Cal didn’t go to court for arson with the intention of finding a corpse outside the exit. Nor did he believe it could get any worse than the soul-crushing anxiety following him around due to being a walking time-bomb. That is, until his mentor’s motel turning into a confusing blood bath by a man in a black hat. Now his fingers tingle, his chest burns, and there are scorch marks on the concrete. He needs answers, and The Man in the Black Hat has them.

But The Man in the Black Hat is on a mission of his own. After seeing his friend in the obituaries, his life of self-medicated indifference is shot to hell. So, popping a pill, downing a drink, shooting the serpent-like thing behind the bar, and watching the place go up in flames seems quite cathartic. Now, with too many questions assaulting his peace and nothing to keep numb, might as well investigate the murder, right?

Cal follows as The Man in the Black Hat traverses a city left long ago, leading him from petty gangs to the mob, from monsters Above to those Beneath, and from darkened alleys of metropolitan Houston to a small, twisted town in the Texas outskirts. Exhausted and jaded, he unravels a conspiracy with corrupt cops and beasts converging to derail his investigation, all while keeping the kid out of their crosshairs.

Cal feels screwed either way, regardless of if he chooses to go headfirst into this new reality or run. Because the nightmares fear two things: what Cal is turning into, and the death that The Man in the Black Hat brings with him.

THE MAN IN THE BLACK HAT is the first in the series by K.M. Pax