I’m kicking off 2013 with a new book, never before published and NOT a horror novel. MARK OF THE BLACK CLAW is the first in a series of novels that are homage to those fun and wild pulp novels of the 1930s and 40s. You know, The Shadow, Doc Savage, Operator 5, The Spider, The Avenger and Black Book Detective featuring the Black Bat among scores of others. With, of course, a tip of the hat to the great cliffhanger serials and ‘B’ movies filled blood, thunder and a pinch of melodrama.
At the outbreak of World War II, a mysterious vigilante appears to protect the city from Nazi spies, black marketers and a host of other saboteurs, thieves and thugs. From dark alleys to penthouse hideaways, The Black Claw delivers swift justice in a battle to protect the American home front.
You’ll meet Vicky Kirkwood, the intrepid reporter who always scoops the competition on Black Claw stories; Police Lieutenant Shane Chandler and Sergeant Marty O’Malley, out to stop the vigilante; Eddie “the Terrible” Tobin, newspaper editor/tyrant; Yancy Fleet, reporter for a rival newspaper, and a host of supporting characters and bad guys lead by the masked mastermind Osiris.
Why, someone asked, write this book? My answer: Why not? I love writing horror, but too, I have a weak spot for action and adventure. Above my desk is a note; M.A.R.S., a reminder that everything I write needs to have Mystery, Adventure, Romance and Sex. Although, regarding the latter, MARK OF THE BLACK CLAW is quite innocent and chaste compared to my works of horror.
MARK OF THE BLACK CLAW is currently available at The Kindle Store http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BRMEB4G and Barnes and Noble (LINK).
JUSTICE OF THE BLACK CLAW, the second volume, will followed later this year.
And, speaking of horror, I hope to publication the all-new A LESSER GOD RISING very soon as well as ON WINGS OF LEATHER, which was originally published by Leisure Books as THE DEVOURING. WINGS was named one of the “top 10 horror novels of the year” by Science Fiction Chronicles.