Books published by Melange Books

A collection of six crime novelettes that take you on a trip through the more off-beat regions of law enforcement. Follow Prospect, Tennessee's Police Chief Sam Jenkins as he meets Gypsy conmen and a beautiful fortune teller in GYPSIES, TRAMPS & THIEVES, a gun show hustler and his right-wing militia cronies in HEAVEN'S GATE and a collection of pool hustlers competing for enough prize money they'd kill for in ALVIS IS IN THE BUILDING. A Chinese restaurant owner loses a little finger and feels the grip of vicious thugs from a Malaysian triad in THE SWAN TATTOO. The murder of an Elvis impersonator for a few bits of gold takes you on board GRACELAND ON WHEELS, and in NOTHING FITZ, an unlikely coalition of crooks on a National Guard air base are responsible for a brutal murder.

When your high school classmate shows up on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, can your police career get any more interesting? Prospect, Tennessee's police chief Sam Jenkins handles a cold case robbery-homicide as a favor to a beautiful treasury agent and clears the forty-three year old mystery of THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN BANK JOB. In MURDER IN A WISH-BOOK HOUSE, Sam investigates the most grisly killing of his career. Then, in V IS FOR...VITAMIN?, he works with an eighty-four year old partner to solve a suspicious death in a nursing home where all the suspects are well beyond their prime. Hollywood meets the Smokies in FATE OF A FLOOZY when an academy award winner is murdered during her love affair with a much younger man. And HURRICANE BLOW UP and THE BUTLERS DID IT pits Jenkins against some very lethal characters when he tackles eastern European hoods who intend on causing mayhem in Prospect, and bank robbers who flee to the far corners of southern Appalachia to escape capture.

Sam Jenkins is the new police chief in town and everyone wonders, will Prospect, Tennessee ever be the same? A LABOR DAY MURDER and A MURDER IN KNOXVILLE take the reader into the world of domestic violence with a smattering of political corruption. In BULLETS OFF-BROADWAY, the investigation leads Sam into the life of a victim who spent his leisure time reenacting the days of the old west and was killed with an antique revolver. The hard-boiled story of SCRAP METAL AND MURDER begins with a simple larceny and quickly escalates into the murder of a building contractor, infidelity and more suspects than you can shake a claw hammer at. And the off-beat stories, BY THE HORNS OF A COW and its sequel SERPENTS & SCOUNDRELS show the more bizarre side of police work as Jenkins looks for a stolen fourteen-foot-tall statue of a dairy cow and ends up among a group of snake handling fundamentalists who use their serpents in a deadly manner.

With five crystals to destroy, in order to rob the dark lord Malegaunt of his power, Ash Kensington's path is set. She begins a quest with the talking cat, Greymalkin, and her wyvern, Slick. But when she meets up with the handsome dragon slayer, Draeon, her senses overwhelm her, and she becomes distracted. Will she be able to destroy the crystals in time to challenge Malegaunt?

James Freeman is Bozeman's new Marshall and plans to close down every brothel in town, including Katie's Palace. Katie O'Malley has the fight of her life on her hands-convincing James Freeman she's running a legitimate establishment-a saloon, diner, and boarding house. Due to James' mother's horrific death from syphilis, he's bound and determined that another woman not die from the awful disease. And what better way to do that than to close down the brothels? But then an incident occurs and Katie is forced to close down the Palace. Katie has her hands full with this 'burr under her saddle' with whom she's fallen in love. Like two passing ships in the night, can the two of them find common ground?

During a snowstorm, three couples play a game of Texas Hold'em which leads to the institution of friendly, bi-weekly poker nights - until someone suggests that instead of playing for pocket change, the winner may choose another player with whom to spend the night. Friendships are strained and relationships crumble. Lies are told, truths are exposed, and feelings are hurt. In the end, can anyone bear the weight of this wanton self-indulgence? No one could possibly get hurt; after all, it's only a game...

"Man cannot see the future, but once in a blue moon, the future calls out to man." What would you do if you knew about future tragedies before they occurred? Would you stop it? Jack Shot is bartender, content to do his job and focus on working up the courage to ask out Abby. Then one night a stranger walks in, turning Jack's life upside down. After the chilling encounter, the riddles start appearing. Jack must decode them and stop the massacres, or risk condemning the lives of countless innocents.

