Orconomics (The Dark Profit Saga, #1)

by J. Zachary Pike

Johan was the kind of physical specimen that inspires sculptors, clad in the kind of cutting-edge gear that inspires bankruptcy.

He was sick of drinking, and sick of being sober, and regretting that those were essentially the only two options he, and everyone else, ever had.

there’s always a choice. Choice is a constant.” Flinn grinned, a cold glint in his eye. “It’s consequences that vary.”

“You know, saying ‘no offense’ doesn’t count for much after saying something really offensive.”

Wherever you go, go because you decided to. Never let anyone cage you. Find your freedom.”

A long-forgotten thrill was creeping back into him, notes of excitement that rang in his voice and hummed in his bones. The open road was before him, with mysterious lands and unknown foes and treasures waiting to be discovered.

Of course, he had spent the last twenty years with the open road before him, and certainly there were plenty of unknown foes along his way. But now he had a task, a reason to roam, rewards to be reaped.

Not all who wander are lost; some a...

Some men were too proud to ever admit defeat; the closest they came to surrender was learning to keep their mouths shut.

“Marketing is its own kind of magic, is it not?” said Zurthraka. “An illusion that men pay to be fooled by.”

“No matter what strategies or maneuvers your adversary cloaks himself in, you cannot face him for so long without growing to know the man behind the mask.”

There is a critical distinction between fear and desperation. Fear is the knowledge that something dreadful might be, the awareness of a horrible possibility. Desperation is the knowledge that something dreadful isn’t just possible but probable, and that escaping misfortune is becoming increasingly unlikely.