The Wrap Up

2025, like all the years before it, was a mixture of good and bad around here. Health issues became a little more challenging this year and took up more time, but I feel like I’m still in pretty good shape for an old-timer. My writing production isn’t what it once was, but I managed to turn out more than half a million words, which amounted to almost six novels. No short stories this year. Most importantly, I feel like the work is still pretty good quality. My schedule is fairly full again for 2026, but changes are looming. But when aren’t they?

Of course, reading is still very important to me, as it has been ever since I first visited the bookmobile when I was six years old. I read 149 books this year, a nice number but down some from last year. Here are my ten favorite books (not best, necessarily, but favorite) that I read this year, alphabetical by author:

SHARPE’S TIGER, Bernard Cornwell

GANGLAND’S DOOM: THE SHADOW OF THE PULPS, Frank Eisgruber Jr.

RANCHO BRAVO #1: CALHOON, Thorne Douglas (Ben Haas)

THE CHRONICLES OF HANUVAR, VOLUME 2: THE CITY OF MARBLE AND BLOOD, Howard Andrew Jones

LONGHORN STAMPEDE, Philip Ketchum 

SARA AND THE MAD DOG, Stephen Mertz

ROBERT E. HOWARD: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A TEXAS WRITER, Willard M. Oliver

SOMETIME LOFTY TOWERS, David C. Smith

STORYTELLER: HELPFUL HINTS AND TALL TALES FROM THE WRITING LIFE, Carlton Stowers

’NADA, Daniel Boyd (Dan Stumpf)

At least a dozen more books could have made this list and some of them probably would have on a different day. I read a lot of good books. I believe all of those listed above are still in print and easily available except for the Western novel by Philip Ketchum.

So what does 2026 hold in store? Who knows? I plan to keep writing and reading for the foreseeable future, and I figure most of the other stuff will take care of itself. My thanks to all of you reading this, some of whom have been here for more than twenty years. We’ll see how long we can keep it going.

UPDATE: In response to a request in the comments, here are the other books I considered for my top ten list, in the order in which I read them: THE RULE OF THREES, Jeffrey Deaver; THE ART OF RON LESSER, VOLUME 2, Robert Deis, Bill Cunningham, eds.; ONCE A FIGHTER, Les Savage Jr.; SWITCHEROO, Emmett McDowell; GUN LAW AT VERMILION, Matt Stuart (L.P. Holmes); HAMILTON'S HAREM, William Kane (Ben Haas); THE JOY WHEEL, Paul W. Fairman; KNIGHT OF DARKNESS: THE LEGEND OF THE SHADOW, Will Murray; THE WILD ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, VOLUME 5, Will Murray; OVERBOARD, George F. Worts; THE BULLET GARDEN, Stephen Hunter; THE RED TASSEL, David Dodge; DREAM TOWN, David Baldacci; MARIHUANA, William Irish (Cornell Woolrich); and EYE WITNESS, George Harmon Coxe. Any of these books are well worth your time.

Review: Sara and the Mad Dog - Stephen Mertz

Music was very important to Steve Mertz. Along with writing, it was really one of his passions. He was an accomplished musician, too, and it showed in his work. His novels that feature a music industry background have a real sense of authenticity to them.

So it’s fitting that his final novel is a thriller based on the music business. SARA AND THE MAD DOG is a wonderful amalgam of music history, gangster history, and fiction as the Carter Family, the First Family of Country Music, travels to New York City for a concert at Carnegie Hall in 1932, arriving just in time for Sara Carter, the group’s vocalist and wife of A.P. Carter, to get involved with Vince “Mad Dog” Coll, a ruthless Irish mobster who’s engaged in a gang war with Dutch Schultz and Lucky Luciano. That’s a great concept for a novel!

Mertz does it justice, too, with a fast-paced narrative in which the action takes place in less than 24 hours. The story moves back and forth between Sara, A.P., Maybelle Carter (the third member of the group), Jimmie Rodgers (the Singing Brakeman) assorted gangsters, and a fictional police detective named Tom Devlin. Mertz weaves all their storylines together very skillfully and creates a real sense of momentum and suspense. Great storyteller that he was, he really had me flipping the pages to find out what was going to happen.

