Andrew Vaillencourt – författare

Roland Tankowicz is fed up.He's really trying to be a better person. Killing fewer people, talking out his issues more, and not immediately resorting to violence whenever a problem arises. But let's face it, when you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail.It's not like he has any shortage of nails kicking around, either. After stopping that last batch of mobsters and pirates from upsetting the delicate balance of New Boston's seedy underworld, the list of people willing to pay hard creds for his head is even longer than usual. Worse, The Brokerage still wants Dockside, and they have called in a ringer. Who is this guy who seems to know an awful lot about Dockside's most famous Fixer? Where did he get all this classified information? Who are these unregistered mercenaries that keep popping up at inopportune moments?Roland will need the help of all his allies if he wants to run down the answers to these questions before a galactic crime war leaves the streets of his beloved hometown awash in blood. But at least there is one thing everybody agrees on:Dockside is done playing by mob rules.The war for the docks is coming to a head, and there is no guarantee that anyone will be left standing when the dust settles. It will be up to everybody's least-favorite Army-surplus cyborg to take the fight out of Dockside and into the streets of New Boston. The stakes have never been higher, and the fight never more desperate than now.But Roland Tankowicz is mad as hell, and no matter what happens, a whole new crop of mad Science gone awry is about to learn a painful lesson about the differences between HAMMERS AND NAILS.

John Sullivan didn't ask to be born, and he certainly didn't ask to be crazy. But that's what happens when somebody else gets to pick out your DNA.Under the Genetic Equity Act of 2141, all artificial modifications granting 'unfair advantage' belong to society. As the genetically engineered son of a famous mobster, Sullivan's physical gifts and illegal provenance condemn him to a life of government service hunting and apprehending others like himself.It's a perfect fit for Sullivan. Cursed with a state of unending aggression and neurologically inhibited from interacting with his anger, fieldwork is the only place he can explore his psychological demons without revealing how unhinged he really is.A disconcerting shift in his volatile mental state becomes frantic race against time when a brilliant scientist disappears with a groundbreaking discovery.The trail takes him inside a lawless underground metroplex filled with revolutionaries and refugees, where his badge is a one way ticket to an ugly death. Deep beneath the surface, new trials and unpleasant discoveries will challenge everything he knows about himself and his place in the world.Is John Sullivan a hero? A psychopath? Not even he knows for sure, and finding out means running a dangerous gauntlet of ruthless enemies. Whatever the answer, the world will be a very different place after the last brutal strides of:SULLIVAN'S RUN

It takes a brave soul to mess with Dockside.Roland Tankowicz has made a career out of teaching this lesson, and the galaxy is starting to notice. Yet despite filling entire graveyards with corporate raiders, pirates, criminal organizations, and the occasional marauding cybernetic psychopath, somebody out there still thinks the lucrative district is worth harassing.Someone is funding drug dealers, pimps, smugglers, and other scumbags, then sending them to Dockside faster than everybody's least-favorite army-surplus cyborg can kick them out. Before Roland and his team can start rounding up suspects, a terrifying revelation about one of his former teammates raises the stakes higher than they've ever been.Soldiers, spies, mercenaries and pirates converge on New Boston's most famous fixer as he begins to unravel the plot the only way he knows how: With his fists.Roland must take the fight to a lawless section of deep space and challenge a strange new enemy on his own turf.  Lucia will face her darkest moment as well, as the past and future combine in a trial that will forever cement what she has become. Has Roland truly outgrown his days as a mindless war machine? Can Lucia accept the weight of leadership without the crush of fear dragging her down? Were the Golems just another super-soldier program, or is something even more sinister at play?This time it's not about money, or power, or even revenge. It's about the right to live, to grow, and to become what you were meant to be. This time, the battle is overHEAD SPACE.

There's a stranger in town, and he just wants to be left alone.But Dockside doesn't like strangers, and the dirty old town never leaves anyone alone.Join New Boston's most famous fixer for his first week in the most dangerous part of town. He may have wanted a quiet place to hide, but instead he will team up with the last good cop in Dockside to try to stop a gang war and protect the hard-working folks just trying to make an honest living.It's good cop vs, bad cop, gang leader vs. mobster, and Roland Tankowicz vs. everybody in a high-stakes contest for control of Dockside. He may be brand new to the job, but the smart money is on everybody's favorite Army surplus cyborg as he doubles down on the deadliest game in Dockside:ESCALANTE .