Urick is a magnificent beastÑwhen he isnÕt turning to stone. HeÕs not just grizzly bear and gargoyle, heÕs also vampire, a part of himself he keeps locked down tighter than the nails in an undeadÕs coffin. UriÕs hatred for vampireÕs is personal. He needs to find his Chosen One, the woman fated to be his mate, before his anger turns him to stone for good.Too bad his Chosen One is a vampire.Violet isnÕt proud to be a vampire, but sheÕs trying hard to make up for it. Her hunting blade has more vampire blood lodged in its hilt than a blood bank. Uri would be next on her list if he wasnÕt so quick and strong. HeÕs kidnapped her and stripped herÉof her weapons, although Violet wouldnÕt mind a little romp with her captor, gigantic flaws and all. After all, she has a flaw of her own, one she must keep hidden. Her father is the vampire who imprisoned Uri to be his blood slave. Uri is learning to trust Violet. But when her secret brings up his past, will it destroy every chance they have at love?

Two seemingly unrelated events will soon affect the entire world! The Holy Church has just ordained the first South American Pope. Born into poverty and raised on the mean streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina, the new leader of the Holy Church intends to bring the church kicking and screaming into the 21st century. The Pope soon finds himself cleverly trapped in a web from which he cannot escape, when the Republican nominees for President and Vice President of the United States of America propose a horrific solution. However, three visionaries: a mysterious Elder from the Andes Mountains, who calls himself Older Brother, a new rising star of Venezuela politics, and the world renowned environmentalist, Sam Albright, see another way... Unfortunately, the time to act is running out. Mother Nature may have crossed the Rubicon and there is no turning back. The Apocalypse, the End of Days has arrived and humanity is to be judged.

Stumbling upon a secluded valley in the mountains, Valka the Wolf Slayer saves a young maid from being sacrificed by an evil witch and learns of the oppression the witch has imposed upon the valley. He remains to battle her army of killers and the dark minions of the black magician who stands behind her.

After escaping the Guild in England, Philip, Alayna, and Beathan flee east. Yet despite their ingenuity and courage, they find themselves hard-pressed to survive. The wintery landscape of Transylvania provides a multitude of dark and dangerous challenges-not the least of which is the trace in Philip's blood, allowing the Guild to track them. From night-walking vampires, to maniacal scientists, death seems probable and at times even a certainty. When one of their own is captured, the company is set on a collision course with the Guild, a clash with implications carrying far beyond the darkened skies of Transylvania.

Beneath the blazing desert sun, Tahoe Manoa has opened a strange puzzle box. The box is an odd inheritance passed down to him by his great-grandfather, a long dead Cherokee warrior. As the box opens, the desert atmosphere suddenly changes. Struck by sudden fear, Tahoe stands helpless as dark, shadowy figures surround him in the desert. After fleeing the shadows, Tahoe realizes they are haunting him. The shadows, poltergeist in nature, have even made physical contact. He immediately boards a flight to Pittsburgh and enlists the help of the paranormal investigators, but before arriving in room 208, Tahoe learns the shadows have followed him. Growing up, Tahoe heard legends of such entities-shadow walkers, more commonly known as shadow people. Soon, the shadows haunt each of the investigators, spreading their presences like a contagion. Their intent is the theft of human souls. Now, Tahoe and the investigators must discover the origin of the shadows and vanquish them forever-before it's too late.

While on vacation in New Orleans, Jack Slade is approached by a young woman whose family holds a dark secret. She asks Slade to prevent her cousin, a powerful vampire, from succeeding in his bid to take control of the world. Slade takes the job and follows a trail of blood that leads him into the dark world of Voodoo where he battles murderous zombies and the vampire's henchmen. In the brooding, snake and alligator infested swamp around Lake Pontchartrain, Slade has his final confrontation with the vampire himself in a fight to the death.

