I got my first credit card before I even had a high school diploma. I moved out on my own shortly thereafter, living paycheck to paycheck, and that little piece of plastic felt like salvation. I quickly signed up for three more cards, using them for food I couldn’t otherwise afford and small creature comforts in an otherwise squalid life.
Then I missed a payment. The penalties piled up faster than I could ever hope to pay, and the debt collectors began circling.
Debt: A Manic Expression Story is a noir-inspired thriller I first wrote in 2006 and published in the original Manic Expression collection. By then I was just starting to claw my way out of a crippling financial hole following seven long years of harassment.
Anyone who’s ever been on the receiving end knows how vicious collection agents can be. The ones I dealt with called at all hours, whispering and growling threats that all but promised broken legs. It wasn’t just pestering — it was intimidation that boarded on the criminal.
What Debt is about: Frank Crews is a single father struggling to provide for his young son, but a history of bad credit keeps him trapped at the bottom. One day, a ruthless debt collector delivers an ultimatum: murder a stranger or appear in court and watch his creditors destroy what little he has left. Terrified of losing his son, Frank storms a luxury high-rise one rain-soaked afternoon armed with a stolen gun. But when the hit goes sideways, he must decide whether to carry out the assignment… or turn the weapon on the people trying to control his destiny.
The long, strange road to this release: This first wave of Manic Expression stories belongs to Volume 1 – Reflections. You’ll notice a recurring theme: single fathers fighting to do right by their kids. I became a dad at 22. Having struck out on my own as a teenager with no safety net, I made plenty of desperate, rash decisions. By the time my child was born, I wasn’t in a strong position to provide.
Debt is an indictment of a failed system. Young people, barely adults, enter into financial commitments that can haunt the rest of their lives. Credit cards. Student loans. Outrageous interest rates. My generation found the American Dream to be just out of reach. For our children, it’s even further away.
I wrote Debt over the course of a single week, fueling myself with Hitchcock films and classic noir thrillers. I wanted that claustrophobic tension, but infused with the raw desperation I felt every time the phone rang and another threat hissed through the line. This wasn’t the mafia — but their tactics weren’t far off.
Twenty years after I first wrote Debt, the world has only grown harsher for the young and the penniless. Debt has become a modern form of indentured servitude, and the powerful have only grown more creative at keeping people trapped.
Grab your copy today!
I’d love to hear your thoughts — and have you ever had to deal with debt collectors yourself?
Another new story drops next week!
James Daniel Walsh
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