A Depraved Arrangement, an Impossible Choice: Read an Excerpt From John Boyne’s The Elements (Exclusive)

If you missed PEOPLE’s first exclusive excerpt from John Boyne’s The Elements, read it here.

EARTH

Soon, Rafe put me to work.

I had a very particular clientele. Mostly men in late middle age. Thriving in financially successful jobs. Some in the public eye. Occasionally married. I was professional in my dealings with them but clear from the start about what I was willing to do and what I was not. If a client ignored my rules, then I would leave, and Rafe never reproached me for this. On the contrary, I knew he could be unforgiving with anyone who demanded more than was on offer.

Some men wanted to book me on a regular basis, but I limited myself to a maximum of four encounters with each. Any more than that and they would start to believe that we were something we were not.

Until Sir arrived, that is. With Sir, I had no choice. The decisions were all his.

That first night, I was collected in a black Range Rover. The most enormous man I had ever seen was driving and we both remained silent throughout the journey. When we arrived at a set of iron gates, they were immediately opened for us, and we made our way up a long driveway before stopping in a central courtyard, where a man in livery was waiting to guide me inside and upstairs.

“What do I call him?” I asked.

“Sir,” he told me. “You call him Sir at all times.”

I was led into a spacious room where I recognized a chesterfield sofa and armchair, along with some handsomely upholstered chairs and a desk of Regency design. As he left the room, he instructed me to remain standing and not to touch anything. I examined the photographs that stood on the various surfaces, faces I’d seen on the news and in magazines throughout my life. They looked like any normal family.

After about 10 minutes, a door opened and he walked towards me with a smile on his face.

“Good evening,” he said. “It’s Evan, have I got that right?”

“That’s right, Sir,” I replied.

“Splendid. And you know the rules, yes?”

“Yes, Sir.”

‘Then shall we get started?’

We engaged in no further conversation. Instead, he led me to a bedroom, where he degraded me in ways that I never knew a person could be degraded. Physically and mentally. I am not here, I told myself. I am a dead person, observing this scene from a different plane.

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When it was over, he reached for a dressing gown and left without a word. I curled up on the floor, not wanting to move but uncertain what I was supposed to do next. There was blood. There was worse. In that, the first of our many encounters, he took something from me that I could never reclaim.

This went on for six months. It might have continued longer, had I not received a call one morning from a man who said he worked for a tabloid newspaper and told me that he had heard certain rumors about me and Sir. He asked whether I would be willing to meet to discuss them. He would make it worth my while, he said. I was accustomed to being paid for my services but, this time, I panicked and hung up.

By chance, I was due to meet Sir that same evening. As we walked towards his bedroom, I asked whether I might speak to him for a moment. He seemed surprised, even annoyed.

“Well, what is it?” he asked, checking his watch.

I explained what had happened and he listened carefully, a shadow crossing his face.

“And what did you tell him?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I said. “I hung up.”

The following evening, I returned to my flat after a gym session to discover Rafe sitting in my living room, along with the enormous driver who always brought me to and from Sir’s residence.

“I swear I told no one,” I said.

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“I believe you,” he replied. “The truth is, in a place like that, gossip is currency. It could have been any one of his flunkies. But the fact is, he won’t be requiring your services anymore.”

“Fine,” I said.

“I believe you know Dennis,” he continued, nodding towards the driver. “He’s going to break your arm. You can choose which one, the left or the right. This is not done to punish you, but simply to impress upon you how serious we are that you never speak about my client in the future.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” I said. “I promise. Please don’t hurt me.”

“As it happens, I do trust you,” said Rafe. “So, believe me when I tell you that I’m truly sorry about what has to happen. But it’s what Sir wants. Call it a shot across the bow.”

Somehow, in that moment, I made peace with what was about to happen. There was no possibility of escape. No chance that I could convince him to leave me unharmed. Sir was too powerful. His place in national life too significant.

Dennis walked towards me.

“So which arm?” he asked.

I was right- handed, so there was only one logical answer.

“Left,” I said.

Excerpted from THE ELEMENTS: A Novel by John Boyne. Published by Henry Holt and Company, September 9th 2025. Copyright © 2025 by John Boyne. All rights reserved.

The Elements by John Boyne arrives Sept. 9, and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.