About the Books
ELEGANTLY WASTED (Wasted #1)
On the eve of her high school graduation, proper socialite Francesca “Frankie” Fairholm rebelled against her elitist and controlling family to pursue the dark lifestyle of a contract killer for the enigmatic Osiris Corporation. Years later, with her training complete, she believes she's doomed to the life of a sociopathic lone gun until a botched hit brings two unlikely allies, her cousins Addison and Katharine.
Using Katharine’s etiquette school, Elegance, Inc., as a front, the trio weave through Frankie’s dark underworld, carrying out contracts, drinking too much wine, and trying not to get each other killed.
Trouble follows the team home when the death of the cruel Fairholm matriarch reveals more than they ever wanted to know about their family. As the funeral preparations play out, the trio begin to realize there is much more to their employer than meets the eye and their family connections run deeper than they ever imagined.
Elegantly Wasted: Amazon | Goodreads | Series Website
On the eve of her high school graduation, proper socialite Francesca “Frankie” Fairholm rebelled against her elitist and controlling family to pursue the dark lifestyle of a contract killer for the enigmatic Osiris Corporation. Years later, with her training complete, she believes she's doomed to the life of a sociopathic lone gun until a botched hit brings two unlikely allies, her cousins Addison and Katharine.
Using Katharine’s etiquette school, Elegance, Inc., as a front, the trio weave through Frankie’s dark underworld, carrying out contracts, drinking too much wine, and trying not to get each other killed.
Trouble follows the team home when the death of the cruel Fairholm matriarch reveals more than they ever wanted to know about their family. As the funeral preparations play out, the trio begin to realize there is much more to their employer than meets the eye and their family connections run deeper than they ever imagined.
Elegantly Wasted: Amazon | Goodreads | Series Website
UNCONTROLLABLY WASTED (Wasted #2)
“I needed to learn to be less melodramatic, but it was hard in this family.”
It’s been a year since Francesca Fairholm met the rest of the Osiris team and the company heads, her two half brothers Nero and Lex. As they groom her for leadership, it’s all Frankie can do to keep her cynical sarcasm in check as she starts training two new Strikers, avoids the romantic advances of Spark Dawson, and does her best to pry a little family history from her cold, distant Aunt Alexa.
With the pressure of her secret dual life building and her mother acting strangely, Frankie’s sanity is pushed to the brink when she makes a grisly discovery that shakes the young Striker to her core. Despite her cousins’ fear that her panic attacks signal a full mental breakdown, Frankie is positive she’s not crazy. Finding clarity in her personal investigation into Osiris’s origins, she uncovers more about the company than she would rather know.
As her life starts to unravel, things get deadly and, before she knows it, she’s facing down an old target’s pissed-off widow, an unstoppable mercenary, and the one thing she’s most terrified of admitting to herself. It’s possible the whole situation won’t explode in her face. Yeah, like Frankie has that kind of luck.
Uncontrollably Wasted: Amazon | Goodreads | Series Website
“I needed to learn to be less melodramatic, but it was hard in this family.”
It’s been a year since Francesca Fairholm met the rest of the Osiris team and the company heads, her two half brothers Nero and Lex. As they groom her for leadership, it’s all Frankie can do to keep her cynical sarcasm in check as she starts training two new Strikers, avoids the romantic advances of Spark Dawson, and does her best to pry a little family history from her cold, distant Aunt Alexa.
With the pressure of her secret dual life building and her mother acting strangely, Frankie’s sanity is pushed to the brink when she makes a grisly discovery that shakes the young Striker to her core. Despite her cousins’ fear that her panic attacks signal a full mental breakdown, Frankie is positive she’s not crazy. Finding clarity in her personal investigation into Osiris’s origins, she uncovers more about the company than she would rather know.
As her life starts to unravel, things get deadly and, before she knows it, she’s facing down an old target’s pissed-off widow, an unstoppable mercenary, and the one thing she’s most terrified of admitting to herself. It’s possible the whole situation won’t explode in her face. Yeah, like Frankie has that kind of luck.
Uncontrollably Wasted: Amazon | Goodreads | Series Website
WASTELAND (Wasted #2.5)
Inside the halls of Osiris, the men and women who make the contract killing agency tick polish their weapons and hone their skills. But how did they start working for Nero and Lex in the first place, and when did they find out they were destined to kill people for a living?
Before Frankie Fairholm let you into her crazy, dysfunctional world of murder for hire, the lives of these men and women were already in danger. Their training was put to the test alongside their morals.
