“There’s only one way to find out.”
“You can’t be serious. This is home. The Other World is no place for us, believe me. They’d hate you. And I don’t think Hell would be an improvement over Pandemonium.”
“I think it would be interesting to travel. The real Coney Island sounds like so much fun. I’d like to eat a hot dog.”
“Finish your report. Does that Jupiter Stone make you spell any better? You still can’t type worth a damn.”
“You never put my name on the office door.”
“There’s something about this adventure that’s still bugging me.”
“How you got through it without eating anyone?”
“How did you know your way around the alchemist’s labyrinth? You guided me through it perfectly.”
The homunculus got quiet and stopped typing.
“Had you ever been there before?”
Oswald look up at the ceiling, as if in deep thought. “I did have a life before I met you.”
“What do you know about ‘alraun’? The dead alchemist mentioned it when I gave him dust.”
“That’s easy. Alraun is mandrake.”
“I know that, dunzy.”
“Why would he say a mandrake killed him?”
“Because it did.”
“How would you know that?”
“Because I was the mandrake. I killed him.”
“You what?”
Lilith floated through the door.
“Lil, can’t you open the door just once?” I said. “We’re in the middle of something.”
“Ms. Moonbeam is here and―”
But the pixie/witch didn’t wait to be let in. She threw open the door.
“That portal is trouble,” she said, her face pale and worried.
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
She stood in front of my desk. “No, Jack, you don’t know. When Oswald zapped Lucifer back to hell, he created a huge problem in Pandemonium. The devil was the only thing keeping the gangs from killing each other. He had forced a truce between the Five Families. With him gone, they’re going to war. They’re going to rip Pandemonium apart.”
“I knew I should have thrown Oswald in that damn swirling vortex when I had the chance.”
“That’s not all. Remember when Oswald asked what if things came through the portal? Well, something got through. Something big.”
“Lilith, call all the dust dealers in town. Tell them money is no problem.”
Looks like I picked a hell of a time to go straight.
Coming Soon...
Acknowledgments
Twelve years ago, I wrote the first Dead Jack story, “The Case of the Amorous Ogre.” Convinced no one wanted to read a zombie detective story, I filed it away and forgot about it. Five years later, in 2011, I took my first and (so far) last fiction writing class. We were required to submit two short stories for review. My first, a dark, literary attempt at magic realism, was an embarrassing disaster. The second planned story hadn’t been finished by the deadline. I thought of skipping the assignment, but then I remembered the zombie detective story buried somewhere on my hard drive. I dug it out, but it was over the word limit. So, just before the deadline, I cut a scene where Oswald, then a worm named Ollie, takes over the narrative and heroically travels by helicopter to Black Rock. I uploaded it and waited for the inevitable scathing reviews. But days later, the class, even the aloof instructor, raved about it. They wanted to see a Dead Jack series, they wanted more. Could my unwarranted pessimism have been wrong? I tested that possibility a few months later, when I submitted the story to Weird Tales Magazine. “The Case of the Amorous Ogre” became my first story acceptance. Four years later, in 2016, I would run a Kickstarter campaign for the first novel in the series, Dead Jack and the Pandemonium Device. It would be optioned for a film and TV series. And here we are. With Book 2, Dead Jack and the Soul Catcher, in your words. Apparently, people do want to read about a zombie detective. Fook pessimism!
I couldn’t have done it alone. Over the years, plenty of people have helped the series get this far. I’d like to thank Weird Tales and Marvin Kaye for accepting my first short story and getting this thing off.
Editor Matthew S. Cox gave me a much needed kick in the butt and helped make Dead Jack and the Soul Catcher kick ass.
Producers Tony Eldridge, Gloria Morrison, and John Harlacher have done so much more than option my work. They’ve encouraged and supported the series from the beginning. It’s much appreciated.
Book 2 again has amazing art from Colton Worley (cover art), Ed Watson (interior art), and Shaw King (cover design). These guys rock!
