About The Book

A MEDICAL-SUPERNATURAL THRILLER

Excruciating

THE CURE FOR PAIN IS IN THE PAIN

Matthew Rix knows how to stop pain. As a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, controlling suffering is part of his profession. But after the death of his young son tears apart his marriage and leaves him trapped between grief, guilt, addiction, and rage, Matt discovers that some forms of pain cannot simply be put to sleep.

before the murder

THE Wound That never closed

Before the murder. Before the investigation. Before reality itself begins to fracture, there is Jacob.

The death of Matt Rix's young son leaves him carrying a burden he cannot anesthetize. His marriage to Emily deteriorates beneath grief, betrayal, anger, and unanswered questions. The discipline that once carried Matt through military service and into the operating room begins to fail him.

What remains is a man desperately searching for silence inside his own mind.

GRIEF

GUILT

BETRAYAL

Every path away from the pain leads Matt deeper into it.

TO STOP THE PAIN

HE LEARNS TO DISAPPEAR

Matt Rix has built his career around controlling consciousness and pain. But outside the operating room, grief begins eroding that control. As medication becomes an escape and his relationship with Marisol grows increasingly dangerous, the line between relief and dependence begins to disappear.

Card 01

CONTROL

In the operating room, precision is everything. Matt knows how to manage pain, consciousness, and risk.

Card 02

ESCAPE

What begins as relief becomes a way to silence the grief and guilt he cannot face.

Card 03

DEPENDENCE

Temporary escape turns into ritual, and the need for relief begins to control him.

Card 04

CONSEQUENCE

Secrets accumulate, professional boundaries collapse, and Matt’s private choices begin threatening everything around him.

Card 05

REDEMPTION

The pain never disappears. Healing begins only when Matt stops running from it and finally confronts what remains.

Card 06

TRUTH

The deeper Matt looks, the harder it becomes to separate hallucination, corruption, and something genuinely impossible.

ONE MURDER

CHANGES EVERYTHING

MARISOL CORDERO IS DEAD.

Marisol's death turns Matt Rix's private collapse into a murder investigation. Their secret relationship, his access to controlled substances, and his increasingly unstable personal life place him dangerously close to the center of the case.

But the deeper investigators look inside Benevolent Manor, the clearer one thing becomes:

Matt isn't the only one keeping secrets.

SOMETHING DOESN’T BELONG HERE

WHEN REALITY

BEGINS TO BREAK

Matt begins seeing things that should not exist. A frightened patient speaks of a mysterious red-haired woman who carries the scent of old fire. Impossible visions intrude on familiar hospital routines, while dreams and waking memories become increasingly difficult to separate.

The deeper Matt descends, the less certain he becomes of what is real.

IS MATT LOSING HIS MIND...

OR IS HE FINALLY SEEING THE TRUTH?

What begins as a murder investigation pushes Matt beyond grief, addiction, and human deception. As the impossible begins bleeding into the ordinary, he must confront a terrifying possibility: the darkness surrounding Benevolent Manor may be more than a product of his fractured mind.

Matthew and Marisol hide a relationship built around grief, desire, and shared opioid use, placing both of their careers at risk. At the same time, Jonah Cromwell conceals his involvement with Abigail Apollyon, a travel nurse whose control over him grows through humiliation, expensive gifts, and blackmail. Inside Benevolent Manor, intimacy becomes another form of leverage.

Fentanyl and other controlled medications are disappearing from the operating room. Matthew secretly diverts medication intended for patients, conceals loaded syringes beneath his scrubs, and injects himself while responsible for patients under anesthesia. When hospital leadership learns about the diversion, the missing drugs become evidence that can destroy careers, control witnesses, and redirect suspicion.

Detectives Will Chung and Elijah Gaddie begin reconstructing the night of Marisol’s murder through phone records, payroll times, hospital security footage, and conflicting witness statements. Matthew’s affair and addiction make him an obvious suspect, but his hospital alibi complicates the case. Attention gradually turns toward Jonah, whose knowledge of unreleased evidence, nervous behavior, cleaned office, and inconsistent explanations suggest that Benevolent Manor is hiding more than anyone first believed.

Hidden behind encrypted files is the Benevolent Manor Medical Executive Committee Charitable Donations Fund, a forgotten Swiss account originally intended to support charitable work. After discovering that the account has grown to more than one hundred million dollars, Jonah begins secretly withdrawing money to satisfy Abigail’s escalating demands. What begins as concealed theft develops into blackmail, fraud, and a threat capable of bringing down the hospital’s leadership.

HOW FAR TO ESCAPE THE PAIN?

Enter the world of Excruciating, where grief becomes addiction, secrets become dangerous, and a murder investigation begins exposing something far darker than anyone imagined.

As Matt Rix searches for the truth, the line between psychological collapse and supernatural evil begins to disappear.

ELIJAH GADDIE

Elijah reads people better than paperwork. His instincts begin pointing toward a threat no police procedure can explain.

Levi Solomon

Levi warns Matthew that something is wrong at Benevolent Manor. His knowledge becomes essential when ordinary explanations begin to fail.

Emily Rix

Emily and Matthew survive the loss of their son, but grief, resentment, and betrayal destroy what remains of their marriage.

MATTHEW RIX

A grieving father trapped by addiction, guilt, and rage. When Matthew witnesses something impossible during surgery, no one has reason to believe him.