BOOKS BY A.J. SOBEL
NOVELS
EMPIRE
It’s the turn of the century in America, and industrialization has planted its roots deep. Smog-choked cities produce and destroy in equal measure as the spark of electricity begins to flow to millions.
Maxwell Prouse lives in such a city, working as an accountant at a local steel mill, dreaming of a better life for himself and his fiancée, Emma.
His opportunity comes in the form of an invitation to join The Empire, a prestigious social club. With his acceptance by society’s elite, he’s brought into a world of old money and lurid decadence that few could ever hope to imagine.
In time, he discovers the true authority behind the Empire: A shadowy and secretive brotherhood known as the Order. Using the eldritch power granted to them by an ancient being, they claim it is their sole purpose to direct humanity towards a brighter future; all that is required is utter submission.
Inducted into their ranks, Maxwell soon finds himself dealing with men who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals, and for whom the ends always justify the means. Corruption and murder are their bywords, and he is just another cog in their infernal machine.
VEIL
A spectral figure slips silently through the centuries, unknown to all but his victims. With cold as his weapon, and darkness his steed, he leaves no trace of his passing, save for the bodies cast in his wake. His name: Domenic Veil.
It is in the lonely nights that he comes, bringing with him the icy embrace of death, hunting across the centuries those who have taken life, yet have never been called to account.
In a small mining town during the Western expansion, an excommunicated priest delivers his final sermon. In Renaissance Italy, a brilliant artist puts brush to canvas for the last time. In Whitechapel, a young man stalks the streets to put an end to the pain of his past.
Through the eyes of his prey, a story unfolds – one of penance across the ages, of empathy and compassion gained amidst the very worst humanity has to offer. Each account provides a window into the man beneath the monster. At its core, Veil is the story of an immortal being, once human, who wearily seeks to pass on the divine burden thrust upon him and finally rest.
HOLLOW
Tucked into the shadow of the Appalachians, deep in the forests of Vermont, lies the town of Thatcher's Hollow. A place where magic and mysticism are as real as the blood pumping through your veins, the Hollow plays the unwilling host to all of the things that go bump in the night.
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The site of a mysterious explosion centuries ago, its borders are beset by all manner of evil, lurking just beyond the lighted streets. Far from being cowed, however, its people fought against the rising dark, filled with horrors without end.
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Among them are the Rangers, a specialized team of hunters and trackers as old as the town itself. They patrol the forests with grim resolve, refusing to bow to the forces that threaten them. It is a tradition passed from father to son, mother to daughter—an endless cycle that only ends in bloodshed. But if not them, who? The people of Thatcher's Hollow know the stakes, and play the game as only they are able.
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However, the darkness never remains idle, and sinister rumblings threaten to push the Rangers further than ever before. Will they hold the line against evil, or fall, plunging the world into an age of hell on Earth?
SHORT STORIES
FAIRBOROUGH
A tale of love, loss, and horror:
A young man travels the empty back-roads of Vermont with the woman he loves. Stopping over in an idyllic little town, they find they are just in time for the biggest night of the year…
JALIL
An empty city, a perfect sunset…
On the run from a past he’d rather not remember, all Thomas Dockson needed was a fill-up. What he got was a meeting with the last remaining resident of a long-forgotten metropolis.
WYLDE
Tucked away on the edge of the Louisiana bayou sits the ancestral home of Wylde family. Shrouded in mystery, the only rumor to make its way back to the city is a whisper of the impossible: Cures for the incurable.
It is the search for just such a cure that brings high-powered lawyer Michael Gilbert to the estate. Refusing to succumb to inoperable stage four cancer, he will do ANYTHING for more time. When a meeting with patriarch Elijah reveals just what "anything" entails, Michael must choose whether or not to trust in the ancient power that has been tethered to Wyldes for generations. He can only hope that what awaits him in the darkest shadows of the swamp doesn't consume him in the process...
SERIALIZATIONS
THE FALL OF ELYSIUM
As the Trajian Empire's war for global unification grinds ever onward, the capital city of Elysium faces threats from all angles: The toppling of a delicate political balance, a burgeoning class struggle, and rumors of a plot to assassinate Emperor Felix's only surviving child, the Crown Prince Mathias.