DIRE END By Brody Butcher Welcome to Dire End—a city where monsters walk the streets, and the cops barely pretend to keep up. John Slater used to be just another private eye with a bad attitude and a nicotine habit. Now he’s the guy they call when something rips a man’s jaw off and leaves his guts scattered like party favors. Slater doesn’t wear a badge, doesn’t follow the rules, and doesn’t care much for the living—or the dead. When a mutilated body shows up on the boardwalk, Slater dives headfirst into a case soaked in blood, bullets, and beastly politics. Gang wars, anti-monster extremists, and a pissed-off biker with supernatural muscle all point to one something big is coming to Dire End, and it’s not looking to play nice. Good thing Slater’s never been nice either.