A troubled Catholic school girl with a penchant for murder, a naive con-woman in over her head, a driven socialite with a bad day that keeps getting worse, an assassin second-guessing his sworn oath... being a contract killer doesn’t mean you aren’t human, it just means your humanity is hard to find, and probably a bit tarnished.
Wasteland: Amazon | Goodreads | Series Website
Inside the halls of Osiris, the men and women who make the contract killing agency tick polish their weapons and hone their skills. But how did they start working for Nero and Lex in the first place, and when did they find out they were destined to kill people for a living?
Before Frankie Fairholm let you into her crazy, dysfunctional world of murder for hire, the lives of these men and women were already in danger. Their training was put to the test alongside their morals.
A troubled Catholic school girl with a penchant for murder, a naive con-woman in over her head, a driven socialite with a bad day that keeps getting worse, an assassin second-guessing his sworn oath... being a contract killer doesn’t mean you aren’t human, it just means your humanity is hard to find, and probably a bit tarnished.
Wasteland: Amazon | Goodreads | Series Website
TOTALLY WASTED (Wasted #3)
Welcome to family therapy, Fairholm style.
When Osiris headquarters fell, Frankie ran away with Spark Dawson, hoping the open ocean would wash the chaos of her life away. The Nameless, and her own primal urges, soon intrude and before Frankie knows it, she and Spark are traveling to Hong Kong to face what’s left of the company.
There she finds her entire family under the protection of the Sha Lù. Kat and Addi are pissed, Nero has given up, Judah won’t let anyone leave, and her mother and aunts are getting along for once in their lives. Things are weird.
Because Frankie’s life is never complicated enough, Spark becomes dead set on uncovering the deadly secrets Judah hid from him–and gets more than anyone bargained for in the answers he discovers.
Tensions are high and morality is low as Frankie starts unraveling the threads that bind them all together. As old ghosts haunt her thoughts and new enemies dance just outside her reach, she has choices to make that determine the future of everyone she knows. Now all she has to do is convince everyone she knows what she’s doing.
After all, if Osiris doesn’t fight the Nameless, they’ll all have to hide behind the Sha Lù for the rest of their lives...and the wine supply is running out.
Totally Wasted: Amazon | Goodreads | Series Website
Welcome to family therapy, Fairholm style.
When Osiris headquarters fell, Frankie ran away with Spark Dawson, hoping the open ocean would wash the chaos of her life away. The Nameless, and her own primal urges, soon intrude and before Frankie knows it, she and Spark are traveling to Hong Kong to face what’s left of the company.
There she finds her entire family under the protection of the Sha Lù. Kat and Addi are pissed, Nero has given up, Judah won’t let anyone leave, and her mother and aunts are getting along for once in their lives. Things are weird.
Because Frankie’s life is never complicated enough, Spark becomes dead set on uncovering the deadly secrets Judah hid from him–and gets more than anyone bargained for in the answers he discovers.
Tensions are high and morality is low as Frankie starts unraveling the threads that bind them all together. As old ghosts haunt her thoughts and new enemies dance just outside her reach, she has choices to make that determine the future of everyone she knows. Now all she has to do is convince everyone she knows what she’s doing.
After all, if Osiris doesn’t fight the Nameless, they’ll all have to hide behind the Sha Lù for the rest of their lives...and the wine supply is running out.
Totally Wasted: Amazon | Goodreads | Series Website
Top Ten Movies about Assassins/Contract Killers
10. Pulp Fiction: I dig Quentin Tarantino and while this movie isn’t a “contract killer” movie per say, it does have my two favorite contract killers in it: Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield. Their dialog is some of the best in recent film.
9. You Kill Me: Dark comedy really hits the mark… haha see what I did there? Great cast, great acting. If I had to pick a movie that mirrors concepts in the Wasted Series, it would be this… alcoholics anonymous meets Hitman.
8. Collateral: this movie triggered a concept for me in my own writing… what happens when a psychopath crosses paths with an ordinary dude who has to help him? Action, suspense… and Tom Cruise in probably one of his better roles.
7. Kill Bill: in a world with minimal female assassin leads, this movie reigns in a super powered punch. Not one, but a whole cast of killer women is a movie after my own heart. The bride on her revenge spree is one of the best stories Tarantino has told… and hey, the concept isn’t entirely his- it’s also the brainchild of Uma Thurman herself.
