I spent last evening working with Tom Webb on Deadly Shades of Gold, the next title in the Altered States Series and I was reminded once again how much I loved the first book, Deep Blues Goodbye, and the free read, Altered States, that tells how the story started.

If you’ve not read them (uhm…hello? What are you waiting for?) just imagine if you sat down to watch the news, and a live shot from outside the police station caught your attention as the cops were about to escort a freshly caught killer to his arraignment. That’s a scene we’ve all witnessed more times than we care to remember. Only this time, as they go out the door and the sunlight hits the accused, he bursts into flames and disintegrates into ashes. On camera. The news media goes wild.

Only days later, a cop killed on duty sits up during his own memorial service, then tries to drink his former partner’s blood. There’s no real denying the existence of vampires after that. The Hollywood myths explode as the world comes to grips with the reality of supernaturals.

The series takes place in and around New Orleans and draws on the local color of the famous Crescent City to tell the tale because where else in America is better suited to the paranormal? DBG takes place two years after the discovery and gives a glimpse into what life would be like when humans and others must co-exist…in public.

Come join us as we play in the French Quarter and the bayou, where we pay homage to the hard-boiled detective and vampire lore without restricting ourselves to following tradition.

 The Blurb

The world might not have been ready for vampires when NOPD Detective Travis Boudreaux had the bad taste to sit up at his own funeral, but two years later, the new cause célèbre is civil rights for preternatural beings and most humans are on the bandwagon. Except whoever is killing vampires and wannabes.

Detective Sam Garrett hates all things preternatural. Having your undead partner try to make you his first meal will do that to a guy. One final screw-up gets Sam banished to the Paranormal Criminal Investigations Unit—the Odd Squad—under the oversight of Detective Danny Burkette.

Now it’s up to Burkette to work with Garrett by day and Boudreaux by night as they follow a trail of clues that leads from the historic cemeteries of New Orleans to the bayous of southern Louisiana. Under the all-too-interested gaze of a Master vampire and the local werewolf pack Alpha, they discover some lessons in life—and death—take longer to learn…and not all second chances are created equal.

Warning: In this series, the vampires don’t sparkle, werewolves kill, and sometimes the men have sex. With each other.

 An Excerpt

Now, standing so close to Sam, inhaling deeply of the scent of the man, saliva had pooled in his mouth. Henri knew a hunger nearly as strong as the night he claimed Travis, because this man…this Sam…his flavor was familiar. Detective Sam Garrett was the lover who had been with Travis the night Henri turned him. Sam was the taste on Travis’s lips, in his blood.

Turning all of his attention back to the man in front of him, Henri wondered at the hand of fate bringing him the final piece of the puzzle that was Travis Boudreaux. If he brought Sam over and made him part of his coven, would that be the final step to bring Travis home to his sire? Boudreaux, Burkette, Garrett…this was an interesting development. Perhaps a new game—

“Henri?” Sam’s voice held the slight hint of nerves humans often got when they sensed just how real the danger might be. The slight tremor led straight to Henri’s dick…he loved the fear.

“Look at me, Sam,” he whispered. Many of the “facts” humans thought they knew about vampires were just so many lies, created for pure entertainment. But one piece of popular fiction was close to true. He could mesmerize, could bend Sam to his will. “Look at me,” he repeated, the words nothing more than a whisper in the human’s mind.

He stepped closer and brushed his hip against Sam’s, even as he drew the other man nearer. They were as close as lovers. Henri could taste the human’s breath, could already imagine his fangs piercing the skin, the warm flow of blood—

To read the first chapter, click here.

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