A Mage. A Monster. A Mission.
And a Melody That Binds

“Chest of Bone’s writing style is innovative, the world is very interesting and provocative. It's a great story! I’s a bunch of crazy, but it's GOOD crazy, with some super vivid scenes and fascinating characters.” —Nocturnal Book Reviews

CHAPTER ONE, Chest of Bone

The word “former” sucks. Former friend. Former lover. Former astronaut. Former anything implies that the past was better than the now. 

I don’t believe that. All you have is now, and maybe a few tomorrows…if you’re lucky.

Destined for the Feed and Seed, I turned from pondering “big thoughts” and flicked on my audiobook as my Tahoe sped down Route 202 in Midborough. Stark and lonely in its winter cloak, the road was lined with snow-dusted pines, frozen marsh, and the occasional house. As I crested the rise of the small hill, something down below prowled onto the pavement. And sat. In the middle of the road. I pressed the brake on the downslope, slowed the truck.

I squinted into the bright morning sun. What the hell?

A huge black cat sat smack on the double yellow line where the road leveled off. Black cats were bad luck.

And this black cat was the size of a Harley. It was beyond bad luck. It was scary as shit. It also made me question my sanity.

A magical creature blind to her nature, Clea Artemis Reese lives in the mundane world and only begins to grasp her extraordinary destiny when the brutal murder of her mentor unlocks her mage powers.

Determined to stalk her mentor’s killer, Clea must team up with the secretive and complex James Larrimer to hunt the murderer and to prevent malevolent forces from obtaining the elusive Chest.

Larrimer pursues the illegal traffickers of endangered animals. Or so it appears. He masks his reality—a far stranger and more deadly one—from Clea, even as he hunts her, the most exotic creature of all.

On their quest for a killer and, ultimately, for the mysterious and powerful Chest of Bone, Clea and Larrimer battle forces both magic and mundane, which tests Larrimer’s incomparable strength and intelligence, and Clea’s profound empath abilities and her budding magical ones.