Mel Odom

After dying in a freak accident, Matt Cahill inexplicably “wakes up” three months later with the disturbing ability to see things—terrible things—that others cannot. Drafted as a warrior in the battle between good and evil, Matt will stop at nothing to destroy the malevolent Mr. Dark. In The Dead Man Volume 7, a trio of sinister new stories tracks the reluctant hero on his nightmarish quest. Matt Cahill is part of a team of smokejumpers who are dropped into the heart of a raging forest fire that is fueled by a flamethrower-wielding madman under the sway of Mr. Dark. Almost every living thing in this hellacious Crucible of Fire, including Matt’s fellow firefighters, are falling prey to Mr. Dark’s evil touch and bowing to his furious command: Kill the Dead Man! Matt is tracking a blood-sucking, shape-shifting killer through the icy Cascade Mountains when he encounters a mysterious woman who is on the same corpse-strewn trail...but who has a terrifying secret of her own...and an unspeakable lust for The Dark Need. In the blasted hell of the Arizona desert, Matt hitches a ride with a young couple who meets a terrible fate that he’s powerless to stop. The bloody encounter leads him to a deadly stranger who may know why Matt became part of The Rising Dead. But first they must survive in an unforgiving wasteland to do battle with a gang of heavily-armed smugglers who trade in human flesh.

BETWEEN DARKNESS AND LIGHT... This quartet of novellas travels around the Sixth World to places where the boundaries between good and evil, light and darkness can be...blurry, at best. In the mysterious Caliphate of Arabia, A shaman makes the ultimate deal with one of the deadliest-and most treacherous-spirit totems to exact justice for her murdered family. Everyone's favorite down on his luck PI Jimmy Kincaid takes on a case of SURGE kids getting burned alive by someone-or something-with a deep hate for genemods. T'ing the troll shaman takes his posse down to Cuba to mix business with pleasure, and uncovers a deadly plot to wipe out most of the Caribbean if the shadowrunners don't step in. And a shadowrunning team heads to the Sioux Nation to investigate several mysterious disappearances...and stumbles upon a secret cabal dedicated to preventing the destruction of much of the Nation...and a showdown with a megacorp that looking to seize that power for itself. Four stories of intrigue and danger from the gray world of Shadowrun. Check your ammo, prep your spells, and get ready to cross more than one kind of border in these pages...

STRIKE FROM THE SHADOWS... On the trail of her missing brother, shaman Rashida bint Tariq bin Feroze al-Nazari travels to South Africa to interrogate a corp executive who may have actually seen Qasim. But the meeting turns into a trap she barely escapes, and Rashida realizes she and her shadowrunning team have stumbled onto something much deeper than a rash of missing children. Their search for answers will take them from the glittering neon towers of Dubai to the harsh desert wilderness of the Arabian Caliphate. Rashida and her team scour every clue they find, whether it is in the deep African jungle, the artificial world of the Matrix, or the infinite astral plane, to uncover who's masterminding this plot...and stop them before it can be put into action. And all the while, Rashida must contend with Scorpion, the insect spirit who came to her when she cried out for revenge against those who had killed her father and stolen her brother, and now lives within her in an uneasy alliance. Vicious, cunning, and deadly, Scorpion's power always comes with a price...and if Rashida isn't careful, she may end up paying it before she has the chance to save her brother...and punish the ones who took him.

MEET RADIO RITA Airship 27 Productions is thrilled to announce the debut of pulpdom's newest hero, aviator Radio Rita. Envisioned originally as a pin-up representation of the publishing house by Managing Editor, Ron Fortier, the character took on a life of her own when several New Pulp writers suggested writing stories of the tall, action-loving redhead. Enticed by the idea, Fortier challenged writers to imagine their versions of the character from a set of four basic physical attributes. The result is four unique women, all of them Radio Rita. Buckle up for adventure, pulp fans. She's still one of a kind. Volume one features tales by Teel James Glenn, Samantha Lienhard, Gene Moyers, and Mel Odom with illustrations by Rob Davis and a cover by Ted Hammond.

