Donovan DeChance is a collector of ancient manuscripts and books, a practicing mage, and a private investigator. He is also a very private man, and he is in love. When he invites his partner and lover, Amethyst, for a quiet dinner, she has no idea of his true intention. Donovan has planned a sharing - a vision that will give her the keys to his early life - the origins of his power - and a lot more than she bargained for. The story leads to the town of Rookwood in 1842, an old wagon, a traveling charalatan, a cat, a horse, and a boy named Bones. It leads through the history of other stories, and back to Donovan's home, giving Amethyst, and fans of Donovan DeChance, a glimpse into the man, and his magic. Join young Donovan as he fights to keep his soul, save a town, and learn the roots of his teacher and guardian - and meet his familiar, Cleo. Magic, mayhem, and books - always the books. Welcome to the world of Donovan DeChance.
Donovan DeChance is a collector of ancient manuscripts and books, a practicing mage, and a private investigator. When, despite the finest in natural and supernatural security, a sexy and well-loved, three hundred year old lady vampire is kidnapped right out from under her lover's nose, Donovan is called in to investigate. He soon finds that there is much more to the case than a simple abduction when an unknown intruder invades his home and steals a very rare, very ancient manuscript. There will be no ransom for the kidnap victim, and if Donovan doesn't prevent an ancient, forbidden ritual from reaching its culmination, far more than a single vampire's undead existence will be at stake. Calling on his lover and partner, Amethyst, and an odd assortment of contacts, informants, and connections, Donovan follows the ghostly trail of the kidnapper through a winding maze of intrigue-always a step behind-through magical battles, murders, and confrontations with a rogue band of young vampires intent on beating Donovan at his own game. Vintage Soul is a dark urban supernatural mystery with a hint of romance. Set in an underground society, a city within the city of San Valencez, California, it opens portals to the unknown darkness that surrounds us. Fast-paced, strewn with clues, investigation, and magic, this is a book sure to slake the appetites of fans of mystery and the supernatural. Welcome to the darkness; welcome to The DeChance Chronicles.
Donovan DeChance is a collector of ancient manuscripts and books, a practicing mage, and a private investigator. This Omnibus Collection includes books I, II, III, and IV of the series. Included are Heart of a Dragon, Vintage Soul, My Soul to Keep (The Origin story of Donovan DeChance) and Kali's Tale - book IV of the series. Also included are the bonus novellas "The Not Quite Right Reverend Cletus J. Diggs & The Currently Accepted Habits of Nature," and "The Preacher's Marsh," both of which provide background on settings and characters that appear in Kali's Tale. If you enjoy this book, you should read Nevermore, A Novel of Love, Loss & Edgar Allan Poe, which follows on Kali's Tale, has a cameo from Donovan DeChance, and leads into Book V - A Midnight Dreary, currently in progress. Heart of a Dragon: When a local houngan begins meddling with powers she may not be able to control, a turf war breaks out between the Dragons motorcycle club and the Los Escorpiones street gang—a war that threatens to open portals between worlds and destroy the city in the process. With his lover, Amethyst, his familiar, Cleo – an Egyptian Mau the size of a small bobcat –the dubious aid of a Mexican sorcerer named Martinez and the budding gifts of a young artist named Salvatore, DeChance begins a race against time, magic, and almost certain death. Vintage Soul: When, despite the finest in natural and supernatural security, a sexy and well-loved, three hundred year old lady vampire is kidnapped right out from under her lover's nose, Donovan is called in to investigate. There will be no ransom for the kidnap victim, and if Donovan doesn't prevent an ancient, forbidden ritual from reaching its culmination, far more than a single vampire's undead existence will be at stake. My Soul to Keep: Donovan DeChance is a very private man, and he is in love. When he invites his partner and lover, Amethyst, for a quiet dinner, she has no idea of his true intention. Donovan has planned a sharing - a vision that will give her the keys to his early life - the origins of his power - and a lot more than she bargained for. Join young Donovan as he fights to keep his soul, save a town, and learn the roots of his teacher and guardian - and meet his familiar, Cleo. Kali's Tale: When Donovan is asked to follow in secret as a hot-headed group of young vampires set out on a 'blood quest' to kill the ancient who created the young vampire Kali against her will, he learns that - as usual - there is a lot more to the story than meets the eye. Through the juke joints of Beale Street in Memphis, to the depths of The Great Dismal Swamp, Donovan and his lover and partner, Amethyst, find themselves drawn along on one of the strangest quests in their long, enigmatic lives as they delve into the world of the undead, the magic of The Blues, and the very heart of alchemy both to protect their young, vampiric charges - and to prevent an ancient evil from destroying the balance of power in the universe. This novel directly crosses over to the original series O.C.L.T. - where Donovan is a sometimes consultant. It features appearances by Geoffrey Bullfinch and Rebecca York, O.C.L.T. agents, as well as Old Mill, North Carolina's own Cletus J. Diggs.