What does a good cop do when his name and phone number is found in the pocket of a dead mobster from his past? Does he cooperate with the Internal Affairs investigator who wants to charge him with murder, but appears to have an ulterior motive? Does he launch his own investigation into this murder from another jurisdiction to clear his name and find the real killer? Does learning that two former enemies have put a contract on his life complicate matters?

Jane Larson is an attorney on the Upper East Side of New York City, and the Gentleman Rapist has chosen her to receive his calls announcing each conquest. He also reminds her in chilling terms that he will one day twist his wire around her throat and bend her to his will. Jane has professional and personal problems of her own, but she is forced to try to catch this monster when he stalks her newest client. Susan is a sweet young woman who cannot remember large time periods of her past and who has dreams about a prior life in which she was raped. Soon, the Gentleman escalates to murder, and Jane wonders if he was involved in Susan's forgotten past, or if Susan is simply a means to get to Jane. Either way, Jane is caught in the deadly game of stopping the Gentleman before another woman feels the wire at her throat and hears his sinister whisper to Mind Me, Milady.

Valka the Wolf Slayer travels to the magical Isle of Britain. While there, he meets the stalwart knight, Sir Gawain, and Britain's greatest bard, Taliesin. They challenge the black magician, Klingsor, and face the many terrors of his castle. In the process, Valka rescues the beautiful maid, Kundry, who had been entranced by Klingsor. They travel to the Castle of Maidens, where Valka battles the evil knight holding them captive. Arriving at Camelot, he meets King Arthur, champions Queen Guinevere in the Affair of the Poisoned Apple, then embarks on the Quest for the Grail.

Wine is poetry in a bottle. Detectives Moss Stone and Anya Roberts investigate the sudden death of a liquor agent and newspaper columnist at a wine festival by poison. There were a daunting number of suspects in Oscar Detrick's death, including his women chasing business partner. Stone and Roberts enter the world of wine festivals to determine the motive in poisoning Detrick and even if he was the intended victim. And was the missing bag of garbage holding the clues they needed?

Sam Jenkins never thought about being a fish out of water during the years he spent solving crimes in New York. But things change, and after retiring to Tennessee, he gets that feeling. Jenkins becomes a cop again and is thrown headlong into a murder investigation and a steaming kettle of fish, down-home style. In true Jenkins style, Sam turns common police practice on its ear to insure an innocent man doesn't fall prey to an imperfect system and the guilty party receives appropriate justice.

Archeologist Bethany Dailet has waited all her life to explore the ancient tombs of Egypt, but she never dreamed of falling down a hole and discovering an ancient tomb that has been buried for nearly 3,000 years. Nor did she dream of meeting two men who would change her life forever.

Tragedy strikes, leaving Blake fighting for his life. Everyone gathers around praying he can make it through the night. Beth Ann and Kaylob will learn how to cope with loss, all while becoming new parents. Kaylob has to also deal with some unresolved issues. Come and take the final journey in book six with Beth Ann and Kaylob as they say goodbye to people and places that are old and hello to the new.

Surpassing the speed of light remained elusive in the 2170's. However, the trick was to hold still to swap out spatial locations. For Colonel Sumitra Ramachandra, Major Lamarr Fitch, Captain Malcolm O'Connell and the rest of the ISS Mockingbird's crew jumping between solar systems is just the start of their wondrous, sometimes zany and often perilous missions. The future of aerospace defense stretches far above the blue yonder.

On a Midnight Clear tells the story of private investigator Adam Fraley who by chance happens upon a horrific Christmas Eve crime while traveling the Colorado foothills. At the heart of the story is the relationship between Fraley and Noelle Feldman, an enchanting young girl whose family life is shattered by the tragic event. Finding a killer and a trove of buried gold, not to mention a future for Noelle become the challenges facing Fraley as he maneuvers his way around a bevy of obstacles populating his path.

Enjoy an erotic twist that is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat, or bed - climaxing for more. A relationship established by sex, turns out to be a little more than what Noémie was expecting, once Sofaine admits he is in love with her. Noémie must now decide, if pleasing Madame Cherry and exploiting herself as the one and only Madame that will not submit to coming for the opposite sex is more important, than actually falling in love with Sofaine.