Blog Archives
Supernatural Protagonists
Rage of the Skinwalker follows a supernatural detective agency during World War II as its unlikely team investigates murder, espionage, racism, and a fascist conspiracy amid the history of the American Southwest. Where did the idea behind this novel come from?
Rage of the Skinwalker builds on the first three books of the Case File From the Nightfall Detective Agency, especially Trail of the Zombies, which delved into what happened to Native American Students at United States-sponsored boarding schools, and combines what is happening with current events involving people who have been detained in camps, even though many have lived here for years or decades, by drawing on what happened to Japanese Americans during World War II.
What did you want readers to experience in the opening chapters?
I want them to enjoy the adventure and mystery while gaining an appreciation of the history of what happened to these persecuted groups in that time period.
How did you approach creating a world in which supernatural beings coexist with historical figures and real events?
I wanted to create a world that would be plausible and believable where our supernatural protagonists are accepted and are agents of justice. Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry Truman were chosen because both figures, while by no means saints, are considered agents of tolerance and inclusion in history.
What was the greatest challenge of writing Rage of the Skinwalker?
Building on the last question, making a believable and exciting mystery-horror tale that does not strain reality, honors the history of the time, while hopefully sending a message to readers about what is going on around them in the present day.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Instagram | Website | Amazon
World War II has plunged the world into darkness. But while armies clash across continents, something evil is moving unseen through the chaos.
Vampire detective Tori Jacobsen and werewolf investigator Abraham Mueller are recruited for a classified government mission. They expect to hunt spies, saboteurs, and traitors. Instead, they uncover impossible murders and a conspiracy reaching far beyond the battlefield.
Every clue draws the Nightfall Detective Agency closer to a terrifying truth. An alliance of evil and greed is feeding on fear, hatred, and war itself, manipulating history from the shadows to forge a future where tyranny can never be defeated.
To stop it, Tori and Mueller must enlist old allies and unravel a mystery before the darkness consuming the world becomes permanent.
Because if evil wins this war…
Reality itself may never recover.
The first thrilling novel in an all-new Nightfall Detective Agency trilogy.
Perfect for fans of supernatural mysteries, historical horror, occult conspiracies, and high-stakes thrillers where the monsters fighting for humanity may be its last hope.
When Darkness falls, Nightfall answers.
The Fight to Save the World Begins Now!
Case Files From the Nightfall Detective Agency: Rage of the Skinwalker
David Alyn Gordon’s Rage of the Skinwalker is an ambitious blend of historical fiction, supernatural mystery, wartime thriller, and detective adventure. Set primarily in Arizona during World War II, the novel follows the Nightfall Detective Agency, whose members include a vampire, a werewolf, a witch, and a golem. Their world expands well beyond a typical paranormal investigation, though. Gordon builds the story around Japanese American incarceration, Navajo history, racism, wartime espionage, and a conspiracy involving powerful Americans with fascist connections. The opening murder of Nitis Begay gives the book an emotional mystery that simmers beneath the larger plot, while the experiences of Michiko, Saburō, Malia, Chayton, and their families give the historical events a personal dimension. Gordon clearly wants the supernatural material and the history to occupy the same world, and that combination gives the novel its distinctive personality.
I enjoyed the amount of everyday life Gordon puts around the larger historical events. The Japanese American characters aren’t treated simply as people waiting for the next injustice to happen. They fall in love, play baseball, get married, teach children, cook, argue with their parents, care for babies, and try to create communities under awful circumstances. The baseball scenes at Gila River are especially effective because they show how people hold onto identity and dignity through ordinary pleasures, even while surrounded by fences and guards. The same approach appears in the Navajo storyline, where supernatural abilities are connected to family history, cultural survival, and the fear that revealing those abilities could place an entire community in danger. That gives the skinwalker mythology a purpose beyond supplying monsters or action scenes. The book keeps returning to a compelling question: what does loyalty to a country mean when that country doesn’t always extend the same loyalty to you?
The closest popular comparison for me is Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. Like Butcher, Gordon enjoys assembling supernatural characters with very different abilities, throwing them into investigations, and letting humor sit comfortably beside violence and horror. Tori and Mueller, in particular, have the kind of bantering, highly capable energy that should feel familiar to readers who enjoy Harry Dresden’s world. Gordon adds a much heavier historical component, though. Real figures including Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry Truman share the stage with vampires, skinwalkers, secret organizations, and occult conspiracies, while historical details about incarceration camps, wartime racism, and Japanese American baseball are woven directly into the action. At times, that enthusiasm for history means characters explain events or political ideas more explicitly than they probably would in ordinary conversation, but it also makes the book unusually specific about its setting. Gordon isn’t using the 1940s as scenery. History is one of the main engines driving the story.
