My Current Project
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I'm always writing something.

At any given moment, I'm either authoring a new novel, reworking an old novel, or editing a novel with an eye toward publication.

That's the job...to create a body of work and then put that body of work to work.

Presently, I'm working  on Checkmate: Endgame, the conclusion of the 2-part Checkmate saga, to be released by the good folks at eSpec Books in late 2025. Sounds like plenty of time, doesn't it? Well, as this photo of my real-life project board indicates, my thoughts can sometimes be a little...muddled. Wish me luck? 

My Latest Releases

ST. DAMNED
Castle Bridge Media 2025 (Coming Soon!)

Five years ago, paranormal researcher Dr. Mia Lakatos was the sole survivor of an ill-conceived reality TV investigation of St. Damien's Lutheran Church in Camden, New Jersey, a bloody encounter that destroyed her reputation and poisoned her life.

Now, out of the blue, the government has asked for her help. A vicious Columbian drug czar will be attending a key underworld summit across the street from the famous haunted church. The FBI is planning a stakeout inside St. Damien's, and they need Mia along for her expertise. But nothing, absolutely nothing, will convince Mia to re-enter that hellish place, except maybe a cryptic decades-old message that might hold the key to cleansing "St. Damned" and finally freeing the scores of souls who are trapped there.

Suddenly, Mia Lakatos finds herself returning to the most dangerous haunted site on Earth to face down the deranged ghost of an infamous serial killer whose iron will rules over those innocent spirits in his sway. But the road to redemption is paved in blood-including, quite possibly, her own.

CHECKMATE
eSpec Books 2024

Are you ready for a different kind of superhero?

Using disguise and guile, the mysterious and charismatic Checkmate has been exposing corrupt politicians for years. This notorious vigilante is both hunted by the authorities and hailed by the press, and their biggest fan is rookie journalist Cheryl Walker.

But now Checkmate has drawn Cheryl into an unlikely partnership. Sinister forces are at work, a powerful, faceless cabal that has wearied of Checkmate's crusade and intends to use Cheryl as bait to finally destroy the vigilante.

With the help of her gender-fluid roommate, the bohemian Sam Reshevsky, Cheryl must somehow expose the cabal-and perhaps discover the shocking truth about Checkmate along the way.

But sometimes truth can be closer than you think.

RAGS
Neoparadoxa, 2022

Atlantic City, 1982

One cold December night, sixteen-year-old Abby Lowell and her foster sister are rescued by a mysterious and deadly figure in rags and a large hood. Abby never learns his name and never sees his face, but he's obviously good with that black-bladed knife of his, very good.

Abby dubs him "Rags."

But Rags isn't done, not by a long shot. With her foster family under threat from the ruthless Bernards, who are determined to tear down their dilapidated hotel in favor of yet another casino, Abby finds herself in desperate need of a defender. A part of her is relieved when Rags returns to protect her again. And again. And again.

Now, with an army of thugs and a terrifying Voodoo witch hunting her, Abby must not only understand the dark truth behind Rags. She must accept that truth, frightening as it is, before it's too late.

DRAGONS
eSpec Books, 2021

They aren't what you think they are...

Conceal and Protect. His whole life, Andy Brand has been taught to hide his true self from everyone around him, for his own safety, and that of his Kind. But all the pretending in the world can't shield him from powerful people who already know what he is...and what he can do.

Kidnapped and pushed beyond his limits, Andy comes out blazing.

However, all is not as it seems and he soon finds himself struggling to navigate a maze of lies, otherworldly wonders, and deadly betrayals that will test not just his power, but his courage and intellect as well.

For lives are at stake, and only a Dragon can save them...

Other Published Works

The Franklin Affair
Regency Press, 2001

THE FRANKLIN AFFAIR is my first published novel, released in 2001 by Regency Press, which used to be run by an amazing woman named Kelly Ferjutz, who remains one of my dearest friends. 

​Set in December of 1776, it's an historical mystery introducing Henri Gruel, a sixteen-year-old French boy who is recruited as a spy against the visiting Benjamin Franklin, who has come to France to try to win French aid in the colonists' war against the British.

As a product of the small press, only five hundred copies were ever printed ... so, if you've got one, hang onto it!  Who knows?  It might be worth something someday!   (If you'd like a copy, please  check out the Buy Books! page.)​​

Phobos
Tor Books, 2003

PHOBOS is a science fiction/mystery that was published by Tor back in 2003.  It received absolutely stellar reviews; Publisher's Weekly called it "a strong contender for SF debut of the year"! 

It's basically a good-old-fashioned whodunit about a series of bizarre deaths at a research station on Mars' largest moon that may or may not be work of an indigenous monster.  Lieutenant Michael Brogue is sent to Phobos to investigate, and quickly finds himself embroiled in deception, intrigue and danger of potentially catastrophic proportions.