The historical elements of the plot are well-researched and accurate, too, as Mertz explains in an afterword detailing what was fact and what was fiction. All of it comes together in a superb novel that’s the best thing I’ve read so far this year and maybe my favorite of all the Mertz novels I’ve read. I’d hate to have to pick between this one and HANK AND MUDDY, a fantastic yarn about Hank Williams and Muddy Waters. SARA AND THE MAD DOG is a fitting conclusion to a legendary career, and it gets my highest recommendation. You can find it on Amazon in e-book and paperback editions from Wolfpack Publishing.

And on a personal note, damn, I hate to think the phone’s never going to ring again with Steve on the other end, eager to tell me about some book or writer or the project he was planning to work on next. There was nobody else in this business like him. Nobody. He was, as they say, the Genuine Article, and I expect I’ll miss him from now on.

Homicide: Saigon - Stephen Mertz

SAIGON, 1970.

Meet Cord McGavin, lone wolf investigator assigned to a special operations unit of the US Army’s Criminal Investigation Division. McGavin’s beat: the mean streets of this sprawling, violent metropolis ravaged by war. From its wealthy bastions of power, paid for by corruption and profiteering, to the alleys and waterfront shadows where human souls are bartered, deception is the name of the game. The threat of death is never more than a heartbeat away.

McGavin has his hands full. The brass thinks he’s too damn cowboy. Viet Cong assassin teams are operating openly across the city. He’s taken on a deadly coalition about to flood the streets of America with heroin. And oh yeah, there’s McGavin’s beautiful wife Kelly, a Pulitzer-class photo journalist newly arrived under an assumed name to document her husband’s war…

“Stephen Mertz writes a hard edged, fast paced thriller for those who like their tales straight and sharp!” – Joe R. Lansdale

(I've known Stephen Mertz and been reading his books for more years than I like to think about. This is his most recent novel, and it belongs in the top rank of his books. Mertz really knows how to spin a yarn, and HOMICIDE: SAIGON moves incredibly quickly, with a tough, smart protagonist in Cord McGavin. Plenty of action, some well-done romantic scenes between McGavin and his wife Kelly, and the occasional touch of dry humor all make this a really enjoyable novel. A couple of very good short stories featuring the same characters round out this volume. Steve Mertz is one of the legends of men's adventure fiction, and for good reason. I give HOMICIDE: SAIGON a high recommendation.)

Now Available: Death in Dark Places

Six full length detective novels with a mix of longtime bestselling mystery authors and some new to the genre.

This set includes James Reasoner’s legendary debut novel TEXAS WIND. Originally published in 1980, TEXAS WIND has been acclaimed as one of the finest private eye novels ever written.

DEVIL IN A CAGE is a classic private eye novel by renowned action/adventure author W.L. Fieldhouse. Featuring a compelling protagonist in John Weller, a complex plot, sheer storytelling energy, insightful social commentary, and a vivid portrait of Las Vegas that could only be provided by an insider like Fieldhouse. A powerful novel of crime and detection.

Multi award winning novel WILD NIGHT is a historical detective novel. In the 1920's Lucas Hallam was something of a legend: a Texas Ranger turned Pinkerton agent turned Hollywood P.I. And when the occasion arose, Hallam mounted up again and rode with Tom Mix, William S. Hart, and the other famous movie cowboys of the silent era. He didn't think of his past often, and it was the furthest thing from his mind when he went into Chuckwalla, California, hoping to turn the ghost town into a movie set . . . even when the two men started shooting at him.

SOME DIE HARD is legendary mystery and thriller author Stephen Mertz's first novel, originally published in paperback nearly forty years ago and long out of print. Part hardboiled private eye yarn, part classic novel of detection (with a locked-room mystery unlike any other), SOME DIE HARD is pure entertainment.

In TRIPL3 CROSS, veteran author John Hegenberger spins a yarn that is both an exciting thriller and a compelling piece of "noirstalgia", expertly recreating a sense of late-Eighties paranoia and double-dealing and painting a vivid picture of Washington and Cuba during that era, as well as saving a shocking twist for the very end.

Acclaimed, bestselling historical novelist James J. Griffin makes a stunning debut as an author of contemporary thrillers with MURDER AMONG THE CLOUDS. Fast-paced, populated with compelling, intriguing characters, and filled with fascinating police procedure and breathtaking suspense.

Now Available: Say It Was Murder - Stephen Mertz

McShan is tough and smart, one of the top operatives for the detective agency Honeycutt Personal Services. But he has his hands full when he’s sent to the picturesque desert landscape of southeastern Arizona to check on the well-being of a former Olympic gymnast who’s become involved with a New Age cult. It doesn’t take long for murder to rear its ugly head, and McShan finds himself neck-deep in a case involving vicious bikers, an unassuming barber who may be a criminal mastermind, a wealthy entreprenuer hiding dangerous secrets, and too many beautiful blondes with deadly secrets of their own.