By the end, Rage of the Skinwalker has grown from a murder mystery into something much larger and darker. The investigation at Marana brings the detective story, the wartime conspiracy, the Japanese American storyline, and the skinwalker plot together, giving the last section a fast, pulpy momentum. The revelations surrounding Project Alessio also push the series toward a broader conspiracy that clearly isn’t finished when this case ends. What gives the book some weight after the action settles down, though, is its interest in justice, vengeance, survival, and who gets to decide the difference between them. Gordon allows his supernatural heroes to be messy about those questions, sometimes deliberately so. The closing chapters resolve the central case while opening the door to another international adventure, and that feels appropriate for a novel that approaches history as a landscape full of hidden corridors. Rage of the Skinwalker is lively, angry, historically curious, and unapologetically strange, with enough mystery and character work underneath the supernatural spectacle to make its world worth returning to.
Pages: 185 | ASIN : B0HDZDFG8N
Misfit’s Magic: Twisting in Time
Twisting in Time tells the story of Goff, a boy who desperately wishes to live a normal life but finds himself constantly dragged back into a world of magic, danger, and tangled loyalties. At Amworth Academy, what should have been quiet moments with friends and his first love quickly unravel into chaos as strange forces whisk people away, shadows stretch into monsters, and visions of looming battles return. The story swings between his present struggles and the origins of his curse in Slaathwick, where he is burdened with being a Verlokken, a kind of outcast whose magic is feared as much as it is needed. Through duels, betrayals, and heartbreaking losses, Goff keeps stumbling forward, hoping for safety and love, yet always being pulled into another storm.
What I liked most was the way the book balanced whimsy with darkness. There are scenes filled with warmth, like meals shared, jokes between friends, even the sweetness of Goff’s awkward romance with Joy, that made me smile. But just when I started to settle in, the story twisted into something darker. The shadows, the grotesque enemies, and the way time itself bends gave me a pit in my stomach. The writing has a playful rhythm in places, almost silly at times, and then suddenly sharp, reminding me of how childhood wonder collides with the dread of growing up. It kept me off balance, which I liked, because it mirrored Goff’s own unease.
Goff is both stubborn and insecure, and that mix makes him feel real. He longs to protect his friends, yet he keeps secrets, pushes people away, and sometimes gives in to anger. I wanted to shake him, but I also wanted to hug him. That kind of emotional pull is rare. The author’s choice to lean into food and cooking as recurring motifs was lovely too. Those moments grounded the story. A dish described in detail, or a meal shared, often felt more magical than spells or battles. It made me feel like magic wasn’t always in wands or words but sometimes in butter, lavender, or a loaf of bread.
By the time I reached the end, I felt both drained and hopeful. The book is heavy with loss and with the idea that time doesn’t really heal so much as twist and fold, carrying pain forward in new ways. Yet it’s also filled with small sparks of loyalty and friendship that remind you why the characters keep fighting. I’d recommend this book to readers who enjoy fantasy that doesn’t shy away from sorrow but still knows how to laugh at itself. It’s for anyone who wants a coming-of-age story tangled with monsters, magic, and heartache, but also with friendship, food, and flickers of joy that make the struggle worth it.
Pages: 318 | ASIN : B0FDQYQ8GK
Strength of Character
Jigsaw: The Face of the Joker follows a team of Temporal Guardians racing through time to save a single 1927 film whose failure could unravel a century of history, culture, and humanity itself. What inspired you to center the plot around The Man Who Laughs?
I have always, since the time my father introduced me to Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, been a fan of Universal Horror Movies. What made me center on The Man Who Laughs is that the movie both set the cinematic scope for Universal classics like Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy, but also provided, through Jack Pierce’s makeup for the Conrad Veidt character, the inspiration for Batman’s The Joker. When coming up with the story, I thought The Man Who Laughs would be a wonderful fork in the temporal roads to center on. I also wanted to pay homage to Paul Leni, an acclaimed director who died before his time and who may have directed Dracula with Veidt in the lead role had he not died prematurely from an infection.
