How far would you go to save your city from a madman? Fifteen hundred years after the Catastrophe, Inventor Benjamin Kerr built the domed neo-Edwardian city-state of Bridges in the center of the former U.S. Three hundred years later, Bridges is in trouble. King Taylor Kerr is elderly, the economy is struggling, and corruption is rampant. Forty years ago, a fence was built outside of the "Pot of Gold" — the city proper—to keep out the growing numbers of homeless. This number has increased to over a hundred thousand, whole generations knowing nothing else but life in the tent camps. Acevedo Spadros is a high school Bridges history teacher. His former student Xavier Alcatraz is head of the Guard. When King Taylor is assassinated by his son Polansky Kerr, who then plans to slaughter everyone outside the fence, Acevedo and Xavier plan the unthinkable: to bring down the Mad King.

500 years ago, Inventor Benjamin Kerr founded the domed neo-Victorian city of Bridges on the barren plains at the center of the former US. After the overthrow of the Kerr dynasty 100 years ago and several decades of street warfare, Bridges is now split between four crime families, who control everything from the courts to the papers. In the midst of crushing social disparity and a failing steam-driven infrastructure, a new faction rises: the Red Dog Gang. The Red Dog Conspiracy follows the story of 22 year old small-time private eye Jacqueline Spadros beginning from her first major case: the missing little brother of her best friend, whose murder ten years before in front of her still haunts her nightmares. The only clue? A Red Dog stamp across the alley from where the boy was last seen. Dodging the man - seemingly mad - who has publicly threatened her life, placating her brutal, sadistic father-in-law, and dealing with her feelings about her ex-lover Joseph Kerr, while being married to one of the city's biggest drug lords: Jacqui is a busy woman. Her life is about to get much busier. From the very first page, Jacqui is dragged into a web of lies, secrets, and betrayals which both endangers her life and the lives of those she loves. Dark, gritty, violent steampunk crime fiction which keeps you guessing to the very end. If you like crime fiction, noir, Victorian/historical, gritty steampunk, psychological thrillers, hardboiled mystery, hard sf, dystopian, or dark romance you will love this set. This digital box set comprises Act 1 of a 13 part serial novel. Included in this set: The Jacq of Spades: Part 1 of the Red Dog Conspiracy The Queen of Diamonds: Part 2 of the Red Dog Conspiracy The Ace of Clubs: Part 3 of the Red Dog Conspiracy Also included: The Alcatraz Coup: A Prequel to the Red Dog Conspiracy Tony and Roy: a bonus scene from The Jacq of Spades from Tony's point of view This digital box set is exclusively available on Kindle Oct 10th through Dec 31st. If made into movies, this set would be rated R for bad language, graphic violence, smoking and alcohol use, child kidnapping, teenagers murdered (a serial killer is on the loose), and sexual content (Jacqui is married, after all). Enjoy. And welcome to the Family.

What does it have to take to change who you are? Donald Kerston's life up to now could only be described as a nightmare. But what he wakes up to suddenly becomes much worse. Struggling for his very survival, for the first time he finds friends and a future - only to be confronted with the one thing he didn't ever want to his own terrible past. The Catastrophe is a 16,000 word story which takes place 1899 years before The Jacq of Part 1 of the Red Dog Conspiracy. It has no spoilers for the Red Dog Conspiracy series and can be read at any time. This is how the world ends. This is how it begins. Releases April 2nd.

What do you do when playing by the rules means a child may die? Bridges is owned by the Four Families. Constable Paix Hanger has advanced as high as he can. A hard-working twenty-year veteran relegated to walking a beat in the worst neighborhood of the worst precinct of the city, he resents the crime family which rules his quadrant, chafing at the restrictions placed on him by his superiors "for his own good". A boy who's a reminder of the son he might never have disappears. When one boy after another are found dead and the incompetent and corrupt detectives assigned to the case are unable to act, Constable Hanger takes matters into his own hands. A noir police procedural set in a far future steampunk dystopia. This companion story begins six days before and takes place during the same time as The Jacq of Spades : Part 1 of the Red Dog Conspiracy . You may read this book at any time. From the Why write Drawing Thin? In the Red Dog Conspiracy, the story is limited in what you see. There is a whole world outside Spadros Manor, and I thought it important (and interesting) to see what is going on with the police while Jacqui is looking for David Bryce in The Jacq of Spades . While you can solve the entire mystery of the Red Dog Conspiracy by reading the main series, fans of the series will get new clues and insights into the city of Bridges. For more about the world of the Red Dog Conspiracy, visit JacqOfSpades.com

The once-beautiful domed neo-Victorian city of Bridges is split between four crime families in an uneasy cease-fire. Social disparity increasing and its steam-driven infrastructure failing, a new faction is on the rise: the Red Dogs. Jacqueline Spadros has a dream life: a wealthy husband, a powerful family. But her life is not what it seems. Kidnapped from her mother's brothel and forced to marry, the murder of her best friend Air ten years before haunts her nightmares. She finds moments of freedom in a small-time private eye business, which she hides in fear of her sadistic father-in-law. Air's little brother disappears off his back porch and the Red Dogs are framed for it. With the help of a mysterious gentleman investigator hired by the Red Dogs to learn the truth, Jacqui pushes her abilities to their limits in hope of rescuing the child before the kidnapper disposes of him.

