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Contention: A Novel of International Suspense and Intrigue
Silver Award Winner - Thriller / Suspense - Reader Views 2023/ 2024 Literary Contest
Looking for a suspense thriller about organized crime with lots of action and complex characters? Try Contention.
Fidelia Morales is supreme mobster in the world of organized crime, with international interests in prostitution, illicit drugs, gambling, payday loans, and money laundering. She also rules her outfit with an iron fist. How will she react when her sometime lover and top financial genius wants out?
Howard Knight has lived under Fidelia’s rigid control while he invested, scammed, or stole hundreds of millions in cyber currency for her and her criminal outfit, The Organization. But he craves freedom.
Will she let him wade into a new corporate espionage venture from a Caribbean Island? Can the notorious crime boss manipulate her on-and-off lover’s ambitions, and still realize a long-held dream of controlling one of the world’s largest publicly traded businesses?
Contention pits the aspirations of one against the unimaginable power and reach of the other, setting Multima Corporation’s CEO—Suzanne Simpson—squarely in their criminal crosshairs. Will the high-powered executive recognize signals of impending danger soon enough to defend the massive company she inherited?
“Contention is simply the perfect book. The plot is interesting and will hold your attention easily, and the characters are well-developed and fascinating in every situation.” — Kathy Stickles for Feathered Quill
Looking for a suspense thriller about organized crime with lots of action and complex characters? Try Contention.
Fidelia Morales is supreme mobster in the world of organized crime, with international interests in prostitution, illicit drugs, gambling, payday loans, and money laundering. She also rules her outfit with an iron fist. How will she react when her sometime lover and top financial genius wants out?
Howard Knight has lived under Fidelia’s rigid control while he invested, scammed, or stole hundreds of millions in cyber currency for her and her criminal outfit, The Organization. But he craves freedom.
Will she let him wade into a new corporate espionage venture from a Caribbean Island? Can the notorious crime boss manipulate her on-and-off lover’s ambitions, and still realize a long-held dream of controlling one of the world’s largest publicly traded businesses?
Contention pits the aspirations of one against the unimaginable power and reach of the other, setting Multima Corporation’s CEO—Suzanne Simpson—squarely in their criminal crosshairs. Will the high-powered executive recognize signals of impending danger soon enough to defend the massive company she inherited?
“Contention is simply the perfect book. The plot is interesting and will hold your attention easily, and the characters are well-developed and fascinating in every situation.” — Kathy Stickles for Feathered Quill
304 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 11, 2023
About the author
Gary D. McGugan
10 books157 followersAbout the author
I’m a former business leader, speaker and consultant who has always loved to read and tell stories.
I aim to write suspenseful and entertaining novels. I have nine published titles in a compelling series called The Multima Saga. Each plot is different, but each spins tales of the goings-on at senior levels of the fictional Multima Corporation.
Organized crime is another thread in all my stories. How criminal interests influence, infiltrate, and control many businesses around the globe has always fascinated me. My nefarious creation—The Organization—worms its way into all my novels.
Over the past fifty years, I’ve visited more than 50 countries and 650 cities on four continents, and when I left the corporate world, I had over 10,000 “contacts" from five different industries. So, I have no shortage of characters, stories, or life experiences when I write.
Join me as we travel the globe, peeking into the intriguing worlds of The Organization and Multima Corporation. I always recommend you start with Three Weeks Less a Day!
I’m a former business leader, speaker and consultant who has always loved to read and tell stories.
I aim to write suspenseful and entertaining novels. I have nine published titles in a compelling series called The Multima Saga. Each plot is different, but each spins tales of the goings-on at senior levels of the fictional Multima Corporation.
Organized crime is another thread in all my stories. How criminal interests influence, infiltrate, and control many businesses around the globe has always fascinated me. My nefarious creation—The Organization—worms its way into all my novels.
Over the past fifty years, I’ve visited more than 50 countries and 650 cities on four continents, and when I left the corporate world, I had over 10,000 “contacts" from five different industries. So, I have no shortage of characters, stories, or life experiences when I write.
Join me as we travel the globe, peeking into the intriguing worlds of The Organization and Multima Corporation. I always recommend you start with Three Weeks Less a Day!
