Showing results by narrator "Michael John Casey" in All Categories

On his 13th birthday, foster child Alcatraz Smedry gets a bag of sand in the mail - his only inheritance from his father and mother. He soon learns that this is no ordinary bag of sand. It is quickly stolen by the cult of evil Librarians who are taking over the world by spreading misinformation and suppressing truth. Alcatraz must stop them, using the only weapon he has: an incredible talent for breaking things.

Set in a fractured United States, in the southwestern country now known as Texoma. A world where magic is acknowledged but mistrusted, especially by a young gunslinger named Lizbeth Rose. Battered by a run across the border to Mexico Lizbeth Rose takes a job offer from a pair of Russian wizards to be their local guide and gunnie. For the wizards, Gunnie Rose has already acquired a fearsome reputation and they’re at a desperate crossroad, even if they won’t admit it. 

Notes from the author: The following is a short story I wrote in the Elantris world back in January of 2006. There were always a few holes in Elantris where I decided not to include viewpoints or sections of explanation in the name of streamlining, particularly at the end. In the back of my mind, I knew what happened. This story talks about one of those holes; it is meant to be heard after you’ve finished the novel and takes place during the events of the climax.  

From the Hugo Award-winning hosts of the Writing Excuses writing advice show comes a collection of all-new stories of the fantastic, with beautiful illustrations and a behind-the-scenes look at each story’s creation. 

When Shai is caught replacing the Moon Scepter with her nearly flawless forgery, she must bargain for her life. An assassin has left the Emperor Ashravan without consciousness, a circumstance concealed only by the death of his wife. If the emperor does not emerge after his hundred-day mourning period, the rule of the Heritage Faction will be forfeit and the empire will fall into chaos. Shai is given an impossible task: to create - to Forge - a new soul for the emperor in less than 100 days. But her soul-Forgery is considered an abomination by her captors. 

R. S. Belcher's debut novel, The Six-Gun Tarot, was enthusiastically greeted by critics and listeners, who praised its wildly inventive mixture of dark fantasy, steampunk, and the Wild West. Now Belcher returns to Golgotha, Nevada, a bustling frontier town that hides more than its fair share of unnatural secrets.

For time out of mind, bloodthirsty demons have stalked the night, culling the human race to scattered remnants dependent on half-forgotten magics to protect them. Then two heroes arose - men as close as brothers, yet divided by bitter betrayal. Arlen Bales became known as the Warded Man, tattooed head to toe with powerful magic symbols that enable him to fight demons in hand-to-hand combat - and emerge victorious. 

Hey, hey, book lovers, take off those big thick glasses - this is Deadpool speaking! Sorry Marvel, somethin' happened to your copy guy. Anyway, this is my first prose novel, and they got this dude Stefan Petrucha to write it. He's good people. He's written novels and comics. But here's the thing: This book is about dogs. Dogs that turn into big nasty monsters. And then I gotta kill 'em. Thing is, I like killing people - the ones that deserve it, anyway - but I won't kill dogs. So that's what we call a character dilemma.

The Skull Throne of Krasia stands empty. Built from the skulls of fallen generals and demon princes, it is a seat of honor and ancient, powerful magic, keeping the demon corelings at bay. From atop the throne, Ahmann Jardir was meant to conquer the known world, forging its isolated peoples into a unified army to rise up and end the demon war once and for all. But Arlen Bales, the Warded Man, stood against this course, challenging Jardir to a duel he could not in honor refuse. 

After a brutal fight to the Mississippi River, Jonathan Fisher and the few survivors that follow him have begun their journey south. His task is clear and his reason to live has been renewed. Somewhere out there is power, working airplanes and a possible refuge from the nightmare around them. A small mute girl known as Geeda deserves a chance at life, and they want to make sure she has it. But it will not be easy. Lack of food, shelter and weapons makes their trip difficult. Foreign invaders, infected crazed citizens, and treasonous “Wranglers” make it perilous. 

The game’s afoot once more as the long-suffering Dr. John Watson and a partially decomposed Warlock Holmes (though he’s getting better) face off against Moriarty’s gang, the Pinkertons, flesh-eating horses, a parliament of imps, boredom, Surrey, a succubus, an overly Canadian aristocrat, a tricycle-fight to the death and the dreaded Pumpcrow. Oh, and a hell-hound, one assumes.

Ex-trailer trash. Ex-res. Dishonorably discharged ex-Force Recon Marine and MP. Ex-con. Ex-biker. Ex-FBI informant. Ex-wrestler. It’s a lot of x’s to have by your name. It can give you a bad attitude, and it is not a good resume for most walks of American life. But it’s not a bad career track at all for a fixer in Los Angeles, and if the name of the new job is surviving the end of the world? Put it this way. Staying alive in the post-apocalypse can be a real bitch. Sometimes it takes a real bastard. 

Ex-trailer trash. Ex-res. Dishonorably discharged ex-Force Recon Marine and MP. Ex-con. Ex-biker. Ex-FBI informant. Ex-wrestler. It’s a lot of x’s to have by your name. It can give you a bad attitude, and it is not a good resume for most walks of American life. But it’s not a bad career track at all for a fixer in Los Angeles, and if the name of the new job is surviving the end of the world? Put it this way. Staying alive in the post-apocalypse can be a real bitch. Sometimes it takes a real bastard. 

Dark Lands tells the story of two people from different sides of the nation that struggle to survive after a devastating attack breaks the back of the United States. It is a journey in which the whole world is sent spiraling towards a dark future where humans are an endangered species. Jonathan Fisher is an average man living in Minnesota whose very sanity is tested when everything about his normal life is ripped away in an instant. He is left to survive in a new world full of victims, brigands, and a man-made plague that turns its victims into violent, mindless cannibals. 

Mick Oberon may look like just another 1930s private detective, but beneath the fedora and the overcoat, he’s got pointy ears and he’s packing a wand. 

Just like the detective of the same last name Warlock solves crimes, but instead of using his powers of deduction, he uses powers of a more magical nature. With the help of his ever resourceful and trusted companion, Dr. Watson, Holmes solves some of the oddest and supernatural cases in England. Having recently returned from the dead, Warlock needs some serious recuperation time, so he can appear a little less corpse-like.

Coming back into Leadville, Marshal Spencer comes across a murdered Utes and the site of an ambush. Back in town Sheriff Gannon suspects a group of US Marshals transporting a prisoner is not what it seems. A necklace, a marshal star and a handful of clues, set off a violent shoot out and lead to a brutal punishment.

After the disappearance of a suspect and a hastily organized election, the power balance in Leadville and the friendship of Sheriff Gannon and Marshal Spencer are thrown into turmoil. But the unknown forces driving the election, push both men to decide on which side of justice they are willing to reside; lawman or outlaw.

US Deputy Marshall Edward Spencer is re-assigned Colorado to the after the death of his wife. Sheriff Jacob Gannon manages grief over his son's suicide while keeping the peace in the town of Leadville. When an entire herd of cattle destroyed and a young settler girl dies, the two lawmen must join forces despite their differences to look into both...and how the two crimes just might be related.