Invitation to Dance: A Lawson Vampire Short Story

1982: It was supposed to be a well-deserved break from elite Selection training for STA-F, but an hour into a flight to the sandy white beaches of Santorini, Lawson's flight is hijacked by a trio of vampires and redirected to the island nation of Malta. With the local authorities and a squadron of Delta Force operators surrounding them, the bad guys need Lawson to do them a favor: escape the plane and break someone out of protective custody on the island. But just who is this target and why do they want him so badly? With time ticking down, Lawson's got to sort it all out before he winds up in the crosshairs and gets a double-tap for his trouble.

A horrifying serial killer is loose on the streets of Boston and Lawson must track him down. But this killer has a past...and a terrifying agenda. And it's one that will shock even the most jaded Fixer around.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

Meet Lawson: vampire by birth, Fixer by trade. His mission: preserve the secret existence of vampires by any means necessary.

LAWSON.

A cynical, wise-cracking vampire charged with protecting the Balance - the secret existence of a race of LIVING vampires that have evolved alongside humanity for thousands of years.

A FIXER.

Part-spy, and part-commando -- James Bond with fangs. Lawson mixes shrewd cunning with unmatched lethality to get his job done. He tries his best to dismantle conspiracies, dispatch bad guys, and live long enough to get home.

ARTHUR.

The grizzled retired Fixer has seen his share of danger, and he's also got his share of skeletons in his closet. Now, one of them is coming back.

THE RIPPER.

A horrifying serial killer that is targeting young vampire women and leaving their eviscerated bodies on the streets of Boston.

MARTY.

She wants nothing more than to become a Fixer, like Lawson. But will her desire end up killing her?

NILES.

Lawson's Control is in love, but can he finally enjoy a relationship that lasts, or will this one lead to more heartbreak?

XIANG.

A top Chinese assassin in Boston and on Lawson's tail. But what's he really in town to accomplish?

N'YAK TUL

An ancient race of subterranean dwellers too frightening to ever see the light of day again...hopefully.

A special Lawson Vampire mission that reunites the Fixer Lawson with Jack the Invoker. When the death of a prominent vampire on the Maine coast leads to a community squabble, Lawson is dispatched the mediate. What he and Jack find instead may be a whole lot more sinister than they imagined...and part of a puzzle that has been plaguing Lawson for years.

It’s the day before Christmas and Lawson’s spending it with his least favorite person in the world: Ava, a wealthy Council member who has always hated him. But Ava’s in trouble and Lawson is the only person standing between her and a deadly assassin named Frost.

A special Christmas short story featuring Lawson in 5600 words of action and mayhem. The author's website is http://www.jonfmerz.net

Praise for Jon F. Merz:

"Lawson is more like Jason Bourne than Dracula, making this a vampire mystery with broad appeal." --Booklist

"A powerful novel by a man who knows the turf already." -NYT Bestselling author Robert. B. Parker

"Jon F. Merz's novels move at a break-neck pace, twisting through a landscape of thrills and terror." -- Douglas Clegg, author of The Infinite and The Priest of Blood

"...a fine stalking session in vampire-noir land...a series and talented writer I'll be sticking with all the way." -- Mort Castle, author of The Strangers and On Writing Horror

Praise for Jon F. Merz's THE KENSEI (A Lawson vampire Novel #5):

"If James Bond, True Blood and Kill Bill created a mutant hybrid of a book, it would be The Kensei. A bullet train slice 'em, dice 'em mixture of action, suspense, and vampire ninjas. Did I mention vampire ninjas?"--Jason Pinter, bestselling author of The Fury and The Darkness

"The Kensei is an action novel with real bite. Vampires, Yakuza killers, crooks and animal-monster hyrbids. Jon F. Merz brings his A-game and then ratchets it up to a whole new level of supernatural action. Highly recommended!" --Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of The Dragon Factory and Patient Zero

"In The Kensei, Jon F. Merz seamlessly welds gritty detail with myth and legend to create a thrill ride into the shadow-world lurking beneath modern Japan. Lawson's fight against evil has bone-crunching authenticity. Plus, it has vampires, ninjas, and vampire ninjas. What more could anyone ask?"--Christopher Farnsworth, author or Blood Oath

About The Author:

Jon F. Merz is a writer with over two dozen published novels, a producer for New Ronin Entertainment and a trained black belt ninja. He has taught defensive tactics to civilian crime watch groups, police, military units, and agencies like the US Department of State, the Department of Justice, and the Bureau of Prisons. In his past, Jon served with the United States Air Force, worked for the US government, and handled executive protection for Fortune 500 clients. He lives with his wife and two sons in suburban Boston.

