Showing results by author "Chris Tullbane" in All Categories

In the post-Break world of superpowers, necromancy is the one gift nobody wants. But an invitation to the Free States' Academy of Superheroes means that same gift might be Damian Banach's ticket to a brighter future... if only he can avoid the madness ingrained in his powers. There has never been a Crow Cape, but Damian isn't the sort to give up. He'll take control of his destiny or die trying... and he just might bring the post-Break world to its knees along the way.

John Smith, supernatural mediator and private investigator, has come a long way since he first got kidnapped by vampires. He has a girlfriend now and an ever-growing list of responsibilities. Even the supernatural species of San Diego seem to think he's someone to be reckoned with. And then Bill...

Brian Fieldings just buried his dad and lost the only job he's ever had. Waking up in an unfamiliar, pitch-black room the next morning feels a lot like the rotten cherry on a particularly awful sundae. Especially given the inhuman howling coming from the other side of the door. He's only been conscious for a minute or so, but Brian already has questions. Where is he and how did he get here? What is making those terrible noises? And why does the room he's in have an altar?

Some superheroes want to save the world. Damian is just hoping to save himself. In the post-Break world of superpowers, necromancy is the one gift nobody wants. Everyone knows what happens to Crows; they go mad and they go bad. Damian has inherited more than just grey eyes and a beak of a nose from his father. He too is a Crow, doomed to become a killer unless he can find a way to avoid the violent madness endemic to his powers. When a Finder offers enrollment at Los Angeles' Academy of Superheroes, he jumps at the chance, believing training could be the key to changing his fate.

"Investigation, Mediation, Vindication." That's how the Yellow Pages ad starts, and if it sounds like the sort of thing a drunk teenager might come up with . . . well, you'd only be wrong about the teenager part. John Smith owns San Diego's smallest private investigation firm, but he doesn't know the first thing about mediation. Or vindication.

Having survived his first several moons on Eos, Brian Fieldings finds himself with a lot on his plate, including revenge, justice, and literal shiploads of refugees that will be arriving somewhere on the continent in the next few cycles. But to make headway on any of those concerns, he and his companions will need to grow stronger.

Damian Banach's journey from Crow to Cape comes to a thrilling conclusion in this fall's One Tin Soldier! Every year, the best Academy third-years are offered internships with Free States Cape teams, while the rest join the Mission on a multi-month expedition to bring hope and relief to the Badlands. This year is different though...and it's not just because Damian Banach, the Academy's only Crow, actually volunteered for the Mission. The fact is, Damian's not headed into the Badlands for relief work. He's going because he owes someone a favor, and that favor has come due.

In addition to being San Diego's supernatural mediator, John Smith is the city's least successful private investigator. Those two careers collide when what was supposed to be a simple infidelity case draws the attention of the local werewolf pack. John soon finds himself pressed into service mediating a separation between the pack's married leaders. Even under normal circumstances, divorce is hell. But when werewolves are involved? It's murder.

It's been several years since John Smith became San Diego's supernatural mediator, and he's as surprised to still be alive as anyone. A lot of the credit goes to Anastasia, the vampire whose relationship status with John can be safely filed under 'It's complicated.' So, when Ana is imprisoned for the murder of Tomasso, King of the Italian Court, John drops everything to go to her defense. If he can find the real killer—and unravel a centuries-old mystery in the process—his trip to Rome might have a storybook ending. If he comes up empty, he'll lose more than just the woman he loves.

Following the events of See These Bones, Damian is back at the Academy of Heroes as the Free States' most unlikely potential Cape. He has a new name, a new reputation, and a whole host of new questions about his own past. If he's going to find answers to those questions, let alone survive another year at the Academy, he'll need to learn a skill the orphanage never taught him: teamwork.

The White Ladies of San Diego are one of the city's supernatural powers, organized and led by Graciela. But now their leader is missing, and the Ladies have hired John Smith, mediator and sometimes-private-investigator, to find her. Which raises some questions: How do you track down a ghost? What if she doesn't want to be found? And if foul play was involved in her disappearance like the Ladies believe, how exactly? It's not like ghosts can be kidnapped . . . right?

A storm of steel wrapped in a shell of human flesh, the Queen of Smiles has finally become a ruler in more than just name. But before she can get down to the business of empire building, there are words that must be said to a person she once knew: a boy who became a man, then a monster, and then something else entirely. Her quest will take her back through the Badlands, down past the ruins of Old Texas and into the heart of Fallen Mexico, and not even she knows what she'll do when she finds her target. Because this isn't just another job. This one is personal.

The Queen of Smiles has long been a mystery, even to herself. A storm of steel wrapped in a human shell, she's spent decades crossing the continent in search of answers about her origin and the rules she has been forced to live by. Three years ago, under a bright New Mexico sun, she found those answers... and they were as unsatisfactory as they come.

San Diego's zombie prince, Simon, may be long dead, but his descendants are still around and kicking, and one of them, his great-great granddaughter, just went missing. Now, Simon wants John to track her down. John has never worked across state lines before, but clearly that's going to change.

In the Post-Break World of superpowers, every town has a story, and Mobile, Alabama, is no exception. In Mobile, the waters have finally receded, but the streets run red with blood. For the past few years, the city's been the domain of the Melendez brothers: crime lords, murderers, and would-be kings. Charity is forgotten. Compassion is a lie. Weakness is death. Until the day an electric motorcycle rolls into town carrying a lone rider in black. They call her the Queen of Smiles, and she has a job to do.

Samara and Cornelius James are two children growing up too fast on the streets of Old Baltimore. The only thing they know for certain is that their lives and their deaths are to be used as Lord Legion deems fit. Escape is impossible. Rebellion is futile. Hope is a fairy tale. Until the day a stranger is spotted on the streets of the city, and the world they know starts to shift.

In the post-break world of superpowers, Los Angeles is a city divided between the haves and the have-nots, the rich and the poor, the Capes and the Black Hats. But there is a secret organization working in the shadows of the underworld. The Company focuses on illicit profit instead of mayhem or fame. Clive Treeble isn't a Power. He isn't much of anything at all, other than a petty criminal struggling to hold on to his mother's house.