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  Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell and Jeffrey J. Mariotte have written more than 60 novels between them, some of the most recent of which are The Shard Axe series and a trilogy based on Neil Gaiman’s Lady Justice comic books (Rockwell, dark and urban fantasy) and Empty Rooms and Season of the Wolf (Mariotte, urban and supernatural thrillers). They’ve also written dozens of short stories, separately and together. Some of their solo stories are collected in Nine Frights (Mariotte) and Bridges of Longing (Rockwell). Their published or soon-to-be-published collaborations are “A Soul in the Hand,” “John Barleycorn Must Die,” “V-Wars: The Real HousewiVes of Scottsdale,” and “The Lottons Show.” Other miscellaneous projects include Rhysling Award-nominated poetry (Rockwell) and Bram Stoker Award-nominated comic books (Mariotte). You can find more complete bibliographies and news about upcoming projects, both collaborative and solo, at marsheilarockwell.com and jeffmariotte.com.

  Nathan Walpow’s Joe Portugal mystery series includes four novels and a threatening-to-be-resurrected serial. His novella “Push,” from Fight Card Books, is set in the world of professional wrestling, and is an expansion of “Push Comes to Shove,” selected for the Best American Mystery Stories series. Nathan’s novella “Logan’s Young Guns,” available as a paperback and an e-book, details how Annie Kevorkian and Johnny P. Jones met, years before the Mahk-Ra showed up; his short story “A Good Day’s Work,” originally in Orange County Noir, has been optioned for a movie. Nathan is a past president of the Southern California chapter of Mystery Writers of America and a five-time Jeopardy! champion. Visit his website at www.walpow.com.

  Richard J. Brewer, a native Californian, has always been a lover of stories and storytelling. He has worked as a writer, actor, bookseller, story editor, book reviewer, movie and television Development Executive, and audiobook narrator. He was co-editor of the critically acclaimed Bruce Springsteen inspired short story anthology Meeting Across the River. His most recent short story, Last to Die, was included in another anthology inspired by The Boss, Trouble in the Heartland, and was noted as one of the Distinguished Mystery Stories of the year in The Best American Mystery Stories 2015.

  Gary Phillips is also editor of Day of the Destroyers, a linked retro anthology about a coup plotted against FDR. A reviewer said of his Astonishing Heroes collection, “It’s a book for anyone who remains nostalgic for the golden age of Toei films, blaxploitation movies, and lusty grindhouse cinema.” He has short stories in Asian Pulp and Jewish Noir, and his graphic novel about a money launderer, The Rinse, has been optioned for television. Please visit his website at www.gdphillips.com.

  The following is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in an entirely fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2015

  Hunter X – Part One and Part Two by Richard Brewer and Gary Phillips

  Do No Harm by Rachel Howzell Hall and David W. Hall

  Pike Street Pick-Up by Adam L. Korenman

  Union Day by Lisa Morton

  How the Game is Played by Rob Hart

  Strange Alliance by Cliff Allen

  Hope by Matthew V. Clemens

  Location, Location, Location by Howard V. Hendrix

  Letting Go the Ghosts by Marsheila Rockwell and Jeffrey J. Mariotte

  A Day in the Life by Richard M. Johnson

  Second Coming by Craig Faustus Buck

  The Devil You Know by Jessica Kaye

  Johnny and the Warehouse Women by Nathan Walpow

  Traitor by Adam Lance Garcia

  Cover design by The Cover Collection

  Interior designed and formatted by:

  www.emtippettsbookdesigns.com

  ISBN 978-1-940610-57-3

  Library of Congress control number: 2015939333

  First Trade Paperback edition October 2015 by Polis Books LLC

  1201 Hudson Street

  Hoboken, NJ 07030