VACATION ALERT: The "Mutineers" blog will be on holiday for a few weeks while Allan visits family and friends in LA. (Also in the works: a Sten movie deal. So, keep your fingers crossed.)The story will resume Oct. 12. Sorry. And it is so close to the ending too. But if you can't wait, buy the book. See the link below. Just don't give the ending away to your friends, please.
*****
THE BISHOP AND THE RABBI
Here's where you can buy it worldwide in both paperback and Kindle editions:
*****
LUCKY IN CYPRUS:
A True Story About A Boy,
NEW: THE AUDIOBOOK VERSION OF
What if the Cold War never ended -- but continued for a thousand years? Best-selling authors Allan Cole (an American) and Nick Perumov (a Russian) spin a mesmerizing "what if?" tale set a thousand years in the future, as an American and a Russian super-soldier -- together with a beautiful American detective working for the United Worlds Police -- must combine forces to defeat a secret cabal ... and prevent a galactic disaster! This is the first - and only - collaboration between American and Russian novelists. Narrated by John Hough. Click the title links below for the trade paperback and kindle editions. (Also available at iTunes.)
*****
Shaklin and his two top Navtechs, Viktor and Newton, moved quietly through the huge tractor-beam chamber. A low hum came from immense machines lined up in long corridors that bisected the chamber. Massive as they were, they made only a low thrumming sound. The deck beneath Shaklin’s feet trembled with their power.
It was their purpose to link all the immense oar cars together until they formed a hundred and twenty five kilometer train. Which, in turn was linked to the Flame by a web of high energy Trac-beams.
He came to the main board, then waved Newton forward. Over the years Shaklin had all his congregants trained in multiple shipboard skills. Newton excelled at tractor-beam technology.
All the calculations had been made in advance, so it only took Newton a few minutes to make the necessary adjustments. When done, he stepped back.
“The minute I give the word,” Shaklin said, “it’s your job to blow the main connection.”
“We won’t let you down, eminence,” Newton said.
They moved down the bank of controls to another position, Shaklin’s beaded dreadlocks clattering in the deep silence.
“I calculate that we can Trac twenty nine cars without overburdening the Caird,” Shaklin said.
Newton nodded, finger moving over the board. He started counting from the last ore car forward: “One…two…three…” until he reached 29. Then he flipped a switch to mark the Trac connection. Slid a little tube from his pocket and aimed it at the switch. Pressed a button. Light flash. Tiny curl of smoke.
He stepped back. “That’s a good job done, eminence,” he said with satisfaction.
Shaklin clapped him on the shoulder. “Excellent,” he said. “Now to tie it all together.”
And he led Newton and Viktor deeper into the chamber.
The tractor beam chamber occupied the Flame’s stern and the emergency escape craft was stowed there. It was a cunning little boat, which Shaklin had dubbed the Caird after a vessel that an ancient explorer had used to rescue his ice-bound crew in one of old Earth history’s great navigational feats.
The Caird wasn’t large enough to rescue more than a third of the Flame’s crew in a real disaster. But it was more than sufficient for Shaklin’s needs. He only had nineteen beings in his charge, all faithful members of the Church of the Universal Location.
He and his congregants had stuffed every conceivable space with enough supplies to last for several months, along with weapons and ammunition, which he would only use as a last resort.
Plus, there was one other thing—a lifeboat—that they needed to get on board. It had taken days for Shaklin and his people to move the lifeboat from section to section without other crew members spotting them and asking what they were up to.
The little vessel was only large enough for two beings and had barely enough air to last a couple of hours. But that was sufficient for his needs. Besides, he only required space for one being, not two.
In not too long he’d take the controls of the Flame and begin the countdown for what Zheng had proclaimed “Zee Beeg Clottin’ Run.” To do that they’d need a diversion to occupy Sten and the Imperial sailors aboard the Jo’l Cash until the Flame slipped away.
First, they’d slowly build the ship’s engines to full life.