Roland Tankowicz wasn't even legally a person anymore. The aging cyborg had never really recovered from being betrayed and enslaved by his superiors in the Army, and the final insult of being permanently classified as "e;defunct military ordnance"e; had been a bitter pill to swallow. Now, he spent most of his time drinking beer and working as a fixer for the crime families in 25th-century Boston. It was easy money if you were the kind of guy who was bullet-proof and could pick up a house. But then Lucia Ribiero stumbled into his favorite watering hole dragging a squad of bounty hunters behind her. Shadows from his own dark past, and old debts still unpaid conspired to drive the old war-horse out for one more mission. Like any good soldier, the mission is all that matters for Roland.Linked by a shared connection to her kidnapped father, the duo will face veritable armies of criminals, mutants, cyborgs, and corporate executives as they search for the missing man. The secrets of the Ribiero family are exposed as they approach the center of the labyrinth, and Lucia's mental and physical issues present an even deeper mystery than her father's disappearance. Roland will have to face the horror of his past one more time, and Lucia will need to get a grip on her future if they expect to survive a running battle with an entire galaxy's worth of mad science gone awry; and ultimately prevent a terrible history from repeating itself.

A killer stalks the streets of Dockside, and he has a bone to pick with Roland Tankowicz.Old friends, former clients, and even rivals find themselves in the sights of a murderer who loves his work a little too much and seems custom-built to take on New Boston's most famous Army-surplus cyborg. Roland and his team will have to play detective to piece together the identity of this strange assassin before all his associates end up face down in the street.It would be a full day's work for anybody, but it wouldn't be Dockside if a whole crop of other disasters didn't pop up at the same time just to make things interesting. A possessive ex-boyfriend, upheavals in the local police department, and shadowy corporate interests all choose this moment to rear their ugly heads.But far be it from the galaxy's strangest duo of problem solvers to turn away from hard work or a decent paycheck. If anybody can juggle corrupt cops, sinister corporations, and one strange killer all at once, it's everybody's least-favorite metal curmudgeon and his hyperkinetic partner.  Before the gunfire fades and the dust settles, The Fixer will meet death head-on to find out if he has what it takes to face down a DEAD MAN DREAMING.

Dockside is burning, and it’s up to everybody’s least favorite Army-surplus cyborg to fix it.It starts when somebody takes a hit out on Earth’s preeminent crime lord, and quickly spirals into a mystery that takes Roland and his hyperkinetic partner Lucia far from New Boston and into the depths of unregulated space. To save his home, Roland will need to figure out who would risk the ire of so many powerful organizations by upsetting the delicate truce in Dockside. Unfortunately for the pair of them, it could be anyone!Is it the Pirate King of frontier space? Is it the gigantic mega-corporation who is tired of the docks being harassed? Is The Combine finally falling apart?Could it be… Rodney the Dwarf?It’s probably not Rodney, but Roland will need to ask hard questions of some hard people. It’s a good thing Roland is the kind of guy who knows how to get answers. Some of them may even survive.The guns will blaze and the fists will fly as the galaxy’s least likely duo of problem-solvers hop the next ship to deep space and teach a whole new crop of mad science gone awry that wherever The Fixer goes: HELL FOLLOWS.

Vikings? Really?Yes, really.Famous for barbarism, pillaging, and poor manners, the word "e;Viking"e; is synonymous with bad behavior. Their world was dangerous and mean, filled to the brim with treachery and unsavory characters. Their politics were rife with bribery and backstabbing, their daily lives an endless struggle against a society and an economy hell-bent on crushing the spirit. It was age lost to the darkness of greed and fear.Wait. No. That's our world. My mistake.The Viking age was one of the greatest periods of exploration and economic growth the world has ever seen. Social mobility was high, the rights of the people were sacred, and anyone with a good idea and a surplus of bravery could aspire to the loftiest offices of the land.Both law and custom for the Vikings catered to the growth of the community through the empowerment of the citizenry, and for four centuries this system humiliated the monarchies of Europe. What can the Vikings tell us about our own lives, and how can they help us live up to the potential of the modern world?With a generous helping of snark and a fair bit of foul language, this book will try very hard to answer those questions with a question of its own:What would Thor do?

