Book 1: The Fifth Man

Finished and ready for publication. 102,000 words.

This is the first novel in the series, The Zane Calder Thrillers.

For nearly two years, Zane Calder has operated in the shadows, a deep-cover operative on a mission to dismantle a criminal conspiracy designed to cripple California’s economy in the heat of an election year. But just as the final pieces fall into place, he encounters Scott Sanders. An unwitting civilian who just happens to be his near-perfect double.

Seeing an opportunity, Zane pulls Scott into his dangerous world, using their uncanny resemblance to be in two places at once. But as they dive deeper, the true mastermind behind the chaos, the elusive Nash Mercer, proves to be far more than just a criminal puppeteer. As the stakes rise and the lines blur between deception and survival, Zane and Scott form an unlikely partnership; one that will alter both of their lives forever.

Draft complete.

Zane had 180 days to kill and three million dollars at his disposal. At first, he played it smart, tightening up his finances. Then came the hard part: four grueling weeks at a survival camp in Montana, followed by an eight-week military-style boot camp in Iowa. Yet, even after pushing his limits, he still had time to spare before his arrival at the safehouse in Utah. So he kept moving, embracing the nomadic life.

What he didn’t plan for was stumbling into the dark heart of a human trafficking ring. But now that he had, there was no turning back. Zane wasn’t just going to escape. He was going to make them pay.

Draft complete. 

A chance encounter in a dimly lit New Mexico bar sets Zane on an unexpected path on a treasure hunt. He doesn’t expect to strike gold, but it’s another excuse to stay off the grid, just the way he likes it. Six months ago, he was a quiet IT professional, working remotely and living a predictable life. Now, he’s a drifter, hopping from one remote campsite to the next, never staying in one place too long.

Zane never seeks out adventure, but somehow, it always finds him. What starts as a harmless search for buried fortune soon unearths something far more dangerous. As he delves deeper, he stumbles into a web of small-town corruption, where power runs deeper than loyalty, and a volatile love triangle is on the verge of erupting into chaos.

Draft complete.

After nearly a year of radio silence, the enigmatic Nash Mercer finally resurfaces and, as always, he comes with a mission. This time, he wants Zane to infiltrate a shadowy organized crime syndicate operating under the government’s nose. To Zane, Mercer’s request doesn’t seem all that different from what Mercer himself does, but the bigger picture is still out of reach.

Tasked with shadowing two hired assassins as they pursue a California congresswoman, Zane soon unearths a conspiracy far more sinister than even Mercer suspected. As the web of corruption tightens, Zane is forced into an impossible choice: save an innocent youth caught in the crossfire or protect the congresswoman at the center of it all. One move could expose the truth—while the other might mean losing himself forever.

Draft nearly complete.

Drifting further off the grid, Zane finds himself deep in The Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, on more than two million acres of untamed mountains and forest. No roads. No cities. Few people. It’s one of the last true frontiers, untouched by modern life. Or so he thinks.

A forgotten tavern, Junction 22, lures him in. It is an outpost seemingly lost in time, where the rules of the outside world don’t seem to apply. But something about it feels… off. The deeper Zane digs, the stranger things become, until he unearths a secret buried deep in the wilderness. One that leads to a sprawling criminal empire operating in the shadows, under the watchful eye of the very government sworn to stop it.

Draft nearly complete.

After two years of drifting through the shadows, delivering his own brand of justice, Zane is once again pulled back in by Nash Mercer. This time, the mission feels almost surreal: IT security. A throwback to a past life that now feels like a distant memory. But the job isn’t just any job. It’s with Massine Tech. The same corporation he last worked for before being thrust into the covert, nomadic world he now calls home.

Massine Tech has been entrusted with helping the U.S. government manage a rapidly escalating pandemic, one that threatens to send the world into another lockdown. But behind boardroom doors, the company’s executives have a far more sinister agenda. One that thrives on chaos and desperation. As society teeters on the brink, Zane realizes he’s not just fighting to stop corruption, but he’s fighting to prevent the world from falling into darkness. And he has only one chance to set things right.