Donovan DeChance is a collector of ancient manuscripts and books, a practicing mage, and a private investigator. Over the span of a long life, he has gathered and archived the largest occult library in the world. When a local houngan begins meddling with powers she may not be able to control, a turf war breaks out between the Dragons motorcycle club and the Los Escorpiones street gang—a war that threatens to open portals between worlds and destroy the city in the process. With his lover, Amethyst, his familiar, Cleo – an Egyptian Mau the size of a small bobcat –the dubious aid of a Mexican sorcerer named Martinez and the budding gifts of a young artist named Salvatore, DeChance begins a race against time, magic, and almost certain death. The fate of the city rests on his success, and on the rare talent of a boy who walks in two worlds, and dreams of dragons
Foreman James has always walked the streets of Old Mill, North Carolina, standing tall on street corners and booming his "story" to the world. Not many know where he comes from, or where he goes - no one knows the whole story. When an old, hand-written journal Foreman has carried since childhood goes missing, his carefully preserved world begins to crumble, and Old Mill takes notice. When Cletus J. Diggs' buddy Jasper drops by to tell him how the crazy man was accosting pedestrians on the street, nearly got picked up by the sheriff, and drew the attention of one of the most powerful, and potentially evil men in ten country miles, Jarrod Pope, Cletus is interested. You see, Cletus found a book that day - a very old book - and it has bits and pieces of a very personal, very dark mystery tucked into its weathered pages. Can Cletus, investigator, common-law lawyer, journalist, ordained minister and self-taught jack of all trades unravel that mystery despite the years that separate him from it before something very bad happens? Will Jasper ever get to go fishing? Will Foreman get his book back - and just what happened, decades in the past, when the old peanut oil factory burned down - the Day Jarrod Pope was a hero? Find out in the pages of The Crazy Case of Foreman James - the second Cletus J. Diggs supernatural mystery. Welcome to Old Mill.
“All that grows must decompose.” —Cletus J. Diggs. When Cletus J. Diggs gets a visit from his buddy Jasper and learns about the dead man sticking boot-first out of the fishing hole, he has no idea what it will lead to. How could he? Old Mill is famous for a lot of things, good fishing, barbecue, over-sized satellite dishes and disappearing beer; it is not known for genetic research, ancient rituals, or alien abduction. From the moment Cletus and Sheriff Bob drag the corpse from the fishing hole to the final moments of terror, the action is non-stop, tense, and filled with surprises. Between the Reverend Dozier and his church, the swamp witch, the albino twins, and the local lodge’s well-hidden secrets, the strange events in Old Mill, NC are pretty much out of control. Only Cletus, ordained minister, common law attorney, journalist, private investigator and jack of all trades can draw together the people and resources necessary to set things right. The question is, can he do it before it’s too late? This special digital Edition includes the short story "The Not Quite Right Reverend Cletus J. Diggs & The Fruit of Another Vine," as well as interior illustrations by Zach McCain AND by the author, David Niall Wilson. Also included is the author's introduction to "The Not Quite Right Reverend Cletus J. Diggs & The Crazy Case of Foreman James," as well as an excerpt from that novel!
Donovan DeChance is a practicing mage, book collector, private investigator, and much more. When asked to follow in secret as a hot-headed group of young vampires set out on a 'blood quest' to kill the ancient who created the young vampire Kali against her will, he learns that - as usual - there is a lot more to the story than meets the eye. Through the juke joints of Beale Street in Memphis, to the depths of The Great Dismal Swamp, Donovan and his lover and partner, Amethyst, find themselves drawn along on one of the strangest quests in their long, enigmatic lives as they delve into the world of the undead, the magic of The Blues, and the very heart of alchemy both to protect their young, vampiric charges - and to prevent an ancient evil from destroying the balance of power in the universe. This novel directly crosses over to the original series O.C.L.T. - where Donovan is a sometimes consultant. It features appearances by Geoffrey Bullfinch and Rebecca York, O.C.L.T. agents, as well as Old Mill, North Carolina's own Cletus J. Diggs. Drawing the threads of several of his worlds into one carefully woven tapestry, David Niall Wilson has penned a tale that will appeal to fans of The DeChance Chronicles, O.C.L.T., Cletus J. Diggs, and several other locations and characters from the various worlds he has created. The Books of the DeChance Chronicles read well as stand-alone novels, but are all part of the bigger series, beginning with the novels Heart of a Dragon and Vintage Soul, and continuing in the long novella, My Soul to Keep, which tells the origin of Donovan's power, and helps to explain his drive to maintain the world's balance of power.
