Books published by Story Merchant Books

What seems like one lucky day quickly trigger a series of unimaginable horrors for Strider, an unassuming hiker fresh off the Appalachian trail. In his panicked search for his missing fiancée, he finds himself trapped at Winter's Farm, a popular hiker destination with a kooky owner and mysterious disappearances. But a foreboding electric fence stymies his desperate escape.

Lishan has just infuriated her editor's circle of unscrupulous friends. The idealistic journalist's Truth Be Known series publicly airs and consequently threatens the lifestyles of several dangerous and powerful men in Washington--a list that includes an extravagant senator who enjoys perks from those in power, the food and drug CEO Jack Conner, and the FDA Commissioner. But all are invested in concealing their corruption, no matter the cost. Lishan's daring activism puts her life on the line, forcing her to enlist the aid of a trusted few: a flamboyant scientist at the FDA; a former professor who has a passion for her and who cannot control his jealousy; an author unjustly incarcerated for previously publishing the misdeeds of Conner and the FDA; and her aunt, who has guarded over and mentored Lishan following the murder of her parents when she was a child. She finds herself threatened not only by her editor and the recipients of pointed remarks on the exposé, but also by the U.S. Attorney, the senator's legal council, and the CEO's henchmen--all determined to maintain the public's ignorance. Mix in the chaos from the men in her personal life who expose her weaknesses and strengths, and the complications in Lishan's life exceed what she thought was possible. Still, justice for the people is her driving force, no matter the risks to her life.

Shashtah thinks he has everything figured out. To prevent his new Dragon, the Prophetess of Tphah, from dying the way his first Dragon, the Phrophetess of Tkai had, he simply has to go through the secret ritual at the Anvil that the Dragonriders of Dumnonia call "The Training." But the new Dragonlord, KAshon, has no experience in training a normal Pair let alone such an unusual one as Shashtah and Tphah. Plus Kashon's magic is not that of the Dumnonians; he wields the power of the Wizards of Corin.Designed by his god to be a conduit for magic, Shashtah quickly finds wizards and deities channeling a confusing array of power through him that his young Prophetess is unable to help him control. That suits the Dark One just fine. He lurks inside the shadows of Mount Cinnamar, waiting for the perfect time to add that one last bit of magic to the mix that will forge Shashtah into the most destructive weapon Centuria has ever known: The Dragon Sun.

In April of 1798, Napoleon appoints Lieutenant Charles MacDonald, a nineteen-year-old graduate geographical engineer, to be the pathfinder for his personal Brigade of Guides during the invasion of Egypt. Charles was born in Virginia during the American Revolution and was educated in France, a graduate of L''Ecole Polytechnique and a postgraduate of L''Ecole des Ponts.But agents of the British Secret Service who are trying to undermine the invasion of Egypt interfere in Charles''s journey on a number of occasions by attempting to rob the mail coaches he is accompanying.In response, General Bonaparte assigns Charles''s father, the blind General James MacDonald, his confidant and instructor in engineering and mapmaking at L''Ecole Militaire more than a decade earlier, to head a secret section investigating the British and these crimes. What they uncover is an abandoned convent in Paris being used as a headquarters--with 3.5 million francs in gold hidden in its walls.