Charlie Stark, assistant undertaker, is standing in a grave the day notorious outlaw Angel Blunt rides into his life. Blunt talks to Mr. Henson, Charlie's mentor, like he knows him, but Charlie knows that can't be. John Peter Henson is a good man who would only spend time with someone like Blunt the day he put him into the ground... Unwilling to give up Mr. Henson's secret and tarnish his good name, Charlie tries to put the pieces together himself. Maggie Buchanan knows he's hiding something and she's on his trail as well. Together, they turn the tables on Blunt's outlaws. Charlie ends up in possession of a treasure map to Mexican gold that may just get him killed."The pace is fast, the action plentiful, the characters colorful and memorable, and the writing is top-notch." - Wayne D. Dundee

In the third entry in bestselling author Mel Odom’s Makaum War series, Master Sergeant Frank Sage struggles to defend against the Phrenorian threat as battle lines will be redrawn—and blood will spill... One step forward, two steps back sums up Frank Sage’s day-to-day on Makaum. No sooner does he get the drug cartels under control than a major political assassination stirs civil unrest to a fever pitch. Makaumans never wanted to choose sides in the Terran/Phrenorian war, but frustration, fear, and resentment are turning the tide against peacekeeping efforts.As street skirmishes rage on, the Terrans’ most powerful on-planet ally works with Sage’s superior officer to isolate insurgent cells—and outmaneuver the general who wants to yank troops from Makaum before their job is done. Meanwhile, the assassin who’s targeting powerful figures from all factions is still at large.Amidst the chaos, Sage must keep his eye on a lethal “prize”—the secret armory and headquarters where the Phrenorians have been stockpiling weapons, munitions, and war machines. The mission to infiltrate will put him on a collision course with Zhoh GhiCemid, his ruthlessly ambitious Phrenorian counterpart. As dangerous as ever, Zhoh isn’t afraid to die—and would like nothing better than to take Sage down with him.

LAWMAN BASS REEVESIn all the annals of frontier history, there was no lawman as skilled or tireless in meting out justice then former runaway slave, Bass Reeves. Having lived with the Five Civilized Tribes during the Civil War years, Reeves was taught tracking and hunting by the natives of that rugged land. After marrying and starting a horse ranch, he soon realized raising a large family (he would have ten children) was expensive. Thus when offered to pin on the U.S. Deputy Marshal's badge, Reeves accepted for two practical reasons; his own respect for the law and the fact that Marshals got to keep whatever bounty was posted on the outlaws they hunted.In this volume, writers R.A. Jones, Terry Alexander and Mel Odom put the legendary Marshal to the test in three brand new adventures. From facing an old deadly foe, hunting a killer in Indian country and going after a preacher who believes himself to be God's own avenging angel. This is the Wild West at its wildest, challenging the one man who could not be beaten, Marshal Bass Reeves.

Darrick Lang is coming home. Years ago he left the town of Bramwell to walk the wide world as a soldier of fortune and champion of the realm. But Bramwell is not as he left it. Something dark and terrifying has ensnared the townsfolk, something very old and very patient, tangling innocents in a web of malice and profaning the very earth itself. Now that same power calls to Darrick and his only hope may be to walk the same perilous path of damnation. Darrick Lang is coming home. Years ago he left the town of Bramwell to walk the wide world as a soldier of fortune and champion of the realm. But Bramwell is not as he left it. Something dark and terrifying has ensnared the townsfolk, something very old and very patient, tangling innocents in a web of malice and profaning the very earth itself. Now that same power calls to Darrick and his only hope may be to walk the same perilous path of damnation.

BASS REEVESLEGENDARY MANHUNTERIn the years after the Civil War, the greatest lawman to operate in the untamed wilderness frontiers was U.S. Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves. An ex-slave, Reeves took on the silver badge because he believed all men to be equal in the eyes of the law and so he would become an agent of that justice. In his actual career he captured over 3,000 felons and survived fourteen gun battles. A crack shot with both rifle and pistol, he was never wounded once.Here, in this second volume of an ongoing series, the Deputy Marshal finds himself teaming up with a spitfire of a she-devil known as Quickshot Katy, chasing down desperate train robbers, protecting an army gold shipment and defending a vicious killer against an entire town demanding blood. Writers Milton Davis, Mel Odom, Michael Black and Derrick Ferguson have saddled up to deliver four new action packed western yarns starring the one and only Bass Reeves - Frontier Lawman.

TALES OF A WESTERN LEGENDHe began his life as a slave. During the Civil War he escaped and lived among the Indians of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Oklahoma Territories. He learned to ride, shoot and track prey from his adopted people. When the war ended, he was recruited as one of the first black marshals in the history of the west.In a thirty year career, operating under the authority of Judge Parker out of Fort Smith, he captured over three thousand outlaws, was involved in fourteen major gun battles and never wounded once. At the ended of his career, he became a Deputy Sheriff in Tuskegee until his death at the age of 70. He is considered the greatest western lawman that ever lived.Writers Gary Phillips, Mel Odom, Andrew Salmon and Derrick Ferguson have whipped up four action packed adventures inspired by this legendary figure. Tales of a wild frontier where outlaws and renegades roamed freely until the coming of one amazing man who wore a badge and vowed to bring justice to one and all. He was Bass Reeves-Frontier Marshal.

