Thanks for your support with the launch of Strike the Fuse, Book 2 of the Black Fire Trilogy. The reviews look good, and it reached no. 81 on the Amazon.com free books list. This means the book outsold tens of thousands of other books that were also being offered for free at the time. It has also reached no. 1 in six different categories.
The first book in the trilogy, Smoldering Betrayal, was released in 2018. The story follows Matt Ansaro, a WWI veteran who is a now a Pinkerton detective. He returns to his hometown of Eckhart in 1922 after being away for five years. His family doesn’t know his current profession or that he has been sent to Eckhart to spy out union activity for the Consolidation Coal Company. Matt also has his own mission, which is to protect his family from blacklisted by the company.
Strike the Fuse picks up where Smoldering Betrayal left off. The coal strike has started, and Matt is allowing the leg broken in the mine cave in to heal. However, the tensions are growing between the striking miners and coal companies as strikebreakers are brought in. The companies also hire enforcers to protect the strikebreakers.
Among them is David Lakehurst. He is a violent man who has a score to settle with Matt. David is also a Pinkerton, and he discovers Matt’s secret.
Joseph McCord, the mine superintendent in Eckhart Mines, is more than happy to let Lakehurst attack miners as long as it keeps his mine operating. He is also seducing Matt’s former girlfriend, Laura Spencer, into his bed.
While this worries Matt, he has more than enough problems from the other women in his life. His girlfriend Samantha Havencroft has caught the eye of another man, and he may have caught hers as well. Matt’s aunt, Toni Starner, knows Matt’s secret and is uncertain how to handle it. Jenny Washington, Matt’s friend, is trying to make a new life for herself but can’t get past what Lakehurst did to her.
It’s a story of action, intrigue, and romance that weaves itself among the history of Western Maryland.