I Will Kill You

Alex Osman, the psychopathic narrator of this sharp-edged satirical thriller from Scot (the Rift Cycle series), heads Apex, ostensibly a respectable Wall Street financial institution. In fact, it’s a sophisticated insurance fraud scheme that targets “rich assholes filthy with abuse lawsuits” before altering their life insurance policies to insert fake beneficiary names. Once that’s done, Osman’s employees fake a fatal accident so that Apex can collect on the policies. Given the nature of the work, the only way to leave Apex’s employ is feet first, and one employee seeking to resign winds up butchered. Osman rationalizes his business by convincing himself that he’s acting in the best interests of his five-year-old twin daughters, whom he’s raising alone after his wife’s death. His life changes when a smart, attractive woman informs him that she knows he’s killed someone, but isn’t going to turn him in, a development that provides an opportunity for Osman to restart his life. Astringent prose is a plus (Osman boasts that Apex offers “a great split of clean and dirty work, equal opportunity for every Myers-Briggs personality”). Readers able to stomach gore will be entertained. (Self-published)