Excerpt from Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

A shoebox. She took it inside, locked the door. Set it on the table, hesitating to open it. Poured herself a glass of cherry brandy, downed it in one gulp. She opened the box and the blood rushed from her head.

She went pale. Nearly fainted when she saw it.

A dead rat, freshly killed. A dark depression on the side of its abdomen where it was struck. Mouth open like it had just released its final squeak. Below, a note. She gagged, pinched the end of the paper with trembling fingers. In capital letters in childish scrawl:

$3000. MONDAY. 4 A.M. NO. 4 BRIDGE.
TELL AND U DIE. WE R WATCHING!

That same betokening of horror came upon her then. That deep promise of pessimism. She had to reread the note three or four more times before the words could have any semblance of sense. Even when she could put them together, it took her a full minute to accept that it was real. When the questions came, she had to sit, her eyes flicking between the note and the dead rat. A warning of a coming plague. She was shaking – but strangely, the fear had seemed so distant. She now knew that whatever it was, it was coming.

It was already here – at her doorstep.

Now she had to stare it in the eye. Was the note meant for her or for Dalton? Was it a ransom note? Did this mean Dalton had been kidnapped? Were they really watching? Where were they watching from? Was he dead? Alive? Was the money in exchange for his release? In exchange for her life? Would they leave her alone once they got it? And most of all ...

... what would happen if she didn't care to pay?

Excerpted from Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein. Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Jared Hosein. Excerpted by permission of Ecco. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.