Then Rual and her weapons techs would launch a barrage of missiles at the Jo’l Cash. They had no hope of actually hitting the ship. The Imperial Navy crew would spot the threat before the first missile cleared the Flame’s gunports. But there would be a whole lot of “Flash and Drakh and Boom,” as Rual put it, “and then you clottin’ go, Bishop! Clottin’ go!”
She’d tried to loom over Shaklin to press her point, but he just stared her down, then turned and coolly gave instructions to his people. Angry but satisfied, Rual stormed off.
And so when Rual said, “Go!” he’d give the Flame full power then blast toward Venatora’s fortress.
Assuming the Jo’l Cash was still busy with the flash bang, they’d reach No Being’s Land intact. Then, they just had to wait for Venatora’s signal to proceed, and it would be Shaklin’s final task to guide the Flame through the warren of mines and missile batteries to their buyer.
That’s how it was supposed to work. That’s how Zheng, Rual and Venatora had planned it.
But that’s not what was going to happen.
“Get ye ready to jump, laddie,” Kilgour had warned. “Soon as Venatora hears your voice, she’ll blow ya to smithereens. Or, cause she’s such a canny lass, she may let wait until you are well on your way, getting your hopes up, and then you’ll smash you down with all th’ hot metal and bombs she can muster.”
Shaklin felt remarkably calm after hearing this. He let Kilgore’s words pour over him and suddenly he could see the future clear.
If not to the very end of it all.
Or, more aptly, the beginning.
That perfect point.
In that perfect location.
The Grail at the end of his people’s search.
No. Probably not.
But it might be close, brother. It might be gloriously close.
Then they were at the Caird, and Shaklin sent Viktor aboard to set up the connection with the 29 oar cars he intended to commandeer.
His job done, Viktor was just exiting the little vessel when Rual’s high-pitched voice crackled over the speakers.
“Shaklin? Where the clot are you, Shaklin? We need you. Right now.”
Shaklin keyed his mike. “Be with you in a minute,” he said.
Rual hissed back: “I didn’t say in a minute. I said now.”
Shaklin didn’t bother replying. If Rual wanted the last word, let her have it.
Because the last laugh would be his and his alone.
Before they exited the chamber he paused long enough to send Kilgour one final message.
All were systems were definitely go!
ABOARD THE JO’L CASH
Alex listened to Shaklin’s report, then wished him good luck and signed off.
“Our wee bishop says to get ready for the flash bang,” Kilgour told the others.
Sten turned to Murgas and Tm’beaty. “You boys deal with the incoming,” he said.
“Shouldn’t be a problem, Captain,” Murgas said. “Shaklin’s fed us all the coordinates, so we’ll be able to track missiles the second they’re launched.”
“If one of them gets through,” Tm’beaty said, “we’ll smother them with a big fat cloud of flak. They’ll either blow in place or latch on to the nearest large body and chase it into the nearest sun.”
Doc called Sten over. “I just got off the com with Admiral Gessler,” he said. “He’s moving his fleet in closer. I stressed in my most persuasive tones that when we say ‘clotting pounce,’ he’d better clotting pounce.”
“Just so long as the mutineers don’t spot him too early,” Sten said.
“No worries with Gessler,” Ida broke in. “He won’t dilly dally. One of my boy toys served with him. Said he had a good rep as a fighting man.”
Kilgore ignored all this. He was plainly bored and anxious to get moving. He yawned and gave an elaborate stretch.
Which gave young Murgas the nerve to speak up. Rather hesitantly, he said: “Mr. Kilgour, sir?”
Kilgour turned his cheery face on the lad. “What is it, me boy?”
“About those holy men?”
Kilgour frowned. “Holy men?” Then he remembered and blessed Murgas with broad grin.
“Ay, you mean the three Kilgour holy men,” he said. “Father Kilgour. The Right Reverend Billy Bob Kilgour. And Rabbi Kilgour.”
Sten groaned and almost intervened, but Murgas looked so hopeful, he didn’t have the heart.
