Indie Takeover | Miguel Stepan x Hanna Delaney

Introducing Quietus.

Hey folks! Miguel from The Fiction Dealer here.

Hanna has graciously allowed me to take over the shop today. Don’t worry, I know exactly what you need. I hear you guys have a taste for mysteries, horror, and the paranormal.

I’m sure you loved The Spider as much as I did, so I brought you a sample of my own supply. It’s a darker, fantastical mystery called Quietus, and it scratches that same itch.

The synopsis:

Zoe Wright joined the Arcanum Crime Unit to find the monster who killed her sister. Instead, she got Xavier Hunt—a cynical, chain-smoking detective with magical tattoos who can turn his body bulletproof. Now, the mismatched duo must stop bickering long enough to solve a case involving a killer who can silence a room... literally.

Here is a taste. The first one’s always free…

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Sal’s bodyguards immediately drew their revolvers and pointed them at the girl.

Zoe saw the mud-stained face of a fifteen-year-old, the fear reflecting in her eyes as tears froze on her cheeks. Zoe reacted without thinking. She drew her gun and stepped in front of the young arcanic.

Her gaze met the barrels of the guns trained on her.

“Put your guns down!” she shouted. “You’re under arrest!”

The men exchanged confused glances and pulled the trigger. The street exploded with gunfire.

Twenty-two years of life flashed in front of Zoe’s eyes. But before the first bullet reached her, a towering figure stepped in front of her.

Zoe covered her mouth, eyes wide in disbelief as she watched Sal’s bodyguards empty two revolvers into Xavier’s back.

The world stopped. Everything went silent.

So silent that the pounding rain sounded like hammer strikes in the street choked with the smell of gunpowder. Every single person in that alley watched the detective, waiting for his body to fall.

Yet, even after twelve bullets, Xavier was still standing.

And then he moved.

It wasn’t a natural human motion—more like a statue coming to life. Zoe stepped back as Xavier straightened with a cracking motion. Most of his skin was covered in a thick alabaster film; his many tattoos were glowing with a teal hue, the same that flickered in his otherwise gray eyes.

He spared her and the young girl a glance before turning toward the gangsters.

“Well, you bastards,” he said, drawing his gun…

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If that hooked you, the full novel Quietus is available right now on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. [links]

And if you want a steady supply of stories like this, come subscribe to The Fiction Dealer. I serve up weekly micro-fiction and occasional longer reads while I work on the second book in the Quietus universe!