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 21, 2023
As a newcomer to this author and series, I was not sure what to expect from Contention or from Mr. McGugan, but let me just say WOW! This is an incredible, fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat thriller that hits readers right from page one and will keep you thoroughly engrossed until the very end.
In Contention, readers are introduced, or re-introduced as the case may be, to this author's fabulously written characters as they continue their journey. Fidelia Morales is the leader of The Organization, which is one of the biggest groups to be found in the organized crime world. Howard Knight is the man who has lived a good part of his life under Fidelia’s control as he helped to scam and steal millions of dollars for this woman he might have once loved and her criminal organization. Finally, we have Suzanne Simpson, a rich, smart, and honest woman who is the executive of a huge company that seems to be caught in between Fidelia and Howard and their plans.
In this new installment of the series, Fidelia is attempting to run her huge organization, which has members leading groups in every part of the world with interests in any illegal activity you might be able to think of. While her goal is for everyone around her to pledge complete loyalty to her and the group, there is one person who wants only one thing from Fidelia and that is Howard. All he wants is to be free. To become closer to his goal he asks Fidelia to give him the opportunity to step away from her side and work on developing a new corporate espionage plan from the island of Aruba. A plan he tries to convince her will bring even more money into her business.
When Fidelia approves of the idea, she agrees to send Howard and her own longtime friend and financial wizard off to the Caribbean to start working on the new plan. Now she has to figure out a way to keep control of all that she needs to run her business while also finding a way to spy on and manipulate Howard and his new people from the outside. In addition, Fidelia is still trying to gain control of one of the world’s largest businesses, Multima Corporation, which is controlled by Suzanne - taking over Multima has been a dream of Fidelia’s for a very long time.
As these three people, and many others, work to achieve all that they want, the readers are gifted with an intricately woven and enthralling tale that is not be missed. Contention is so well-written and the author is able to keep control of all the different parts of the story and keep readers involved in every aspect of the plot through his excellent writing. The way each of the characters stories is interwoven with the others seems effortless as McGugan laces everything together and that makes the story an absolute joy to read. In addition, the characters and dialogue are excellent. Every single character, even down to the supporting cast, is interesting to read about and has a reason for being a part of the story.
Another thing that I absolutely loved was that, although this is the first story I have read from this series, there is just enough background given so that I knew exactly who each character was and how they were connected. While I would highly recommend reading the books in order...and I promise you that I am currently getting copies of the first six myself since this one is so great...it is not something that would be critical to enjoying this single book. You can begin on page one of Contention and fall right into the storyline and the background with very little effort and enjoy the book immensely.
Contention is simply the perfect book. The plot is interesting and will hold your attention easily and the characters are well-developed and fascinating in every situation. In short, this is a book and author that is definitely not to be missed. I have become a huge fan in a very short period of time and look forward to the next tale in the series.
Quill Says: Contention is an excellent addition to this series wrapped around Howard Knight. This book gives readers a riveting and suspenseful tale that they will not want to put down until the last page and one with an ending that guarantees us another installment, thank goodness.
In Contention, readers are introduced, or re-introduced as the case may be, to this author's fabulously written characters as they continue their journey. Fidelia Morales is the leader of The Organization, which is one of the biggest groups to be found in the organized crime world. Howard Knight is the man who has lived a good part of his life under Fidelia’s control as he helped to scam and steal millions of dollars for this woman he might have once loved and her criminal organization. Finally, we have Suzanne Simpson, a rich, smart, and honest woman who is the executive of a huge company that seems to be caught in between Fidelia and Howard and their plans.
In this new installment of the series, Fidelia is attempting to run her huge organization, which has members leading groups in every part of the world with interests in any illegal activity you might be able to think of. While her goal is for everyone around her to pledge complete loyalty to her and the group, there is one person who wants only one thing from Fidelia and that is Howard. All he wants is to be free. To become closer to his goal he asks Fidelia to give him the opportunity to step away from her side and work on developing a new corporate espionage plan from the island of Aruba. A plan he tries to convince her will bring even more money into her business.
