“You won’t mind the competition?”
“The way things have been going,” Morris said, “I’m pretty sure that there’s plenty of work for all of us, podner.”
Sixty-Five
FENTON TOOK ANOTHER sip of Libby’s excellent coffee and put the cup down, careful to use a coaster.
“So that’s why we didn’t respond to your message, Morris. No cellular service where we were. No bars at all.”
“Alaska, huh?” Morris said.
“About eighty miles north of Nome,” Fenton said.
“Sue sent us up there as soon as we got back from Texas,” Colleen O’Donnell said. “I barely had time to do my laundry. But she had a good reason to be in a hurry.”
“Some Eskimo shaman was fooling around with an old totemic ritual, and managed to raise up half a dozen dead folks,” Fenton said. “Then the stupid bastard realized he didn’t know how to control ’em.”
“Zombies in Alaska,” Libby said. “Who’d have thunk it?”
“Zombies in northern Alaska,” O’Donnell said. “If I had any itch for Arctic exploration, that pretty much scratched it – for life.”
“But you got it sorted out, I take it?” Morris said. “The zombies, I mean.”
“Yeah, but it took us a whole week,” Fenton said. “Didn’t even hear your voicemail until we got back to the lower forty-eight. Since the world hadn’t ended while we were gone, I figured you’d managed okay without us.”
“Just barely,” Morris said. “Just barely.”
“But you didn’t ask Quincey to fly up here from Texas just to tell us about the zombies, did you?” Libby asked.
“No,” Colleen said. “We’re authorized to offer you guys some more ‘consulting’ work, if you want it.”
Morris looked at Libby for a moment before asking, “What kind of consulting did you all have in mind?”
“Well, it’s kind of complicated,” Fenton said, toying with his coffee cup. “For starters - do either of you know what an afreet is?”
The End
About the Author
JUSTIN GUSTAINIS IS a college professor living in upstate New York. In earlier incarnations, he was an Army officer, garment worker, speechwriter, and professional bodyguard. In addition to many short stories, he is author of the Haunted Scranton series (consisting of Hard Spell and Evil Dark) and the Morris & Chastain Investigations series (consisting of Black Magic Woman, Evil Ways, and Sympathy for the Devil), as well as a standalone novel, The Hades Project.
Supernatural investigator Quincey Morris and his partner, white witch Libby Chastain, are called in to help free a desperate family from a deadly curse that appears to date back to the Salem Witch Trials. To release the family from danger they must find the root of the curse, a black witch with a terrible grudge that holds the family in her power.
The pursuit takes them to the mysterious underworlds of Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans and New York, stalking a prey that is determined to stay hidden. After surviving a series of terrifying attempts on their lives, the two find themselves drawn inexorably towards Salem itself – and the very heart of darkness.
Black Magic Woman marks the start of an electrifying new series of supernatural thrillers following the exploits of investigators Quincey Morris and Libby Chastain.
www.solarisbooks.com
Supernatural investigator Quincey Morris and his partner, “white witch” Libby Chastain, are each in pursuit of a vicious killer. One is murdering small children for their bodily organs; the other is hunting down white witches – and Libby may be next. Along a trail that leads from Iraq to Turkey, to the US, all clues point to crazed billionaire Walter Grobius, a man obsessed with harnessing the ultimate evil. Morris and Chastain, teamed with the deadly Hannah Widmark, must fight desperately to stop a midnight rendezvous between forces so powerful that the fate of the world may be at stake. And the clock is ticking...
Evil Ways continues the electrifying new series of supernatural thrillers following the exploits of investigators Quincey Morris and Libby Chastain.
www.solarisbooks.com
Senator Howard Stark wants to be President of the United States. So does the demon inside him. With the competing candidates dropping out due to scandal, blackmail, and ‘accidental’ death, Stark looks like a good bet to go all the way to the White House. And if he gets there, Hell on Earth will follow.
Occult investigator Quincey Morris and white witch Libby Chastain are determined to stop this evil conspiracy. But between them and Stark stand the dedicated agents of the US Secret Service – as well as the very forces of Hell itself. Quincey and Libby will risk everything to exorcise the demon possessing Stark. If they fail, ‘Hail to the Chief’ will become a funeral march – for all of us.
Sympathy for the Devil continues the electrifying series of supernatural thrillers following the exploits of investigators Quincey Morris and Libby Chastain.
www.solarisbooks.com
Table of Contents
Cover
Contents
Title
Praise for Justin Gustainis
Also by Justin Gustainis
Indicia
Dedication
Quotes
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty-One
Chapter Sixty-Two
Chapter Sixty-Three
Chapter Sixty-Four
Chapter Sixty-Five
About the Author
"Black Magic Woman" by Justin Gustainis
"Evil Ways" by Justin Gustainis
"Sympathy For The Devil" by Justin Gustainis
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