I love you always and all ways . . .

A letter from the heart written by Chuy Lago, a character from the novel 

THE SPEAR OF DESTINY  

by 

Trey Garrison

Tracy Marlow Wittington, PA

c/o Pegasus Hospital

Airstrip One

Dearest Tracy,

          I am sitting here cooling my heels, literally, at Ciampino Aerodrome in Rome, awaiting some kind of special package from the Prometheus Society that Lysander assures me is essential to the success of this operation we’ve hired onto. I say literally not to be your pet peeve but because I’m writing this while sitting in a folding lounger on the starboard wing, with a fan blowing my bare feet.

          Fox is taking most of this in stride. I mean, for a man who says he doesn’t want anything to do with the occult or with government related missions, he seems to find himself in a whole mess of them. This one is a particularly sticky wicket – that artifact the Huns are after apparently is supposed to have the power to create an invincible army. Needless to say, the Prometheus Society isn’t too keen on old Uncle Adolf having that kind of power. Bad enough the monstrosities and abominations his occult scientists have already created.

          How Fox is dealing with Terah is another matter. It’s clear as the Northern Lights that he is still in love with her, but that silly, macho Texas pride of his won’t allow him to admit it, and I think he’s at least a little afraid she’ll break his heart again. I can’t read women anyway but Terah is a cypher beyond words – I don’t know whether she’s using him for the mission or whether there’s still something there. I’d like to protect him but you know that’s nigh on impossible.

          I’ve packed my usual gear for this mission – holy water, blessed powders, silver daggers, wooden stakes – but we don’t exactly know what we’re going up against here. All indicators are pointing us towards Carpathia, which despite the claims of that Dutch doctor and his English writer friend, Stoker, is still home to You-Know-Nosferat-Who.

          I’m especially bothered by the fact this artifact is so closely connected to the One whom is our Salvation. It makes little sense to me. Sure, no one can know the effect on a spear tip washed in the Blood of the Lamb, but His is a legacy of love, forgiveness and life everlasting, not death, decay and darkness.

          I suppose though it’s like a firearm, or a lawyer for that matter. It’s not intrinsically good or evil. It’s how it’s used that determines its moral value. It’s not the gun, it’s the person pulling the trigger. The same, I suppose, holds true for the Spear of Destiny, though one wonders to what good use could this kind of power could be put.

          Our new friend Dr. Kurt von Deitel seems to be adjusting as best as can be expected. It’s a whole new world for him. I mean that in more than one way. There’s the finding out what is really happening beyond the veneer of normalcy in this world – the dark powers, the magicks, the Otherness. And there’s the whole opening of his eyes to the world of real freedom and liberty. I’m not sure which of the two is scarier to someone who has grown up so sheltered from reality by the State.

          Remember that signal corps lieutenant from the Lancashire Fusiliers who was also an aspiring writer I told you about? The one I met during the Great War in the hospital near the Somme? I was recovering from nearly being blinded. He was dealing with a case of trench fever. He told these fantastic stories about an ancient Earth populated by goblins, elves, dwarves and others. One of the demons in particular were what he called the Nazgul. I’m not sure for Dr. Deitel which is scarier – the Nazis or the Nazgul. (I hope that young man – John something – gets around to writing his stories.)

          Anyway, I did have time to do a little shopping this morning, so when I see you next I have something special for you, my darling. I need to run now. It looks like the package is here. I have to load it up and get back to Fox, somewhere in the Carpathian mountains trying to beat the Nazis to the Spear of Destiny. Until I see you, Tracy.

I love you always and all ways,

Chuy

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Harper Collins Books

The Spear of Destiny: Part Three

SHADOWS WILL FALL

Amazon.com

Amazon.UK

Shadows Will Fall: Part Three of three in The Spear of Destiny, the first novel in a new steampunk, horror, alternate history, action-adventure series set in a 1920s where the Nazis have begun their subjugation of the world using the occult, advanced science, and a holy relic with awesome powers.

The North American continent is made up of several rival nations, and a Cold War is building between them. The Nazis rose to power a decade earlier. People travel by airship and powerful organizations calculate with Babbage's Difference Engine. The Nazis have hatched a plot to raise a legion of undead soldiers.

Enter Sean Fox Rucker, Jesus D'Anconia Lago, two Great War veterans and freelance pilots who are pulled into the quest. They are joined by a brash Greek merchant, a brilliant Jewish cowboy, and the woman who once broke Rucker's heart. This ragtag band of reluctant, bickering, swashbuckling heroes soon is locked in a globe-spanning race against Nazi occultists, clockwork assassins, and a darkly charismatic commando. In a world where science and the supernatural coexist, and the monsters of legend are as real necromancers who summon them from dark realms, our heroes alone stand before the rising darkness. But all their efforts may not be enough.

Trey Garrison has been a newspaperman, a magazine writer, and a soldier of misfortune. Trey’s secret identity is working as a mild-mannered journalist, editor, humorist, consultant, and part-time sybarite. Maybe the best word to describe him is racontrepreneur. Currently he is director of communications for a foundation based in Dallas that promotes free market solutions and free enterprise.

Trey’s work has appeared in a number of publications, often with his consent and sometimes with his knowledge. He’s been a contributor and editor for D Magazine — considered among the best city magazines in the United States — and for Reason magazine, the national magazine that promotes free minds and free markets. Trey has been a special contributor for The Dallas Morning News and a field reporter for The Land Report.

He’s a master in the kitchen, great at the gun range, and decent at Kung Fu. He lives in Texas. This is his first novel.