The Gift

Ed Kaminsky can sense the slow, inevitable unraveling of his life. He is about to turn forty-seven, his career has stalled, his boss despises him, his wife is no longer interested in him, and his kids consider him irrelevant and uninspiring. But in the midst of this gloom, he discovers he possesses a unique gift which can bring him all the power, riches and acclaim his heart craves. The trouble is, this gift doesn't come without certain strings attached.

Ed Kaminsky's life is caught in an inexorable downward spiral of misfortune and misery. He's forty seven years old, his career has stalled, his boss despises him, his wife is no longer interested in him, his kids consider him irrelevant and uninspiring, and his modest nest egg of savings has just gone up in smoke in the crucible of the latest Wall Street Ponzi scheme. But in the midst of this gloom, he discovers that he possesses a rare and unique gift: the ability to read people's minds. It occurs to him that he if he can somehow hone and sharpen this skill to do his bidding for him, he would be able to achieve all the power, riches and acclaim his heart has always craved. What he fails to grasp, however, is that this gift doesn't come without certain unsavory strings attached.

Mohsin Hassan is an entrepreneur, writer, voracious reader, guitar fanatic, world traveler, and a curious observer of human nature. "The Gift" is his second novel. He has also written several screenplays, one of which - "The Unwanted" - was an Official Selection at SoCal Film Festival as a Semi-Finalist. His first novel - "Absolution" - was made into a short film which was featured at the 3rd I film festival in San Francisco. He lives in Houston, Texas, though he tends to consider himself more of a world citizen.