Books by J. Aldric Gaudet

The PIPER is a darkly twisted re-rendering of the Pied Piper legend, set in a post-apocalyptic landscape: The Future Past. The Piper commands an army of vicious dogs to rid the burgeoning village of mutant rats, and when shortchanged uses the dogs to herd the children on a march to his slave ship, after leaving the village in flames. Only 5 mounted rescuers can be spared from firefighting. 3 are eliminated in an ambush, leaving a widower trying to save his estranged son, and the village's sharpshooter midwife trying to save them all. The story is told through the eyes of a father and son. The boy is struggling to manhood while they both suffer the pangs of their wife/mother's suicide years earlier. The unusual behaviour of the rats is explained in the end by a disturbing revelation.

A king's daughter goes against her father's wishes and marries a lowborn gentleman instead of her oafish step-brother. The angry king banishes the husband from Britain so the marriage can be annulled. While the s husband waits in exile in Rome he is drawn into a heated discussion in defence of her honour and matches a wager made against her fidelity. Shown false proof by the cheat who made the wager, the despairing husband sends orders to his servant in Britain to murder princess Imogen for her infidelity. The servant, knowing her innocence, provides a plan for her to masquerade as a boy page to travel to Wales where she can hitch a ride to Rome. Meanwhile the step-oaf forces the servant to reveal Imogen's destination and he races after her, determined to ravage and humiliate her, then drag her back to court. What none of them count on is that actions taken years previously interfere with their plans.