Spotlight: 'Wasted' by David Darracott

In this week's Spotlight I'm sharing a suspense novel with you guys by David Darracott, the author of Internal Security. I'm very pleased to share Wasted with you and if, by the end of this post, you find yourself desperate to read it, let me know!

What if you had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to erase your past mistakes and failures? What would you risk to recover the years you’ve wasted? Jack Player desperately needs a break. Stuck in a dead-end job, with a busted marriage behind him, he’s broke and pushing forty. Facing too many days without meaning, he sees no future for himself—until his best friend suggests a way out, an easy, painless score to turn everything around. What could possibly go wrong?

I have a sense that quite a lot can and will go wrong!

Find David and Wasted online:
Author's website, Amazon, Goodreads

About the Author:

David Darracott is the author of novels and short stories, as well as nonfiction for magazines, television, and film productions.  A veteran writer, he holds a Masters degree in English and received a Hambidge Fellowship in 2009-2010, among other awards.  He also teaches seminars on writing the novel  and university classes in English.  Though fiction is his passion--first, last, and always--fly fishing and golf run a close second.  A graduate of Emory University, he lives in north Atlanta.


And just for you guys, I have a small excerpt from Wasted:

Despite the noisy tremor of the engine just a few feet from his head, he heard the door lock turn with a mechanical snap.  He looked up quickly, craving to see if it was day or night outside, because that was the only way to determine how long he'd been tied to the huge engine mounts.  He wasn’t sure of the time exactly, but thought it was four days. Long enough to lose track of time and feel like a prisoner for the first time in his life. Long enough to realize his fear of jail had come true after all. Long enough to think about the mistakes he’d made. 

I don’t know why he had to die.  I don’t know who killed him.  I hated the old guy, but I didn’t kill him. Yes, I killed the others, because they were shooting at me and I had no choice, but I didn’t kill him. 

The door opened with a clang and a blinding rectangle of light widened above him. So, the sun was high out there. Sweet daylight. A wave of salty air swirled through the engine room, and for a moment, it felt wonderful to have the stink of burning fuel washed from his nose, but the smell of the clean air filled him with longing for the outdoors, and despair quickly followed.A second later, the silhouette of a tall man filled the glare of the doorway. The silhouette bent down and put a plate of chili on the floor, pushed it forward with his foot, close enough, but not too close. He tried to ignore the food to demonstrate how well he was holding up, but he couldn't help himself. He couldn't remember the last time he ate, and he grabbed for the food, barely within reach of his tethered hands.The rope on his wrists was tied so tightly that his numb fingers could barely hold the plate. He got a bite up to his mouth, and despite spilling a few gobs on the floor, he managed to swallow enough to realize how hungry he was—hungrier than he’d ever been before.The silhouette slid a plastic jug of water across to him and gloated as he fumbled with the cap, sloshing water into his mouth carelessly, wasting some on his chest. 

"You look disgusting," the silhouette said. 

"Let’s tie you down here for a few days, and we'll see how pretty you look." 

"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad.” 

"You'd be begging by now." 

"Temper, temper. Just stay cool another day or so, and we'll let you go." 

"Yeah, sure." 

He drank half the water and tried not to spill any more. He would be thirsty again soon, and they hadn't brought him water often, so he needed to make it last.As his eyes adjusted  to the harsh glare, he saw a pistol stuck in the front of the silhouette’s shorts, but there was no way to get to it since the tether allowed him to reach only so far in any direction. 

"Everything's been going great since you were demoted,” the silhouette said."You'll never find it." 

"I can find the place, okay." 

"But you haven't yet. That’s why you're keeping me alive, right?  Insurance. To guide you in there." 

The silhouette looked down at him with an expression of contempt, an expression that became more malignant until it formed a sneer on the shadowy face. 

I know what you are thinking, what that mocking smile really means. You might need to use me one more time, but you don’t have to answer to me anymore.  Fool that I am, the only thing I can do is wait, and take it. 

The silhouette laughed. 

"I always knew you'd wind up on your knees somewhere.  A loser, at last." 

To that, he had no answer.

What do