Title: DARK SPIRAL DOWN
Author: Michael Houtz
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Pages: 377
Genre: Thriller/International/Action
COLE HAUFNER is a reluctant superstar in
the professional mixed martial arts world. After his latest fight, his wife and
child perish in a car crash. His grief deepens when his brother, BUTCH, a Delta
Force operator, is absent from the funeral and reported missing by two furtive
strangers who show up unannounced at the burial. Despairing, and acting on a
tip, Cole travels to his childhood home in southeast China, looking for his
brother.
Butch and his teammate, HAMMER, are the
sole American survivors of a gun battle between their unit and North Korean
commandos, both sides fighting over possession of a stolen suitcase containing
a miniaturized fusion device that could either provide unlimited clean energy
or be converted to an undetectable bomb seven times more powerful than a
nuclear explosion. Leading the North Koreans is the sociopath, Commander PARK.
Pressed into helping the Koreans is a disgraced former CIA operative, BARRETT
JENNINGS.
Cole meets with the uncle who raised him,
MASTER LI, and is warned to stop his search for Butch. Barrett discovers Cole’s
identity (with the help of a genius computer hacker, LILLY), which opens a
twenty-year-old wound when Barrett was blamed for the disappearance of Cole’s
father, along with the man’s invention. Barrett enlists the 14K organized crime
syndicate to help capture Cole. Hammer, separated from Butch during the fight
for the device, thwarts the gang’s attempt to kidnap Cole, and the two then set
off to find Butch and the device. All parties converge on the city library
where Butch, now disguised as a monk, is attempting to communicate with the
Pentagon. Barrett and Park capture Butch, while the 14K gang nabs Cole.
Danger mounts as Chinese authorities begin
investigating foul play within their borders. Cole fights his way free of the
gang and reunites with Hammer. Both men
find Barrett’s apartment and discover Lilly (the man’s stepdaughter), who
divulges Barrett’s identity and plan. Cole clashes with Hammer, who is willing
to sacrifice Butch in order to recover the fusion device. Lilly offers her help
in exchange for her and Barrett’s rescue from Park’s grip. Meanwhile, Barrett
discovers the true nature of the case the North Koreans are pursuing and,
sensing he and Lilly are to be assassinated by Park once he has the device,
frees Butch. Butch, trusting Barrett was sent to rescue him, leads the turncoat
to the site where he hid the device. Barrett, hoping to make a quick fortune
selling it, shoots Butch before escaping with the case.
Cole, along with Hammer and Lilly, arrives
at the location of Butch and finds him gravely wounded. Butch fingers Barrett
for shooting him and for stealing the case. Cole wants only to save his brother
but Butch makes him promise to kill Barrett and recover their dad’s invention.
The revelation that the device is his father’s scientific discovery propels
Cole forward to fulfill his brother’s mission. Cole is forced to abandon Butch
at a hospital. Cole pursues Barrett to a remote dock where the ex-CIA man is
planning to escape China by boat. With the Chinese military now actively
looking for Cole, Cole confronts Barrett and Park sparking a gunfight. Barrett
kills Park. As Barrett turns the gun on Cole, Hammer kills Barrett. Cole,
Hammer and Lilly escape via the boat, and the fusion device is safely returned.
Praise for Michael
Houtz
“If
you’re in the market for a fast paced, action filled, page-turning thriller,
Mike Houtz delivers a must-read novel. I highly recommend this emotional
rollercoaster of a book for every die-hard thriller reader…Get it ASAP!”
~Lima Charlie Review
“…this work proves that author Houtz is
undoubtedly a rising star in the publishing world.”
~Andrea
Brunais, Author
“Mike Houtz takes us on fast-pace adventure in
Dark Spiral Down, a thrilling ride along the border between China and North Korea, where Cole Haufner is in
pursuit of his Delta Force brother and a device that has the potential to
change the world forever or destroy it.”
~Dan Grant,
Author
“Dark Spiral Down is a phenomenal debut
novel by Mike Houtz. This book has everything readers of the genre love: a
great plot, memorable characters, and a powerful voice. It’s a must-read!”
~Ammar
Habib, Bestselling & Award-Winning Author, Editor-in-Chief of
Thriller Magazine
ORDER YOUR COPY:
Amazon
Chapter 1
Thomas
and Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada Saturday night Main Event, April 21st
“Ten seconds!”
From his corner, Cole Haufner heard the cry all the way
across the blood-smeared octagon. He held his opponent immobile, letting the
clock run out on the second of three periods. He was well ahead in the fight,
but a nasty gash over his left eye, one that opened in the late first round
from a flying elbow, threatened the outcome due to the amount of blood pouring
from the wound. The win was not his primary goal. A six-figure purse for a
victory ensured his son’s life-saving surgery.
The referee separated both fighters while directing them to
their respective corners.
Cole jumped up from the mat, fist-pumped the air for the
crowd, and made his way to his corner where two men stood ready to attend to
him. As he approached his team, Cole saw the fight doctor walk through the cage
door opening with a look of concern. A sense of dread attacked Cole.
“Lemme take a look at that,” the physician ordered as he
stepped forward to scan Cole’s injury.
“I’m
good, Doc, I’m good.” Blood poured down his face, spreading across Cole’s
sweat-covered chest
and pooling onto the canvas mat.
The fighter’s corner coach, Barry Liggit, and cut-man, Scott
“Stitch” Bell, leaned in close to see the
wound.
“I’m fine. Just get me ready,” Cole snarled. He needed the
fight doctor to give him a break on the injury.
