The Marriage Pact

1

I come to on a Cessna, bumping through the air. My head is throbbing, and there is blood on my shirt. I have no idea how much time has passed. I look at my hands, expecting to see restraints, but there are none. Just an ordinary seatbelt looped around my waist. Who strapped me in? I don t even remember boarding the plane.

Through the open door of the cockpit, I see the back of the pilot s head. It s just the two of us. There is snow in the mountains, wind buffeting the plane. The pilot seems completely focused on his controls, shoulders tense.

I reach up and touch my head. The blood has dried, leaving a sticky mess. My stomach rumbles. The last thing I ate was the French toast. How long ago was that? On the seat beside me, I find water and a sandwich wrapped in wax paper. I open the bottle and drink.

I unwrap my sandwich ham and Swiss and take a bite. Shit. My jaw hurts too much to chew. Someone must have punched me in the face after I hit the ground.

Are we going home? I ask the pilot.

Depends on what you call home. We re headed to Half Moon Bay.

They didn t tell you anything about me?

First name, destination, that s about it. I m just a taxi driver, Jake.

But you re a member, right?

Sure, he says, his tone unreadable. Fidelity to the Spouse, Loyalty to The Pact. Till death do us part. He turns back just long enough to give me a look that warns me not to ask any more questions.

We hit an air pocket so hard my sandwich goes flying. An urgent beeping erupts. The pilot curses and frantically pushes buttons. He shouts something to air traffic control. We re descending fast, and I m clutching the armrests, thinking of Alice, going over our final conversation, wishing I d said so many things.

Then, suddenly, the plane levels out, we gain altitude, and all appears to be well. I gather the pieces of my sandwich from the floor, wrap the whole mess back up in the wax paper, and set it on the seat beside me.

Sorry for the

Michelle Richmond is the bestselling author of The Year of Fog, No One You Know, Hum: Stories, Golden State, Dream of the Blue Room, and the award-winning The Girl in the Fall-Away Dress. A native of Mobile, Alabama, she lives with her husband and son in San Francisco.

This fast-paced nail-biter goes in unpredictable directions. . . . It also raises thoughtful questions about individual agency and marital commitment. With strong writing, intriguing characters, and a compelling conceit, this psychological thriller seems destined for the top of summer reading lists. Recommended as a fresh voice for readers of Gillian Flynn or Ruth Ware. Library Journal (starred review)
 
Creepy and engrossing . . . [The Marriage Pact takes] readers deep into the heart of a marriage and exposes some of the darker drives, such as possession and control, that can lurk within even the most harmonious of unions. Booklist
 
A fun, can t-stop-eating-the-potato-chips kind of premise. The New York Times
 
A smart, searing and frightening look at modern love. Today
 
A high-concept, fast-moving thriller . . . a gripping and intriguing read. The Sunday Mirror

Riveting psychological suspense! This book will keep you up all night, while making you second-guess everything you know and everyone you ve ever loved. Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Right Behind You

A truly chilling thriller . . . It ranks with The Stepford Wives and Gone Girl as a terrifying look at what it really means to say I do. Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of Guilty Minds

The Marriage Pact is a tense, twisting, quirky novel of growing dread and a love story with a richly imagined relationship between a wife and husband. Michelle Richmond looks with a gimlet eye at our therapy-obsessed culture and wonders if the experts who claim to have all the cures might themselves need therapy. Gripping, thought-provoking, and irresistible. Dean Koontz, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Corner

Michelle Richmond is, simply put, a great storyteller. And The Marriage Pact, without gimmicks or tricks, is a