City of Ports
Page 17
But all I feel now is relief. Profound relief, like Nadia just shot an enema through my stopped-up soul. My stomach turns a little at my own internal choice of metaphor, so instead I focus on the gift that this woman has given me:
I know my enemy.
I now have Stone’s name and face to focus my retributive energy, and I’ve never felt more energized before this moment. The golden wonders of the bubble-encased city collapse before me as my mind turns itself wholly to its new task.
“You were hoping she killed Graham Tsoukalas too,” I say. “So that I’d collect the evidence against her that you lacked in the case of Hannah’s murder. That’s the real reason you turned to me.”
Nadia purses her lips. “Yeah. I honestly thought Graham was another of her victims.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” I say. “But don’t worry. One way or another, I’ll find the evidence we need.”
I let go of her and turn back to the metal sphere.
“Hey,” Nadia calls after me. “Where are you going? I’ve got so much to show you here!”
“Later,” I say. “Right now I’ve got a city council to destroy.”
END OF BOOK 1
Coming Christmas 2018 (definitely probably)
City of Games:
The Shadow Over Portsmouth Book 2
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Kate Rocheleau, Abree Murch, and Kerry Doherty for their beta reads of several chapters of City of Ports and their many great ideas and suggestions for the book. Thanks as well to Marcelo Gallegos, Bryan Thompson, and Kali Moulton for providing illustrations of certain key figures in The Shadow Over Portsmouth mythos that helped me to better picture them in my own head. I’m grateful to Damonza for designing another excellent book cover (check out their work on The Pseudo-Chronicles of Mark Huntley cover as well).
Heartfelt thank yous and hugs to Cassie Gustafson, my accountability buddy during many sessions of drafting and editing this book (as well as other stories). It is an immense source of motivation and support to work in the same physical space as another writer. Speaking of those spaces, I have to give a shout-out to Adelle’s Coffeehouse and Flight Coffee in Dover, and the Portsmouth Book & Bar, for being the spots where much of this story came into being, coaxed along by copious caffeine.
Thanks very much to Portsmouth Detective Rochelle Navelski, former Portsmouth Police Chief Dr. Lou Ferland, and retired FBI Agent Ted Mahoney for providing me with crucial understanding and details of the Portsmouth Police Department and the FBI’s Portsmouth Resident Agency office. Dr. Ferland also published a book, Historic Crimes & Justice in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, that is an incredible resource for learning about not just the history of the city’s PD but also the city itself. The police department and FBI RA office portrayed in the book are in no way intended as a criticism of their real-life counterparts. Certain aspects have been changed for dramatic effect, and any blatant goofs or other errors are the fault of the author alone (yours truly).
I’m grateful for the support I’ve received from the Portsmouth Writers’ Night Out community that meets monthly at the aforementioned Book & Bar. I also thank the New Hampshire Writers’ Project for presenting a stage reading from an early version of the book in April 2016 at the Hatbox Theatre in Concord, New Hampshire. The audience offered helpful suggestions about Divya Allard as the character was voiced for the first time. Afterward, Masheri Chappelle gave me some great insights that helped to shape this character. The NHWP offers many valuable programs and assets for writers in New Hampshire and beyond: their website is www.nhwritersproject.org.
Thank you to Dan Szczesny and Plaidswede Publishing for publishing the first story related to The Shadow Over Portsmouth “canon,” a short piece called “Making the Transition,” which appeared in Murder Ink 2: Sixteen More Tales of New England Newsroom Crime in 2017. Those curious about the tale should read it after this book, as it contains minor spoilers for City of Ports.
Thanks to my mom, Jane, Tom & Ginny, Mary, and Burleigh for believing in this story from the beginning. Ask Tom sometime about a short piece from several years ago featuring Solomon Shrive venturing into the tunnels underneath the city; it appears to have stuck in his mind . . .
Finally, I thank the real Portsmouth, New Hampshire, itself and all those who work to make it a vibrant place. You will note that I’ve used many real places and businesses in the story. The fictional version comes in for some knocks in this series, but let’s call it tough love for a city whose potential stretches to worlds beyond. Take a walk around the real Portsmouth and peer into the hidden lanes and quiet corners for yourself. You never know what doors you might find.
— Jeff Deck, South Berwick, Maine, August 3, 2018
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The Pseudo-Chronicles of Mark Huntley
“Deck’s writing is seamless and so natural that, as you become immersed in Huntley’s increasingly bizarre world, you forget that the story is fiction. This is the mark of a truly gifted writer.” — Linda Watkins, author of the award-winning Mateguas Island series
My name is Mark Huntley. All I really wanted to do was drink cheap beer and blog about my dead-end life. Then I stumbled across a secret war between two sinister alien forces. If I try to stop the war, I may get my friends and loved ones killed. If I don't try, the human race is toast. Oh yeah, and a demonic weapon inside me is probably driving me insane.
If I'm already dead when you find this, you need to carry on the fight.
The Pseudo-Chronicles of Mark Huntley is a blog mutated into a supernatural thriller. If you like the pulse-pounding terror of Stephen King and the smart, funny first-person storytelling of The Martian, you'll love meeting Mark Huntley. Find The Pseudo-Chronicles of Mark Huntley online, or request it at your favorite bookstore.
Player Choice: Aether Games, Book 1
"Master game designer Glen Cullather is having the worst day of his life. Tough luck for him but great news for readers of PLAYER CHOICE. Its twisty plot and high-stakes action will thrill adventure fans, while its reality bending and speculation about the future of privacy will please admirers of the great Philip K. Dick. Check it out: Jeff Deck has got his game on." — James Patrick Kelly, winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards
Player Choice is a fast-paced gaming sci-fi adventure that asks: What happens when unreality becomes our reality?
It's 2040. With neural implants, people can play games in an immersive virtual reality known as the aether space. Game designer Glen Cullather has a plan for the most ambitious aether game ever imagined: a fantasy epic that gives players the freedom to do anything.
But Glen's own life is fragmenting into alternate realities. He can't tell whether his aether game idea has succeeded, or failed miserably. And Freya Janoske is either his biggest rival, or his most intimate partner. Glen must figure out what's real and what's, well, fantasy -- for his own survival! Find the e-book of Player Choice online. Print version coming soon.
About the Author
Jeff Deck is an indie author who lives in Maine with his wife, Jane, and their silly dog, Burleigh. Deck writes science fiction, fantasy, horror, dark fantasy, and other speculative fiction.
Deck is the author of the supernatural thriller novel in blog format, The Pseudo-Chronicles of Mark Huntley, and the sci-fi gaming adventure novel Player Choice. He is also the author, with Benjamin D. Herson, of the nonfiction book The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time (Crown/Random House). Deck is also a fiction ghostwriter and editor. He has worked with many authors to help them tell their own stories, and he has contributed content to a couple of video games.
In 2008, Deck took a road trip across the U.S. with friends to fix typos in signage and nearly wound up in federal prison. He enjoys reading speculative fiction, exploring New England with his family, playing video ga
mes, and plundering from the past and future.