Cash Chronicles: The Book o’ Samson

Author

James Monticone

Author Bio

James Monticone was born in New Jersey, but has spent the majority of his life in Fairfax, VA (all the parts he can remember). He has had short stories published in his high school’s annual publication, as well as the Fools Motley online quarterly (which is no longer active), and has currently released two novels in the “Cash Chronicles” series.

James has always been a fan of science fiction and fantasy, but has always wanted to have his own twist on the way things are written. He’s been coming up with unique ideas since he was a child playing with action figures, and the complexity of his ideas has only increased over the years. He has always been known to experiment and is known for his unique writing style.

He studied creative writing and fiction at Northern Virginia Community College. His professor went on to operate her own business helping authors realize their dreams by perfecting their work prior to release.

He has been known to treasure the work of such writers as Peter David, Neil Gaiman, Dean Koontz, J.M. Straczynski, Joss Whedon and other similar minds. In some ways he has sought to emulate them, while always making his work his own.

Description

“Cash Chronicles: The Book o’ Samson” introduces a world in which mutants have permeated the Wild West. They’re viewed by the population at large as a scourge of evil–demons, witches, possessed–and there is an active drive to wipe them out.

It started with The Worm, a seemingly ageless mercenary who fought for the South during the Civil War. It got worse after the War, when Abraham Lincoln was revealed to be one of them in his death throes. The people of America are paranoid, angry and resentful. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the town of Phoenix, Arizona.

Enter Marshal Julius Edward Luther. He’s a religious man with a bone to pick. As a Mutation rebellion starts peacefully in his adopted town, he sees the tension escalate until it’s no longer peaceful, but it’s still his problem. As he gradually watches the situation slip out of control, he’s forced to make hard choices and become a force to be reckoned with…a force that will give the Mutations a real run for their money.

In the meantime, Samson Emmanuel “Sammy” Cash is a freedom fighter for the Mutations. He can create rings of fire and shoot flaming bullets, and he won’t hesitate to kill any man who threatens his people. Women are another story, as he’s a bit of a sucker for them. But he’s tough, he’s determined and he has the know-how to stay alive in a battle that consumed everything he cares about.

Born to a prostitute in the one-horse town of Jericho, he ran away from home to spare his mother shame. He was taken in by a wealthy woman who made it her calling to protect and care for blacks and Mutations alike in a world that showed them endless cruelty. When her estate was burned down by the KKK, he fled rather than face blame, and fell in with a gang of Mutation criminals. Left for dead, he was taken in a by a woman who betrayed him for his stash, and he moved on once again. He lived among the Cherokee and learned their ways, only to lose someone else to the sexual appetite of a white trader. From there his life was a blur of rage, where he killed many corrupt men. He finally found himself on a righteous path when he was contacted by the Mutation Underground, and eventually he found himself on the hunt for Luther.

Book excerpt

Things wasn’t the same once the Mutation folk started meddlin’ in Regular folks’ affairs. The exploits o’ some o’ the most notorious Mutations, like The Worm, started not long after the Revolution. But it wasn’t until they started appearin’ in the West that folks really started to get worried. There was also the attempt on the life o’ the Texan ambassador in London by a Mutation assassin. Followin’ that was the widespread appearance o’ Mutations fightin’ for the North…guess they reckoned a governin’ body that was determined to respect the dignity o’ Blacks would look on Mutations with understandin’ as well.

Well the fear o’ Hell, nature or both showed so easy in people both North and South, even after the War, that you could smell it as sure as you can smell piss in the wintertime. White folks soon was able to look on the other races o’ the world more as equals and allies, seein’ as how the birth o’ Mutations didn’t seem to discriminate, and they was seen as the real threat. Everyone agreed about Mutations…they was evil. Blacks, Chinamen, Injuns, the majority of all of ‘em saw Mutations as the work o’ dark magic or somethin’ similar. It came to pass before not too long that Black folk was votin’ like it wasn’t nothin’, goin’ to school with white folks and eatin’ at the same tables. Things still had a long way to go, to be sure, but in those days everyone was shown some measure o’ human decency, except for Mutations.

Mutations was subject to rights an’ laws like anyone else, but treated like second-class citizens by everybody they come across. The way the law treated ‘em and the way things actually went, well, they was two different stories.

Then it came out that Mr. Lincoln himself was a Mutation, and well, from there things got interestin’. Folks took to believin’ all kinds o’ funny things; a lot o’ church-goin’ Regular folks noted the fact that he died on Good Friday, and they started hootin’ and hollerin’ about the Second Comin’ o’ Christ, sayin’ that Honest Abe was the Antichrist incarnate, come to start off the End Times. In the meanwhile, the Mutations went and canonized him, sayin’ his policies was their salvation. Resurrection Sunday soon took to bein’ called “Reconstruction Sunday” down south in memory o’ the facts about Mr. Lincoln.

Like the Abraham o’ bible times, Mr. Lincoln was asked to sacrifice a son, except this Abraham actually lost him. Folks looked at that too like it was a sign, though not until after the assassination. They said he must have sacrificed little Willie to the Devil, and stories about seances at the White House to make contact only back up that claim.

Wade and Sumner passed a modified version o’ their Reconstruction bill, speedin’ up Reconstruction and requirin’ an inquest to make sure the Mutations didn’t have nothin’ to do with the South’s rebellion. See, the fear o’ Mutations gettin’ into the government and changin’ things underhanded-like was on the minds o’ politicians and Regular folks alike.

Book Cover https://everywritersresource.com/selfpublished/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/cover2.jpg

Genre Fiction

Author Website

http://www.talesntangents.com/

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