Roland Tankowicz wasn't even legally a person anymore. The aging cyborg had never really recovered from being betrayed and enslaved by his superiors in the Army, and the final insult of being permanently classified as "e;defunct military ordnance"e; had been a bitter pill to swallow. For the last three decades, he's avoided dealing with this by drinking beer and working as a fixer for the crime families in 25th-century Boston. It's easy money when you're the kind of guy who is bullet-proof and can pick up a house. But then Lucia Ribiero stumbles into his favorite watering hole dragging a squad of bounty hunters behind her. Shadows from his own dark past, and old debts still unpaid conspire to drive the old war-horse out for one more mission. Like any good soldier, the mission is all that matters for Roland. What follows is action and adventure on a scale the galaxy may never recover from. In this volume be prepared to see Roland fight cyborgs, gangsters, mercenaries, crime lords, mutants and at least one angry corporate executive as he starts down the ugly path to redemption. The guns will blaze and fists will fly, but before the dust settles a whole galaxy's worth of mad science gone awry will learn a painful lesson about letting sleeping dogs lie. Collected here are the first three full-length novels in the critically-acclaimed tech-noir phenomenon known as: THE FIXER

John Sullivan is all done running.A hunted, haunted man, the genetically modified fighter takes to the streets in search of his mobster father and answers to some very tough questions. The answers he gets take Sullivan and his allies to the far corners of the continent where he must confront the terrifying consequences of genetic engineering practices unencumbered by morality. For some people, the last war never ended, and for others the next one has already begun.A mysterious woman, a new foe, and the horrifying truth of what has been going on since the end of the great war gnaws at Sullivan's fragile sanity. Will this journey through his own personal heart of darkness finally break Sullivan's tenuous control over his dark side?Even he doesn't know for sure. But one thing is certain. The time for running is over.  With the enemy at the gates and time running out, Sullivan is not giving up an inch. Not this time.This time John Sullivan is making a stand.

Some gifts are meant to be shared... At first he tried to run. Then he made a stand. But no matter how many genetically-engineered monsters John Sullivan puts down, there always seems to be more where they came from. The conspiracy eroding the New Global Republic goes both higher and deeper than anyone ever imagined, and the fractious nature of the players has accelerated the timetable for global civil war beyond anyone's ability to stop it. John Sullivan is used to impossible odds, and his pugnacious nature leaves him no choice but to fight till the very end. Winning may not be possible, but you can always make the other guy bleed. Sometimes that's enough. Abilities that have never brought Sullivan anything but pain and misery are all that stand between a bright future in the hands of one special child and an endless reign of terror under yet another fascist hegemony. Can one man hope to defeat such odds? Perhaps not. But what about a uniquely gifted fighter, a terrible goddess, a giant, and a nine-year-old genius?Maybe there is a chance after all...

All's fair in love and war! Roland Tankowicz is not a complex man. All he wants is to get back to work maintaining the balance of power in Dockside. He's perfectly happy with an honest day's work of busting heads followed by a quick jaunt over to his favorite bar for a beer. Too bad the universe has other plans. A cryptic job offer from a good client hurls New Boston's most infamous team of fixers hundreds of light-years from Earth. At first, the gig seems normal enough: Stop a rampaging android before it destroys a whole colony of unarmed scientists. Other than the obvious lies being told by the client and the addition of several competing mega-corporations, it's pretty standard fare for Roland and his team. But things take a turn for the bizarre when Pike's Privateers show up with information that changes their corporate milk run into a quagmire of backroom deals, industrial espionage, and murder. How did a bunch of pacifist scientists get a combat android? What kind of deal are they working with OmniCorp? What does the death of one old farmer have to do with any of this? Roland, Lucia, and the rest of the crew have just a few days to find the answer to these questions. One thing is clear: there's a corporate war brewing. This one tiny colony perched on a faraway mudball looks to be the flashpoint that plunges the rest of the galaxy into fiscal and physical chaos. Can anyone stamp out the fire before it is too late?  It will take more than technological might or overwhelming firepower to avert a catastrophe this time. It will take the kind of love that does not alter, and bears out all the way to— THE EDGE OF DOOM

