Showing results by author "Gilbert M. Stack" in All Categories

After winning a costly clash with Diamonte’s Thegn Clovis and High Mago Deverel, Marcus must find a way to press the attack even though more than half of his Black Hat legionnaires are unable to take the field. Thegn Clovis cannot afford another costly battle so he must turn to High Mago Deverel to conjure victory from defeat. But a lot of magos have been playing with the weather in the past year and succeed or fail, the consequences of Deverel’s efforts could prove devastating for the Jeweled Hills.

Surrounded by enemies, Prefect Marcus Venandus launches a bold stroke to eliminate one opponent in the coming war. The key to his plan is the fortified border town of Centinela - the Sentinel of Southern Morganita. Its fortified walls are strong enough to delay conventional forces for weeks, giving the other enemy city-states plenty of time to invade Amatista from the east. Can he take advantage and neutralize Centinela? Or will his risky gambit cost Marcus and his allies the war?

Only one tiny halfling stands in the way of an power seeking to wipe out a grand alliance that has lasted for millennia. None of the inhabitants of the scum ridden town of Hidden Harbor seem to be able to take him seriously, but they are about to learn how wrong they are. For the gods were tricked into putting aside their differences to create one final champion. Armed only with a hatchet and a highly fashionable hat, the halfling champion is doing his best to save the world by chopping down one evil villain at a time.

ABBA, Air Supply, Charlie’s Angels, Ronald Reagan—it’s 1981 and real estate attorney, Lynne Winters’, is struggling to manage a constantly complaining mother and a law practice tanking in the worst real estate market in a decade. Then her life really goes insane when a long brown envelope lands on her desk. The heir to the Mackland furniture empire has been kidnapped and the kidnapper has forced Lynne smack in the middle of the ransom negotiations. It’s the most important case of her career, but in a time when professional women too often aren’t taken seriously, it will take all...

As word of the Legion’s lightning conquest of Malaquita echoes across Diamonte, the Black Hat commander plans an even more audacious move. Rather than consolidate his gains in the west, Marcus launches a surprise strike downriver on Hessonita—the forward rallying point for Diamonte’s attempted counterattack. The key to his plan is speed and surprise—how close can they get before the city realizes its danger? If Hessonita has time to prepare a river defense, Marcus could lose the entire legion. Yet this time, the fog of war conceals dangers beyond human comprehension. Will the Camino...

Lesser Tribune Marcus Venandus, Legion officer exemplar, was exiled to the disease-ridden hell hole known as the Fire Islands as punishment for the failed political machinations of his father. While the days of the powerful witchdoctor kings throwing skeletal armies against the shields of the legion have faded into history, all is not right at the edge of the world. Unrest is boiling once again as long dead darkness seeps back into the islands.

If folks had any business living in the small Colorado town of Hadrian’s Well, there wouldn’t be a meadow called Dead Man’s Field outside of it. That’s where Deputy Joanna Donovan finds bloody body parts strewn across the ground. She thought that rural Colorado would be safer than Chicago. She’s about to find out she’s wrong.

If not for the quick action of a passing stranger, Mina Raintree’s bad-news sister would have bled out in the road. Now the hit-and-run driver who put her in the hospital has fixated on Mina with pathological fury. He wants something Ally stole from him, and the stranger who saved Ally’s life is the only thing standing between Mina and the madman. But who is this good Samaritan who’s always at the wrong place at the right time to help Mina? And is he, like Ally’s crazy-eyed assailant much more than he appears to be? There’s a supernatural community hiding within Philadelphia ...

Legionnaire is a gritty high fantasy series set on the borders of the far-flung Republic of Aquila. While political in-fighting and scheming are the order of the day in the heart of the Republic, the borderlands are awash with dangers, only kept in check by the might of the legions. Fell magics, savage peoples, and scheming empires all threaten the country Patrician Marcus Venandus has sworn to defend using his wits, military strategy, and his small command of highly disciplined legionnaires.

Rediscover the magic of Christmas in this heartwarming mystery. A little boy wanders into town and directly into Agnes Hancock’s heart, resurrecting feelings she’d thought long dead when she lost her son during the Great War. No one knows who the child is or where he comes from, but Agnes can’t turn her back on him. As the police begin their investigation, she brings the boy into her home and learns to love again. But will her new found happiness be destroyed when the police finally answer the question What Child Is This?