Critically acclaimed thriller author Stephen Mertz returns with a private eye novel in the classic mold, crackling with suspense and plot twists, populated with compelling characters, and told with a sharp, contemporary edge that will leave the reader breathless.

Now Available for Pre-Order: Say It Was Murder - Stephen Mertz

McShan is tough and smart, one of the top operatives for the detective agency Honeycutt Personal Services. But he has his hands full when he’s sent to the picturesque desert landscape of southeastern Arizona to check on the well-being of a former Olympic gymnast who’s become involved with a New Age cult. It doesn’t take long for murder to rear its ugly head, and McShan finds himself neck-deep in a case involving vicious bikers, an unassuming barber who may be a criminal mastermind, a wealthy entreprenuer hiding dangerous secrets, and too many beautiful blondes with deadly secrets of their own.

Critically acclaimed thriller author Stephen Mertz returns with a private eye novel in the classic mold, crackling with suspense and plot twists, populated with compelling characters, and told with a sharp, contemporary edge that will leave the reader breathless.

The Wrap Up

This was a rough year personally in a lot of ways, and I’m sure hoping that 2018 will be an improvement, but the reading and the writing rolled on, as they have for decades now. That’s what I’m here to talk about today.

READING

I read 117 books this year, a slight increase from last year. Here are my Top Ten favorites, in the order in which I read them.

RIDERS OF THE NIGHT, Eugene Cunningham

FLASH CASEY—DETECTIVE, George Harmon Cose

LEO MARGULIES: GIANT OF THE PULPS, Philip Sherman

NEVER SAY NO TO A KILLER, Clifton Adams

THE LOST END OF NOWHERE, Gordon MacCreagh

SAY IT WAS MURDER, Stephen Mertz

KISS AND KILL, Richard Deming

AVALANCHE!, E.S. Dellinger

PLAY A COLD HAND, Terence Faherty

THE ART OF THE PULPS, Douglas Ellis, Ed Hulse, Robert Weinberg, eds.

If you’re keeping score at home, you’ll note that my blog posts for a couple of these haven’t shown up yet, but they will soon. Also, one of them, SAY IT WAS MURDER by Stephen Mertz, hasn’t been published yet, but it’ll be out next spring from Rough Edges Press. Remember the title (like I’d let you forget!) because it’s a great private eye novel.

The older I get, the more I seem to retreat into the pulp era. Four of the books listed above first appeared in the pulps, and two more are about the pulps, at least partially in the case of the Margulies bio. But four of them are also new books, appearing for the first time in 2017, so I’m not a complete fossil yet. Still, more than a fourth of the books I read this year were either pulps, pulp reprints, or pulp-related. Another fourth were what I would consider vintage paperbacks or hardbacks. So I’m definitely beating ceaselessly into the past, boats against the current.

WRITING

I wrote a million words again this year, for the 13^th straight year. I have a tentative plan to try to hit a million two more times, then semi-retire and write about half a million words a year from then on. (I know, I know, we’ve all heard this before . . .) I spent enough years as a semi-starving freelancer that it’s difficult to turn down work, but I’ve begun to do that now and then. The million words this year included eight solo novels, six collaborations, and sizable chunks of two more novels. No short fiction at all in 2017, and only one of the novels, which probably won’t be out for a while, will have my name on it. But I haven’t worried about that in forty years and don’t intend to start now, as long as I can continue fooling everybody into believing I know what I’m doing and don’t have to take an honest job. I’m ’way too old for that. Many thanks to everyone involved in saving me from that terrible fate, from the editors and agents to the readers to Livia, Shayna, and Joanna, who make it all possible to start with.

I don’t make resolutions, but I have the vague hope that I’ll have more time to read, watch TV and movies, and just generally enjoy life. I plan to attend Robert E. Howard Days in June, I may make it to a science fiction convention or two, and I’ll definitely continue going to hockey games when I can. (I’ve become a big hockey fan and have been known to pontificate about games that I’m watching, based on my vast experience of two whole years as a spectator and never having been on ice skates in my life . . .) The blog will continue, the WesternPulps group will continue (until Yahoo pulls the plug on all the groups, which I remain convinced they will, sooner or later), and I’m sure I’ll still spend too much time on Facebook. To all of you out there who make this stuff fun, my very best wishes and the hope that 2018 is kind to you.

