Preserving Hope - The Aliomenti Saga - Book 2

Book 1: A Question of Will

Book 2: Preserving Hope

Book 3: Ascent of the Aliomenti

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They murdered his wife and son. They burned down his house. They beat him within an inch of his life. And then they realized they had the wrong man.

They should have killed him when they had the chance.

Will Stark is a self-made multi-billionaire, happily married and a proud father. He arrives home to find his house destroyed and his family murdered, and is himself rescued from certain death by a mysterious trio. His rescuers are part of a splinter faction of a centuries-old secret society that has developed incredible technological advances, and unlocked the method to release humanity's innate potential, and skills long thought the realm of magic. Will was mistakenly believed to be a key dissident and fugitive, on the run from the primary group, known as the Aliomenti. Society believes him dead, and Will elects to work from the shadows to learn the secrets of the Aliomenti, secrets that can help him seek his own form of vengeance. Or, perhaps, become the man they'd sought all along.

At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Boo Malone lost everything when he was sent to St. Gabriel's Home for Boys. There, he picked up a few key survival skills; a wee bit of an anger management problem; and his best friend for life, Junior. Now adults, Boo and Junior have a combined weight of 470 pounds (mostly Boo's), about ten grand in tattoos (mostly Junior's), and a talent for wisecracking banter. Together, they provide security for The Cellar, a Boston nightclub where the bartender Audrey doles out hugs and scoldings for her favorite misfits, and the night porter, Luke, expects them to watch their language. At last Boo has found a family.

But when Boo and Junior are hired to find Cassandra, a well-to-do runaway slumming among the authority-shy street kids, Boo sees in the girl his own long-lost younger sister. And as the case deepens with evidence that Cassie is being sexually exploited, Boo's blind desire for justice begins to push his surrogate family's loyalty to the breaking point. Cassie's life depends on Boo's determination to see the case through, but that same determination just might finally drive him and Junior apart. What's looking like an easy payday is turning into a hard bounce--for everyone.

At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Book 1

The war with Morloch begins...

Gawain, second son of Davyd, King of Raheen, turns 18, and is promptly banished from his homeland for a period of one year and one day. Stunned, he departs the land of his birth, high atop an impregnable plateau, and ventures into the strange world of the lowlands.

During his banishment, a ritual which must be undergone by all royal crowns of Raheen, he travels the lowlands incognito, and soon his martial skills are called upon in defence of himself and others. More, he is staggered to learn that the lowlands are all but paralysed by fear and terror at the hands of Ramoths, a strange and vile cult that seems to afflict the kingdoms with utter impunity.

Gawain meets all the kindred races of man. A chance encounter at the edge of the forest of Elvendere introduces him to Elayeen, a haunting elfin beauty destined to become a vital part of Gawain's future. He meets dwarves too, becoming fast friends with Rak of Tarn, a quiet diplomat from the Black Hills of Threlland. Yet, everywhere he travels, the Ramoth curse has been before him…

At the end of his period of banishment, Gawain rides for home, Raheen, intent upon alerting his father to the danger posed by the Ramoth. But it is too late. When Gawain crests the sole route to the top of the plateau, he finds Raheen gone, blasted to ashes...

In the ruins of Raheen's castle keep, in the great hall, Gawain finds the Sword of Justice, the only object to have survived the terrifying devastation of his land. He draws the ancient blade, and swearing vengeance and justice in the name of Raheen, and hard of heart, returns to the lowlands...

Book 2 of The Longsword Chronicles

With the Kings' Council at Ferdan reeling from the sight of Morloch and the shock of betrayal by wizards of the D'ith, the King of Raheen rides in haste once again to his devastated homeland. There, he hopes, the wizard Allazar will discover the reason for Morloch's dread on learning the true identity of the Longsword DarkSlayer, Gawain, King of Ashes. And there, he hopes, that reason, if revealed, can be used against Morloch and the dark armies of the north gathering in the wastelands beyond the farak gorin.

But some things are, perhaps, best left shrouded in the mists of myth. The nature of the conflict between the kindred races of Man and Morloch is about to change forever...

Book Four of the Longsword Chronicles

Morloch's army of thousands is preparing to advance from the north, elves have abandoned the lands east of Elvendere, and rogue wizards are at large wreaking havoc behind allied lines. Elayeen's Sight is desperately needed but seems to be fading fast, Allazar's knowledge of Morloch's Pangoricon is becoming increasingly erratic and elusive, and the kindred crowns are entirely ignorant of the existence of creatures dark wizard-made and the threat they pose.

Banished from Elvendere, the three of Raheen and their companions ride for Ferdan, and the pitiful forces of the Kindred Army gathered there waiting for Gawain to lead them to war.

The Battle of Far-gor will determine the fate of the kindred races, and only Gawain believes there is still the faintest ember of hope for them all.