Blood Ties (Part One: Daddy's Little Girl‪)‬

Making a living in the twenty-third century ruins of America can be murder.

The world has grown darker in the wake of the Malthusian War, and humanity finds itself sharing the planet with all the fairy stories, myths, and abandoned gods they once pushed into the shadows. But even in a world where people are outnumbered by things that go bump in the night, it's not hard to find somebody who wants someone else dead—or people who need killing.

Cat Cruz is accustomed to solving other people's problems—permanently. She's been doing it for a long, long time. But when a furious young woman with a patricidal axe to grind comes calling one rainy afternoon, Cat soon finds herself embroiled in a case that'll take more than a quick wit—and a fast draw—to resolve.

Facing off against Georges Silver—a power-hungry madman with a penchant for tapping into the forces of magic and mystery—Cat will need all of her considerable talents to get the job done. Her target has wealth, weaponry, and a worldwide reach on his side, and while Cat has a few aces up her shadowy sleeve, this case might just be her last.

With help from her young board-man Danny and her friend Tommy O'Shea, Cat is forced to navigate a complex web of bloody betrayal, confront her own family's dark past, and hold onto her humanity as she fights to avert Silver's plan to conquer what's left of humanity.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: this 20,000-word novella is part one of a four-part, serialized novel. Look for Part Two, coming Christmas 2015!