Jimi After Dark - Stephen Mertz

Steve Mertz has been writing great mystery and action/adventure novels for a long time, but there's something special going on when he sets his stories against a music industry background. A longtime bluesman himself, Mertz brings a passion and enthusiasm to his music-themed novels that elevates them and makes them some of my favorite books of recent years. Such is the case with his latest, JIMI AFTER DARK, which finds Jimi Hendrix in London and in all sorts of trouble, besieged by women, gangsters, and maybe something even more sinister, with only the narrator known as Soldier (an old friend from Hendrix's army days) to help him.

Based on both documented history and events that may or may not have taken place, JIMI AFTER DARK is fast-paced, full of action and plot twists and interesting characters, as well as a vivid depiction of the London music and club scene during the Sixties. Plus that special Mertz magic mentioned above. I think HANK AND MUDDY (featuring Hank Williams and Muddy Waters) is still my favorite of his novels, but JIMI AFTER DARK is a very, very close second. Highest recommendation on this one.

The Moses Deception - Stephen Mertz

Archeological thrillers have become quite popular over the past twenty or so years, but as you'd expect when Stephen Mertz tackles a genre, you're not going to get the same old same old, as the saying goes. True, in his recent novel THE MOSES DECEPTION, you get a male/female pair of intrepid archeologists, but they're not involved in a romantic relationship as so often happens in books like this. Rather, Drs. Adam Chase and Lara Newton are partners and allies, although there is some attraction between them. Sure enough, on a dig in the Middle East, they make a discovery with implications that could change the entire world: fragments of the original Ten Commandments that Moses broke when he came down from Mount Sinai. And according to these fragments, there was an eleventh commandment that no one ever knew about because Moses kept it to himself (hence the title).

Adam and Lara are already in an area plagued by violence, and this momentous discovery just puts them in more danger, as it's important enough for various factions to kill over, which is exactly what happens as the two of them try to reach safety at the estate belonging to their wealthy backer in the Swiss Alps. Much double-crossing and intrigue ensues.

What really sets THE MOSES DECEPTION apart is Mertz's writing, which as usual is lean and fast-paced and filled with action and compelling characters. So many thrillers these days are bloated, with page after page of padding that puts me to sleep. Not so anything by Steve Mertz, who has been one of the top action writers in the business for the past forty years. THE MOSES DECEPTION is great entertainment and highly recommended.

Now Available: Blaze! Boxed Set

If you haven't tried the Blaze! series yet, you'll never get a better chance than this special ebook boxed set edition of the first six novels.

J.D. and Kate Blaze are two of the deadliest gunfighters the Old West has ever seen. They also happen to be husband and wife, as passionate in their love for each other as they are in their quest for justice on the violent frontier!

BLAZE! is the first novel in a thrill-packed, all-new Adult Western series created by bestselling action/adventure author Stephen Mertz. J.D. and Kate find themselves facing a deadly ambush by Apaches, then they're hired to track down a gang of ruthless outlaws led by the beautiful, savage bandit queen Rosa Diablo. It's gun-swift excitement all the way in this gritty tale from Stephen Mertz.

Legendary Western author Robert J. Randisi, creator of The Gunsmith, joins the Blaze! team with this fast-action novel of treachery, revenge, passion, and blistering gunplay. From the finest hotels in Denver to a savage showdown in a ghost town, THE DEADLY GUNS is adventure all the way!

Wayne D. Dundee, one of today's bestselling and most acclaimed Western authors, spins a lightning-fast, action-packed yarn in BITTER VALLEY, the third book in the all-new BLAZE! series. Trouble always seems to follow J.D. and Kate Blaze, and they answer with hot lead!

The only thing J.D. and Kate Blaze planned to do in the settlement of Wilderness, Wyoming, was attend the wedding of one of Kate's friends. Instead outlaws launch a bloody raid on the church in the middle of the ceremony and kidnap the groom. Acclaimed Western author Jackson Lowry (THE SONORA NOOSE and WEST OF THE BIG RIVER: THE ARTIST) spins a colorful, action-packed yarn in SIX-GUN WEDDING, the fourth book in the bestselling Adult Western series BLAZE!

