# Ward Kessling

> Ward Kessling writes dark, fast contract-killer thrillers. His Lot 31 series follows a lone professional killer through Europe and North America. It is for readers of Mark Greaney's Gray Man and Tom Wood's Victor the Assassin.

## Books
- [Balance Due: A Lot 31 Thriller (Book 1)](https://wardkessling.com/): A contract killer called Gerald completes a job on Hamburg's Blankenese beach exactly as described. When the second half of his fee never arrives, he comes back to Hamburg to find out who decided not to pay and why. His client's private security firm and Detective Ole Jessen are both hunting him, from a hotel fire stair in Hamburg to a thatched house at the edge of the North Sea. Tagline: "He came back for what he was owed."
- Status: coming soon on Kindle. The release date and Kindle Unlimited availability are not yet confirmed.
- Genre: hitman/assassin thriller, international crime thriller, noir. Setting: Hamburg and Sylt, Germany.
- [Hammer Price: A Lot 31 Thriller (Book 2)](https://wardkessling.com/#coming-next): Eight years ago he made a man's death look like an accident on a frozen lake. Now someone wants him to do it again. In spring in the Adirondacks, a Basel coin dealer's catalog offers Gerald two million euros for a second death on the same lake, and the offer isn't what it seems.
- Status: coming soon. No release date is set. It can be read on its own.
- Series order: 1. Balance Due, 2. Hammer Price.
- Genre: hitman/assassin thriller, crime thriller. Setting: Saranac Lake and the Adirondacks, New York.

## Readers may also enjoy (comparison only, no affiliation)
- The Gray Man by Mark Greaney
- Victor the Assassin by Tom Wood
- John Rain by Barry Eisler
- The Butcher's Boy by Thomas Perry
- John Milton by Mark Dawson
- Gabriel Allon by Daniel Silva
- Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz

## Links
- Website: https://wardkessling.com/
- X: https://x.com/wardkessling