The Victim. Kimberley Chambers

The Victim - Kimberley  Chambers


Скачать книгу
d="ueb7434ee-dd2c-532e-a7f7-cc8073de9217">

      

THE VICTIM

       Copyright

      Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd The News Building 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published in Great Britain by Preface Publishing 2010

      Published by Arrow Books 2014

      This edition published by Harper 2017

      Copyright © Kimberley Chambers 2010

      Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2017 Cover photographs © Shutterstock.com (woman); Bemjamin Harte/Arcangel Images (background).

      Kimberley Chambers asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Source ISBN: 9781409051282

      Ebook Edition © Jan 2017 ISBN: 9780008228712

      Version: 2016-12-05

Dedication

       Epigraph

      A strong, successful man is not the victim of his environment. He creates favourable conditions. His own inherent force and energy compel things to turn out as he desires.

Orison Swett Marden

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

      Copyright

      Dedication

      Epigraph

      Prologue

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Chapter Nineteen

       Chapter Twenty

       Chapter Twenty-One

       Chapter Twenty-Two

       Chapter Twenty-Three

       Chapter Twenty-Four

       Chapter Twenty-Five

       Chapter Twenty-Six

       Chapter Twenty-Seven

       Chapter Twenty-Eight

       Chapter Twenty-Nine

       Chapter Thirty

       Chapter Thirty-One

       Chapter Thirty-Two

       Chapter Thirty-Three

       Chapter Thirty-Four

       Chapter Thirty-Five

       Chapter Thirty-Six

       Chapter Thirty-Seven

       Chapter Thirty-Eight

       Chapter Thirty-Nine

       Chapter Forty

       Chapter Forty-One

       Acknowledgements

       Keep Reading …

       About the Author

       Also by Kimberley Chambers

       About the Publisher

       PROLOGUE

      Trussed up like a dead chicken, the man was in agony as he lay on the cold, concrete floor. His left arm was definitely broken, and he suspected his right leg could be as well. As his captor picked up the gun and pointed it at him, the man shut his eyes. His colourful life had finally caught up with him; there was no way out this time. Images of his family flashed through the man’s mind. He pictured his beautiful wife and children whom he loved so very much. He wasn’t afraid of death – he never had been – but he was very afraid of never seeing his family again.

      Laughing at the man, his captor aimed a kick at his head and put the gun back down on the floor. The captor had waited years for this moment and he wanted to torture his prey as much as possible before he finally killed him off.

      The man opened his eyes again. Every second that passed seemed like a minute and every minute like an hour.

      Out of the shadows, the captor’s accomplice reappeared. ‘You not killed him yet? What you waiting for?’ he asked.

      The captor laughed, his tone full of evil. ‘I was waiting for you. I thought you’d wanna watch the cunt take his last breath an’ all,’ he replied, picking up the gun once more.

      The man clenched his eyes firmly shut as he felt the steel of the metal barrel pushed into his temple. This was it now, and with his past sins, he wondered if God would accept him in heaven or banish him to hell.

      The captor put his finger on the trigger and ordered the man to open his eyes. He wanted to feel his anguish, see his fright.

      ‘Wanna make one last wish?’ he said mockingly.

      ‘Go fuck yourself,’ the man croaked. He had never bowed down to anyone in his life and he wasn’t about to start doing it on his deathbed. If he was going


Скачать книгу