Vicious Ripples
By Lee Matthew Goldberg
Wow.
If you are a Desire Card series reader who has doubted whether the series would be worth continuing, fear not. The fourth book in the series, Vicious Ripples, builds upon everything that has happened before and turns up the action to a whole new level. It’s a wonderful payoff to the series’ readers while setting the stage for the fifth and final book.
The first three books in the Desire Card series set the table. The first three books showed the evolution of The Desire Card’s US operations from finding rare treasures for their clients into drug dealing and assassination. US leader Clark Gable showed cracks in his armor as mistakes happened and the line between Gable’s business and family began to blur. Vicious Ripples is loaded with desperate acts by those scrambling to survive.
I had misgivings earlier in the season. Why did author Lee Matthew Goldberg present those particular stories in the first three books? He presented three fascinating and different points of view into The Desire Card, but the books had loose connections. As I said, those three set the table. Vicious Ripples was a gourmet meal. The three previous stories turned out to be critical contributions to Clark Gable’s unmasking and The Desire Card’s downfall.
The first three were loaded with depravity and death, and this book follows the trend. The confrontations are intense and pay homage to James Bond movies, especially the three-way shootout in Gable’s secret underground lair. The skirmishes and escapes had to be over-the-top to fit the spirit of the wonderfully warped world Goldberg created.
Vicious Ripples is a wonderful payoff to Desire Card series’ readers while setting the stage for the fifth and final book. @HenryRoiPR @LMGBooks @RoughEdgesPress #ViciousRipples Share on X
The first three books were excellent for using the simple concept of fulfilling all wishes for a price and showing the underbelly of a world where clients and anyone working for The Desire Card took wishing and fulfillment to immoral extremes. Vicious Ripples fits the warning to be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.
The chaos didn’t stop, and this reader is so glad it didn’t! I can’t wait to see how Goldberg wraps up this insane train wreck.
Thanks to Black Tide Book Tours and Rough Edges Press for providing a copy of the book.