The dynamic between Noah and Francesca feels particularly alive. Were any of their interactions drawn from real-life experiences or relationships?
Yes. I based it on some of the interactions between my wife, Gwyn, and myself.
Did you have a favorite scene to write, maybe one that brought together your love of film, history, and sci-fi in a satisfying way?
I like the scene where Francesca and later she and Noah dealt with Norman Kerry, the actor who tried to harass the women on set. It showed their strength of character and why they are indeed the heroes of the story. I also like the interplay between Paul Kohner and Noah and Josh, as well as the interactions between Mary Philbin and Francesca and Tori. It brought history alive.
The book has a sharp, cinematic style. Did you imagine it visually as you wrote, and has there been any interest in adapting it for the screen?
Yes, I did because I always thought back to scenes in Universal Horror classics for some of the chapters. There is also a subtle homage to Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in the chapter with the custodians. There is also an interest in having it adapted for the screen.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
Franesca and Noah are excited to start their new lives as newlyweds, but the fight for reality never ends! Catapulted back into yet another adventure, life is put back on pause.
Thrust into the battle to stop the vampire Lilith from helping Novus Ordo change history by stopping the production of the Universal silent movie The Man Who Laughs, Francesca, Noah, Tori, and Josh face off against the supernatural forces of evil in 1920s Hollywood — both in this universe and a parallel Neo-Fascist one.
The Wondrous and the Terrifying
In The Gatekeeper of Pericael, a 12-year-old boy races to protect the gate that keeps his people safe from the soul thief threatening his people. Where did the idea for this novel come from?
The Gatekeeper of Pericael started as an action-packed adventure without romance for my young sons. While I’ve always liked the idea of magical worlds, I always thought that if there were real kids that grew up in (or beside) a magical world, there would be some who would take it for granted, or even fear it. So, I really wanted to explore how a preteen who sees his magic practice as a chore and has legitimate, valid fears of a dangerous magical world he was expected to protect. At its core, The Gatekeeper of Pericael is about a boy learning to accept the world around him—both the wondrous and the terrifying. It’s about a boy accepting his responsibilities and learning how to move forward in spite of his fear—themes I hoped to impart to my own kids and other readers.
I found the edge-of-your-seat adventure in your novel to be quite appealing. What scene in the book did you have the most fun writing?
I’ve always loved monsters and intense action since I was young, so this was a super fun book to write for me. I think my favorite scene to write was the cave sequence in which Porter and his friends are trying to lead the village away from the Terzi. Between their realization of what the Terzi are, the stakes of so many people depending on them, and Porter really coming into his own—it was awesome to go through that emotional roller coaster with the characters.
Were you able to relate to your characters while writing them?
Absolutely! I think every one of my characters carries a piece of me. Like Porter, I started out as a fearful kid that had to make the conscious choice to be brave. But then, I’ve also had times in life where I’ve felt very much like Fira—frustrated by the limitations of her village’s system and with a steely passion to succeed in spite of it. As I grew older and had to be responsible for others younger than myself, I developed more patience and dependability like Conri. And of course, I feel like it’s the most fun to be like Ames, silly and irrepressibly optimistic.
I find a problem in well-written stories in that I always want there to be another book to keep the story going. Is there a second book planned?
I’m so thrilled you enjoyed it! I’d always envisioned The Gatekeeper of Pericael as a trilogy–the characters growing a year or two older with each book—and I definitely had big plans for Fira, Porter, and Ames. Unfortunately, I’ve found upper-MG/lower-YA creepy fantasy hard to market, so I moved forward with other projects instead. But I wouldn’t be surprised if I find my way back to Pericael one day to continue the series. It definitely calls to me!
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Website | Amazon
In Pericael, no one goes out after dark…
Twelve-year-old Porter would much rather spend his weekends playing soccer than channeling spirits in the parallel universe of Pericael. Unfortunately for him, Porter’s family has guarded the gate between Earth and monster-filled Pericael for generations, so he’s not getting out of Gatekeeper lessons anytime soon.
But, some after-school activities are more dangerous than others.
When a soul thief threatens the gate, Porter reluctantly comes to its defense… and gets thrown deep into Pericael’s dangerous jungle wilderness. With the help of two fierce native girls, Porter must learn to embrace the creepy spirits and find his way back to the gate. But the soul thief is racing for the gate too, and if he gets there first, Porter won’t have a home to go back to.
