The Job — Douglas Kennedy

THE PAY WAS GOOD
Several years into his career as an ad salesman for a successful computer magazine, Ned Allen seems to have it all: an ambitious, beautiful wife, a fabulous Manhattan apartment, a clear view of the top of the corporate ladder. Until he's faced with a seemingly clear-cut moral choice, that is, his company sold, and Ned suddenly, brutally fired. Empty-handed, on the verge of losing his marriage, he is at the end of his rope when salvation occurs in the unlikely form of an old high school friend who is working for Jack Ballantine, a former real estate tycoon with a shady past who has recently made a much-heralded, public comeback.

THE PRICE WAS MURDER
Against his better judgment, Ned accepts a job working for Ballantine's latest venture, an offshore private equity fund, telling himself it's just another job. But all too soon, he realizes the repercussions of his Faustian bargain, as it turns out that Ballantine has other uses for Ned, including blackmail, illegal banking activities... and murder.