A PULSE-POUNDING THRILLER THAT ASKS HOW FAR WE'RE WILLING TO SHED OUR MORALS IN ORDER TO HELP THE ONES WE LOVE.

It's 1978 in New York City, and disco is prominent. As are mobsters, gritty streets, needle parks and graffiti-stained subways.

Jake Barnum lives in Hell's Kitchen. He's a petty thief selling hot coats with his buddy Maggs to make ends meet and help his sick kid brother. At a Halloween party downtown, he meets a woman with a Marilyn Monroe mask who works for an organization called The Desire Card-an underground operation promising its exclusive clients "Any Wish Fulfilled for the Right Price."

As Jake becomes taken with its leader, a pseudo father and sociopath at heart, he starts stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. In other words...himself. But as he dives deeper in with the Card, begins falling love with Marilyn, and sees the money rolling in, clients' wishes start becoming more and more suspect-some leading to murder.

The first book in the Desire Card series, Immoral Origins follows those indebted to this sinister organization-where the ultimate price is the cost of one's soul.

"What happens when a sweet-talking, enigmatic killer seduces a small-time crook from Hell's Kitchen to join a diabolical scheme operated by a ruthless cabal masquerading as the silver screen's most glamorous stars? Lee Matthew Goldberg answers in this twisted and cinematic new series that hatches in a Koch-era New York stoked by drugs, greed and disco."

—Luke Jerod Kummer, author of Takers Mad and The Blue Period

"An atmospheric riveting thriller you won't be able to put down or easily forget. The late-Seventies setting was an inspired choice and while difficult to pull off, Goldberg does it convincingly. One of Goldberg's best."

- Terrence McCauley - Award-winning author of THE WANDERING MAN and THE MOSCOW PROTOCOL

"Better clear your calendar: when this book gets its hooks in you, there's no escaping. Jake is a classic Lee Matthew Goldberg character: a thief and a killer who gets you on his side by being the only genuine person in a world of snakes. A love story, a fast-paced thriller, a time warp to the bad old days of New York City, Immoral Origins is incredibly entertaining." -- Chris Rhatigan, All Due Respect Books publisher

“[Immoral Origins] is a book that crackles with energy from the opening sentence. It has more than enough twists to satisfy the most demanding of thriller-addicts, while having an emotional depth that will keep any discerning reader turning the pages. Definitely a must-read!”

Andrew Komarnyckyj, acclaimed author of Ezra Slef, The Next Nobel Laureate in Literature

Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of nine novels including THE ANCESTOR and THE MENTOR and the YA series RUNAWAY TRAIN. His books are in various stages of development for film and TV off of his original scripts. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the Prix du Polar. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared as a contributor in Pipeline Artists, LitHub, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Millions, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, LitReactor, Mystery Tribune, The Big Idea, Monkeybicycle, Fiction Writers Review, Cagibi, Necessary Fiction, Hypertext, If My Book, Past Ten, the anthology Dirty Boulevard, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Maudlin House, Underwood Press and others. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series and lives in New York City. Follow him at LeeMatthewGoldberg.com