6. The Killers (1946): Film noir is what it’s all about here. While this movie has been remade a few times, the original is worth the watch. Two hitmen show up in a small town and hold a diner hostage waiting for a mark… based on a short story by Hemingway, the movie branches out where the short story ends and digs into the story of the target…
5. Bangkok Dangerous (2000): I’ve always been a fan of this film about a deaf assassin… super interesting concept that’s stylish and well acted. The imagery is beautiful, and while it has some flaws, I enjoyed the plot. Note: this is the original, not the Nicolas Cage version.
4. Léon: The Professional: I’m a major Luc Besson fan (hello, Fifth Element), and this movie is a favorite for obvious reasons. Little girl befriends a hitman after her family is killed. If you like watching wounded souls heal… this is the movie for you. Gary Oldman is also the best psycho there is.
3. In Bruges: This has been a steady favorite of mine for years. A movie I will always remember my little sister calling “in broojes.” Great storyline, great dialog, funny with good characters.
2. John Wick: I was super surprised to fall in love with this movie. While I’m a confessed Keanu Reeves fan girl, I had a feeling it would be just another pointless action movie that, while fun, wasn’t much for content. I was wrong. THIS MOVIE. It sent me through the ringer of emotional trauma, and Reeves is pretty much my perfect assassin.
1. Grosse Pointe Blank: I will always have a spot in my heart for this movie, and it’s been my solid number one since I first saw it back in ’97. I believe this is why I was inspired to write a book about a contract killer who ends up developing a conscience. Martin Blank, the self-improving assassin, is the glue for my construction of a more unique contract killer: more vulnerable than threatening.
9. You Kill Me: Dark comedy really hits the mark… haha see what I did there? Great cast, great acting. If I had to pick a movie that mirrors concepts in the Wasted Series, it would be this… alcoholics anonymous meets Hitman.
8. Collateral: this movie triggered a concept for me in my own writing… what happens when a psychopath crosses paths with an ordinary dude who has to help him? Action, suspense… and Tom Cruise in probably one of his better roles.
7. Kill Bill: in a world with minimal female assassin leads, this movie reigns in a super powered punch. Not one, but a whole cast of killer women is a movie after my own heart. The bride on her revenge spree is one of the best stories Tarantino has told… and hey, the concept isn’t entirely his- it’s also the brainchild of Uma Thurman herself.
6. The Killers (1946): Film noir is what it’s all about here. While this movie has been remade a few times, the original is worth the watch. Two hitmen show up in a small town and hold a diner hostage waiting for a mark… based on a short story by Hemingway, the movie branches out where the short story ends and digs into the story of the target…
5. Bangkok Dangerous (2000): I’ve always been a fan of this film about a deaf assassin… super interesting concept that’s stylish and well acted. The imagery is beautiful, and while it has some flaws, I enjoyed the plot. Note: this is the original, not the Nicolas Cage version.
4. Léon: The Professional: I’m a major Luc Besson fan (hello, Fifth Element), and this movie is a favorite for obvious reasons. Little girl befriends a hitman after her family is killed. If you like watching wounded souls heal… this is the movie for you. Gary Oldman is also the best psycho there is.
3. In Bruges: This has been a steady favorite of mine for years. A movie I will always remember my little sister calling “in broojes.” Great storyline, great dialog, funny with good characters.
2. John Wick: I was super surprised to fall in love with this movie. While I’m a confessed Keanu Reeves fan girl, I had a feeling it would be just another pointless action movie that, while fun, wasn’t much for content. I was wrong. THIS MOVIE. It sent me through the ringer of emotional trauma, and Reeves is pretty much my perfect assassin.
1. Grosse Pointe Blank: I will always have a spot in my heart for this movie, and it’s been my solid number one since I first saw it back in ’97. I believe this is why I was inspired to write a book about a contract killer who ends up developing a conscience. Martin Blank, the self-improving assassin, is the glue for my construction of a more unique contract killer: more vulnerable than threatening.
About the Author
C. Elizabeth Vescio is the author of the Wasted Series and Adventures of the Dress. She published her first book, Elegantly Wasted in 2012. Cara is also a photographer, gamer, cosplayer and animal enthusiast. She lives in Las Vegas with her husband and four mutts. She’s passionate about Shakespeare, Paul Simon and Loki as portrayed by Tom Hiddleson.
Author Links: Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Wasted Series Website
Author Links: Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Wasted Series Website
Giveaway