It was one of the most brutal crimes Nevada had ever seen—a stagecoach and everyone in it chopped to pieces by a hail of bullets from a Gatling gun. Award-winning Western writer Michael Newton joins the BLAZE! team with an action-packed novel rooted in the bloody history of the Old West. One of the most popular and acclaimed authors of Western, crime, and adventure novels for the past 30 years, Newton spins a compelling tale of violence and deadly secrets in AMBUSHED!

ZOMBIES OVER YONDER is the wildest BLAZE! adventure yet, as J.D. and Kate investigate the mysterious death of a mine owner and find themselves facing a danger unlike any they've ever encountered. From bloodthirsty outlaws to cold-blooded killers to marauding Indians, they thought they had seen it all—but the looming castle atop a ridge near the settlement of Yonder, Arizona, holds something new and deadly. It's the Old West's only team of husband-and-wife gunfighters versus a sinister count and his walking dead minions—and hot lead may not be enough to stop them!

If you like gritty, fast-paced Western novels seasoned with sexy romps, don't miss this amazing deal.

Now Available for Pre-Order: Blaze! The Christmas Journey - Stephen Mertz

Husband-and-wife gunfighters J.D. and Kate Blaze are just about the unlikeliest Santa Claus and Santa’s helper that the Old West has ever seen. But when a bank is robbed in Arizona Territory and a frantic mother has to embark on a desperate journey to save her son’s life, it’s Kate and J.D. who ride along to make sure everybody gets what’s coming to them for Christmas, whether it’s a hangman’s noose or hot lead! By horseback, stagecoach, and train, it’s up to the Blazes to deliver presents for one and all, and there’ll be outlaws and Apaches stirring before Christmas morning dawns.

BLAZE! THE CHRISTMAS JOURNEY is a Special Holiday Edition from series creator Stephen Mertz, full of action and humor and heartwarming plot twists. It’s Christmas in the Old West with the deadliest pair of gunfighters to ever hit the trail!

M.I.A. Hunter: Hostage Town - Stephen Mertz

When an M.I.A. mission goes terribly wrong, Mark Stone and his team are thrust into a showdown with terrorists who have seized control of an isolated Texas border town. But the invaders have not counted on the fury of Mark Stone, Terrance Loughlin and Hog Wiley. It’s a deadly race against time to rescue a church full of innocent hostages when world terrorism strikes the American heartland.

I read most, if not all, of the M.I.A. Hunter books back when they first came out, so when I heard that Steve Mertz had written the first new book in the series in many years, it was pretty exciting news. HOSTAGE TOWN lives up to that excitement. Nobody does this sort of book better than Mertz. Compelling characters, fast action, a real sense of urgency and suspense. He's one of the best adventure writers of our time, plain and simple. Highly recommended.

New Low Price for Blaze! #1

 BLAZE! by Stephen Mertz, the novel that launched the bestselling Western series, is now available for the new low price of 99 cents. With nine books available and more coming later this year, this is a great time to start reading the Blaze! series. High quality Western entertainment! (Ignore the price in the link. If you click on it, the book is actually 99 cents the way it's supposed to be.)

Free for a Limited Time: Blaze! - Stephen Mertz

   If you've been meaning to read the Blaze! series but haven't gotten around to it yet, right now you can get the first book absolutely free for the Kindle. You can't beat that deal!

J.D. and Kate Blaze are two of the deadliest gunfighters the Old West has ever seen. They also happen to be husband and wife, as passionate in their love for each other as they are in their quest for justice on the violent frontier! 

BLAZE! is the first novel in a thrill-packed, all-new Adult Western series created by bestselling action/adventure author Stephen Mertz. J.D. and Kate find themselves facing a deadly ambush by Apaches, then they're hired to track down a gang of ruthless outlaws led by the beautiful, savage bandit queen Rosa Diablo. It's gun-swift excitement all the way in this gritty tale from Stephen Mertz. Rough Edges Press is proud to present BLAZE!

Now Available: Blaze! A Son of the Gun - Stephen Mertz

When Kate and J.D. Blaze set off in pursuit of the Ludlow brothers, as crazed and vicious a trio of owlhoots as they've ever encountered, J.D. never expected to run into the biggest surprise of his adventurous career: a fast-on-the-draw young man who claims to be his son! Not only that, but young Joe Bridge has trouble of his own dogging his trail—a ruthless cattle baron and a gang of bloodthirsty nightriders! Joe just wants to settle down with the beautiful girl he's fallen in love with, but he'll have to fight his way through hell to do it...and who better to help him than the man who just may be his father, gunfighter J.D. Blaze? 