“Yessir,” Murgas said. “You told us about the first two holy men and how they converted the bears, but you never said what happened to the third Kilgour—the Rabbi.”
“Weel,” Alex drawled, “if you remember proper, the priest and th’ minister were pretty banged up from preachin’ to those bears.”
Murgas nodded. He remembered.
“But that was nothing compared to what happened to th’ wee rabbi,” Kilgour said. “Two ambulance drivers carried him into th’ pub on a stretcher.
“And he was in a full cast, with traction cables, and IV tubes running into his poor body and monitors beeping news of his vitals, which were weak as clot.” Kilgour’s face grew sad. He shook his head. “He didn’t look long for this world.
“The other holy men begged him to tell them what happened. How did the bear manage to hurt him so? And poor Rabbi Kilgour peered up at his friends and said, ‘Looking back on it, circumcision may have not been th’ wisest way to start.”
Dead silence filled the chamber.
Tm’beaty and Murgas turned deathly pale when they realized that Kilgour was done. There was no more.
Murgas gagged a little as if he were going to lose his lunch.
Sten gave him a pitying look. “Bet you don’t do that again,” he said.
Murgas shook himself like a wet dog. Tm’beaty snorted disgust. “If he does,” he said, “request permission, sir, to blow him away.”
“Permission granted,” Sten said.
And then blinding lights filled the overhead screens, and Ida announced, “It’s show time, folks!”
NEXT: AND THEN THE KNIVES CAME OUT
*****
*****
NOTE FROM ALLAN: My multi-talented brother, Drew Cole, has just released a marvelous new album of original songs – “The Shook Souls.” Some of the songs will make you cry, some will tickle your irony bone, and all of them will take you back to moments in your life, both painful or joyful, that will never be forgotten. The songs are free, but you can feed the kitty if you like them. Click on this link and hear for yourself.
*****
STEN OMNIBUS TRILOGY
MAKES ITS AMERICAN DEBUT
Ever since my British publisher put all eight novels in the Sten series in three omnibus editions, American readers have been clamoring for equal treatment.
Well, my American publisher – Wildside Books – was listening and is issuing all three omnibus omnibus volumes on this side of the Atlantic. Sten Omnibus #1 was published
last month. Sten Omnibus #2 debuts this week. Stay tuned for the publication for Volume Three.
THE TIMURA TRILOGY: When The Gods Slept, Wolves Of The Gods and The Gods Awaken. This best selling fantasy series now available as trade paperbacks, e-books (in all varieties) and as audiobooks. Visit The Timura Trilogy page for links to all the editions.
NEWLY REVISED KINDLE EDITIONS OF THE TIMURA TRILOGY NOW AVAILABLE. (1) When The Gods Slept;(2) Wolves Of The Gods; (3) The Gods Awaken.
*****
Tales Sometimes Tall, but always true, of Allan Cole's years in Hollywood with his late partner, Chris Bunch. How a naked lady almost became our first agent. How we survived La-La Land with only the loss of half our brain cells. How Bunch & Cole became the ultimate Fix-It Boys. How an alleged Mafia Don was very, very good to us. The guy who cornered the market on movie rocks. Andy Warhol's Fire Extinguisher. The Real Stars Of Hollywood. Why they don't make million dollar movies. See The Seven Pi$$ing Dwarfs. Learn: how to kill a "difficult" actor… And much, much more.
Here's where you can buy it worldwide in both paperback and Kindle editions:
United Kingdom ...........................Spain
Also: NOOK BOOK. Plus ALL E-BOOK FLAVORS.
*****
A NATION AT WAR WITH ITSELF: In Book Three Of The Shannon Trilogy, young Patrick Shannon is the heir-apparent to the Shannon fortune, but murder and betrayal at a family gathering send him fleeing into the American frontier, with only the last words of a wise old woman to arm him against what would come. And when the outbreak of the Civil War comes he finds himself fighting on the opposite side of those he loves the most. In The Wars Of The Shannons we see the conflict, both on the battlefield and the homefront, through the eyes of Patrick and the members of his extended Irish-American family as they struggle to survive the conflict that ripped the new nation apart, and yet, offered a dim beacon of hope.