The second installment of the Markaum War series by Mel Odom takes these military sci-fi books to the next level, perfect for readers of Jay Allan's Crimson Worlds novels. He's behind enemy lines. But those lines are shifting beneath his feet. In the jungles of Makaum, the Terran military is locked in a critical standoff over the planet's resources with the hostile Phrenorians, even as both species maintain uneasy relations with the locals. Tensions could ignite at a moment's notice. And Master Sergeant Frank Sage has just stumbled upon the spark plug. Alongside trusted Makaum scouts, Sage is running recon on what is possibly an unsanctioned Phrenorian military base.Deep in the savage wilderness, Sage recognizes the renowned Phrenorian warrior arriving on-site: Zhoh GhiCemid. As Sage knows firsthand, Zhoh's presence could mean trouble. Meanwhile, a mysterious faction of Makaum insurgents breaks the fragile peace with a reckless attack on the Terran base. Before the situation devolves into chaos, Sage must learn to think like his adversaries-devious friends and deadly foes alike.

The trilogy that began in Exodus continues: 2024: Four years after the Demons opened the planar rift known as the Hellgate, mankind's desperate struggle to survive continues. Simon Cross, expatriate of the secret Templar order, works to find and transport survivors out of the ruined city. Hiding within London's Underground system, Simon is raising an army to fight against the encroaching Darkness. Now, he battles the monsters that roam the city and fends off a jealous Knight who plans to take Simon down...all while striving to reunite the divided Templar forces. Warren Schimmer, a Cabalist who is magically linked to a powerful demon, searches for Goetia. Also known as the Lesser Key of Solomon, this ancient artifact could provide the forces of good or evil with an edge in the ongoing war. Standing in his path is Simon Cross. Warren has made a bargain with his Demon lord for survival and the promise of vengeance against the persuasive Templar...but a Demon's promise is made to be broken.

LONDON, 2038 The once-great city lies in ruins. A massive gash in the fabric of our reality roils against the horizon as it blends into a permanently darkened sky. The world as we know it has come to an end. Demons, the visions of our nightmares, walk the Earth. Mankind, driven in retreat to the sanctuary of the Underground, struggles to survive the Hellish apocalypse. Among the survivors are those who foresaw the coming of the darkness, those who see it as an opportunity to improve the standing of man, and those who seek revenge for what was lost. All are now banding together in the shadows, arming themselves with futuristic weapons and arcane spells designed for one purpose -- to battle the demonic hordes and take back their world.

London, England, 1884 ... What happened when Sherlock Holmes stepped into the exhibition ring against retiring prize fighter McMurdo four years before The Sign of Four? What incident was Holmes recalling between Mr. Mathews and himself in the waiting room at Charing-Cross in The Adventure of the Empty House? Sherlockians have wanted to know for decades. The answers can be found in Fight Card Sherlock Holmes: Work Capitol ...Victorian Slang for a crime punishable by death, Work Capitol finds the world's most famous consulting detective - accompanied by the ever stalwart Dr. Watson - chasing a diabolical murderer through the dark, illicit, world of Victorian bare-knuckle boxing. To solve the case, Holmes must take a desperate chance, toeing the scratch line opposite London's most dangerous pugilist - Ezekiel Tanner ...Sometimes the simplest crimes hide the darkest secrets ... And this time, Holmes and Watson know brawn will count as much as brains ...

New short stories of searing white hot prose starring pulpdom's most violent and ruthless crime fighter ever: The Spider! More just than the law, more dangerous than the Underworld - hated, feared and wanted by both! One cloaked, fanged, border-line crazy denizen of the dark force-feeding hard justice with a pair of 45's! Guest starring: The Black Bat, The Green Ghost, and Operator 5! James Chambers, CJ Henderson, Will Murray, Ron Fortier, Rik Hoskin, Don Roff, Matthew Baugh, Eric Fein, Gary Phillips, and more!

Matt ran though his heart thumped harshly in his chest and his breath burned the back of his throat. Although he didn't yet know how he was going to achieve the goal, Matt knew he was going to find out Lucius Creighdor's deepest secrets. Then he was going to kill the man.... In one foggy night Matt Hunter's entire world has changed. What began as a simple trip to the docks turned into a nightmare. Seven years ago Matt's mother, Lady Brockton, was brutally murdered. Ever since, Matt's father has fanatically hunted her attacker, risking his reputation and his life. Finally, Lord Brockton had cornered the man he believed to be responsible. On the docks that night, he planned to show his son the truth behind his mother's death. But then Lord Brockton was killed. Now Matt's own life is at risk. Fortunately he is surrounded by trustworthy friends, because Hunter's League is on the trail of a vicious murderer who will go to great -- and deadly -- lengths to protect his secret plans. Plans that spell the ruin of the British Empire...and the world beyond.