Escalation

Elaine Hargrove thought she was buying her freedom.

After years trapped in a controlling marriage, she hires a professional killer to make her husband disappear. The murder goes exactly as planned.

Then the phone rings.

The killer has recorded everything. Every meeting. Every payment. Every word. And now he has a new assignment.

Kill a complete stranger... or watch the evidence land on a detective's desk.

But this isn't blackmail. It's something far worse.

Someone is proving that ordinary people don't become monsters all at once. They become them one decision at a time.

As Detective Sarah Cole hunts a brilliant killer whose crimes never end with a single victim, Elaine discovers that escaping prison may require sacrificing the last piece of herself she has left.

Escalation is a relentless psychological thriller about guilt, manipulation, and the terrifying ease with which a single compromise can destroy a human soul.