Jack Harrow thinks he is investigating psychics and spirit mediums. A Bavarian professor hired him to research a new book. But Jack soon discovers a whole new world. He learns there is a different species of human living among us. Professor Kruger calls them Homo Sapiens Obscurus. They are like us, but special powers set them apart. They have...
Waters of Doubt, third tale in the DiPaolo trilogy, a novella. Theodore Roosevelt has invited Martino DiPaolo to an exciting vacation in the Brazilian rain forest. The trip nearly proves the last of both men, as well as the rest of the expedition. They have chosen to follow the course of an unmapped river, the River de Duvidas, River of Doubt....
This is a collection of trunk tales. A trunk tale is a story which I dug out of my trunk. I wrote it years ago, it didn’t get published, so I filed it away in my trunk and forgot about it. Recently I began winnowing my papers and found several that I think are not too bad. The first story, “Cheops,” I first published as a stand alone short. It’s...
Ira Beard hunted Joaquin, the mountain bandit. In the Civil War he chased Confederate rebels. Now he’s settled down with a family and business, hoping for some peace and quiet. He has seen San Francisco through riots, fires, earthquake and war. It’s time for a change.
Then a banker sends him on a mission to inspect a new silver mine down in the...
San Francisco, 1906. Broderick McRae is again being haunted.
As the city struggles to recover from earthquake and fires, an unseen spirit begs McRae for help. This is no revenant but the essence of a living woman, Elinor, who lies in a coma thousands of miles away. Her husband tried to kill her, and he may yet succeed if McRae doesn’t intervene.
Sometimes real sanity is found only in a mad house.
San Francisco, 1879. Georg Vintner, A.K.A the Driver, has returned after two years at sea only to discover that the woman he loves is still confined to a lunatic asylum. Only by rescuing her, can he discover if he wants a life with her. Only then can he learn the truth.
1901: Pinkerton op Martino DiPaolo is working as bodyguard. He’s guarding the Hong Kong consul general and family on their voyage to San Francisco aboard the S.S. City of Rio de Janeiro. The consul’s in a hurry to get to the U.S. president’s inauguration. That’s because he know of a threat on the president’s life. There’s also a threat against...
San Francisco, 1906. Brodrick McRae, reporter for the Call, awakens to discover he is two people. The other in his mind is a dead Italian soldier seeking revenge for his own murder. There’s also a warning of unnamed disaster to come. To make matters worse, McRae’s wife just left him, and he has no idea who to turn to. This is only the beginning...
Sometimes murder happens in broad daylight. In 1877 a man is stabbed on a San Francisco streetcar, but no one sees it happen. How is the driver supposed to clear his name?
Georg Vintner is the Driver. He finds himself suspected of the crime because there’s no one else to pin it on. The victim is from a wealthy family, and the DA wants a...
Black Bart disappeared. At least he meant to, after leaving prison. He wasn’t counting on the man who put him there, Detective Hume. Nor on his old enemy Sutliffe, from Montana days. And there was Magdalena, who insisted on coming along, just because she loved him.
Black Bart really did disappear, that’s history. He only did time for robbing one...
When Geraldine Halloran arrives at the Central Pacific end of track in the winter of 1866, she’s resolved not to be terrified. After all, she has a right to be there. She was hired on as regular telegraph operator, though they thought they were hiring a man. She’s the only other woman at Tunnel 6, except for Mrs. Strobridge, the superintendent’s...
The only path to safety is through the most dangerous place in this world. Men pursue Benjamin for his wild talent, which he doesn’t understand. His path will lead him to imprisonment, to a lesbian biker chick, a gypsy, and a certified lunatic. Among his allies is a woman from another world. His enemy wants his lunch money. Now come on a journey...
Nathaniel had his reasons for making his journey to Rhyolite. Rhyolite was the greatest boom town in the west, with a population of ten thousand and growing fast. Nathaniel hoped to find what had been taken from him—taken by the snallygaster, that old legend from the back hills of Maryland. Snallygaster was that four legged flying snake that...
In 1852, Joaquin Murietta is Gold Rush California’s most notorious bandit. The Rangers are hunting for him, with promise of a sizable reward. Ira Beard, a bounty hunter from New York, also decides to go after Joaquin. He has only two men in his posse, but encounters a Spanish lady who will save his life three times. Who will get to Joaquin...
Hyram and his wife Lisbeth have lived in San Francisco since it was Yerba Buena. They have some strange stories to tell. If you’d like to hear one, they’re short enough to read while waiting for your horse drawn street car.
Liam O’Malley was just looking for an honest job. The California Gold Rush wasn’t paying off for him, and he was tired of living in tents. In San Francisco he did find employment, but he wasn’t sure how honest. He found himself assistant to a Daguerreotype photographer who specialized in photographing ghosts and departed spirits. Of course the...
San Francisco, 1880: Jeremy Fantom hates his job as reporter for the Bulletin. He dreams of joining a circus or going off to sea. But when he meets Hollyhock, the beautiful daughter of a strange inventor that he interviewed, his life starts looking better. At least it does until Hollyhock is abducted and he finds himself drawn into the Barbary...
In the winter of 1888, Dana Reynolds has no reason to believe in anything, until he runs afoul of Wovoka. Dana doesn’t believe in Truth. Telling the truth was what lost him his job back at the Chronicle in San Francisco. Well, that and drinking a little too much. In Nevada he’s learning that Indian agents can be as crooked as politicians. Just...
The Terrorist Plot at Gopherville was the author’s first novel. It’s a political satire involving a geezer who eats roadkill, talks to imaginary friends, and doesn’t much like the Government. At the time of its first publication, the author had hoped the book would lose its relevance with a change in administration. To his disappointment, he...
In the winter of 1888, Dana Reynolds has no reason to believe in anything, until he runs afoul of Wovoka. Dana doesn’t believe in Truth. Telling the truth was what lost him his job back at the Chronicle in San Francisco. Well, that and drinking a little too much. In Nevada he’s learning that Indian agents can be as crooked as politicians. Just...
Rymer the troubadour possesses only one thing of value in all the world: his beloved lute, Ariella. Sadly, it has been stolen by minions of a terrible ogre. Without fear, Rymer sets off to find Ariella. On the way he learns he must get past the Black Duke in his Castle Grey. Luckily, Rymer has one ally in the person of Swine Girl. If only she...
1850: Dana is hungry and cold in New York City. He needs to leave town, fast, before his past catches up with him. He gets his chance when he lands a berth as stoker in a sidewheel steamer bound for the gold fields of California. He doesn’t actually know what a stoker is, but he’s soon to find out. So begins an epic journey that will change his...
Rymer the troubador possesses only one thing of value in all the world: his beloved lute, Ariella. Unfortunately it has been stolen by minions of a terrible ogre. Without fear, Rymer sets off to find Ariella. On the way he learns he must get past the Black Duke in his Castle Starke. Luckily, Rymer has one ally in the person of Swine Girl. If...
Joshua Norton is bankrupt and desperate in antebellum San Francisco at a time when the whole nation seems to have gone mad. He discovers that madness is a viable option, and so becomes Joshua Norton I, dei gratia Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico; a position many people of the city happily accept. He soon discovers, however,...