NO ONE IS AS THEY SEEM ... While the villain Frank Pagliacci has been defeated, all is not well in Bridges. The Four Families accuse each other of spying while Red Dog attacks escalate. Aristocratic jewel merchant Dame Anastasia Louis, styling herself "The Queen of Diamonds," hires her long-time friend, private eye Jacqueline Spadros, to collect from her debtors so she can leave the city. But Jacqui can't leave David Bryce's kidnapping and the murders of her teenage informants unpunished. Convinced that her mortal enemy, the madman "Black Jack" Diamond, was complicit in the crimes, she pursues ways to prove it. The scoundrel and his crew, however, seem to be one step ahead: the terrifying man in white is seen outside David's home, forged letters are appearing across the city, and merchants in the Spadros quadrant report threats from a man who fits his description. Jacqui is warned of a plot against her life. Those who try to warn Jacqui are murdered, and evidence emerges that Jacqui's mother is next on the list. With time running out, Jacqui is forced to make a horrifying choice. Someone will surely die. Will it be Jacqui, or her mother?

From NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Patricia Loofbourrow: The Ace of Clubs brings you the third suspenseful chapter of the Red Dog Conspiracy. The one secret which could destroy everything ... After financial disaster and the zeppelin bombing, the city of Bridges is reeling. Three of the four Families are implicated, and an inquest is called to investigate. After her failure to prove Jack Diamond's guilt in David Bryce's kidnapping and the deaths of her friends, private eye and mobster's moll Jacqueline Spadros has had enough. While she and her former lover Joseph Kerr try to learn who killed their family friend, they also begin making plans to leave the city. But the secrets Jacqui has kept over the years are coming back to cause her serious trouble. Will she be able to escape Bridges? Or will she be forced to face the terrible consequences of her lies and trickery once and for all? Note: this is chapter 3 of a 13-part serial novel. While it's not mandatory to have read chapter 1 (The Jacq of Spades), and chapter 2 (The Queen of Diamonds), it's highly recommended that you do so before venturing forth.

What if the person who hated you most was the only one who could save you? Thousands of gentlemen have gone bankrupt in Bridges and trouble brews between the Diamond and Spadros crime families. Yet the city is united in its desire to exact vengeance for those murdered in the zeppelin disaster. Penniless and alone, private eye Jacqueline Spadros confronts the lowest point of her life. Seen as an accomplice in the financial crisis and accused of a crime she didn't commit, Jacqui faces trial in front of a hostile jury - and could receive the death penalty. Jacqui knows she's been framed by the illusive Red Dog Gang. But will the jury believe her?

Be careful what you wish for … After eleven years trapped in the Spadros crime syndicate, 23-year-old private eye Jacqueline Spadros is an independent woman, free to run her investigation business. But her problems are only beginning. Deeply in debt, Jacqui is in danger from both the rogue Spadros men calling themselves “The Ten of Spades” and the ruthless Red Dog Gang—who may be one and the same. Jacqui is determined to find Black Maria, the key to the identity of the Red Dog Gang’s secretive leader. To survive long enough to do that, Jacqui needs a paying case. The one she's offered may put her in the most danger of all … The Ten of Spades is part 5 of a 13-part serial novel - please begin with The Jacq of Spades or the Red Dog Conspiracy Act 1 box set.

A storm is coming ... One year has passed since the unpopular second Diamond Purge began. When the trains in Bridges mysteriously stop running, tensions among the populace rise to the point that the other three Families decide something must be done. Private investigator Jacqueline Spadros gets an unusual request: mediate with Cesare Diamond so that Inventors from all Four Families may meet to find a solution to the crisis. But Jacqui has more pressing problems. Her best friend is dying, she has a missing-persons case that she can't seem to solve, and her teenage sister-in-law is out of control. When her lawyer blackmails her for the enormous amount she owes him, Jacqui does something no one would ever have expected. Warning: marital strife, discussion of past infidelity, smoking, language, on-screen violence, on-screen threats to the main character, intense situations, animal injury, animal death.

Jacqui faces her biggest mystery yet - and her greatest fear. A drive-by shooting leaves Jacqueline Spadros with little remaining support for the life she's built apart from her estranged husband Tony. As evidence grows that the Hart Family is behind the attacks, which up to now have been laid on the doorstep of the notorious Red Dog Gang, Tony brings formal charges against the Harts before the Commission. Jacqui wants to stop the Red Dog Gang and learn the truth about Charles Hart's obsession with her. But the truth is stranger than she ever imagined. And what she learns changes everything.