For months, Prefect Marcus Venandus and his legionnaires have handed Diamonte a series of setbacks and defeats. They have crushed armies on the field of battle and captured cities and towns. But they have yet to face Thegn Clovis and the awesome might of his high mago with his Qing amulet of power. With victory at stake, even the smallest misjudgment could prove devastating. Did Marcus make a mistake when he decided to harrow Diamonte?

With Prefect Marcus and the Black Hat Legion still trapped in Morganita fighting against the treacherous Thegn Hathus of Granate, it falls to Calidus Vulpes, Red Vigil of the Aquilan legions, to take a thousand quiet Qing infantry men and fifteen hundred unruly Gente archers to hold off the full might of Diamonte at Angosto Pass. The odds are thirty-to-one against them. Can the Aquilan junior officer hold back the enemy until Marcus and the veterans return, or will this prove to be Calidus’ final stand?

This book can be ordered at a 66% discount if ordered before 2/13/23. Young Willem has survived battles and assassinations, but his claim to his father’s lordship will not be secure until his formal Oathtaking at a ceremony attended by the Great Lords of the duchy. For those who still hope to push him aside, time is getting perilously short. Yet those who have already acted against him are not as dangerous as the great men who are coming; and those who wish him ill have so many ways to dispose of one irritating young man. Be it through the joust, the duel, or even open rebellion, ...

From the pages of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine: Miss Pandora Parson is a lady gambler making her living in the rough and tumble West of 1874. William Steed is a manager willing to run over anyone to establish the reputation of his new prize fighter. Corey Callaghan is the young bare-knuckle boxer who stands in his way. When the three meet up in Denver, there’ll be crime to pay.

From the pages of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine: When bare knuckle boxer Corey Callaghan’s trainer is locked in prison on a charge of murder, the sheriff doesn’t much care if he’s innocent or guilty. That’s because he doesn’t expect the case to go before a judge and jury. You see, the dead man’s son is leading a posse to town looking for vengeance and Corey’s fists aren’t likely to be enough to save the old man. It looks like Patrick’s only chance to avoid a lynching is lady luck, a named gambler, Pandora Parson, and the strength of her defense.

Despite their impressive victories in the north, Prefect Marcus and the Black hat Legion stand alone against the full might of Diamonte and Aquamarina. With their home city under siege and the cowardly Lord Totila refusing to lead his host out from behind the walls of Centinela, it falls once again to Marcus to protect his adopted homeland by himself. His only hope is to thread the needle, maneuvering his legion across enemy-occupied Amatista to the one location that might enable him to recapture the initiative in this war. It’s a risky gamble. With multiple armies afield and none of them...

Horrors out of legend have come to Philadelphia and set their sights on Mina Raintree as the mortal woman most likely to lead them to what they want. There’s just one problem, even if she wanted to, Mina couldn’t help them. Her memory has been damaged by a powerful immortal—quite possibly the same mysterious woman the legends have come seeking. With her own protector temporarily out of town, Mina’s only hope to maintain her freedom is found in her new friend, Kameko Kasaka. But Kameko has dangerous enemies of her own. How long can she and Mina evade those Searching Among Us?

Thegns Beremund and Alaric have done the impossible. Following a plan constructed by Prefect Marcus Venandus the previous winter, they secretly led a couple of thousand people out of Amatista under the very noses of the Diamonte invaders. But now they have to get all of their refugees past the enemy patrols, through the countryside, and safely into the lands of Topacio. If they succeed, they can continue resisting Diamonte's conquest well into the next year. If they fail, Marcus and his legion will be alone in enemy territory without support and without a home to return to. Amatista has ...

Jewel's arranged marriage, designed to bring peace and prosperity to the Hegemony of Armen and the Cartelite Worlds, is instead stoking the furnaces of inter-galactic warfare. From the moment of her marriage, the enemies of her Armenite husband—a stern and rigid man she barely knows—seek to use her to prove that the Cartel Worlds are unworthy of an alliance which monopolizes the fuel that makes faster-than-light travel possible. Complicating Jewel’s efforts to protect herself and her people are disturbing changes in her very cell structure—changes she doesn’t want or understand ...

Undersheriff Joanna Donovan has defended Hadrian’s Well from waves of uninvited guests before—including a zombie apocalypse—but now she just may have met her match. Brownies are small, quiet, cute, and want nothing more than to help people tidy up their homes—as long as you respect them. Her other visitors are loud, untidy, high-handed, and don’t respect anyone—hardly the perfect houseguests. Together, they may prove too much for the undersheriff and her overworked department to handle.