Beyond the blinding lights shining on the fight ring, more
than thirteen thousand fans chanted, “Gentleman, gentleman, gentleman…”
The spectacle of the crowd embarrassed Cole. This unwanted
praise railed against everything he’d been taught at the Chinese Buddhist
monastery where he lived and studied as a young boy.
“You hear that?” Barry shouted over the noise of the crowd.
“They want you, Cole. They know
you’re the next middle-weight champion.”
The doctor repeatedly held pressure over the cut and
released to see how quickly the wound bled. Each time he let go, a fountain of
red erupted.
Cole saw the concern in the physician’s eyes. “Doc, you know
I need this one,” he pleaded. “You know my family story. I swear I’ll finish
this quick.”
“I’m
giving you one minute.” the doctor shouted to Barry. “I’m not losing my medical
license because of his injury.” The ER physician turned and nodded to the fight
officials outside the cage that Round 3 would start.
The crowd erupted in a roar.
Stitch jumped in front of Cole with packing cream and the
frozen steel plate to stem the bleeding long enough to ready the fighter.
Barry
leaned close to Cole’s face. “You’ve never had a fight last more than a minute.
What’s the deal?
You don’t have a lot of time! You got me?”
Cole looked to his right. An empty seat remained at
ringside. His older brother, Butch, promised to attend. Cole started the
headline match with some concern, but now, he worried over his brother’s
absence. They hadn’t spoken in the last twenty-four hours, even though Butch
was supposed to have received a special furlough from his military unit to be
here. For Butch to break a promise wasn’t unusual—it came with his job. Amid
one of the most important moments of his life, Cole couldn’t help but worry.
A hand jerked his head. “Are you even hearing me?” Barry
yelled.
Cole shifted his gaze back to the ring, catching Stitch
looking in the same direction.
“Holy shit. Are you dragging out this fight waiting for
Butch?” Stitch shouted.
Busted. Cole looked away from
Barry, unable to hold his coach’s
gaze.
Barry put his hands on his hips, lips smashed into a line.
“You gotta be kidding me! Well, that would explain why we’re in round three.
You’re one lucky punch away from losing this fight. Don’t you think your son
needs this win?”
You know he’s off limits. For the first time in the match, rage filled his body. The
immediate image of his son’s physical struggles with a failing heart sent a
powerful surge through his nervous system. He glared at his trainer, blood
running down his face as the cold plate slipped from the gash. “Shut your
mouth,” Cole hissed.
Barry
swallowed. The corner man quickly recovered “This is it, brother. The crowd
wants ‘the
Gentleman,’
but give them the ‘Beast’. Let’s see some of that monk shit and finish this
fight.”
Sorry, Butch, I can’t wait any longer. I know you’ll understand. Cole opened his
mouth so Barry could slide the
mouthpiece into place. “Don’t blink or you two are gonna miss an old move of
mine.”
Barry and Stitch grinned.
Dragging out the fight was a stupid move. Even though he’d
never met his match, not even close in the ring, Cole faced a professional
fighter. Barry was right. Another lucky punch like the one that cut him in
round one could lose him the one hundred- thousand-dollar bonus offered for a
win. His son needed him.
Focus.
Breathe. For Max.
The referee made his way to the center of the octagon and
motioned for the fight corners to clear the ring.
Stitch held the cold plate to Cole’s forehead cut for three
more seconds then followed everyone else out with the door clanging shut.
Vision in Cole’s left eye blurred—the blood was already
seeping from around the edges of the packing cream.
The ref signaled to the ringside table he was ready then
waved with both hands for the fighters to approach the center.
Cole stepped forward in his usual calm manner— the source of
the nickname “the Gentleman.”
The other fighter bounced on the balls of his feet, just out
of reach.
“Ready.”
The referee continued with a slight pause in between. “Let’s bring it!” With
that, he jumped back out of the way of the combatants.
Cole
ducked as his opponent unleashed a flurry of combinations, trying to finish the
fight almost as quickly as it had resumed. He parried the punches and kicks,
toying with the other man, aware he had less than a minute before the doctor
returned to the ring. Cole only needed a fraction of a second. He searched for
an opening.
The onslaught carried on for a full ten seconds before the
fighter dropped back, his nostrils flaring like a bull’s.
Blood flowed freely again, saturating Cole’s chest and
shorts while clouding his vision.
The opposing corner yelled to their fighter to go to a
defensive position.
“I’m sorry,” Cole shouted to
his opponent.
The sweating mass of muscle furrowed his forehead. “The hell
you say?”
“Sorry about this.” Cole stood from his crouch and lowered
his fists.
“What are you doing?” Barry screamed from just outside of
the cage. “Hands up. Hands up!”
In the blink of an eye, the other man slid forward and threw
a powerful right hand.
This moment was Cole’s. Rather than defend, he leaped from
the canvas, performed a front somersault in mid-air, and extended his right
leg, bringing his heel crashing down on top of the man’s head. A sickening thud
sounded upon contact, and the other fighter collapsed to the mat, unmoving.
Cole
rolled forward after the strike, coming to rest in a crouch some five feet
away. Though he suspected the instant he’d made contact he’d finished off his
opponent, Cole took nothing for granted. He spun in
case of a counterattack.
The ref, initially stunned, dove onto the unmoving man. The
crowd’s collective gasp morphed into a deafening roar when the signal was given
the fight was over.
Panting from the effort, Cole watched as the cage door
opened, and medical personnel raced inside.
Barry
and Stitch rushed through the portal and drew him into crushing hugs amid
incredible noise. Literally lifted off his feet, Cole only felt relief in
accomplishing what he’d set out to do; he’d likely saved his son’s life.
No comments:
Post a Comment