Anthony Stevens' Weblog

After being unavailable for awhile, my urban fantasy thriller Guardian Dawn is once again available.

Guardian Dawn is the first volume in an exciting trilogy from Red Rose Publishing.

Here’s a “PG” rated excerpt:

Corporal Ron Felus had worked hard to become a Marine sniper. It had only been a minute’s work in a ghillie suit to get well hidden between two cars. He had a clear view of the DC3 they had determined was to be the escape ride. Ron had seen the rats coming and was expecting to get severely bitten, but his body armor, helmet and mask would allow him to take care of his job for the next few minutes, at least. The cover fire provided by several barn owls and a half dozen feral cats totally surprised him, but he instantly knew they were there to help. It was much better to ignore that part of the battle and focus on servicing his target.

A moment later, he saw a man with a pistol drag a naked woman to the side of the old goony bird. They were surrounded by a small tide of rats. The terrorist threw the woman to the ground and unlocked the door.

“Cub-five, I have a shot.”

“Green light, I say again, green light!”

He didn’t bother to reply, just let out a partial breath, centered the target and was starting to squeeze the trigger, when the target dropped to the ground. It appeared as if he had been warned at the last possible moment. He scrambled to one side, grabbed the woman by the hair and held her as a living shield. He quickly climbed into the old plane and dragged her in with him. The door was left ajar.

“Cub-five, I lost sight. He has a woman with him and the door appears to be left open for his partner.”

The sniper continued panning his scope, looking for another shot, when he saw movement towards the tail of the aircraft.

“What the hell?” Was his sub-vocal comment as the slender form of the civilian kid, Betty, crept under the belly of the ancient aircraft. She had a trio of large cats following close behind her. She crept under the door, reached up and gently opened it, while crouching, out of the direct line of fire. As soon as the door was wide enough, two of the three cats ran up her back and into the plane.

“Well, I’ll be damned! She has cats trained to be attack dogs. If that don’t beat all,” he muttered.

“We are not dogs. We are her friends. And yours too, if you wish.”

The sniper froze and slowly looked to his side where he recognized two cats, sitting and washing rat blood from their paws.

“You talk?”

“Is that so strange, hunter? That other hunters would be your friends?”

He thought about it for just a second then agreed. “No. I guess not. Thank you, friend.”

“Shouldn’t you be hunting?”

Reminded, his eyes snapped back to the scope and he scanned the plane for his target.

– – –

Guardian Dawn has terrorists, bikers, snipers, shape-shifters and strippers. It contains the joy of young people learning that they are more than they seem coupled with edge-of-your-seat excitement!

Click ‘Continue Reading’ for an “R” rated excerpt:

Excerpt #2 Rated “R”

“Mmm… That feels great!” Meat was lying back on the bed and Pigeon was kneeling astride him. Her long hair was loose and flowing in a blue-black sheen over her shoulders and down her back. She had her hands behind her head and was slowly moving her stomach muscles in an old belly-dance move a friend had taught her. Not only did it feel great, but the look on her lover’s face made it all the more erotic. His hands wrapped around her breasts and squeezed and they both came in a shuddering wave of ecstasy.

Drying her hair seemed to take forever, but Meat used the time to check over their bikes and load the last of their gear into the saddlebags and his backpack. They were planning on catching the hot rod, antique car and bike show in the overflow parking lot and then get an early start back home.

She came out of the motel room, looking like an Indian goddess and he marveled at how she ever put up with him. As soon as she was in reach, he pulled her to him and gave her a deep kiss and she responded with just as much ardor.

“Enough!” She pushed him away. “We need to get going. Look at the traffic that is already building out there. I’ve seen a dozen street rods and a couple of antique trucks go by just in the past few minutes.”

Outside the motel, Meat swatted his wife’s spray-on jeans and fired up his hog. It burped once to life, belched like any good engine should and made a sweet rumbling sound on idle. Her custom hog was shaped like his, but much lower and built for a woman. It had cost a fortune, but he couldn’t say anything because she had earned every penny while dancing topless in Tampa for two years. That’s why it had a brass bar between the ape hangers and the airbrush script on the tank proudly proclaimed, “Pole Monkey!”

Suddenly, a large, pale shape flew between them. They both stared in amazement as one of the great barn owls flew between them and then up to a rough wooden fence, facing the highway.

“What the hell?”

“I don’t know, Meat. But that is not a good sign.” He face showed unusual concern. “Be careful, honey. Something is not right today.”

“No problem, beautiful! Don’t you worry. You should know by now that nobody fucks with Meat.”

She grinned at his calm reassurance and they pulled out into traffic.