Roland Tankowicz prefers to stay out of corporate wars; however, some battles just can't be avoided. Racing back home after the encounter with the Prospectors, Roland and his team find themselves pulled off course when an old foe resurfaces to thwart their plan for a clean getaway. Things get worse when the chase leads them to Gethsemane. Dominated by a powerful religious order that is long on profit and short on salvation, the green and wealthy planet proves to be treacherous ground for those who don't fit in. If the corporations battling for supremacy were not enough, competing factions from Gethsemane stalk the fixers as well. Some want what the corporations are fighting over, others want something altogether more unseemly. Roland and the crew find themselves at odds with secret police, knights in shining armor, and more than a few spies and assassins while navigating this strange collision of interplanetary politics and religion. What is clear is that Gethsemane is no place for ham-handed tactics or reckless brawling. The situation begs for discretion, subtlety, and sophistication. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Roland Tankowicz is on the job. He does not do subtlety and sophistication costs extra. Can Roland win a deadly game of hide-and-seek in the grimy underbelly of a garden paradise? What happens when faith collides with conviction in the mind of a madman? On Gethsemane, the real battle is fought only when one truly understands the--RITES OF THE RIGHTEOUS

DOCKSIDE IS A CRAZY PLACEThe drug and booze-filled streets of New Boston's spaceport district are no place for the uninitiated. Take a walk down these dirty thoroughfares and slip into their darkened alleys with eight new stories centering on what goes on when the most famous fixer in space is not there to hold things down.Featuring:The Bruise-Giver – Every face in Dockside has a story. Some of those stories are legends if you know who to ask…The Switch – The nicest enforcer in town has to solve a series of robberies before the rent is due to save his neighborhood.No Good Deed – Dockside's police department is legendarily corrupt, but sometimes even the bad cops have to deal with worse ones.Dangerously Unlucky – Clearing up old mistakes is a very different thing when Dockside gangs are involved.Mad Engineer – Big Woo's creepiest android engineer takes matters into his own hands when the new neighbors become a problem.Age Before Beauty – Three grizzled old men embark on a secret mission to help a young woman escape a bad situation… while drunk.Getting Square – Two of Dockside's most bedraggled characters embark on a quest for their next good time.Chekhov's Guns – Some bartenders sling beer all night. Others sling guns. Guess which one this story is about?

Still hounded at every turn, Roland and his team limp home to find Dockside in turmoil.Clandestine corporate operations have weakened the treaties between Dockside's gangs just in time for a disaster at the docks to shut down Earth's mightiest marketplace. On the verge of economic catastrophe, Gateways Inc. lands an army of corporate troops to seize control.  Criminals and corpos make for a tense pairing, and it's only a matter of time before something breaks and the shooting starts.Not content to wait for that to happen, OmniCorp springs for a little extra muscle. The only surviving full-prosthesis cyborg in the galaxy shows up to have a go at New Boston's most famous fixer, and a fair fight is not how this shooter likes to operate. It's a full-metal slugfest as all the players collide on the streets of New Boston for one final bloody showdown.But what is all the fuss really over? Lucia has her doubts about the corporate line, and even her father seems to be hiding important information from her. As their losses mount and total destruction inches ever closer, the fixers will have to uncover the real reason all these MegaCorps are brawling it out in their backyard.The fires of corporate warfare are raging across New Boston, and only Roland Tankowicz and his group of misfits can stop it before all of Dockside burns to the ground. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire, and New Boston's least favorite army-surplus cyborg has brought his matches…Time to light a BACKBURN.

Trudy MacArthur enjoys the simple things: Her baking, her husband, and the quiet rhythm of small-town life.But a chance encounter at the local bake shop leads Trudy and her husband Ted into something far more dangerous than either of them expected. The local authorities don't want questions. The people involved expect silence. But Trudy refuses to look the other way, and Ted? Well, there's a reason people usually leave him alone.It doesn't take long for things to spiral out of control.  Impossible choices force the couple into roles they never imagined. They're not cops, not private eyes, not heroes.But they are smart, stubborn, and far more dangerous than anyone realizes.Fast, dark, and laced with dry humor, The Baddest Batch is a story about love under pressure, quiet people with sharp edges, and the lengths we go to when the rules stop working