1 State of Grace (33 page)

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Authors: John Phythyon

BOOK: 1 State of Grace
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Read Wolf Dasher’s next thrilling adventure!

When the top-secret Red Dragon Project is sabotaged and one of its agents goes missing, only Wolf Dasher realizes who is really behind it: the sinister terrorist organization, the Sons of Frey. But when the trail leads across the border of Alfar and into Jifan, Wolf must leave behind his new love, May Honeyflower, and go undercover on a dangerous, unofficial mission with no backup. Deep inside the terrorists’ organization, Wolf searches for the missing agent, a woman who can transform into a giant, firebreathing dragon. When he disappears, May abandons her post as Captain of Alfar’s Elite Guard, forms an alliance with the zealous leader of an outlawed militia, and goes off on a desperate search for Wolf. Can she find him before the Sons of Frey discover his true identity, and can either of them prevent the terrorists from unleashing an apocalypse on Alfar?

A story of love and family set against a backdrop of betrayal, revenge, and terrorism,
Red Dragon Five
is a page-turner you won’t want to put down!

 

Click
here
to buy
Red Dragon Five
, available now
from Amazon.com.

 

Be careful what you wish for. . . .

Rory Bellin dreams of a better life. As a senior at Lawrence High, she yearns to be taken seriously for her accomplishments – she’s editor-in-chief of the school paper, president of three clubs, and on track to graduate with a 4.0 GPA and admission to Yale. But all anyone, even her mother, cares about is LHS regaining its former football glory and winning a state championship.

Caleb Johnson dreams of a better life. He aches to be able to lead Lawrence High to its first football championship in eighteen years and to date the most beautiful girl in school – Rory Bellin. But, as the third-string running back, he never plays, he has a face no one could love, and, whenever he tries to talk to Rory, his usually glib tongue turns to clay.

But maybe Mr. Nickleby, the new English teacher and newspaper advisor, can help. He has the key to both of their desires. He’s willing to make their dreams come true.

Of course, getting what you wish for has a price. But that doesn’t matter, right? If you want something badly enough, you’ll do anything to get it, no matter what it costs. Even if it’s your soul.

Beauty & the Beast: A Modern Fairy Tale
is a contemporary take on the classic story by the author of the Wolf Dasher series. John R. Phythyon, Jr. weaves a dark fairy tale both familiar and fresh about understanding what’s important, finding one’s place in the world, and the consequences of obsession.

 

Be careful what you wish for . . . you might just get it!

 

Click here to purchase
Beauty & the Beast: A Modern Fairy Tale
from Amazon.com.

Short Stories by

John R. Phythyon, Jr.

 

“The Darkline Protocol”

Wolf Dasher’s mission is simple: find out who is leaking secret information from the Urlish consulate in Mensch, Bretelstein to the Phrygians. But things get complicated quickly when the traitor is an innocent, and she’s making Wolf the prize in a sinister game of snatch and grab. Now the hunter becomes the hunted!

 

Click
here
to get “The Darkline Protocol” from Amazon.com absolutely FREE!

 

“Passion Play”

Juliette has no choice. Charles III plans to outlaw magic when he ascends the throne. She is not going to be put to death for practicing her art, especially since it aids in healing and fertility. She’ll enlist the aid of anyone who can help her persuade Charles to adopt a more reasonable stance, but, if that fails, she’ll just have to take matters into her own magical hands. At the new king’s coronation, politics and religion collide as one woman acts to prevent paranoid ideology from becoming law and wreaking harm in this page-turning short story from the author of the Wolf Dasher series.

 

This quick short story has intrigue, sex, politics, and action. I have to say, it's one of the best short stories I've read and well worth the price.

 

–Dwight Fidler, Amazon.com reviewer

 

Click
here
to purchase “Passion Pay” from Amazon.com

 

“Sleeping Beauty:

A Modern Fairy Tale”

Beth Shipman has been in a coma for two years. Now sixteen, the only one of her friends who still comes around to visit is Carl, the young man who has been in love with her since the first day of Sixth Grade. Her mother is going insane, but she has a desperate plan to awaken her Pretty Princess. She’ll just need to convince Carl to believe in magic. She’ll also have to outwit Beth’s father. After all, he’s the one who put her to sleep, and he doesn’t want her waking up.
Is True Love’s First Kiss enough to overcome madness, fear, and self-doubt? This short story is a creepy re-imagining of the classic fairytale that explores what happens when parents go too far to protect their children.

 

. . . a fast-paced and truly enjoyable short.

 


Mark Abrams, Amazon.com reviewer

 

Well-timed, well-told, neither longer nor shorter than it need be, Sleeping Beauty is indeed a modern fairy-tale, with all the gruesome cruelties of the old set in the world of the new.

 


Sheila Deeth, Amazon.com reviewer

 

Click
here
to purchase “Sleeping Beauty: A Modern Fairy Tale” from Amazon.com.

 

About the Author

John R. Phythyon, Jr.
wishes he were a superhero or a magician, but, since he has not yet been bitten by a radioactive spider or received his letter from Hogwarts, he writes adventure stories instead. He is the author of the Wolf Dasher series of fantasy-thriller mashup novels, as well as several short stories, a two-act comedy, and numerous game manuals. He won awards for the latter and hopes to make millions with the former.

He lives in Lawrence, Kansas, with his wife, their children, a dog, and a cat. His current projects include the next book in the Wolf Dasher series, world peace, and desperately wishing for the Cincinnati Bengals to win a Super Bowl in his lifetime.

 

Connect with John online at his website,
www.johnphythyon.com
, where he
blogs
regularly about
the Wolf Dasher series
, his writing, and other matters related to his career. You can follow John on Twitter at
@JohnRPhythyonJr
, on
Goodreads.com
, and on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/johnrphythyonjr
, or email him at
[email protected]
.

 

Sign up for
John’s mailing list
to be the first to hear about new releases!

 

If you liked
State of Grace
, please
write a review online
!

Acknowledgements

 

No author works in a vacuum. A good book requires lots of help. Without the following people,
State of Grace
wouldn’t be nearly good enough.

 

Jill Jess
– for terrific editing and an amazing cover. It’s hard to explain how much better the book is due to her work. Trust me: it’s a
lot
better.

 

Michael Jasper
– whose “Making Digital Books” series helped me understand all the technical issues of getting an eBook published. Check it out at
http://michaeljasper.net/tag/making-digital-books

 

Michael T. Nickerson
– who repeatedly retweeted me and did a lot to get me more exposure for no particular reason other than he seemed to like my work. Read his blog at
http://mtnickerson.blogspot.com

 

Derek Blass
– who almost single-handedly taught me how to use Twitter effectively. Check out Derek and his novel,
Enemy in Blue
, at
http://www.rogue-books.com

 

Michael Stackpole
and
J.A. Konrath

whose personal success and blog posts convinced me I could do this.

 

Dave Hageman, Mike Hansen, Kelly Hodgson, Doug McNair, David Phythyon,
and
Jill Sibley
– who all offered honest criticism on my design ideas that needed fixing. Thanks for being real friends and telling me when I was wrong.

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