Better Dead Than Bred, the rallying cry of rogue activists from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) erupted loudly in Vallejo, California, in 2018. Bursting into a major dog competition, these activists caused the death of many pure-bred show dogs by releasing the animals and shooing them outside onto a nearby highway. Also, in searing heat, they unplugged the electricity to their owners' motorhomes, killing the air conditioning and, consequently, killing the show dogs sheltering inside. “Better dead than bred!” they yelled. It was disgusting. It was horrible. It was riveting. The movement’s existence and raison d’être raise some massive questions, tackled here in this tale of a decent man lured into hell by an animal rights activist who believes he’s the devil and that his life’s purpose is to tempt good people into evil. Sean Bergmann is a retired engineer, happily married and living a comfortably insulated life with his two beloved shelties, Opi and Echo, whom he trains to compete in dog shows. But just as Opi enters the ring for the Best in Show contest, Sean Bergmann’s ordinary life collides with a force that is distinctly out of the ordinary. Cooper Newsome and three of his activist acolytes invade the show, open crates, and scatter the precious dogs. In the process, Opi is killed and Echo goes missing. Cooper leaves his business card, inscribed with the words “Better Dead Than Bred.” Sean vows revenge at whatever cost. This story follows both the revenge and its cost, including Sean’s involvement with Cooper's organization so he might spy on the activists until he’s learned enough to cause them meaningful damage. But he loses his identity and ethical core along the way, eventually even participating in the theft of puppies to be sold to a dog fight organizer. Sean achieves retribution at last in this battle for animal rights and his soul in the form of a furious conflagration that wipes out the bad guys . . . or does it?

Newly widowed Pauline Cook was once the toast of the Windy City elite—but now she's practically broke. At least she's in better shape than her dear departed friend Ethan Campbell, whose corpse Pauline has had the misfortune to discover. A writer who chronicled the lives, loves, and ensembles of the Gold Coast's most elegant ladies, Ethan apparently took his own life—while inelegantly clad in old boxers, no less. And since no relatives are coming forward to claim Ethan's remains, it falls to Pauline to settle his final affairs . . . with her own dwindling funds. However, there are things about Ethan's suicide that don't seem to add up: the ratty undergarments he "chose" to die in, for example . . . and the multiple birth certificates the police turn up in his apartment. Before she can truly lay her friend to rest, plucky Pauline's determined to get to the bottom of his increasingly suspicious death.

DELIVERED FROM THE DARKNESS, A WOMAN FINDS HERSELF PLUNGED INTO A PASSION THAT IS DEEPER THAN MIDNIGHT. At eighteen, Corinne Bishop was a beautiful, spirited young woman living a life of privilege as the adopted daughter of a wealthy family. Her world changed in an instant when she was stolen away and held prisoner by the malevolent vampire Dragos. After many years of captivity and torment, Corinne is rescued by the Order, a cadre of vampire warriors embroiled in a war against Dragos and his followers. Her innocence taken, Corinne has lost a piece of her heart as well—the one thing that gave her hope during her imprisonment, and the only thing that matters to her now that she is free. Assigned to safeguard Corinne on her trip home is a formidable golden-eyed Breed male called Hunter. Once Dragos’s most deadly assassin, Hunter now works for the Order, and he’s hell-bent on making Dragos pay for his manifold sins. Bonded to Corinne by their mutual desire, Hunter will have to decide how far he’ll go to end Dragos’s reign of evil—even if carrying out his mission means shattering Corinne’s tender heart.

Vols. for 1869- include Annual report of the Geological Survey of Indiana.