Originally it was just going to be a short novel, but by the time I finished it in 2009, it had grown to be more than 70,000 words, so I decided to split it into two volumes.
Some titles I considered originally were Butterfly's Day Off and Love Your Mother. But after splitting it into two, it made sense to call them Jack of Spades and Queen of Spades, after the main characters.
I still had plenty of ideas, so upon the publication of the first of the series, I decided to make it into a four-book series. Logically, I didn't have a hard time choosing the title of the third and fourth books.
Book 1: Jack of Spades
When his recently widowed uncle recalled him to America to become an assassin like his half-Belgian, half-Japanese cousins and take over the family business, Charles Adamant leaves Belgium to start a new life as a college student by day and an assassin by night. But how can the inexperienced cousin (who resembles Jack Adamant so closely that people mistake them for brothers) become an assassin when he cannot even handle a pistol? Training under the tutelage of his cousins is harder than he thought, but their mutual love for poker makes it marginally more enjoyable.
His uncle hopes that Charles's arrival would spark the flame in Jack's heart that was extinguished upon the untimely death of his wife. And upon failing on his very first assignment, not only does Charles risk getting shipped back to his parents, but also losing the whole family's clientele, and by extension, the family's business. Will he get another chance for redemption? Or did his uncle make a huge mistake by recruiting him? Jack of Spades is the first volume of the four-novel work The Spades Quartet.
Click here to buy it on Amazon. This book is also available on Kindle! Click here for purchasing options.
Book 2: Queen of Spades
Charles Adamant is back with one kill under his belt. After a conversation with the ever-mysterious, omniscient Aobara about the death of Jack and Sakura's mother, Charles is not convinced that it was an accidental suicide as ruled. With the help of the stranger-turned-confidant, Charles embarks on a journey of discovering the truth, a journey fraught with maniacally vindictive police officers, overzealous state attorneys, mafias and gangs, and a recurring dream. Between assassinations, study sessions, poker games, and tennis matches, Charles faces a murder charge that may well put a halt to his journey. But the closer he gets to answers, the more he needs the help of the very opposition. Only the police and the SA can re-launch an investigation on his late aunt's death; cooperating with them runs the risk of incriminating himself and of compromising their identities.
When a senior member of the assassins is accused of his aunt’s murder, Charles and his uncle battle to prove his innocence. But, finding himself almost nightly in his brick temple that refuses to set him free, Charles doubts that he is ready physically and, more importantly, emotionally to confront the very root of the answers he has been looking for once he learns that the same senior member may not be so innocent after all.
Click here to buy it on Amazon. This book is also available on Kindle! Click here for purchasing options.
Book 3: King of Spades
The Jack of Spades dreams about his younger self jumping through a second floor window but does not remember anything thereafter, and the only artifact of this event is a scar on his shoulder. He looks into his memories for answers about that day to no avail, until he is hired as a protector for a powerful member of the yakuza, who now assumes leadership after the death of his father. Charles Adamant juggles his university studies, love life, bodyguard duties, contract obligations, and his new-found partnership with a deadly assassin, all the while looking for answers about his dream, which the young leader seems to have locked in his past.
When his new boss’s bosses decide to come stateside for a visit, his bodyguard duties evolved into a full-time office, and his involvement and edification of the yakuza demimonde becomes more and more consuming. Upon learning about the threat of multiple assassinations of the bosses by a rival organization, Charles enlists the help of his network of spies, clients, and fellow assassins to uphold his end of the contract.
Click here to buy the paperback on Amazon. This book is also available on Kindle! Click here for purchasing options.
Book 4: Ace of Spades
The fourth and final volume of the series, Ace of Spades, is currently being written and has an anticipated publication date of Summer 2023.
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