The Assassin Awakens

A Double Life. A Deadly Talent. A Choice That Changes Everything.

Tasha Salen seems to have it all—a loving family, a respected career, and a quiet life in the suburbs. But when one violent act uncovers a buried instinct, she’s pulled into a world that demands secrecy, precision, and a cold willingness to kill. What starts as a coerced act of survival soon becomes something more: a test of who she really is, and what she’s capable of.

As Tasha navigates the high-stakes world of contract killing, the line between protector and predator begins to blur. Each mission forces her to balance the life she’s built with the one she’s becoming. And when her family is used as leverage, Tasha must decide how far she’s willing to go—and who she’s willing to become—to keep them safe.

Get your copy of The Assassin Awakens and experience a gripping psychological thriller that doesn’t let go.

Excerpt from the book

A hospital bed stood in the living room adjacent to the large picture window. The patient’s wife wanted the man to be able to enjoy the view of the outside world. That was a fantasy. Connor Braxton wasn’t aware that the window was even there. He hadn’t been aware of anything since his skull was struck at fifty-five miles an hour by the windshield of the car that hit him while he’d been jogging four years earlier.

Today the curtains on the window were closed, and that was unusual for this time of day. Very unusual. Conor’s loving wife never closed the curtains except at night. She wanted the natural light to shine in. She thought it was appealing, and this was one of the dozen little things she did, hoping it would bring Connor back to consciousness.

It didn’t matter what the physicians, therapists, and family members told her. She wouldn’t give up. Her Connor wasn’t gone; he’d be back, and that was the delusion that she lived in for the last four years.

It was one-thirty in the afternoon, and a young woman clipped a small pulse oximeter to Conor’s left index finger. The device started responding immediately, indicating that his heart rate was 84 beats per minute and oxygen saturation was 96%, very normal.

Moving to the head of the bed, she held in her hand the mask she’d removed from a bag valve mask device. This device was typically used in attempts to resuscitate someone who wasn’t breathing; today, its purpose was quite different. Attached to the mask was a six-inch length of blue corrugated medical tubing. The other end of the tube had a one-gallon storage bag secured with a rubber band. She’d made sure the bag was full of air before attaching it to the tube.

With her makeshift device ready, she gently placed the mask over Connor’s mouth and nose as he finished exhaling. The woman was careful not to use much pressure, just enough to keep an airtight seal between the face and the mask. She didn’t want medical responders seeing marks from the mask on his face.

Watching, she saw the storage bag deflate as Conor inhaled and reinflated when he exhaled.

When Conor inhaled his first breath, the air he pulled in contained 21% oxygen. The air he exhaled only had 16% oxygen. With every breath he took in, the percentage of oxygen he drew in decreased further.

It only took a few breaths for the amount of oxygen to no longer be able to maintain healthy cells. However, it took a little longer for his damaged brain to detect the problem and respond by increasing his respiratory rate. The faster breathing only sped up the consumption of the rapidly dwindling amount of oxygen.

The woman glanced at the pulse oximeter. With growing excitement, she watched as the oxygen saturation steadily decreased and the heart rate increased.

As her own pulse rate increased, she was aware of her grip tightening on the mask, and she forced herself to relax a little.