The Assistant (Emerald City Spies, Book 1) by Cheri Baker
Release date: November 11, 2018
Subgenre: Financial thriller, Spy thriller
About The Assistant:
How far would you go to get the life you’ve always dreamed of?
High up in Seattle’s most luxurious office tower, a powerful woman conceals a dangerous secret. As the CEO of a prestigious staffing firm, Dana Duke offers exquisitely trained executive assistants to the city’s business elite.
In corporate America, where the winner takes all, talent isn’t enough to guarantee a victory. That’s why Dana offers a unique set of services to her most ambitious clients: corporate espionage, psychological manipulation, and blackmail.
Meet Jessica Warne, a recent college grad determined to succeed on her own terms. Stuck in a dead-end job and drowning in student loan debt, she’s eager to climb the corporate ladder. When Dana offers her a chance at a better life, it seems her troubles might be over. But are they?
High up in Seattle’s most luxurious office tower, a powerful woman conceals a dangerous secret. As the CEO of a prestigious staffing firm, Dana Duke offers exquisitely trained executive assistants to the city’s business elite.
In corporate America, where the winner takes all, talent isn’t enough to guarantee a victory. That’s why Dana offers a unique set of services to her most ambitious clients: corporate espionage, psychological manipulation, and blackmail.
Meet Jessica Warne, a recent college grad determined to succeed on her own terms. Stuck in a dead-end job and drowning in student loan debt, she’s eager to climb the corporate ladder. When Dana offers her a chance at a better life, it seems her troubles might be over. But are they?
Excerpt:
The City
a
prologue
Let’s get one thing straight: Seattle doesn’t care about you.
Oh, we’ve got a reputation for being nice. A lie so old even the locals believe it. But our history speaks a sweeter truth. Seattle’s spirit was forged during the Klondike gold rush. We grew wealthy selling tents and food and sex to starry-eyed prospectors. And today? Different century, same game. Seattle’s always been a company town. We take someone with a vision— the profitable kind— and line up enough idealists to do the heavy lifting. They come cheap, and we’ve always had a knack for reeling them in. We thrived on that system, and we'll always thrive. We pushed gold, then wood, then airplanes, then software, then coffee, then websites that everyone laughed at. But who’s laughing now? Not us! Retail is dead, and houses here start at half a mil.
Progress is what we care about. Growth. Disruption. Change. A hundred years ago, when our hills dared be too tall, our businessmen ground the entire city into rubble, creating a platform upon which bigger and better things could grow. And if certain worthy individuals profit from a city’s transformation, from those cycles of destruction and re-creation, isn’t that only fair? After all, when we push out the old in favor of the new, and our smartest people grow richer, we honor a legacy that goes back to our very founding.
So tell us: What has your city done lately? Are you still waiting for your steel mill to rise from the dead? Or do you reminisce about the good old days while waiting for some smooth-talking politician to save you? Take some advice from the city that knows. Waiting is what kills you. Because winners don’t wait; they take.
Are you a winner? Come prove yourself in Seattle! Turn the wheel of commerce. Crush your competition. Destroy the powerful, relegating them to the past while you rise into glorious ascendancy. Take your seat at the table of power, and protect it from those who would seize it next. But remember, only the boldest are chosen.
Look now, and see our dark emerald city. Rain falls steadily on fourth avenue, making the concrete shine beneath the streetlights. A young woman hurries on her way to a job interview, her nervous expression half-hidden beneath a crimson umbrella. When she reaches the base of a gleaming black tower she looks up, feeling a heady mix of excitement and fear. This is her moment. Success, her only option.
Sensing something kindred in Jessica Warne, Seattle opens its eyes.
Her, the city says. I choose her.
Oh, we’ve got a reputation for being nice. A lie so old even the locals believe it. But our history speaks a sweeter truth. Seattle’s spirit was forged during the Klondike gold rush. We grew wealthy selling tents and food and sex to starry-eyed prospectors. And today? Different century, same game. Seattle’s always been a company town. We take someone with a vision— the profitable kind— and line up enough idealists to do the heavy lifting. They come cheap, and we’ve always had a knack for reeling them in. We thrived on that system, and we'll always thrive. We pushed gold, then wood, then airplanes, then software, then coffee, then websites that everyone laughed at. But who’s laughing now? Not us! Retail is dead, and houses here start at half a mil.
Progress is what we care about. Growth. Disruption. Change. A hundred years ago, when our hills dared be too tall, our businessmen ground the entire city into rubble, creating a platform upon which bigger and better things could grow. And if certain worthy individuals profit from a city’s transformation, from those cycles of destruction and re-creation, isn’t that only fair? After all, when we push out the old in favor of the new, and our smartest people grow richer, we honor a legacy that goes back to our very founding.
So tell us: What has your city done lately? Are you still waiting for your steel mill to rise from the dead? Or do you reminisce about the good old days while waiting for some smooth-talking politician to save you? Take some advice from the city that knows. Waiting is what kills you. Because winners don’t wait; they take.
Are you a winner? Come prove yourself in Seattle! Turn the wheel of commerce. Crush your competition. Destroy the powerful, relegating them to the past while you rise into glorious ascendancy. Take your seat at the table of power, and protect it from those who would seize it next. But remember, only the boldest are chosen.
Look now, and see our dark emerald city. Rain falls steadily on fourth avenue, making the concrete shine beneath the streetlights. A young woman hurries on her way to a job interview, her nervous expression half-hidden beneath a crimson umbrella. When she reaches the base of a gleaming black tower she looks up, feeling a heady mix of excitement and fear. This is her moment. Success, her only option.
Sensing something kindred in Jessica Warne, Seattle opens its eyes.
Her, the city says. I choose her.
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About Cheri Baker:
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