There are incidents and emergencies in the world that defy logical explanation, events that could be defined as supernatural, extraterrestrial, or simply otherworldly. Standard laws do not allow for such instances, nor are most officials or authorities trained to handle them. In recognition of these facts, one organization has been created that can. Assembled by a loose international coalition, their mission is to deal with these situations using diplomacy, guile, force, and strategy as necessary. They shield the rest of the world from their own actions, and clean up the messes left in their wake. They are our protection, our guide, our sword, and our voice, all rolled into one. They are O.C.L.T. BROUGHT TO LIGHT - by Aaron Rosenberg - When a world-renowned scientist with a high-level security clearance goes missing in Uppsala, Sweden, and then a trained CIA operative follows suit, the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) taps Reed Christopher Hayes ("R. C." to his friends and "Crease" to his teammates) and the rest of his Military Intelligence unit to investigate. What they find lurking in the shadows of that quiet little city defies belief. The real question, though, is can they take it down before more lives are lost—including their own? THE PARTING - by David Niall Wilson - A vision from ancient Egypt and a call from an old acquaintance send Rebecca York, mystic, occult expert, and adventurer to Arizona, and then Jerusalem and the Dead Sea to prevent a horrifying attack from the annals of history. Rebecca and computer expert Wendell "Mack" Macklemore team up with a renegade Vatican monk, a street urchin from Jerusalem, and an agent of the Mossad to prevent Amunet, an Egyptian sorceress, from exacting an ancient revenge and unleashing a terrorist attack that could plunge the Middle East into an era of darkness. THE TEMPLE OF CAMAZOTZ - Headless bodies are turning up along the Mexican border. The Mexican government blames overzealous US Border guards. The border guards blame drug runners. In a village just on the Mexican side of the border, they have other ideas. There are legends, older even than the Mayan civilization that has died away, of a God. A bat-headed vengeful demon. Someone is fanning the flames of that superstition, and the piles of bodies continue to grow. Geoffrey Bullfinch, folklorist, dabbler in the occult, and Wendell "Mack" Macklemore, computer genius and extreme sports enthusiast are called down to investigate. There are plenty of questions, but can they find the answers before the body count gets too high? Is it possible that they should have let sleeping gods lie? INCURSION - R.C. Hayes has settled into his job with the FBI, and put behind him the strange incident that ended his military career. But when he and his partner are sent to the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana to look into a murder, events take an unsettling and eerily familiar turn. R.C. struggles to solve the case as deaths pile up around him and as the situation takes a decidedly unnatural cast. With the help of a mysterious new ally, he may finally come to terms with what happened to him long ago—and enter a strange new career he is uniquely suited for. Provided he can survive the incursion of supernatural elements into his supposedly safe and mundane world.
A death-row inmate gives her confession—a hair-raising tale of sex, drugs and murder across Oklahoma—in this “vividly realized” novel (The New York Times Book Review). Marjorie Standiford has quite a story to tell. And on the eve of her execution for a sensational murder spree, she’s giving every detail, just as she remembers them, to the famous novelist who has come to record it all. Of course, Marjorie contends that she didn’t do any killing. That was all Lamont, her boyfriend, and Natalie, their girlfriend, while Marjorie got high and took care of the baby. But she was in it just the same, careening across the desert plains of Oklahoma, fueled by lust, crime, cars, drugs—speed in all its forms. The Speed Queen is the story of a terrifying voyage into the dark soul of America’s Heartland. From acclaimed author Stewart O’Nan—selected by Granta as one of the Best Young American Novelists—this is “classic American noir” in the tradition of James M. Cain (San Francisco Chronicle).
This is a story of a sober kind, picturing life in a little town of Missouri, half a century ago. The principal incidents relate to a slave of mixed blood and her almost pure white son, whom she substitutes for her master's baby. The slave by birth grows up in wealth and luxury, but turns out a peculiarly mean scoundrel, and perpetrating a crime, meets with due justice. The science of fingerprints is practically illustrated in detecting the fraud. The title character is the village atheist, whose maxims doubtless express much of the author's own disillusion.
