Discover The Ghost Contract
Book One of the Gripping Jack Mercer Series
Kemal Arslan ran because stopping meant dying. Kemal Arslan, a former financial fixer for ruthless criminals, is on the run after being betrayed and exposed. Wounded and hunted through a rain-soaked Istanbul alley, he knows powerful forces want him dead to protect a dangerous ledger. As Marek Volkov and his team close in using drones and surveillance, it becomes clear this pursuit is about silencing evidence, not just a man. Reaching his ransacked apartment, Kemal realizes he has little time left—but one last chance to act.
EXPLORE
The Ghost Contract
Five years ago, a truck crossed the median on I-64 and killed Jack Mercer’s wife and three children. He cashed the settlement check. He moved on. He never looked at the trucking company’s name twice.
He should have.
Jack is a former Force Recon Marine captain running a consulting firm in Washington — the quiet life of a man who left the war behind. Then a friend dies on a Swiss mountain with a data capsule taped to his rib and a piece of orange fabric clenched in his dead fist. His widow, Elena Markham — a former British intelligence analyst who spent twelve years reading signals at GCHQ — calls Jack with a single message: come to Geneva.
What they find in a Zurich safe-deposit box connects David’s murder to a global network that hides behind humanitarian charities, moves cargo through diplomatic corridors, and eliminates anyone who sees the machinery. The trucking company that killed Jack’s family is on the list. The collision on I-64 was not an accident. It was a line item.
Now Jack and Elena are being hunted across three countries. A car bomb in London. A sniper in a journalist’s living room. An encrypted warning from a man who signs with a single letter. The people running this system have been operating for decades, and they do not leave witnesses.
Jack has a Force Recon partner named Hawk who still knows how to make things disappear. Elena has a mind that can dismantle a financial conspiracy the way a surgeon disassembles a bomb. And somewhere in the shadows, a man Jack hasn’t spoken to in years is watching — feeding intelligence to a president who cannot act through official channels.
The Ghost Contract is the explosive first novel in the Jack Mercer Thriller Series — a fifteen-book saga of covert operations, espionage, and relentless action that begins on a frozen Swiss mountainside and never lets go.
Book 1 of the Jack Mercer Thriller Series. THE SENTINEL UNIT continues the story.
Video Trailer:
https://youtu.be/3SNbMrsouqM
The Characters
- Jack Mercer – Former Force Recon Marine captain who walked away from war after losing his wife and three children, until a hidden conspiracy forces him back into the fight.
- Elena Markham –Former British intelligence analyst with twelve years at GCHQ; highly skilled at decoding signals and dismantling complex financial conspiracies.
- Hawk –Jack's former Force Recon partner, still connected to the covert world and capable of making problems disappear.
- David Markham – Elena's husband and Jack's friend, whose mysterious death triggers the investigation into the global network.
The Plot
- The Hidden Connection – Jack discovers that the trucking company responsible for his family's fatal crash was connected to a much larger global network.
- The Swiss Discovery — After David's death, Jack and Elena uncover evidence hidden inside a Zurich safe-deposit box.
- The Hunt Begins — Jack and Elena are pursued across multiple countries as the people behind the network attempt to silence them.
- The Ghost Contract — Jack, Elena, and their allies must expose the network before they become its next victims.
Message From Author
Thank you for reading The Ghost Contract — Book 1 of The Jack Mercer Thriller Series.
If you found yourself wondering how it all began—
Why was David Markham killed?
and who is truly pulling the strings behind the curtain—
Then the story starts earlier than you think.
Before the conspiracy surfaced…
before the investigation began…
There was a signal.
As a thank-you for reading, I’m offering you a complimentary copy of the prequel novella:
The Zurich Protocol
To receive your free copy:
- Visit my website:
www.GaryGCochran.com - Click Join the Reader List
- Enter your name and email address.
- Click Join Now
Your free download link will be sent to your email immediately.
I hope you enjoy the story.
If you enjoyed The Ghost Contract, we would appreciate it if you could take a moment to leave a brief review on Amazon. Your thoughts help other readers discover the Jack Mercer series—and they mean a great deal to me.
— Gary G. Cochran