Killing Is My Business Read online

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  The life and times of Raymond Electromatic owe a great deal to a great many people, and with a bit of luck I might even be able to remember enough of them to thank here.

  Thanks to Tor Books: Miriam Weinberg, Diana Gill, Irene Gallo, Patty Garcia, and everyone else who has worked on my books. Thanks also to Paul Stevens, who started this whole thing, and to Will Staehle who continues to make me look really good on the shelf. Take a moment and close this book and look at the cover. That’s all Will, under Irene’s direction. Geniuses, the pair of them.

  Thanks also to my agent, Stacia J.N. Decker of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency, whose advice, assistance, opinion, skills, talents, and above all friendship I not only value but call upon with a quite frankly terrifying frequency. You rock.

  And thanks to my wife, Sandra, for support and encouragement and advice and suggestions and ideas and infinite undying love. I love you!

  BY ADAM CHRISTOPHER

  THE EMPIRE STATE

  Empire State

  The Age Atomic

  THE SPIDER WARS

  Cold War

  The Burning Dark

  The Machine Awakes

  THE RAY ELECTROMATIC MYSTERIES

  Brisk Money

  Made to Kill

  Standard Hollywood Depravity

  Killing Is My Business

  ELEMENTARY

  The Ghost Line

  Blood and Ink

  DISHONORED

  The Corroded Man

  Seven Wonders

  Hang Wire

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ADAM CHRISTOPHER’s debut novel, Empire State, was SciFiNow’s Book of the Year and a Financial Times Book of the Year. The author of Made to Kill, Brisk Money, and Standard Hollywood Depravity lives in England. His other novels include The Age Atomic and The Burning Dark.

  Visit him online at www.adamchristopher.ac

  www.thelatrilogy.com, or sign up for email updates here.

  @ghostfinder

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  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Acknowledgments

  By Adam Christopher

  About the Author

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  KILLING IS MY BUSINESS

  Copyright © 2017 by Seven Wonders Limited

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design and illustration by Will Staehle / Unusual Co.

  A Tor Book

  Published by Tom Doherty Associates

  175 Fifth Avenue

  New York, NY 10010

  www.tor-forge.com

  Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.

  The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 978-0-7653-7920-7 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-1-4668-6716-1 (ebook)

  eISBN 9781466867161

  Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].

  First Edition: July 2017