Showing results by author "Matthew J. Olson" in All Categories

When Centaur colonists hear that alien ships are headed for Earth, they react with fear and violence. Alex, in his youth, is confused since he is excited to meet the aliens. Alex's confusion is deepened when he is charged with designing a ship that could have military application. Before he can analyze if the colonists' fear is driving this decision or some form of forewarning, it is announced that the aliens are also coming to Centaur.

When Luke finds the biggest diamond ever seen on two worlds, trouble immediately finds him in the form of his partner, Winston. Desperate to survive, he must fight the environment due to Winston cutting a hole in his suit. Killing his foe in self-defense starts even more trouble for him – the stolen diamond goes missing; Janie, Winston’s sister, and her wife argue the self-defense ruling; and a friend is mysteriously murdered.

Do not worry about tomorrow...for tomorrow will worry about itself. Life for Marta these past nine months has been full of worry - about her neighbors and their tolerance of her, about her relationship with her beau, Sheriff Bourne, and about warlocks who might wage war against her. But when a warlock finds her, she escapes his clutches. Since the death curse doesn’t work on him, he also gets away. Now that her best weapon has been neutralized, Marta has one more thing to worry about. The new warlock is another’s henchman, and, together, they have gathered a formidable army.

When Flynn’s life is saved with a whispered warning about a coming disaster, he decides he isn’t going crazy, after all. More directives come along with hope - if he succeeds at his tasks, he’ll earn eternal salvation and be forgiven for a dark deed he committed a while back.

Marta, a novice witch from 1870 Flint Hills, Kansas, knows better than to reveal her magical powers to the religious townspeople, but when a young boy is critically injured, she has no choice. Her reward - the local pastor convinces his flock to burn her at the stake, along with two other suspected witches. Defending themselves, the three witches curse the evildoers to hell. Somehow managing to fry the preacher with his own fire before they escape, they are horrified to find the walking, talking skeleton of the man at their front door.

Twenty-five years after the Luytens were driven away from Centaur, Alex and the rest of the colony are rebuilding and preparing for the eventual return of the aliens. It may not be today, but it is sure to happen.

The tell-all tale of Clark Schroeder: fraudster, hacker, and smuggler. Clark gets the idea for his own gun store during a pheasant hunt when a fellow hunter brags about his gun being a knockoff manufactured by his brother-in-law. Dollar signs float in Clark's head as he realizes that he can make the knockoffs look real by hacking the ATF gun registry and putting in a record for the fake serial numbers. Then Clark gets an amphibious plane to fly the guns out of Mexico and unload them at the lake near Manhattan, KS where he can easily set up shop.

Marta was shocked when someone came to object to her and Jethro Bourne’s union. She was then shocked by the lightning this person threw at the couple despite no indications that she was a witch. Marta was knocked unconscious and Bourne was put into a coma.

Special Agent Duncan Gallant of the CIA is tasked with assassinating Clay Kendrick, a mild-mannered reporter for the Periodic Globe. A list of CIA agents and their aliases has fallen into Kendrick's hands, and he is about to publish it in an act of transparency. Thus, Gallant must also retrieve the list. Publishing it will cost the lives of CIA agents and the good they do in keeping America safe. Making things even more personal, Gallant's name is on that list. Gallant is baffled when hits don't end up working out the way they should.