When Fidelia approves of the idea, she agrees to send Howard and her own longtime friend and financial wizard off to the Caribbean to start working on the new plan. Now she has to figure out a way to keep control of all that she needs to run her business while also finding a way to spy on and manipulate Howard and his new people from the outside. In addition, Fidelia is still trying to gain control of one of the world’s largest businesses, Multima Corporation, which is controlled by Suzanne - taking over Multima has been a dream of Fidelia’s for a very long time.
As these three people, and many others, work to achieve all that they want, the readers are gifted with an intricately woven and enthralling tale that is not be missed. Contention is so well-written and the author is able to keep control of all the different parts of the story and keep readers involved in every aspect of the plot through his excellent writing. The way each of the characters stories is interwoven with the others seems effortless as McGugan laces everything together and that makes the story an absolute joy to read. In addition, the characters and dialogue are excellent. Every single character, even down to the supporting cast, is interesting to read about and has a reason for being a part of the story.
Another thing that I absolutely loved was that, although this is the first story I have read from this series, there is just enough background given so that I knew exactly who each character was and how they were connected. While I would highly recommend reading the books in order...and I promise you that I am currently getting copies of the first six myself since this one is so great...it is not something that would be critical to enjoying this single book. You can begin on page one of Contention and fall right into the storyline and the background with very little effort and enjoy the book immensely.
Contention is simply the perfect book. The plot is interesting and will hold your attention easily and the characters are well-developed and fascinating in every situation. In short, this is a book and author that is definitely not to be missed. I have become a huge fan in a very short period of time and look forward to the next tale in the series.
Quill Says: Contention is an excellent addition to this series wrapped around Howard Knight. This book gives readers a riveting and suspenseful tale that they will not want to put down until the last page and one with an ending that guarantees us another installment, thank goodness.
August 18, 2023
“Contention,” by Gary D. McGugan, is the latest book in his series of corporate intrigue and is a thrilling ride for fans of exciting crime dramas everywhere.
If you don’t know who top mobster Fidelia Morales is, you will meet her in this book, and you won’t soon forget her. She has her hands in drugs, prostitution, money laundering, gambling, modern slavery, even payday loans. She is not a gangster to be messed with and can make anyone wilt under her power. She and her former lover Howard Knight have an understanding that has worked for them, but what would she do if this wizard of the financial world wanted to bow out of the picture and be free of her? Yes, he’s done many nefarious things for her: cheating, scheming, scamming, stealing, cybercrimes—generating income in the millions. Now The Organization is something Howard wants to put behind him, but his freedom seems like an impossible dream. On the opposite side of the coin is Suzanne Simpson, the ethical CEO of Multima Corporation, who wants to do the right thing and expose how organized crime influences the corporate world. How will these intertwined fates collide? And can anyone truly escape the dark grasp of The Organization?
McGugan is the kind of writer you can’t wait to read, because his writing is so dependably solid. He takes his time with scenes, and characters, and details, yet plunges forward with the plot in a pace that excites you and leaves you wanting more. This crime novel is perfect for those who love mob stories, but it’s also a personal story, too—between the precarious dynamics of Fidelia and Howard, and Suzanne’s fight for justice. The differences between the three are what really drives the story.
It’s nice when you can trust an author to take you on a ride that you know holds a lot of character, heart, conflict, and high stakes ahead. The author’s use of multiple points of view, from Fidelia, Suzanne, and Howard, gives an objective and complete picture of how the story is unfolding. Things really ramp up a third of the way into the story, and Suzanne’s character really shines here as she is out to thwart organized crime.
The almost otherworldly aspect of mob life is so intriguing, but actually relatable in this story. McGugan knows how to bring the corporate world to life, making it seem more dramatic and dangerous than it probably is in reality, but that’s what’s so addicting about corporate novels. He teases the audience in a good way, keeping you guessing as to where the story will go and what the characters will do next. I like how he has threaded the pandemic through the story, to keep it real and show its effect on the corporate world.
This author is a naturally gifted storyteller that knows how to deliver, with detailed descriptions, good dialogue, and a sense of mystery. He grounds larger-than-life drama in small details and can build the feel of a character in just a few short sentences, like Howard’s near photographic memory, New Balance shoes, and encyclopedic knowledge of certain things. Aspiring writers can learn a lot from him. With its suspense, unexpected deaths, and big, well-rounded characters, emotion, and plot, you are in for an irresistible joyride.
