All The Write Stuff: The Man Who Dealt in Death

Deep beneath the desert town of Peridot, something evil lurks.

The Man Who Dealt in Death

The Colton Fen Series Book 1

by Marlena Frank

Genre: Paranormal Weird Western

Deep beneath the desert town of Peridot, something evil lurks.

Werewolf detective Colton Fen is used to strange mysteries, but when he arrives in Peridot on his latest assignment, he’s less than pleased to be assigned a partner. Rennick Dalton is a blood-drinking, illusion-wielding card shark who doesn’t have the best reputation. The two unlikely partners will have to put aside their differences if they hope to stop the horrible acts taking place beneath the streets of Peridot.

Together with the help of sharp-shooting actress Mary Silva, they’ll track the demonic creature that slithers beneath the desert. But the demon is waiting for them. It wants to turn them into one of its many disturbing minions — or add them to its grotesque collection.

Step into a dangerous and fantastic world set in the old west of 1893, where supernatural creatures and unexplainables live alongside cowboys and gunslingers. THE MAN WHO DEALT IN DEATH is Book One of the COLTON FEN series.

EXCERPT

The Man Who Dealt in Death

Excerpt #1

The train whistle shrieked steam into the purple evening sky. When Colton stepped off the train, his boots crunched on the gravel. He was one of only three people who disembarked at Peridot. Clearly, it wasn’t a favored destination for travelers.

Judging by the gaps he could see between the boards that made up the walls of the train station, it was built quickly by people who probably didn’t know what they were doing. That was a common story out west. The goal was to expand as quickly and efficiently as possible, not necessarily build a structure to last.

Colton walked past the building through the gravel and came to the dirt road that signified Peridot’s main street. A little sign with handwritten letters confirmed it. Every little town out west had a Main Street, all looking like they had popped up overnight. A town always began with a road. Colton started down it, eyeing the surrounding shops.

Mr. Tep hadn’t been joking when he called Peridot a little spit of a town, either. But Peridot looked older than most of the towns he had visited out west. Despite the newness of the train station, shanties lay in the distance, looking at least twenty or thirty years old. It was a strange place, the mixture of new and old slammed together, all in the middle of nowhere.

As night advanced, the general stores were closed and most of Main Street was empty, save for the inn with its candles burning for weary, late-night travelers. The theater, though, glowed so brightly from all the lanterns that it lit up the street. It was clearly the biggest attraction in town.

Colton stepped up to the front of the place, eyeballing the stained bat-wing doors and the

large sign above painted in shiny black and red paint with fancy lettering: The Crimson Theater. Colton shook his head. When Mr. Tep gave him the name of the theater that his new partner, Rennick Dalton, owned, he had thought it would be hard to find. He hadn’t expected this.

The fancy sign up top didn’t fit the faded wood of the neighboring shops. In fact, it didn’t fit most of Peridot. It was too garish and rich for a place so embedded in the sand and grit of its surroundings. A trio of men stepped out of the theater, laughing loudly into the cool night air. One of them nearly tripped down the steps in a drunken haze. They dragged themselves down the street toward the shanties.

Music and more laughter came from inside the theater. There were probably a ton of people inside. His skin crawled at the thought. He tried to stay away from crowds on most days. It was too risky for a werewolf like him. But Mr. Tep had told him he needed to be more social. He needed to get used to collaborating. Apparently it started here at The Crimson Theater.

He took a deep breath and steeled himself before stepping inside.

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Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Man-Dealt-Death-Colton-Book-ebook/dp/B0D6L594S7

Author’s Site: https://marlenafrank.com/product/the-man-who-dealt-in-death/

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-man-who-dealt-in-death/id6504142498

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-man-who-dealt-in-death-marlena-frank/1145664449?ean=2940186211716

Kobo:https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-man-who-dealt-in-death

Smashwords:https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1574432

Books2Read: https://books2read.com/TheManWhoDealtInDeath

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-man-who-dealt-in-death-the-colton-fen-series-book-1-by-marlena-frank

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/206118706-the-man-who-dealt-in-death

About the Author

Marlena Frank is the author of young adult fantasy and horror novels, short stories, novellas, and book series. Many of her books have hit the bestseller charts, including her debut novel, Stolen. Readers’ Favorite has praised several of her books with 5-star reviews. Reader’s House awarded her book, The Seeking, with the Editor’s Choice Award of Literary Excellence in May 2024. De Mode of Literature Magazine featured her in November 2021. Her stories have appeared in anthologies such as The Darkest Lullaby, Emporium of Superstition, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Georgia Gothic, and The Librarian Reshelved.

Although born in Tennessee, Marlena has spent most of her life in Georgia. She has various professional memberships, including the Atlanta chapter of the Horror Writers Association and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. She enjoys cosplaying, gaming, and spoiling her adopted cats. Her drink of choice is a dairy-free chai latte. As a wildlife enthusiast, she can share a plethora of weird animal facts and talk about her favorite cryptids.

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