And a bigger thank-you to my biggest fan and supporter, my darling wife, Jennifer!
James Aquilone was raised on Saturday morning cartoons, comic books, sitcoms, and Cap’n Crunch. Amid the Cold War, he dreamed of being a jet fighter pilot but decided against the military life after realizing it would require him to wake up early. He had further illusions of being a stand-up comedian, until a traumatic experience on stage forced him to seek a college education. Brief stints as an alternative rock singer/guitarist and child model also proved unsuccessful. Today he battles a severe chess addiction while trying to write in the speculative fiction game.
His first novel, Dead Jack and the Pandemonium Device, has been optioned for film and television. His short fiction has been published in such places as Nature Futures, The Best of Galaxy’s Edge 2013-2014, Unidentified Funny Objects 4, and Weird Tales Magazine. Suffice it to say, things are going much better than his modeling career.
He lives in Staten Island, New York, with his wonderful wife.
Thank You for Reading!
Now that you’ve finished Dead Jack and the Soul Catcher, please leave a review!
Front Matter:
Book Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Map
Dead Jack and the Soul Catcher:
Chapter One: The Most Dangerous Game
Chapter Two: Driving Mr. Skeleton
Chapter Three: Shadows Over ShadowShade
Chapter Four: A Zombie and a Skeleton Walk Into a Bar…
Chapter Five: Fairies in the Forgotten City
Chapter Six: Hammer Time
Chapter Seven: Hit the Fookin Devil Road, Jack
Chapter Eight: The Purgatory Island Redemption
Chapter Nine: Between the Devil and the Broken Sea
Chapter Ten: An Offer You Can Refuse
Chapter Eleven: Take This Job and Shove It
Chapter Twelve: A Not-So-Secret Lair
Chapter Thirteen: Where Is My Soul?
Chapter Fourteen: Souls. What Are They Good For?
Chapter Fifteen: Tripping the Light Fantastic
Chapter Sixteen: Welcome to Nazi Town
Chapter Seventeen: Caged Fury
Chapter Eighteen: Not Another Psycho Nazi Doctor
Chapter Nineteen: The Devil Wears Nada
Chapter Twenty: That Darn, Motherfookin Cat
Chapter Twenty-One: This Is Your Horrible Life
Chapter Twenty-Two: Deal or No Deal
Chapter Twenty-Three: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Oswald?
Extras:
Acknowledgments
Closing
About the Author
Copyright & Publisher
Table of Contents
Copyright & Publisher
Title Page
Dedication
Map
Chapter One: The Most Dangerous Game
Chapter Two: Driving Mr. Skeleton
Chapter Three: Shadows Over ShadowShade
Chapter Four: A Zombie and a Skeleton Walk Into a Bar…
Chapter Five: Fairies in the Forgotten City
Chapter Six: Hammer Time
Chapter Seven: Hit the Fookin Devil Road, Jack
Chapter Eight: The Purgatory Island Redemption
Chapter Nine: Between the Devil and the Broken S
ea
Chapter Ten: An Offer You Can Refuse
Chapter Eleven: Take This Job and Shove It
Chapter Twelve: A Not-So-Secret Lair
Chapter Thirteen: Where Is My Soul?
Chapter Fourteen: Souls. What Are They Good For?
Chapter Fifteen: Tripping the Light Fantastic
Chapter Sixteen: Welcome to Nazi Town
Chapter Seventeen: Caged Fury
Chapter Eighteen: Not Another Psycho Nazi Doctor
Chapter Nineteen: The Devil Wears Nada
Chapter Twenty: That Darn, Motherfookin Cat
Chapter Twenty-One: This Is Your Horrible Life
Chapter Twenty-Two: Deal or No Deal
Chapter Twenty-Three: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Oswald?
Acknowledgments
About The Author
Thank You for Reading
Table of Contents
Dead Jack and the Soul Catcher: (Volume 2) Page 17