A True Story About A Boy,
A Teacher, And Earthquake,
Some Terrorists And The CIA
LUCKY IN CYPRUS is a coming-of-age story set in the Middle East during the height of the Cold War. An American teenager – son of a CIA operative – is inspired by grand events and a Greek Cypriot teacher.
He witnesses earthquakes and riots and terrorist attacks, but in the end it is his teacher’s gentle lessons that keep him whole.
Here's where to get the paperback & Kindle editions worldwide:
Here's what readers say about Lucky In Cyprus:
- "Bravo, Allan! When I finished Lucky In Cyprus I wept." - Julie Mitchell, Hot Springs, Texas
- "Lucky In Cyprus brought back many memories... A wonderful book. So many shadows blown away!" - Freddy & Maureen Smart, Episkopi,Cyprus.
- "... (Reading) Lucky In Cyprus has been a humbling, haunting, sobering and enlightening experience..." - J.A. Locke, Bookloons.com
*****
NEW: THE AUDIOBOOK VERSION OF
THE HATE PARALLAX
What if the Cold War never ended -- but continued for a thousand years? Best-selling authors Allan Cole (an American) and Nick Perumov (a Russian) spin a mesmerizing "what if?" tale set a thousand years in the future, as an American and a Russian super-soldier -- together with a beautiful American detective working for the United Worlds Police -- must combine forces to defeat a secret cabal ... and prevent a galactic disaster! This is the first - and only - collaboration between American and Russian novelists. Narrated by John Hough. Click the title links below for the trade paperback and kindle editions. (Also available at iTunes.)
*****
THE SPYMASTER'S DAUGHTER:
A novel by Allan and his daughter, Susan
After laboring as a Doctors Without Borders physician in the teaming refugee camps and minefields of South Asia, Dr. Ann Donovan thought she'd seen Hell as close up as you can get. And as a fifth generation CIA brat, she thought she knew all there was to know about corruption and betrayal. But then her father - a legendary spymaster - shows up, with a ten-year-old boy in tow. A brother she never knew existed. Then in a few violent hours, her whole world is shattered, her father killed and she and her kid brother are one the run with hell hounds on their heels. They finally corner her in a clinic in Hawaii and then all the lies and treachery are revealed on one terrible, bloody storm- ravaged night.
BASED ON THE CLASSIC STEN SERIES by Allan Cole & Chris Bunch: Fresh from their mission to pacify the Wolf Worlds, Sten and his Mantis Team encounter a mysterious ship that has been lost among the stars for thousands of years. At first, everyone aboard appears to be long dead. Then a strange Being beckons, pleading for help. More disturbing: the presence of AM2, a strategically vital fuel tightly controlled by their boss - The Eternal Emperor. They are ordered to retrieve the remaining AM2 "at all costs." But once Sten and his heavy worlder sidekick, Alex Kilgour, board the ship they must dare an out of control defense system that attacks without warning as they move through dark warrens filled with unimaginable horrors. When they reach their goal they find that in the midst of all that death are the "seeds" of a lost civilization.
*****
TALES OF THE BLUE MEANIE
NOW AN AUDIOBOOK!
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Venice Boardwalk Circa 1969
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In the depths of the Sixties and The Days Of Rage, a young newsman, accompanied by his pregnant wife and orphaned teenage brother, creates a Paradise of sorts in a sprawling Venice Beach community of apartments, populated by students, artists, budding scientists and engineers lifeguards, poets, bikers with a few junkies thrown in for good measure. The inhabitants come to call the place “Pepperland,” after the Beatles movie, “Yellow Submarine.” Threatening this paradise is "The Blue Meanie," a crazy giant of a man so frightening that he eventually even scares himself.
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