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Unfathomable
The Frequency follows a pawnshop owner who accepts a collection of Inuit maps and writings in exchange for a favor, sending him on a journey he never expected. Bronx is a distinctive protagonist. Which came first for you: the former hockey player, the Marine, the pawnshop owner, or simply the personality?
When I first met Bronx, I met the retired minor league hockey player who had hung up his gear and opened the pawnshop in Warroad. Only later did I learn he’d been a Marine, trained for high-altitude missions only to land in the deserts of Iraq. But I only learned of it when he told me. As is the case with many of the characters with whom I work, I often learn more about them as a result of closely listening to what they have to say, and how they say it — and in many cases, why they say what they said and how they felt about it when saying it! Bronx was definitely one of those characters. There were times I was working with him that I felt more like his scribe, rather than his author. It was a partnership of sorts. For me, that’s when the magic happens. And to call Bronx distinctive is a kind choice of words. So, thank you. If asked, I’d say: “He’s complicated . . . and then some.” But he was great fun!
The inherited Inuit materials become the bridge between the modern conspiracy and a much older understanding of the Arctic. What inspired that element?
Ultimately, Bronx needed a roadmap. The Inuit materials provided it — literally. But I couldn’t just give him a map with a big X on it showing where to go. Bronx would need to work for it, just like those who had been watching for that same map for decades. For the idea to work, the map needed to be hidden — in this case, by a language few in the world still speak. And once translated, the truth was hidden under a second layer I hadn’t expected: the language of the writer of the letters themselves. Imagine it: in 1944, a fourteen-year-old Inuit boy sets off on a vision quest, hoping for a sign from the spirits. Four days into his journey, without food and very little water, he witnesses something truly unimaginable. Unfathomable. And almost impossible to describe. So, how would he describe something he could never conceive? He used the only language he knew, and from his perspective, his vision feels just like that — a supernatural event that left in its wake ashes in the shape of men, and a whale turned to stone. Given his background, it could be nothing else. But there is another, more dangerous truth awaiting discovery. Those who know of the map have a good idea what that secret is. What they don’t know is where to start looking. Bronx now has the map, but he needs to know the starting point. And when he does, he knows a truth worth killing.
The novel raises the question of who has the right to control transformative knowledge. Do you think the greatest danger surrounding revolutionary technology usually comes from the invention itself or from the scramble to control it?
Oh, for sure, the dangerous part comes from who controls the technology. For all of time, humans have been inventors. But we’ve also proven that just about every invention can be used for good or evil. Think on that for just a second; we are the only species on planet Earth that can ascribe such motives. Sure, other species do things to one another WE might call evil, but it’s not. It’s nature. And she can be one cruel Mother. Humans, on the other hand, have the ability to inherently know what is good and what is not. Yet many purposefully choose to do evil. I’ve always thought technical innovations are largely benign. Humans decide what is dangerous. And we are really good at doing so.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
In all, over the past 25 years, I have now authored sixteen novels. As of last month, that number was fifteen. But in the last three-plus weeks, book sixteen, THE HARVEST, came into focus and practically wrote itself. The first draft took barely two weeks to write. Start to finish. The flow state was incredible. That said, it was a first draft. It will be a few months still before the polishing is done, but I have fourteen others ready to go. My current plan is to release COVENANT next. Like THE FREQUENCY, this story is about a man who has spent his life working for a group called The International League of Exceptional Skeptics: TILES. Their mission is to disprove faith healers, channelers, mystics, and others who claim to have supernatural abilities. As the story starts, we get to watch our protagonist, Ransom Dunn, do just that. And he does so with spectacular flair. But shortly thereafter, Ramson is faced with something he never expected to meet: a healer he cannot disprove. And then what?
As far as a release date, I want to give Bronx his due. So, I am planning to keep Ransom on the shelf for a while, let THE FREQUENCY find its place, and then think about what comes next. The book is ready. But I don’t want to sharp-elbow Bronx out of the way too soon.
How’s that for a tease?
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His path leads north, where the world strips a man down to what remains when comfort is gone. Ice, wind, silence—unrelenting silence—and the growing sense that danger does not always come from what’s chasing him, but from the price the journey demands. Bronx begins choosing allies—people he never meant to need and cannot leave behind once he does. The shift is gradual, almost unnoticeable—then it breaks. And when the moment comes to choose what can be carried forward—and what must be left behind—he understands that some risks are not measured in survival, but in who you are willing to stand with when the cost is no longer yours alone.
The Frequency
Randall D. St. Claire’s The Frequency is a science-fiction conspiracy thriller with a rugged survival story at its center. Bronx Rousselle, a former professional hockey player and Marine who now owns a pawnshop in northern Minnesota, has built his life around keeping people at a safe distance. That changes when Heather Li asks him to help her brother escape and offers him a collection of inherited Inuit artifacts, maps, and writings as payment. Those documents point toward a petrified whale, a mysterious burst of light, and a secret hidden near the Arctic Circle for decades. What begins as a shady favor quickly grows into a chase involving assassins, corporate interests, wartime research, and a discovery with enormous implications.
Bronx gives the novel most of its personality. He’s abrasive, funny, impulsive, suspicious, and surprisingly tender when his usual defenses start breaking down. His running commentary, odd expressions, and instinct for bargaining make him feel more like a difficult guy you might actually meet than a polished action hero. The book’s intimate third-person narration stays close to his fears, appetites, regrets, and survival calculations, giving the violence and Arctic danger a personal edge. His evolving relationship with Malina also gives the adventure an emotional anchor, since his larger journey is about learning that loyalty and attachment are worth their risks.
The novel shifts confidently between small-town crime, historical mystery, corporate conspiracy, and wilderness survival. Its strongest passages take place in Greenland, where cold, hunger, isolation, wildlife, and failing equipment create threats as urgent as the armed men pursuing Bronx. St. Claire has a cinematic way of staging action, but he also makes room for unusual details, dark humor, and the eerie history behind the abandoned Nazi installation. The Inuit documents connect the modern plot to an older experience of the land, while the energy technology at the heart of the mystery raises questions about greed, ownership, and what powerful people will do when a discovery threatens the world they control.
Readers of Michael Crichton will recognize the combination of speculative science, corporate ambition, historical clues, and ordinary people confronting a discovery far beyond their understanding. Like Congo or Timeline, The Frequency turns research and scientific possibility into fuel for a physical adventure, though St. Claire’s voice is earthier and more irreverent. The novel is built for readers who enjoy big ideas delivered through chases, gunfights, bitter cold, and a hero who solves problems with equal parts planning, stubbornness, and nerve. At its heart, it’s a story about a guarded man discovering that survival means more when there’s someone waiting for him to come home.
Pages: 381 | ASIN : B0H72V8NGL
Extraordinary Abilities
Violet Mystique: Part 1 follows a woman with unusual violet eyes and emerging abilities she doesn’t yet understand, as she becomes entangled with a police detective investigating a robbery. What inspired the concept for this story?
I wanted to write about a young woman with violet eyes who was in a big city, struggling to get by, and what resulted was a whole new story about a young woman with extraordinary abilities who wants to live a normal life. Though we learn that her life is anything but normal.
How did you create the rules and structure of this hidden world?
I’m a panster, so the rules and structure for this hidden world were created as the story kept developing. You’ll think it strange, but I listened to my characters and to what their world is like, and I made sure to stay true to it.
Were there moments where the story surprised you as it developed?
Yes! I wasn’t planning on the way certain individuals met their demise or exactly what Jalyn Wilds could do in the mind realm.
Have you already mapped out where Jalyn’s journey goes next?
Absolutely! The next book will dive deeper into Jalyn’s mind and if there are other gifted individuals.
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Detective Ed Daza senses something otherworldly in Jalyn, and as he follows the trail, he discovers a hidden network of “Others”—individuals with extraordinary abilities targeted by Madam’s shadow organization with deadly plans. Each step pulls Ed deeper into a world of manipulation, betrayal, and supernatural intrigue, where those he trusts may not be who they seem.
Hunted and caught between forces far beyond ordinary law enforcement, Jalyn must navigate a web of psychic danger and hidden agendas to survive. Violet Mystique is an urban fantasy thriller that pulses with suspense, mystery, and supernatural power—a story of gifts, secrets, and the lengths one young woman will go to protect herself and the lives she touches.
Wolf Magick: Secret Myseries of Draakensky
Wolf Magick: Secret Mysteries of Draakensky, by Paula Cappa, is a richly atmospheric supernatural romance built around inheritance, shapeshifting, old Celtic power, and the pull of a place that feels alive. Marc Sexton is trying to build a future with Charlotte Knight, but his family’s wolf legacy keeps breaking into the present. Charlotte, newly settled at Draakensky Windmill Estate, isn’t just moving into Marc’s world. She’s being claimed by it, spiritually, artistically, and emotionally.
What gives the novel its strongest identity is the way the everyday and the mystical sit side by side. Marc runs The Grackle Bar and Grill, deals with family pressure, wedding plans, work stress, and public scrutiny, while shadow wolves, ancestral guilt, Otherworld powers, and old blood covenants gather around him. Charlotte’s life as an artist matters just as much as Marc’s magickal inheritance. Her drawings, visions, and instincts make her more than a romantic partner; she becomes a participant in the mystery. When Marc tells her, “You, Charlotte, are Draakensky,” it feels like the heart of the book clicking into place.
Cappa’s prose leans into mood, texture, and ritual. The forest, windmill, river, ravine, owls, hares, crows, horses, and wolves all feel charged with meaning. Draakensky itself speaks in the interludes, and those sections give the estate a strange, watchful personality. The book is lush and sensory, with scenes that often feel painted rather than simply described. That fits Charlotte’s artistic point of view and gives the novel a romantic, gothic pulse.
The relationship between Marc and Charlotte is the emotional anchor. Their love is passionate, but it’s also tested by secrecy, fear, family expectations, and the terrifying question of what Marc’s wolf identity might cost them. The wolf mythology has a strong communal force, too. The cry “We are wolf” captures the book’s larger movement from private fear to shared power. This is a story about lovers, yes, but it’s also about lineage, belonging, sacrifice, and choosing what kind of inheritance deserves to survive.
Wolf Magick is best read as an immersive supernatural tale with a strong romantic core and a deep interest in old-world magick. It takes its time with meals, weather, art, family conversations, folklore, and landscape because all of those things are part of the spell. The result is a book that feels earthy, dramatic, and intimate, with wolves at its edge and ancestral secrets running beneath nearly every scene.
Pages: 380 | ASIN : B0GYXX9MMT
Violet Mystique: Part 1
Violet Mystique: Part 1 is a supernatural mystery thriller with a strong paranormal suspense thread. The story follows Jalyn Wilds, a young woman with strange violet eyes and abilities she does not fully control, after a robbery pulls police detective Ed Daza into her orbit. What starts as a criminal investigation quickly opens into something larger: disappearances, hidden experiments, a secretive colony, and people whose gifts have been treated less like miracles and more like property.
What I liked most was the way the book drops the reader straight into trouble. Jalyn is not introduced with a long explanation of who she is. We meet her under pressure, with a gun pointed at her, and that works. It tells us she is afraid, powerful, guarded, and tired of being seen as strange, all at once. The writing has a quick, pulpy energy that fits the genre. Scenes move fast. People argue, run, hide, fight, and reveal secrets before the dust has fully settled. At times, that pace can make the story feel crowded, but it also gives the book its bite. There is always another door opening.
I also found myself interested in the choices around Jalyn and Ed. Their connection could have been treated as simple attraction, but the book keeps tying it to fear, control, trust, and the danger of being known too well. That gave the relationship more weight for me. Madam is written as a clear villain, almost theatrical in her cruelty, yet the larger idea behind her is the part that stayed with me: what happens when people with unusual gifts are raised, trained, used, and traded like tools? That question gives the supernatural elements a harder edge.
I would recommend Violet Mystique: Part 1 to readers who enjoy paranormal suspense, supernatural mystery, and character-driven thrillers with romance simmering under the action. It will especially appeal to readers who like gifted heroines, secret organizations, moral gray areas, and stories where the mystery keeps expanding instead of staying in one neat box.
Pages: 254 | ASIN : B0GYVDHQZ3
Arcadian Alcove
Arcadian Alcove, by Karen Black, is a cozy contemporary fantasy about Lia Alexander Sinclair, who inherits her great-aunt Melissa’s secluded North Carolina estate and discovers that the family stories about fae, telepathic cats, and hidden magic were never just stories. As Lia and her husband Eric settle into Arcadian Alcove, she becomes the guardian of its supernatural residents, including bropis, elves, talking animals, and Athena the telecat, while also fighting to protect the land from political greed and an eminent domain threat. It is a gentle fantasy with an environmental heart, built around inheritance, wonder, family, and the duty to protect what cannot protect itself.
What I liked most about the book is how sincerely it believes in its own magic. Karen Black doesn’t treat the fae as a clever twist or a dark secret waiting to explode. She lets them sit at the kitchen table, drink peppermint tea from thimbles, worry about their homes, and become part of Lia’s daily rhythm. That choice gives the story a warm, lived-in feeling. It’s not trying to be flashy. It’s trying to be kind. I found that refreshing. The writing is plainspoken and direct, sometimes almost old-fashioned in its sweetness, but that fits the genre and the mood. This is the kind of fantasy where the house matters, the garden matters, and a small creature’s fear can carry as much weight as a courtroom battle.
I also appreciated the way the book ties magic to responsibility. Lia does not just inherit land. She inherits a promise. That idea gives the story more shape than a simple “woman discovers magical world” plot. The conflict with Governor Lassiter and the highway project adds real stakes, and I liked that the book connects the survival of the fae with the survival of ordinary wildlife. The wolves, fish, frogs, birds, and little people all belong to the same fragile web. Some parts favor clarity and comfort, which gives the story a softer touch than more intense fantasy, but that gentleness feels in keeping with the book’s overall spirit. Still, I did not mind that much. The book’s heart is so clear. It wants to argue that belief is not childish when it leads to care, courage, and protection.
I would recommend Arcadian Alcove to readers who enjoy gentle fantasy, cozy magical realism, nature-centered stories, and books where family legacy and found community matter more than battles or darkness. It will especially appeal to readers who like talking animals, benevolent fae, protective homes, and a hopeful tone. This is a quiet, warm fantasy for anyone who wants a story that feels like stepping into a sunlit herb garden and finding out the whispers in the leaves are real.
Pages: 311 | ASIN : B0GDS6FCFB
Joshua Creed: Keeper of Worlds
Joshua Creed: Keeper of Worlds is a middle-grade portal fantasy with a strong coming-of-age thread, and at its core, it follows twelve-year-old Joshua as his already-shaky life cracks open even further. His parents are divorcing, school feels like a minefield, and then his strange blue eye starts pulling him into another world, where prophecy, dangerous magic, and creatures like Wormly, Selia, and Gonthragon force him into the role of a keeper between worlds. What makes the book more than a simple quest story is that Joshua is not just trying to save a fantasy realm. He’s also trying to understand his family, his anger, and the fear that he ruins everything he touches.
I liked how directly the author, Dawnette Brenner, writes Joshua’s inner life. The fantasy setup is big, but the emotional entry point is small and human: a tetherball game, a suspension, a kitchen table conversation, a kid trying not to cry. I think that choice works great. It gives the book real footing before the world-hopping begins, and it keeps the stakes personal even when the plot expands into prophecy and interdimensional danger. I also liked that the magic has rules and consequences. The idea that crossing between worlds costs Joshua something, even time from his own life, gives the story weight and keeps it from feeling too easy.
I felt the book was at its best when it slowed down and let character and emotion breathe. Joshua’s bond with Jonah, his guilt over his mother being hurt, and the way fantasy becomes tangled up with family pain all land well. Those parts felt honest. The novel throws a lot at the reader: prophecy, magical tools, multiple creatures, vision lore, world rules, and escalating threats. Some readers will enjoy that rush. I respected the author’s instinct to make this adventure about responsibility instead of simple wish fulfillment. The book keeps asking a solid question: what does it actually cost a kid to become “chosen”? That question gives the story its backbone.
I’d recommend this most to readers who like middle-grade fantasy that blends portals, prophecy, and magical objects with family strain and emotional growth. Kids who enjoy stories in the lane of classic quest fantasy, but want something more grounded in school, home, and identity, will probably connect with it. I think adults who read middle grade closely will also notice the heart behind it. This is a fantasy novel, but it is really about carrying too much too young and learning that bravery is not the same thing as pretending you are fine.
Pages: 281 | ASIN : B0GPP1XLTD
Honor, Regret, and Loyalty
Dark Wolf’s Howl centers around a young woman holding an ancient secret who finds herself on the run after helping with a theft that goes terribly wrong. Where did the idea for this novel come from?
The idea for the novel was that I wanted to take the traditional epic quest and spin it a little differently. I love the tabletop role playing game Shadowrun, and some of the themes and ideas come from the adventures I had with a group I ran with years ago.
Many characters wrestle with honor, regret, and loyalty. Why were those themes so central to this story?
I wanted to write a story that didn’t necessarily follow the epic quest trope, where a group is out to save the world. While they are out to save the world, I wanted the book to center more on their personal journeys. Honor, regret, and loyalty are all things I feel like people can relate to, whether it is dealing with a bad decision or struggling with a friend or family member who made such a decision and now needs help.
Dark Wolf’s Howl mixes adventure with political intrigue and class tension. How did you balance those elements while keeping the story focused on the characters?
Varya is supposed to be a fantasy version of our own world, where things are more complex than just right or wrong. Sometimes, in our world, you aren’t sure who the bad guys are, and I wanted my story to have a similar feel. You might start with one assumption and then change how you feel as you learn more information, letting the reader journey with the characters, their own thoughts and feelings on Varya changing as the character’s views change.
Can you give us a peek inside the second installment of the Varya series? Where will it take readers?
Diadrilath Selda, book two in the Varya series, the war is over, and our heroes struggle to reclaim their lives. So much has happened that they can’t just go back to doing what they were doing before, and in the midst of their personal struggles, there is a new mystery. Something else is happening, and they have to navigate the new threat while also still dealing with the aftermath of the events of the first book. The readers get to see more of the history of Varya, as well as dive deeper into the characters.
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When a reckless heist goes terribly wrong, a young woman finds herself branded a traitor by her own government, hunted not for her crime, but for the ancient secret she’s stumbled into. A secret powerful enough to shatter the kingdom’s foundations.
Now, as a long-exiled enemy rises to unleash vengeance and civilization teeters on the brink of annihilation, she must join forces with a mysterious rogue agent and a thrill-seeking adventurer. Together, they’ll face conspiracies, betrayals, and the weight of history itself.
But can one unlikely heroine find the courage to undo her mistake before it unleashes the end of the world?
Called “an ambitious and heartfelt modern fantasy” by Independent Book Review, Dark Wolf’s Howl blends modern society with familiar fantasy themes in an action packed adventure story.