For the record, I'm not wild about the cover ... 

The Undertakers #1: Rise of the Corpses
Sourcebooks, 2011

​Forced to flee his home and family, Will  finds himself embroiled in a war between a teenage resistance group and invaders called "Corpses", who occupy dead bodies in order to conquer and destroy the world! These courageous kids are outnumbered, outgunned, and totally alone. They're also our only hope...

THE UNDERTAKERS: RISE OF THE CORPSES is the first installment in the UNDERTAKERS Series.  It chronicles the adventures of twelve-year-old Will Ritter, who wakes up one morning to find that his neighbor and math teacher has suddenly become the walking dead!

Soon to be a motion picture!

The Undertakers #2: Queen of the Dead
Sourcebooks, 2012

The second installment in the UNDERTAKERS Series picks up shortly after Rise of the Corpses.  With the defeat and destruction of the Kenny Booth, the Corpses have retaliated by sending their monarch, the incomparably evil Lilith Cavanaugh, Queen of the Dead.

Cavanaugh is even more ruthless than her predecessor, and her plans are even deadlier.  Will Ritter and the Undertakers must pull out all the stops to face down this new enemy. This time, however, they may have found an ally in a rescued FBI agent, if only they can convince him that the "criminals" who nearly killed him are, in fact, alien invaders.

But how do you convince a grown-up that monsters are REAL?

The Undertakers: Night of Monsters
Amazon CreateSpace, 2013

After Queen of the Dead was published, Sourcebooks and I parted ways. Fortunately, a new publisher, Month9Books, took on the rest of the series. However, since the gap between books 2 and 3 was going to be BIG, I decided to appease my fanbase by self-publishing this novelette.  Think of it as Book 2.5!

NIGHT OF MONSTERS chronicles a single night's harrowing adventure as Will, Helene and Dave "The Burgermeister" Burger, cut off from the rest of the Undertakers, must battle a Corpse mad scientist with bizarre and terrifying monsters at his command.

Brace yourself. It's going to be a long night!

The Undertakers #3: Secret of the Corpse Eater
Month9Books, 2013

The last three books in the Undertakers Series were published by the incomparable George McBride at Month9Books!  This is the first of them.

The Corpses are up to something. U.S. Senator Lindsay Micha has been kidnapped and replaced with a "dead" ringer-the sister to Lilith Cavanaugh, the Queen of the Dead. Now, Will Ritter must go undercover in our nation's capitol to ferret out the truth and try to stop this ambitious deader. But his mission becomes even more dangerous when he learns of a mysterious 10-legged monster that prowls the halls of the Capitol Building-a lethal monster with a taste for Corpse flesh.

But can such a bizarre and dangerous "enemy of the my enemy" really become Will's friend?

The Undertakers #4: Last Siege of Haven
​Month9Books, 2014

While on an undercover mission, Will Ritter has made an unthinkable alliance—with a Corpse! But unlike the rest of his kind, Robert Dillin, the zombie prince, isn't evil. In fact, he wants to help. And Will needs all the help he can get because the Queen of the Dead has learned the location of Haven, the undertakers' secret headquarters, and she is planning a massive and deadly assault.

With the last day of the Corpse War finally upon them, Will and his friends find themselves in a desperate race to close the Rift between worlds and forever kill the Corpses.

​But can they do it before Haven is overrun?

The Undertakers #5: End of the World
Month9Books, 2015

The Corpse War is over and the Undertakers have won. Or have they?

When Will Ritter is brought thirty years into the future, he's shown a world ravaged by a Second Corpse War.  Now, only a rag-tag collection of grown-up Undertakers stand between what little remains of humanity and the undead monsters who have conquered the Earth. But these brave, doomed heroes have a plan. To send Will back to his own time armed with the knowledge of the horror to come.  And, once there, Will must lead today's Undertakers on a final, desperate mission to defeat the Corpses once and for all.

But can the future truly be rewritten? 

TORQ
Swallow's End Publishing, 2018

Welcome to the Machine, an enormous, ancient, broken device that has become home to a million souls. Society is split between the all-powerful Upperfolk, who rule, and the helpless Lowerfolk, who work, suffer, and die.

Helpless, that is, except for Torq. Concealed behind his golden mask and armor, Torq alone fights for justice and freedom. Until the day when sixteen-year-old Rand Roberts, the poorest of the poor, witnesses his hero’s demise and discovers Torq’s disillusioning and heartbreaking secret.

Now, Rand decides, it’s time for the Machine to have a new Torq. A better Torq. A real Torq.

Let the revolution begin…