If you don’t know who top mobster Fidelia Morales is, you will meet her in this book, and you won’t soon forget her. She has her hands in drugs, prostitution, money laundering, gambling, modern slavery, even payday loans. She is not a gangster to be messed with and can make anyone wilt under her power. She and her former lover Howard Knight have an understanding that has worked for them, but what would she do if this wizard of the financial world wanted to bow out of the picture and be free of her? Yes, he’s done many nefarious things for her: cheating, scheming, scamming, stealing, cybercrimes—generating income in the millions. Now The Organization is something Howard wants to put behind him, but his freedom seems like an impossible dream. On the opposite side of the coin is Suzanne Simpson, the ethical CEO of Multima Corporation, who wants to do the right thing and expose how organized crime influences the corporate world. How will these intertwined fates collide? And can anyone truly escape the dark grasp of The Organization?
McGugan is the kind of writer you can’t wait to read, because his writing is so dependably solid. He takes his time with scenes, and characters, and details, yet plunges forward with the plot in a pace that excites you and leaves you wanting more. This crime novel is perfect for those who love mob stories, but it’s also a personal story, too—between the precarious dynamics of Fidelia and Howard, and Suzanne’s fight for justice. The differences between the three are what really drives the story.
It’s nice when you can trust an author to take you on a ride that you know holds a lot of character, heart, conflict, and high stakes ahead. The author’s use of multiple points of view, from Fidelia, Suzanne, and Howard, gives an objective and complete picture of how the story is unfolding. Things really ramp up a third of the way into the story, and Suzanne’s character really shines here as she is out to thwart organized crime.
The almost otherworldly aspect of mob life is so intriguing, but actually relatable in this story. McGugan knows how to bring the corporate world to life, making it seem more dramatic and dangerous than it probably is in reality, but that’s what’s so addicting about corporate novels. He teases the audience in a good way, keeping you guessing as to where the story will go and what the characters will do next. I like how he has threaded the pandemic through the story, to keep it real and show its effect on the corporate world.
This author is a naturally gifted storyteller that knows how to deliver, with detailed descriptions, good dialogue, and a sense of mystery. He grounds larger-than-life drama in small details and can build the feel of a character in just a few short sentences, like Howard’s near photographic memory, New Balance shoes, and encyclopedic knowledge of certain things. Aspiring writers can learn a lot from him. With its suspense, unexpected deaths, and big, well-rounded characters, emotion, and plot, you are in for an irresistible joyride.
November 9, 2023
Again with the book that I am unable to put down due to having to know what's going to happen next. Gary McGugan makes it so easy to read his novels by keeping the chapters short, intense and very visual. I love how many different countries are involved and how the author uses excellent and intricate description of the surroundings to keep us right there with the subjects of the novel. I feel the sun, the rocky waters and the hot, hot humid days.
Personally I have had it with the "The Organization". The author inspires me to have as much of a distain for the corrupted individuals as he inspires me to have respect for their incredible ability to think outside of the box and create their plans with incredible precision. I often wonder "how are they going to take care of this one"? The depth of the information we receive and the amount of imagination the author uses to help us "get the picture" is amazing. I am always waiting to turn the page to see what's going to happen next. As well as the bad guys we certainly enjoy a nice sprinkling of the good guys, however, constantly wondering if the good guys will be taken down or if good really does overcome evil. Can't wait to see what happens in the next novel!
Personally I have had it with the "The Organization". The author inspires me to have as much of a distain for the corrupted individuals as he inspires me to have respect for their incredible ability to think outside of the box and create their plans with incredible precision. I often wonder "how are they going to take care of this one"? The depth of the information we receive and the amount of imagination the author uses to help us "get the picture" is amazing. I am always waiting to turn the page to see what's going to happen next. As well as the bad guys we certainly enjoy a nice sprinkling of the good guys, however, constantly wondering if the good guys will be taken down or if good really does overcome evil. Can't wait to see what happens in the next novel!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews