Thriller Spotlight & Guest Post: True Target by Austin S. Camacho

"She is not hunting targets. She is dismantling an empire."

In a city where power is currency and corruption hides in plain sight, justice rarely comes clean. True Target by Austin S. Camacho delivers a hard-hitting thriller that blends relentless action with psychological depth, following an assassin who lives by her own rules in a world determined to break them. Today, I am excited to welcome Austin S. Camacho for a Spotlight and Guest Post as he takes us inside the heart of True Target — a story where vengeance, survival, and moral boundaries collide, and every decision leaves a mark.

🔻 Keep scrolling to enter the giveaway! 🔻

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📝 All About the Book

True Target
By Austin S Camacho
Published by Audecyn Books on November 2025
Genres: Crime, Thriller
Formats: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 453

Skye Maddox is a ruthless yet principled professional assassin who lives by a single rule: the target must deserve it. When a wealthy shipping magnate hires her to avenge his son's death at the hands of a brutal gang, Skye takes on a contract unlike any other-a ladder of escalating targets leading to the mysterious kingpin known only as Hetman.

From seedy motel rooms to high-end hotels and lavish suburban estates, Skye infiltrates, disguises, and strikes with lethal precision. Her first hit, an MS-13 enforcer, sets in motion a chain of events that draws the attention of Judge Jacob Goldsmith, a compromised jurist whose hidden connections put him in Skye's path, and Detective Orson Rissik, a dogged investigator piecing together threads of a shadowy criminal empire.

Even as she eliminates targets and uncovers layers of corruption, Skye wrestles with her own haunted past-childhood trauma, the murder of her brother, and her fragile attempts at self-understanding through secret therapy sessions. Each encounter tests her discipline, her humanity, and her vow to strike only where justice has already failed.

But Hetman's vision is more dangerous than personal vendetta: he is uniting rival gangs and global mafias into a single cartel with reach across continents. As Skye closes in, allies and enemies blur, and the line between avenger and criminal grows razor thin. To complete her mission, she must decide whether she's truly an agent of justice-or just another weapon for hire.

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Excerpt from True Target

Skye Maddox is not a reckless killer. She is deliberate, disciplined, and guided by a personal doctrine that shapes every decision she makes. In this excerpt from True Target, Austin S. Camacho gives us a glimpse into Skye’s mindset — and the rules she lives by — as she reflects on her work and the line she believes separates justice from chaos.

When Jayla stood, Skye raised a palm to stop her. “Yes. Yes, all right. I just finished an assignment, but it was part of a larger contract so I’m feeling like both the situations you mentioned. I’m on the job, and I just took a player off the board.”

Jayla jotted in her notebook. She always collected the euphemisms Skye used for her profession. “So, tell me about this latest assignment. How do you feel about this player you’ve taken off the board? Was it, in your mind, a just action?”

“You always want to go there,” Skye said, shaking her head. “What did I tell you? The first rule of the assassin’s doctrine. The target has got to deserve it.”

“Oh, yes,” Jayla said with a half-smile. “Your job, while criminal, does have rules.”

“I misspoke earlier,” Skye said, sliding a slim dagger out of her boot. “It’s not a job. It’s a profession. All professions have their rules. For doctors, rule number one is ‘do no harm’, right? For an assassin, it’s that the target has got to deserve it.” Skye began to absently flip the dagger in the air, catching it by its tip each time.

“In this case, this bastard kidnapped my client’s son. I don’t know how they got him. My client kept his family totally under the radar. But once he got the ransom demand, the client agreed to pay, and the ransom money was in transit but not fast enough to suit the kidnappers. They killed the boy, I think just to make a point. Just to be snotty. The action took place overseas and no way the police would ever have gotten close to the killer.”

Jayla nodded. “I think I understand. So, you were hired to…”

“Correct the balance,” Skye said, standing.

 

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📚 Where to Find True Target

Available on Amazon

🛒 KINDLE  |  PAPERBACK 

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🛍️ You can also purchase True Target from your favorite indie bookstore online.

Bookshop.org is an excellent option that supports indie authors—and book bloggers like me—while avoiding the big-box route.

Also Available on B & N

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🖋️ Guest Post by Austin S. Camacho

Skye Maddox may live by a strict professional code, but the world she moves through is anything but orderly. Her story is driven not just by action, but by the emotional weight of her choices and the consequences that follow. In today’s guest post, Austin S. Camacho takes us deeper into the heart of True Target, sharing what truly defines Skye, the journey she is forced to take, and the questions that lie at the center of this high-stakes thriller.

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What’s True Target all about?

True Target is an action thriller with a twist. It explores the mental and emotional state of its protagonist – a young African American woman named Skye Maddox who makes her living as a professional assassin.

Skye is no ordinary killer for hire—she is meticulous, principled, and views her work as both a profession and a challenge. Hired by Milo Williams, a grieving father whose son was murdered after a botched kidnapping, Skye is tasked with eliminating everyone responsible. Milo provides her a starting point, but the real mission is to climb the ladder of crime, one target at a time, until she reaches the true mastermind.

As she works her way through the criminal underworld of Washington, D.C., Skye’s assignments pit her against violent gang members, corrupt judges, and ruthless mob bosses. Each step forces her deeper into a deadly web of organized crime, Yakuza involvement, and betrayal. Along the way, she gains reluctant allies—like Brandon, a terrified mouthpiece for a mobster who wants out, and her therapist Jayla, the only person who knows her true name and glimpses her conflicted psyche.

Her assignments are never just about pulling the trigger. Skye prides herself on precision, creativity, and leaving law enforcement baffled in her wake. But her professional detachment is tested as she confronts echoes of her traumatic past, the ghost of her first kill, and the dangerous possibility of trust and connection in a world where both are liabilities.

The tension escalates as Skye maneuvers between rival factions—Hetman’s criminal empire, Kobayashi’s Yakuza contingent, and law enforcement circling closer to the truth. Every move sharpens the line between hunter and hunted, and Skye must decide whether she’s fulfilling a contract, enacting justice, or simply proving herself the best at her deadly craft.

In the end, True Target is a high-stakes thriller that blends relentless action with psychological depth, following an assassin bound by her own rules, haunted by her past, and driven toward a final reckoning where survival means outsmarting everyone—including herself.

 

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 ✒️Meet the Author

Austin S. Camacho is the author of more than a dozen novels, including eight books in the Washington, D.C.–based Hannibal Jones private investigator series, five novels in the Stark and O’Brien international adventure-thriller series, and the standalone detective novel Beyond Blue. His work is known for blending fast-paced action with thoughtful character development and real-world political and social themes.

Austin’s short fiction has appeared in several anthologies, and he is featured in the Edgar-nominated African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey. He is a past president of the Maryland Writers Association, a past vice president of the Virginia Writers Club, and one of the creators of the Creatures, Crimes & Creativity literary conference.

When he is not writing, Austin remains deeply involved in the writing community, mentoring authors and supporting literary events throughout the region.

Connect with Austin S. Camacho:
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Amazon | Goodreads | LinkedIn

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📚 More Austin S. Camacho Books

Click to see even more titles!

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🌟 Closing Notes

True Target is a thriller that refuses to rely on action alone. Through Skye Maddox, Austin S. Camacho delivers a story where every choice carries weight and every victory comes at a cost. Blending relentless momentum with psychological depth, this novel challenges readers to consider where justice ends and vengeance begins — and what it takes to survive once those lines blur.

Be sure to check out True Target, explore the full tour stops, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a $25 Amazon/BN gift card. Thank you for stopping by, and as always, happy reading.

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🎁 Giveaway!

Enter below for your chance to win a $25 Amazon/BN gift card—courtesy of the author.

• Denied Crimes by Daniela Alibrandi
• Justice for the Forgotten by R. Weir
• Chasing the Dragon by Mark Towse

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