Release date: October 2, 2018
Subgenre: Urban Fantasy
About Rick or Treat:
Rick Strickland hasn't flown a plane since he died over three centuries
ago. But after being sucked into the vortex during a fae attack on
Headquarters, he lands in the back of a doomed airliner bound for London
crowded with helpless passengers and a poisoned crew.
He soon discovers this world is strangely different from the one he's used to. The American Revolution failed and territory east of the Mississippi remains colonized. The Republic of Texas controls land to the west and is the dominant hemispheric power. Nazi Germany controls most of Europe, but despite the date there has been no Second World War . . . yet.
Now, a plot by the Nazis on All Hallows' Eve appears imminent. Rick is alone with no outside help, and fae influence on this alternate is increasingly obvious. The Texans are locked and loaded, but they've never faced a fae before. Then, a coded message from their rarely used embassy in New York City arrives . . . and it's addressed to Rick. Can he foil the Nazi plot and turn their Halloween trick against them?
He soon discovers this world is strangely different from the one he's used to. The American Revolution failed and territory east of the Mississippi remains colonized. The Republic of Texas controls land to the west and is the dominant hemispheric power. Nazi Germany controls most of Europe, but despite the date there has been no Second World War . . . yet.
Now, a plot by the Nazis on All Hallows' Eve appears imminent. Rick is alone with no outside help, and fae influence on this alternate is increasingly obvious. The Texans are locked and loaded, but they've never faced a fae before. Then, a coded message from their rarely used embassy in New York City arrives . . . and it's addressed to Rick. Can he foil the Nazi plot and turn their Halloween trick against them?
Excerpt:
An hour later, Rick stopped for breath. He gazed out at the table
where the ambassador, Angela Dorn, and half a dozen top embassy
personnel stared at him. Albert Einstein sat at the other end of
the table, gazing calmly back.
Rick had explained everything as best he could. There were
thousands of universes, he said, and his team travelled among them.
Thanks to an attack on the group’s headquarters, several people
were sent scattered among the alternates. That was how Rick got
here, “falling into” the ambassador’s airplane. He also had no way
of contacting anyone back home.
Each world deviated somewhat from Original Earth, some more than
others. This world, Rick explained, deviated considerably without a
United States, no Second World War (yet, at least), and a
successful Nazi empire.
As he paused, he looked around the table. Angela stared back with a
dubious expression on her face.
She said, “You’re asking us to believe a lot, Mr. Strickland.”
Rick raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement and said, “I know. And,
I’ve got no proof to offer, either, other than my word. But, I can
almost guarantee that your world is headed toward disaster. You’re
way overdue for the Second World War.”
“We managed to dodge another war,” MacGraw said, “Thanks to Prime
Minister Chamberlain.”
Rick said, “That just delayed the inevitable. And by letting
Germany marshal its resources, the coming conflagration is likely
to be worse than it would have been otherwise.”
The Texans shifted in their seats, uncomfortably. Rick suspected he
hit a nerve. Perhaps it was a heated topic of conversation among
them.
MacGraw turned to look at the other end of the table. He said,
“What about you, Dr. Einstein? Does this notion of parallel worlds
hold any scientific water?”
Einstein nodded slowly, his gaze never leaving Rick. He said, “Haf
you met my doppelganger on another world, Herr Strickland? My doppelganger?”
Rick said, “Yes sir, I have.”
“Und, vat vas he like?”
“Well, I didn’t really get to know him. I was too busy trying to
help save him and my world’s Oppenheimer from an attempt on their
lives.”
The mention of Oppenheimer raised some eyebrows around the table.
“Und, vat vere ve doing, Herr Doktor Oppenheimer und myself?”
“Well, uh, Dr. Oppenheimer was deeply involved in developing our
nuclear bomb program. You see, the United States won the race in
developing the bomb, beating out Germany. With it, we were able to
end the war in the Pacific and maintain peace in Europe for quite a
while.
“As for you, you had written a letter to our President, Franklin
Roosevelt, explaining that splitting an atom would indeed result in
a gigantic release of energy. You assured him the research was
worth pursing for military purposes. You weren’t really involved in
the Manhattan Project. That’s what we called the program developing
the atomic bomb. But, you were instrumental in
convincing people that it was a feasible pursuit.”
A long silence followed. Finally, MacGraw cleared his throat. He
pointed to a man on the other side of the table, a handsome young
fellow with dark brown hair and an angular face. He wore a white
lab coat with a pocket protector guarding several pens and
mechanical pencils.
“Smitty, what do you think? Is this guy from another world similar
to our own?”
Smitty nodded and said, “He either is, or he’s a German spy who
knows everything about our most secret programs.”
“If he’s a Nazi,” MacGraw said, “why would he save me? It seems
foiling a plot to take down mah flight would not be the thing for
him to do.”
Smitty shrugged. “Gain our trust, I guess.”
“But you don’t really think that?”
Smitty said, “Nah. If Dr. Einstein says it’s possible, then I say
he really is from a parallel world. Even though it’s hard to
believe that in his world Texas would just be one state among many
instead of an entire country. I find that the least believable part
of his story.”
Rick said, “Texas was its own country on my world, for about seven
years.”
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About Jaxon Reed:
Jaxon Reed is a science fiction and fantasy author. Amazon's digital imprint, Kindle Press, selected his book The
Empathic Detective for publication through Kindle Scout. Recently
the sequel, Ghostsuit, was also awarded a publishing contract
through Kindle Scout. He is the author of Thieves & Wizards, an
epic fantasy, and The Redwood Trilogy, a science fiction series.
Jaxon is an Aggie, living in Texas on a ranch with his wife and
boys, several cats, and one pound dog.
