In a city run by a powerful mobster, nobody wants to play the hero. Private investigator Charlie Madison just wants to pay the rent. When a little girl goes missing and no ransom demand is made, Madison takes the case. Time isn't on his side. After 48 hours, it's unlikely an abducted child will be found in one piece. But Madison's a champion of lost causes, and he'll be damned before he gives up on her—even if it means putting his life on the line. As the mystery unfolds, Madison learns a bizarre secret that seems too impossible to believe. But it could explain why the girl was kidnapped—and why she might still be alive. Novelette - 12,500 words - Crime Noir / Science Fiction Prequel to Immaterial Evidence Originally published by St. Martin's Press in the Girl Trouble anthology

The vault door never opened. The bank went into lockdown in less than a minute. Yet the security footage was a hundred silver bars had simply vanished. Ever since the city’s most dangerous crime boss put a price on his head, private investigator Charlie Madison has lived as an exile in Little Tokyo. But now an old friend and police sergeant has lured Madison back into the city to hunt down an invisible criminal—if he can. As Madison makes his clandestine return, high-profile people start disappearing. And when federal agents swoop onto the scene to take matters into their own hands, they offer Madison a deal he can't refuse—as long as he agrees to work with them. With Japanese freedom fighters and refurbished killing machines threatening to take the world to the brink of nuclear holocaust, the United World government needs all the help it can get. Embroiled in an unimaginable mystery, one private eye must rely on his wits to solve a case where the evidence is immaterial, and the odds are stacked high against him at every turn.

A detective with no way out. A telepath with something to prove... World-weary detective Charlie Madison has seen more than his share of war. When he stops by the 37th precinct late one night to check on his old friend Sergeant Douglass, the place is as quiet as a morgue. The last thing he expects to find: half a dozen Russian gunmen with a score to settle. What starts out as a vicious Alamo-style battle soon evolves into something more sinister as Madison's past comes into play. Will his ties to a branch of the Japanese mafia be a help or a hindrance? And who is the strange man in holding? Why are the Russians determined to break him out? Struggling to survive the night, one private eye must rely on his wits to solve a mystery where he's outnumbered, outgunned, and trapped inside a police station with a soulless killing machine.

A woman stalked by her double. A detective in over his head. In a city where the cops are on a mobster’s payroll, private investigator Charlie Madison stands in the gap. When a wealthy young socialite asks him to help her catch a threatening stalker, he takes the case. But things aren’t what they seem, and Madison has to act fast before he’s framed for murder. Novelette - Crime Noir / Science Fiction Precursor to Up in Smoke, Death Duel, and The Suprahuman Secret

A detective hunting for answers. A dangerous secret hiding in the desert. When an old friend from Little Tokyo asks for help locating his missing nephew, detective Charlie Madison takes the case. What begins as a search for a rebellious youth leads Madison out into the desert Wastes where he encounters a gang of marauders looking for an easy mark and secretive Federal agents tasked with detaining political activists. In the process, he uncovers an isolated facility and an off-the-books operation with the potential to destabilize the United World government. Determined to find the truth before Blackshirts eliminate every shred of evidence, Madison must fight to stay alive, facing trigger-happy robots and a genetic monstrosity intent on putting him out of commission. Nothing is as it seems, and time's running out. Charlie Madison has encountered more than his share of unusual suspects in the past. This time he's up against something the likes of which he's never seen—on or off the battlefield. Can he solve a case with so many missing pieces? Novella - Crime Noir / Science Fiction Sequel to Girl of Great Price, Immaterial Evidence, and Yakuza Territory

An honest cop impaled through the chest. A detective fighting his way to the truth. Private eye Charlie Madison saw his share of murder and mayhem during the war. But he's never seen anything like this on home soil. The culprit can't be human. A mandroid, then? Cyborg? Madison's investigation takes him deep into the underground world of extreme fighting—duels to the death, showcased beneath the city's biggest casino. Along the way, he discovers a new steroid quietly coming out of Little Tokyo. If rumors are true, it can turn a man into a killing machine. Before vengeful police can find and execute the murderer, another officer is found slain. With rogue yakuza, the Russian mob, and Federal agents in the mix, Madison must put the pieces of this violent mystery together before the city loses another good cop. Problem is, the killer may be one of his own clients. Novella - Crime Noir / Science Fiction Sequel to Doppelgänger's Curse Precursor to Girl of Great Price, Immaterial Evidence, and Yakuza Territory