Samhain Publishing

It shames me to admit my new book The Zero Dog War does not contain a pooka. Jodi Redford’s book Vanessa Unveiled contains copious amounts of pookas—and we’ve recently been discussing how pooka might just be one of the greatest names ever. In fact, if I have another kid, I’m floating the name Pooka to my wife and seeing if she goes for it (although early attempts to work the suggestion into casual conversation have thus far failed).

Also, my book only makes passing references to gnomes, whereas Jody Wallace and her book One Thousand Kisses contains rampant gnomes. Also, it has cats. You cannot go wrong with gnomes and cats in the same book. Trust me.

(As an aside, I also apparently know a great many writers named Jodi/Jody who have new releases at Samhain.)

Despite lacking pookas and rampant gnome-age, The Zero Dog War does contain its own special blend of mayhem and paranormal chaos. Wannabe ninjas. Health food-obsessed werewolves with blatant nudist tendencies. Demons with big guns. Inter-dimensional ferrets and/or squirrels. Paranormal Green Berets. Pyromancers. Funny zombies (did you not believe zombies could be funny? Those things are hilarious when they’re not trying to eat you). A love story…between people, not zombies, in case you were wondering and maybe a little squicked out by the concept. Also, huge explosions and fire.

Feeling down? You’re guaranteed to laugh at least once reading this book—even if it’s only at the author’s expense!*

Love 300 pound calico cats? This book has one!**

Hate gelatin desserts and feel gelatin will bring about the apocalypse in 2012? This book completely supports that belief!***

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Yes indeed, my gritty Urban Fantasy contains gangland warfare, crime, harrowing action scenes and mayhem galore. But it also tells the tale of how a vampire hit man comes to love a headstrong and driven woman, whose involvement in a crime syndicate puts her out of the mainstream, yet her very status as a female makes her an outsider to the criminal underworld.

Two outsiders, finding each other, while the city of Boston slowly edges toward chaos. Sounds like an exciting time to me…and it’s now in print!

Some recent praise for the book:

“…Karl Vance is a baddie – mysterious, lethal, intense. …[P]lenty of unexpected twists to keep the story very interesting. For those who enjoy dark urban fantasy with romantic tension, this is a must.”— Smexy Books

“Incisive imagery, relentless action…absolutely fantastic. The author combines his precise verbiage with never-ending action…great characters to get embroiled with as the story charges into its full momentum.” — Book Utopia

“Blood Vice…throws you head long into the dark, cruel world of the mafia crime syndicate filled with fascinating characters, starting on page one. I loved the mafia elements and dark, gritty atmosphere in the book.”— Donna, Fantasy Dreamer’s Ramblings

Here is the blurb:

Blood Vice by Keith Melton

Mafia hit man. Vampire. The criminal underworld just got a whole lot darker.

The Nightfall Syndicate, Book 1

Business has never been better for hit man Karl Vance. Boston is awash in mafia blood, and Vance has a certain fondness for blood. He’s a master vampire—one of the most powerful of his kind. Having sworn to never again feed on the blood of innocents, Karl preys instead on Boston’s criminal underworld. Which makes him a valuable asset to those who deal in death.

Maria Ricardi intends to use that asset to its full extent in order to gain power within her patriarchal crime family. Vance thinks he’s been hired to keep track of the family’s princess, but she’s got a plan to get her hands dirty and earn the respect she deserves. And she’s not above using their instant attraction to get what she wants.

That driving ambition draws the attention of a rival clan’s newest and most dangerous “consultant.” Alejandro Delgado, Vance’s centuries-old nemesis. Delgado zeroes in on the one chink in Vance’s armor—his fondness for the headstrong Maria.

When she becomes enslaved by Delgado’s unnatural kiss, only one thing is certain. Vance has to decide which he wants more. To settle the score—or rescue her soul.

Warning: Intense, graphic mafia-related violence, profanity, gangster slang, assassinations, fang punctures, explicit vampire sex, betrayal, greed, murder, gangland warfare, pervasive supernatural mayhem, large-scale explosions, and extremely expensive Italian suits.

Buy Link:
BloodVice

One thing I’ve always found interesting about Urban Fantasy werewolf stories is how pack dynamics play out in a complex modern culture. In my novella Run, Wolf, Leah is a new wolf of low pack rank. When she defies pack law for love, breaks the codes of secrecy, and turns Tom, her human lover, into a werewolf so he can fully join her life, she sets in motion a whole series of events leading her into direct conflict with the rest of the pack. Unstoppable force meets immovable object.

One thing is certain, for every action there is a cost. Now Leah and Tom must rely only on each other to survive the fallout of defying the pack.

How far will people go for love? How far to survive? Would you turn your back on everything you’d ever known for the strength of love?

Keith Melton
www.keithmelton.net

Run, Wolf releases today at MBAM!
MBAM Buy Link

“Run, Wolf” by Keith Melton

One choice means heartbreak. The other, death.

Leah Kendrick is guilty of only one crime: loving her human mate, Tom, enough to give him the gift of The Bite. The Pack council is merciless, and the punishment swift. In an instant everything she’s ever known is ripped away, and they’re turned out into the long winter with nothing. No money, no car, and no protection from a variety of creatures who’d like nothing more than to take down a lone wolf.

Friendless and broke, they form a daring plan to take back what’s theirs and chase safety north. But the Pack has other ideas. And with time running out it’s about to call their bluff…

Warning: Contains savage werewolf combat, defiant love, graphic violence/language/sex, kangaroo trials and unrepentant criminal havoc.

Vampires and the mafia.

At first glance, this might seem much like pouring soy sauce on your Cannoli. On closer look, they are much more complimentary. Let’s lift a glass and examine why.

Both vampires and Mafiosi operate in the shadowy underworld of society. True, one spills blood and the other drinks blood, but when a vampire gets the chance to work for the mob he gets the added perk of drinking the blood he spills. It’s practically recycling. Very green.

Sure, being a wise guy is tres cool, very empowering, but it’s a little high on the job stress scale. The call might come down for you to whack your best friend Little Jack “Smiley” Barsetti. Don’t want to? Too bad. Refuse and your name is next on the list. Talk about ulcers.

Sure, being a vampire is tres cool, very evil-chic. But then there’s that stuff about sunburn, and how Coppertone doesn’t make a good 1000 SPF sunscreen you don’t have to slather on like spackle. The menu only has one item, and it’s always red. Variety, not so much. Try and refuse your Vampire Master, and you’ll start thinking the nuns at parochial school were veritable angels of mercy in comparison. Being undead has its challenges too.

In BLOOD VICE, Maria Ricardi already has a foot in the door of this exclusive Cosa Nostra Boy’s Club. She’s the accountant working the books for her father, Don of the Ricardi Crime Family. So when she tries to actually step through that door, using a Karl Vance (our resident vampire freelance hit man) as a wedge, she encounters a wall of resistance. In the process, she ignites both a mob war and a vampire war in Boston. All on a Monday, too.

Oh, and did I mention she finds herself falling for Karl in the middle of the firestorm?

Ah, amore!

Keith Melton
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