Legendary author Stephen Mertz, creator of the BLAZE! series, returns with another fast-action novel filled with all the thrills and passion of the Old West. Read A SON OF THE GUN and see why BLAZE! is the bestselling all-new Adult Western series.

Now Available for Pre-Order: Blaze! A Son of the Gun - Stephen Mertz

When Kate and J.D. Blaze set off in pursuit of the Ludlow brothers, as crazed and vicious a trio of owlhoots as they've ever encountered, J.D. never expected to run into the biggest surprise of his adventurous career: a fast-on-the-draw young man who claims to be his son! Not only that, but young Joe Bridge has trouble of his own dogging his trail—a ruthless cattle baron and a gang of bloodthirsty nightriders! Joe just wants to settle down with the beautiful girl he's fallen in love with, but he'll have to fight his way through hell to do it...and who better to help him than the man who just may be his father, gunfighter J.D. Blaze? 

Legendary author Stephen Mertz, creator of the BLAZE! series, returns with another fast-action novel filled with all the thrills and passion of the Old West. Read A SON OF THE GUN and see why BLAZE! is the bestselling all-new Adult Western series.
 

Now Available: The King of Horror & Other Stories- Stephen Mertz

"One of my favorite writers...a born storyteller...Enjoy!" – Max Allan Collins 
"Stephen Mertz writes a hard-edged, fast-paced thriller for those who like their tales straight and sharp." — Joe R. Lansdale 

For the past forty years, Stephen Mertz has been a bestselling author of thrillers and men's adventure novels, while also becoming known as one of the best mystery writers in the business. THE KING OF HORROR & OTHER STORIES, the complete collection of his short fiction, showcases the wide variety of his work, from Westerns and historicals to hardboiled private eye yarns to pure pulp adventure and razor-sharp suspense. 

Featuring an introduction by Evan Lewis and an afterword by Stephen Mertz, the stories in this volume include: 

The King of Horror 
The Death Blues 
Fragged 
Talon's Gift 
The Lizard Men of Blood River 
The Busy Corpse 
Take Two 
The Basics of Murder 
The Dark of Midnight 
Last Stand 
A Hit for the New Age 
Relic 

Rough Edges Press is proud to present THE KING OF HORROR & OTHER STORIES. 

Coming Soon: The King of Horror & Other Stories - Stephen Mertz

The complete collection of Stephen Mertz's short fiction. Introduction by Evan Lewis.

Now Available: Sherlock Holmes: Zombies Over London - Stephen Mertz

Sherlock Holmes faces perhaps the greatest challenge yet in his long-running war with his arch-enemy Professor Moriarty—the living dead walk, hungry for flesh and doing the bidding of the evil professor! 

From a dirigible carrying a deadly cargo high in the sky over London to a sinister castle lurking in the beautiful English countryside, the Great Detective and his friend Dr. Watson battle to thwart Moriarty's latest scheme to wreak havoc and loot one of the world's great cities. Thousands of lives hang in the balance, and it will take all of Holmes' incredible deductive skills to figure out just what a young writer named H.G. Wells and the German teenager Albert Einstein have to do with Moriarty's plans! 

Legendary thriller writer Stephen Mertz takes on some of the world's most iconic characters in this fast-paced tale that is part mystery novel, part horror yarn, and part steampunk inventiveness. It's a breathless adventure that's sure to entertain from first page to last!

Coming Soon: Sherlock Holmes: Zombies Over London - Stephen Mertz

Sherlock Holmes faces perhaps the greatest challenge yet in his long-running war with his arch-enemy Professor Moriarty—the living dead walk, hungry for flesh and doing the bidding of the evil professor!

From a dirigible carrying a deadly cargo high in the sky over London to a sinister castle lurking in the beautiful English countryside, the Great Detective and his friend Dr. Watson battle to thwart Moriarty's latest scheme to wreak havoc and loot one of the world's great cities. Thousands of lives hang in the balance, and it will take all of Holmes' incredible deductive skills to figure out just what a young writer named H.G. Wells and the German teenager Albert Einstein have to do with Moriarty's plans!

Legendary thriller writer Stephen Mertz takes on some of the world's most iconic characters in this fast-paced tale that is part mystery novel, part horror yarn, and part steampunk inventiveness. It's a breathless adventure that's sure to entertain from first page to last!

(I'm going to be sending out a limited number of e-book review copies of this novel later this week. If you'd be interested in getting one, let me know in the comments or email me. It's a dandy.)