Unremarkable: Volume 1 - Softcover

Habiger, Geoff; Kissee, Coy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1932926496 ISBN 13: 9781932926491

Verlag: Shadow Dragon Press, 2018

Inhaltsangabe

In 1920s Chicago, postal employee Saul Imbierowicz is unwittingly swept up in a city-wide conflict between rival gangs, federal agents, and supernatural forces beyond his control. After striking out on his own from his overbearing Jewish family, Saul quickly becomes involved with the seductive and mysterious Moira. He soon becomes mixed up in the events of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, witnessing the shooting and fleeing from the scene after Moira takes a bullet and is presumed dead. However, Moira is far from dead, and due to her influence Saul finds himself increasingly entangled in the rival factions seeking control over the city, coming face to face with Bugs Moran, Al Capone, and the federal agents pursuing both. Everybody wants something from Saul, but will he be able to save himself and his family, and uncover the supernatural secrets of the city, before it's too late?

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Geoff Habiger was raised in the shadow of roaring lions and peacock calls in Manhattan...Kansas, not New York. (That's the Little Apple, not the Big Apple, for those of you playing along at home. And the wild animals came from living behind the city's zoo.) Growing up Geoff loved exploring the woods around his home, sneaking into the zoo (don't tell anybody), and playing baseball and Dungeons & Dragons. He and his best friend, Coy Kissee, would spend hours reading comics, playing all sorts of role-playing games, and talking about books and movies. Geoff stayed in Manhattan for college, getting a B.S. degree in Geology at Kansas State University (Go Cats!). He then attended gradual school in Bozeman, Montana where studied paleontology with Dr. Jack Horner, got to dig up dinosaurs in Montana, and worked to mold and cast dinosaur bones. While he didn't graduate, he had a lot of fun and did meet his future wife, so that worked out well. Geoff currently resides in the wilds of the Monzano mountains, east of Albuquerque, with his wife, son, and two cats. He is currently working on sequels to the novels already published.

Coy Kissee is an avid player of all types of card games, board games, and role-playing games. He took his love for gaming and turned it into a business and is a co-founder of Tangent Games. He is the author of several books for Dungeons & Dragons published by Tangent Games. Coy lives in Kansas with his wife. He is currectly working on several new projects for Tangent Games and is co-authoring his first novel, Unremarkable.

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Prologue

“Al Capone murdered me tonight.”

I could hear the creak of the chair as the agent leaned forward. His face was in shadow, not that I would have been able to see him anyway. I’m pretty sure that he introduced himself to me, but I forget his name. I couldn’t think straight or feel much of anything; drugs, I guessed. I knew that my words were true, but it was just taking my body some time to realize the facts. I could feel the bandage on my head, wrapped too tight, covering my face and wrapping around to cover my left eye. My right eye was swollen to a narrow slit through which I could barely make out my surroundings.

I knew that I was in a hospital; the sharp smell of alcohol and antiseptic assaulted my nose. I was lying in a hospital bed; I could see the white sheets that were stretched over my body and the frame of a white metal bed past my feet. A dim light came from my left, its feeble glow barely reaching the foot of the bed. Something was taped to my left arm, and I could just make out a large bandage across my chest. “Gevalt! Mom’s going to be pissed at me,” I sighed, and then had to laugh at the absurdity of my words.

The man in the shadows spoke. “Mr. Imbierowicz, I need you to tell me exactly how Alphonse Capone murdered you.” He didn’t seem to be bothered by the incongruity of that statement. Apparently, he could see the same thing that my body had not yet figured out.

“Call me Saul. My father is Mr. Imbierowicz,” I said with a croaking rasp. I coughed and pain overcame the drugs and shot through my chest. I had a metallic taste in my mouth and I spat out a glob of blood and phlegm across the white bedding. Somebody to my left held a glass of water with a straw to my mouth. I smelled the scent of lavender and caught a glimpse of red hair. My heart leapt, but it was quickly dashed as an unfamiliar voice said, “Here, drink this.”

I sipped the water slowly, letting it quench my parched lips and wash the bloody taste from my mouth. I got too greedy and water dribbled down my chin, which was quickly wiped away by my red-haired imposter. “Not too quickly, you’ll have plenty of time to finish.” She’s obviously not a doctor, I mean, has she even seen me?

At that point a blurry figure stepped up to the bed, lifting a clipboard. I could hear pages being flipped. A man’s voice said, “There’s nothing more we can do for him. At best we can make him comfortable. You need to leave.”

“No,” the seated man said. “I need Mr. Imbierowicz to tell me what happened.” His voice was sharp and authoritative.

“As his doctor I insist that you let him be.” The doctor’s voice had risen to match my visitor’s authoritative tone. Here I am, literally lying in my death bed, and these two schmucks are getting in a pissing match over how soon I would die. If I was a betting man, I’d take the under on my dying in an hour.

The shadow in the chair stood and moved away from me, grabbing the doctor by the arm. I could hear muffled voices from across the room. Heated whispers at first, then the doctor clearly saying, “Very well, but it’s on your head.”

I convulsed in a coughing fit. Pain pounded through the drugs. More blood came up, and again the straw was held to my lips. Before I could take a sip the doctor commanded, “Nurse, see to your other patients.” I heard the glass being set on the table, and then watched my red-headed vision walk out of the room. Even partially blind, my good eye lingered on her retreating form. “Too bad I’m already dead,” I muttered. I never did get that sip of water.

A few seconds passed and my visitor purposefully cleared his throat. “I’ll leave you alone now,” said the doctor. “But if anything happens to my patient you need to inform me immediately.” I heard footsteps and the door shutting briskly. My visitor returned to his chair and sat down. I watched as he wiped something from his pants, then crossed his legs. “Now that we are alone, Saul, let’s start at the beginning.” The man’s voice was polite, though it had an edge of insistence to it that commanded respect. The chair creaked as he pulled something from a pocket. “I hope you don’t mind if I take notes. I want to make sure I get all the details.”

I sighed, and stared at the dark ceiling. “What would a goy like you want from me? I’m gornisht. A nobody.” I turned my head toward the table with the lamp.

“I don’t think you’re a nobody and neither did Al Capone. He has had many men killed over the years, but he only gets personally involved for special cases.”

I turned and squinted toward the chair. The man leaned forward, his face still half in shadow. He pulled a pack of Lucky Strikes from his inside jacket and tapped out a cigarette. A match flared, and then he leaned over and placed the lit cigarette in my lips. I took a deep drag, then blew out a stream of smoke. “Normally the condemned man gets his cigarette before being killed, not after.” I chuckled, which was a mistake, as pain rippled across my chest. I coughed up more blood, spitting it out around my cigarette.

The chair creaked again as my questioner leaned back. He lit his own cigarette, the flare of his match reflecting in his eyes. “I think there is something special about you Saul. What is it? Why did Al Capone kill you?”

I leaned back into the pillow and closed my eyes, taking another drag on my Lucky. “Until about two weeks ago I was the most unremarkable person in the world. All that changed on February 14.” I blew out a stream of smoke. “St. Valentine’s Day.”

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Shadow Dragon Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1932926496
• ISBN 13: 9781932926491
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 216
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Manufactured by Amazon on behalf of the author; https://www.amazon.de/hz/contact-us; ; c/o Amazon Media EU S.à.r.l., 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy; Luxembourg; L-1855; Luxemburg