I ask myself, what if a murder has occurred in which magic is the culprit? Who would be called in to investigate a crime when the modus operandi is altogether … intangible?
Dark Running is the first novel in an urban fantasy series that is Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons meets Delano and Ennis’ Hellblazer graphic novels. In a world where black magic is real, ARTEMUS DARK is a paranormal investigator without a gun confronting demons, sorcerers and ghosts in a barrage of cases that often – literally – are to die for.
In Dark Running, Artemus searches for the murderer of his sorcerer-brother, PHILIP, in a darkly-atmospheric New Orleans. Deluged with a host of surreal characters, almost every one of them a suspect, Artemus soon discovers that Philip was killed in his connection in the recovery of an ancient grimoire in Malta: the fabled Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus. Anyone possessing the artifact can control great powers; Artemus takes on the case and then discovers he’s been hexed to die – ripped to shreds by a faceless demon, summoned by the forces of the Tablet itself.
Not fully believing in the Tablet’s existence, Artemus escapes harrowing encounters with his demon and assorted villains using powerful black magic. As clues (and bodies!) pile up, the investigator tries to connect the dots to the mystery, but nothing seems to make sense. With the help of a voodoo psychic, Artemus discovers the only way he can be rid of his hex is to have the caster willfully destroy the "binding object” with which it was made. Death stalks every shadowy corner as the ghost-hunter flies from the rainy streets of New Orleans to the far-flung shores of Malta, hoping to discover the secrets behind the murder and the location of the Tablet itself. At the end, confronted with death and dismemberment by his horrific nether-demon, Artemus discovers something startling about his own identity and his connection with the Tablet … a revelation that will change his life forever.
Allied or against him – Artemus can never be certain – are a myriad of people who have more than the means to deceive or outright kill him in the recovery of the Tablet.