In the first book of The Byron Trilogy, twelve years after the great San Francisco earthquake, the city is rebuilt… but beneath its streets, something dangerous stirs.
In this gritty 1920s urban fantasy, demons walk among humans, unseen by most, except for the gifted few. Supernatural gumshoes like Byron Hayes are all that stand between the city and complete spiritual collapse. When a mission gone wrong leads him to a desecrated church, Byron knows something ancient and evil is rising again.
Raven is a streetwise survivor with a deadly secret. Her ex-lover, a powerful gangster, isn’t just a criminal, he’s serving Moloch, a demon lord with a thirst for souls. When Raven finds herself the target of Moloch’s wrath, she must convince Byron to help her retrieve an ancient weapon said to be capable of killing demons. But nothing comes without a price.
Byron isn’t easily swayed, especially by the charming and chaotic Raven. He’s still haunted by the disappearance of his exorcist “sort-of” girlfriend in Chinatown. Now, with dark forces hunting them both, Byron and Raven must form a fragile alliance to stop Moloch’s plans. But who’s really pulling the strings? And what will they have to sacrifice to stop a demon lord?
Set in an alternate 1920s San Francisco, where jazz plays over dark alleyways and Hell hides behind speakeasies, this thrilling installment in The Byron Trilogy brings together supernatural suspense, spiritual warfare, and a spark of romantic tension.
Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Grimm, Angel, Underworld, and the spiritual thrillers of Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker will love this fast-paced, faith-tinged Christian new adult fantasy series.
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The Story Behind the Story
The original Byron happened during my Underworld phase. I loved that atmospheric movie so much, I wrote a moody, gloomy mystery of sorts set in a derelict firehouse. Byron had many of the same traits then as he does now—his love of books, his enormous cat, his secretive nature, losing his wife… but back then, he was a pastor. When I dug out my old manuscripts, dusted them off, reread them, and realized I needed a better plot to connect him with the assassin Raven, I decided a supernatural gumshoe suited him better.
Since the original story had no specific time or place (my mother loved it, but said she couldn’t figure out why they would use candles and fly on airplanes), I thought about what time period might be the most fun, and settled on 1920s San Francisco. That provided a bombastic background setting for a trio of unlikely characters, drawn together by demonic events beyond their control. I renamed my demon lord to Moloch, threw in Raven’s guilty conscience, and gave the house a personality to call its own. It was fun to write about a speakeasy down a back alley, the serpentine streets of Chinatown, and Prohibition, and to place them all smack in the middle of town in a stately Victorian! To entwine the events of the 1906 earthquake and give it supernatural origins.
This was a terrific way for me to let off steam after writing so many straight up historical novels. Here I am in my element—the world of the fantastical, pitting morally gray characters against a battle of good and evil. I explore the concepts of faith, fate, destiny, and the idea of a “chosen one,” by introducing a young Black character, whose story does not come full circle until the end. Falan is a terrific lad. Courageous, bold, and unapologetic about who he is, he wields a sword of destiny with conviction and skill.
It also brought into being Archbishop Rossi, one of my favorite secondary characters. I cannot abide hypocrites, and he is the ideal embodiment of one, a man who cares more about appearances than the state of his soul; a corrupt man of the church, who places family honor above his compassion. Through him, I take a hard line against the faith that punishes and alienates, and with Byron, I contrast it with the genuine belief that “shows” the love and mercy of God.
