Showing results by author "Brian Francis"

Peter Paddington is 13, overweight, the subject of his classmates' ridicule, and the victim of too many bad movie-of-the-week storylines. When Peter's nipples begin speaking to him one day and inform him of their diabolical plan to expose his secret desires to the world, Peter finds himself cornered in a world that seems to have no tolerance for difference. Peter's only solace is "The Bedtime Movies" - perfect-world fantasies that lull him to sleep every night.

Magic is real, and hungry - trapped in ancient texts and artifacts. Only a few who discover it survive to fight back. Join Detective Sal Brooks, newest recruit to a black-ops magic hunting team backed by the Vatican, as she travels the world to keep the supernatural in check. Just remember: watch your back and don't touch anything.

From the author of the literary pulp phenomenon Spaceman Blues comes a future history cautionary tale, a heist movie in the style of a hippie novel. Liberation is a speculation on life in near-future America after the country suffers an economic cataclysm that leads to the resurgence of ghosts of its past (such as the human slave trade). Our heroes are the Slick Six, a group of international criminals who set out to alleviate the worst of these conditions and put America on the road to recovery.

After meeting a mysterious person named Sybin, Dillon embarks on a soul-searching adventure where he will come face to face with his haunting past.

Sal Brooks, newest member of Team Three of the Societas Librium Occultorum, is settling in to her job and apartment in Rome. In this episode, we meet the rest of the team and get a tour of the Black Archives (pro tip: don't touch anything) before being whisked off on Sal's first mission: investigate a magical disturbance in the heart of Madrid, Spain. There they find a breathing apartment door, little girls being held hostage, and some furniture that is far too alive for good taste. First days on the job are never easy....

In the not-distant-enough future, a man takes a boat trip up the Susquehanna River with his most trusted friend, intent on reuniting with his son. But the man is pursued by an army, and his own harrowing past; and the familiar American landscape has been savaged by war and climate change until it is nearly unrecognizable. Lost Everything is a stunning novel about family and faith, what we are afraid may come to be, and how to wring hope from hopelessness.

After Manuel Rodrigo de Guzmán González disappears, his lover Wendell Apogee searches through New York City's "Darktown" to find him. Along the way, he encounters everything from black market dealers to alien assassins.

Intrigue and betrayal await in the latest installment of Bookburners, the urban fantasy episodic series that's taken the Internet by storm. Open Season is declared on the Black Archives with every demon in the world wanting the Codex Umbra for their own. Security tightens and the team prepares for inevitable assault never suspecting the sleeper cell already in their midst.

After being sent on a wild goose chase in the latest game of cat and mouse with the mysterious Mr. Norse, the team decides they need to get ahead of their competition in the hunt for the Codex Umbra. With no other options, they turn to old friends and even older magic: specifically, the Oracle of Delphi. Sal grows suspicious of her own sleeping habits, and Asanti enjoys some field time; but everyone learns the deadly dangers of playing with prophecy.

From spin class to a Matrix marathon to saving Rome in the nick of time, it's all in a day off for Grace and Sal in urban fantasy's new hit episodic series. It's Grace's one-day-off-a-year, and nothing will stop her from enjoying every last second of it: not Sal's troubling sleepwalking, not the mysterious tour guide, Aaron, and not even the magical artifact spreading a time-slowing bubble across Rome. The team's troubles may never stop - but sometimes, you have to make time for a spin class.

Sal and Asanti leave the rest of the team in the lurch when they jet off to Scotland to attend the funeral of the archivists' mentor. However, something is amiss in the dear green place as the pair lands to discover the entire city has become obsessed with a restaurant (which just happens to be owned by the deceased mentor's only living relative). They beat the crowds to get a table, only to find the fight has just begun and they left their muscle at home.

When a mysterious invite arrives in the mail and Father Menchu responds by whisking Sal off to Lichtenstein, the former cop is left on very new ground as she gets more than a glimpse at the broader world of magic users. Unfortunately, they are immediately confronted by a wealthy businessman who is less upset about them blowing up his boat two episodes ago than he is about them stealing his (sludge-demon releasing) book.

The team saves on flight costs as the newest mystery happens around the corner. A tip from a local antiquarian doesn't make it to the team in time, and they are left with a once-bookstore-now-rubble pile, a missing magical tome, and very few clues beyond a helpful tour guide (one might even say too helpful). Tracking the missing book to a luxury yacht, the team gets less of the high-end boating experience and more of the demon-on-the-loose nightmare.

Someone has betrayed Sal, turned her over to the not-so-tender ministrations of Team Two's Balloon and Stretch. Death seems certain...but the Hand has more tricks up its sleeve. As Father Menchu leads the rest of Team Three to her rescue, will they find a corpse...or something even worse? This episode is brought to you by team writer Brian Francis Slattery, who would like to assure listeners that no actual demons were harmed in the writing of this exorcism.

Weather alert: Tornado-eating titans on the loose in Oklahoma. There might not be much upon the open, wind-swept plains of Oklahoma - but magic, like life, finds a way to thrive nevertheless. In this week's episode, the team is literally blown away when they touch down in a tiny country town, utterly destroyed by horrifying monsters the locals call Tornado Eaters. The town is past saving, but the threat remains - it will take all the society can throw at them, and even that might not be enough.

Weather alert: Tornado-eating titans on the loose in Oklahoma. There might not be much upon the open, wind-swept plains of Oklahoma - but magic, like life, finds a way to thrive nevertheless. In this week's episode, the team is literally blown away when they touch down in a tiny country town, utterly destroyed by horrifying monsters the locals call Tornado Eaters. The town is past saving, but the threat remains - it will take all the society can throw at them, and even that might not be enough.

NYPD Detective Sal Brooks is no rookie - but even the most hardened cop would think twice when they see their brother open a book and become...well...something entirely not their brother. When her attempts to solve the case cross paths with a mysterious team led by a priest, she starts to realize that the world is far more than what is seems, and, just maybe, magic is real - and hungry.