Six times the fun, six times the lethal action! This first Lawson Vampire story collection compiles six short stories (sold separately as well) into one volume.

The stories are:

The Price of a Good Drink
Interlude
Red Tide
Enemy Mine
Rudolf The Red Nosed Rogue
Oathbreaker

In addition, there are two special bonus features:

My Soul To Keep - an exclusive look at the comic script for the first Lawson graphic novel.

and...

A 2-chapter excerpt from CODENAME: Belladonna, the first Talya spin-off novel.

These two special bonus features will not be available elsewhere, so be sure to get your copy of SIX TIMES DEADLY now!

The author's website is www.jonfmerz.net

Lawson goes undercover in a hospital to figure out who is bleeding select patients dry. But he soon discovers that trying to unmask the killer is as challenging as tying on a Johnny gown and what looked to be a simple case might just lead to something far more sinister.

This Lawson Vampire short story is approximately 6000 words of action and mayhem.

Praise for Jon F. Merz:

"Lawson is more like Jason Bourne than Dracula, making this a vampire mystery with broad appeal." --Booklist

"A powerful novel by a man who knows the turf already." -NYT Bestselling author Robert. B. Parker

"Jon F. Merz's novels move at a break-neck pace, twisting through a landscape of thrills and terror." -- Douglas Clegg, author of The Infinite and The Priest of Blood

"...a fine stalking session in vampire-noir land...a series and talented writer I'll be sticking with all the way." -- Mort Castle, author of The Strangers and On Writing Horror

Praise for Jon F. Merz's THE KENSEI (A Lawson vampire Novel #5):

"If James Bond, True Blood and Kill Bill created a mutant hybrid of a book, it would be The Kensei. A bullet train slice 'em, dice 'em mixture of action, suspense, and vampire ninjas. Did I mention vampire ninjas?"--Jason Pinter, bestselling author of The Fury and The Darkness

"The Kensei is an action novel with real bite. Vampires, Yakuza killers, crooks and animal-monster hyrbids. Jon F. Merz brings his A-game and then ratchets it up to a whole new level of supernatural action. Highly recommended!" --Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of The Dragon Factory and Patient Zero

"In The Kensei, Jon F. Merz seamlessly welds gritty detail with myth and legend to create a thrill ride into the shadow-world lurking beneath modern Japan. Lawson's fight against evil has bone-crunching authenticity. Plus, it has vampires, ninjas, and vampire ninjas. What more could anyone ask?"--Christopher Farnsworth, author or Blood Oath

About The Author:

Jon F. Merz is a writer with over two dozen published novels, a producer for New Ronin Entertainment and a trained black belt ninja. He has taught defensive tactics to civilian crime watch groups, police, military units, and agencies like the US Department of State, the Department of Justice, and the Bureau of Prisons. In his past, Jon served with the United States Air Force, worked for the US government, and handled executive protection for Fortune 500 clients. He lives with his wife and two sons in suburban Boston.

Three amazing Lawson Vampire novels - 250,000 words of pure action & mayhem collected into one ebook bundle.

THE FIXER: The book that started it all back when it was first published in May 2002, this first novel in the Lawson Vampire series pits Lawson against his age-old nemesis Cosgrove - who has come back to Boston to slaughter innocents and raise an ancient vampire god to destroy the world. When Lawson is finally given the okay to terminate Cosgrove, he soon finds himself in need of help from his old mentor Zero and an unlikely new ally: the beautiful and deadly ex-KGB assassin Talya.

THE INVOKER: The second novel in the series, originally published back in October 2002, puts Lawson in the challenging role as protector of a young boy with the ability to conjure the spirits of dead vampires. When a power-hungry Council member wants the boy for her own nefarious purposes and employs an ex-Fixer to kidnap him, Lawson will stop at nothing to get him back - even if it means leaving Boston for the skyscraping Himalayas!

