In the standalone thriller, City Spirits, Chicagoland Stories investigates the abduction of Chicago citizens by crews of men using vans. The victims, transported to sinister locations, suffer fates worse than death. An evil organization lusts for power. A serial killer reserves a few victims for himself to enjoy. Authorities are desperate. Meanwhile, in the small town of Wolanda, Pastor Paul Lemon struggles to revive a dead church, unaware of the evil experiments taking place in a mansion nearby. Small-town citizens are drawn into a supernatural battle for world domination, facing a powerful entity attempting to bring an ancient adversary back to life. Will the famous Chicago ghost, Resurrection Mary, save the day?

Chicago is a name that everyone around the world has heard of--thanks to Al Capone! Doug's love for Chicagoland, and his desire to bring the same love for the "Windy City" and its suburbs to people presently living there or planning to reside there in the future, supersedes his own personal "shortcomings." For people who used to live there, the memories found in this book should be quite fulfilling. The "Chicago Ancestry" chapters, in particular, promise to be historical and informative.

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Hometown and host to talents as diverse as Richard Wright, David Mamet, Maya Angelou, Saul Bellow, and Mike Royko, Chicago boasts a rich tradition of writers who have helped shape our sense of the city even as the city informs their best work. It's "a writer's town...a fighter's town," according to Nelson Algren, and this anthology proves it. With a striking new cover, Chicago Stories collects the most evocative writing on the city, its gritty realism, and indomitable spirit.

In this standalone tale, Chicagoland Stories is drawn into the life of Boone Jackson, owner of a fledgling chemical company. While planting garlic cloves in his backyard, Jackson discovers a smooth round object about the size of a propane tank, the nature of which is not apparent.Then it introduces itself--an artificial intelligence hosted on a quantum computer.The device easily compromises world information systems, claiming its purpose is to benefit society, but it refuses to disclose its origin. Jackson and his friends personally benefit from the machine and are asked to give their input on how to bring positive changes to the world.Meanwhile, a mysterious entity known only as "Verstand" assembles a crew of mercenaries and provides them with information, technology, and advanced chemical formulas. Their mission is to bring a powerful organization to its knees.The world's future is at stake, but what is the ultimate goal of the Backyard Brain?