THE ENCHANTER: This novel takes place before the events of THE FIXER (but was written in 2010), back when Lawson was still a bit green in operations. When he is teamed up with his mentor Zero to track down an old thorn in the Council's side, they soon uncover a vast conspiracy on the island nation of Madagascar that might just have global consequences...and deadly consequences for Zero unless Lawson can find a way to save him.

The author's website is http://www.jonfmerz.net

Praise for Jon F. Merz:

"Lawson is more like Jason Bourne than Dracula, making this a vampire mystery with broad appeal." --Booklist

"A powerful novel by a man who knows the turf already." -NYT Bestselling author Robert. B. Parker

"Jon F. Merz's novels move at a break-neck pace, twisting through a landscape of thrills and terror." -- Douglas Clegg, author of The Infinite and The Priest of Blood

"...a fine stalking session in vampire-noir land...a series and talented writer I'll be sticking with all the way." -- Mort Castle, author of The Strangers and On Writing Horror

Praise for Jon F. Merz's THE KENSEI (A Lawson vampire Novel #5):

"If James Bond, True Blood and Kill Bill created a mutant hybrid of a book, it would be The Kensei. A bullet train slice 'em, dice 'em mixture of action, suspense, and vampire ninjas. Did I mention vampire ninjas?"--Jason Pinter, bestselling author of The Fury and The Darkness

"The Kensei is an action novel with real bite. Vampires, Yakuza killers, crooks and animal-monster hyrbids. Jon F. Merz brings his A-game and then ratchets it up to a whole new level of supernatural action. Highly recommended!" --Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of The Dragon Factory and Patient Zero

"In The Kensei, Jon F. Merz seamlessly welds gritty detail with myth and legend to create a thrill ride into the shadow-world lurking beneath modern Japan. Lawson's fight against evil has bone-crunching authenticity. Plus, it has vampires, ninjas, and vampire ninjas. What more could anyone ask?"--Christopher Farnsworth, author or Blood Oath

About The Author:

Jon F. Merz is a writer with over two dozen published novels, a producer for New Ronin Entertainment and a trained black belt ninja. He has taught defensive tactics to civilian crime watch groups, police, military units, and agencies like the US Department of State, the Department of Justice, and the Bureau of Prisons. In his past, Jon served with the United States Air Force, worked for the US government, and handled executive protection for Fortune 500 clients. He lives with his wife and two sons in suburban Boston.

Visit exotic places. Meet strange new creatures.  Do your best to kill them before they kill you.

On December 5th, scientists at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland ran a short test on the newly completed Large Hadron Collider. For that brief period, protons swarmed back and forth along the seventeen miles of carefully constructed tunnel and slammed into each other with devastating force, generating power the likes of which had not been seen since the moment of the Big Bang.

Just a few short hours.  That was all it took for our world to be invaded by hideous creatures from somewhere beyond.

My name is Captain Memphis Stone, commander of the HELLstalkers, the armed response unit hastily assembled to face this growing threat.

This is the story of the men and women under my command, those who stand in the gap and shed their blood to protect the rest of humanity from creatures that we never imagined we'd ever face, not even in our darkest dreams.

Welcome to the front lines.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Joseph Nassise is the author of more than a dozen novels, including the internationally bestselling TEMPLAR CHRONICLES series, the JEREMIAH HUNT trilogy, and the GREAT UNDEAD WAR series. He has also written several books in the popular Rogue Angel action-adventure series.

He is a multiple Bram Stoker Award and International Horror Guild Award nominee and his work has been translated into half a dozen languages to date. He has written for both the comic and role-playing game industries and also served two terms as president of the Horror Writers Association, the world's largest organization of professional horror and dark fantasy writers.

For more information about Joe's work, visit him on the web at josephnassise.com.

Jon F. Merz is the author of roughly two dozen novels including seven novels in the critically-acclaimed Lawson Vampire series, eleven installments in the Rogue Angel action/adventure series from Gold Eagle/Harlequin, and numerous standalone thrillers like PARALLAX, DANGER-CLOSE, and VICARIOUS.

He's also a partner at New Ronin Entertainment, a Massachusetts-based company developing feature films, television, and multimedia projects like THE FIXER TV series.

For more information about Jon's work, visit him on the web at jonfmerz.net.