Böcker av Peter Telemark

"From age to age, she remains the same. She comes from far, far back in the shadows of history..." The ancient texts reveal that she existed before ever the Phoenicians visited North Africa, before the Romans conquered Tripolitanium. For the past eighteen centuries, she has been seen at widely-spaced intervals - in Spain, in Germany, and in France. Most recently, in 1670, she was apprehended in a decrepit tenement after three infants had gone missing. She was executed at the Burning Court in Paris, revealed as a thing half-woman and half-serpent, a creature called a Lamia, which the ancient Greeks named "The Gullet" - for good reason. But now, sixty years later, she seems to have reappeared in that same building, now a hospital for the poor that is close to shuttering its doors. Because many hospital staffers have already left, medical students have been enlisted to help, among them young Sacha Athenois (who in future would change his name to SETH ATHENOR). He is still an untested medical apprentice but has already fought The Timber-Witch of the Mountain Forest in British America. So, it is unsurprising that he is the second person to suspect that the Lamia has returned. The second person - because the first has mysteriously died. But not before imparting what he knew to Sacha. Now, one by one, patients and workers are vanishing with little trace. The hospital administrators dismiss the disappearances and Sacha realizes he cannot convince them of the ghastly truth. Who would believe him? He can scarcely believe it himself. No, it is up to him alone to try to unmask the night-feeding monster and figure out a way to battle her and not join the others in her gullet...her black and bottomless gullet. But even as he follows the clues and winnows down the suspects, he gradually realizes she has become just as aware of him as he is of her...

COACH FROM HELL It is September 1743 in the upcountry of New York Province, and in the sleepy village of Dereham, something has appeared on the long road leading north that edges the Great Dereham Swamp. A phantom coach, drawn by four gigantic black mares, whipped on by an enigmatic coachman swaddled in a cloak and a face-shadowing slouch hat. Those who have glimpsed it breathe a sigh of relief as it careens down the cypress-fringed road. Because whenever it reins to a halt, someone dies. But not just random victims, only those employed by the local owner of a profitable horse farm and crop fields, Diomedes Thrake, who has dwelt in the area since 1710. Diomedes lives in a stately manor house with his wife Alba and the majordomo he brought with him from England, Jonah Cormoron. And Thrake seemingly has also brought a curse with him. One by one, his workers are being picked off, and clues left behind suggest that they are being treated like chesspieces in some diabolical game - pawns, knights, bishops, castles - The Chessmen of Diomedes, one might say. Fresh from his battle against The Werewolf of Deadham, Seth Athenor - former French Colonial Marine and physician - has been asked to investigate and intercede. But can even he stop the demonic horses and the coachman from their game of human chess before the moment of checkmate? And who...or what...is it that rides inside the cab of that black coach? For further information about the author/other books, please visit our website: Petertelemarkbooks.com

BEWARE THE WINTER GHOSTS In Loreley Town in His Majesty's Province of Pennsylvania, they speak in whispers about a menace that has existed even before the town's founding in 1700, when it preyed upon the local Lenape. "Do not travel alone in the winter months," they said, "lest you meet the Ghosts." Those who survived described them as pallid whirlwinds that flew after lone travelers on the snowy plain, sometimes accompanied by a huge snow tornado. Those travelers would sometimes seek refuge inside a stone lodge - but then the lodge dissolved into ruins, keeping those travelers forever locked inside. By 1755, most knew enough to keep well away from it. But now, the Winter Ghosts have started to prowl inside the town itself. The local authorities are predictively dismissive, but others take it more seriously and have sent for Seth Athenor - physician, apothecary, and former frontier scout, and by this time recognized for his willingness to challenge supernatural menaces. When he arrives, he tries to uncover the secret of the Ghosts and their White Lodge - a secret revealing something even more monstrously ancient and evil. For further information about the author/other books, please visit our website: Petertelemarkbooks.com

I WAS A TEENAGE SETH ATHENOR? Well, technically, this is a coming-of-age story of the future medical apothecary and frontier scout. Readers of The Witch of Death Swamp might remember mention of when he was a youth finding himself "apprenticed" to a Puritan witch-finder. This is that story.. Asher Mourne, formerly one of the witch-finders tasked by the special court in Salem in 1692 to apprehend suspected witches is recalled from retirement for one final hunt. But unlike the innocent victims in Salem, it is a genuine witch this time. In the White Mountains of His Majesty's Province of New Hampshire, an isolated Abenaki village has reached out to him for help. Something is prowling the mountain forest, murdering the villagers one by one. Something that bites out their hearts and leaves the wounds filled with splinters...as if by a mouth filled with sharp wooden teeth. On an unrelated mission, a French Colonial Marine officer has been sent to reconnoiter the area. Accompanying him are a young replacement priest, Joseph Lacouer and an even younger Sacha Athenois (long before he changed that to Seth Athenor). They soon find themselves caught up in the terror gripping the mountain village. Mourne has vowed to kill the witch and grudgingly agrees to take Sacha along with him. But what possible help could a stripling be? For further information about other books by the author and biographical details, please visit our website: petertelemarkbooks.com

SETH ATHENOR RETURNS! The medical apothecary, sleuth and former frontier scout is back. in 1748 he investigated the mysterious murders associated with The House of Dust. In 1750, he faced the deadly Witch of Death Swamp. In 1752, an entire town was threatened by an unearthly Abenaki menace freed from its prison in The Cellar in Ghost Hill. Now, in his home town of Dereham in 1754 in New York Province, he must face a new menace and solve a new dilemma: How do you kill a ghost? And not just any ghost, but the ghost of a monster otter from 50 years ago. Now, in the moonlit streets and lanes, one by one, certain townsfolk are vanishing. Vanishing? Or - consumed? And not at random, but seemingly part of a murder-list. But why? Could it be vengeance for some forgotten wrong? If so, whose vengeance? And for what wrong? Seth Athenor must find the answer. Not merely to prevent more murders, but because he has realized that his name is on the murder-list too... "The author's descriptions of the 18th-century village make for a fascinating backdrop...The townspeople, many with names reminiscent of characters from Charles Dickens novels...are delightfully unlikeable; this makes for satisfying murder scenes...the mystery...progresses at a thrilling clip...Telemark's descriptive abilities and researching of the milieu lend ample verisimilitude. Unique characters inhabiting an interesting setting make for an engaging mystery. " - Kirkus Reviews

BEFORE SETH ATHENOR WAS SETH ATHENOR It is 1742 in French Canada and Ensign Sacha Athenois (one day to be known as Seth Athenor), a medical apothecary and French Colonial Marine, has been dispatched to the Spirit Mountains of New York Province. Ostensibly, he is merely returning to provide medical services to the exiled Abenaki village of Lawana and also to visit his Abenaki wife. But in reality, he has been assigned the grisly task of murdering an entire British garrison nearby. While he wrestles with his conscience, another task is underway, sponsored by the devious commander of that garrison - to find the secret of immortality rumored to lie deep within the mountains. There, it is said, are the enigmatic ruins of an ancient Mahican village and just over the next hill lies the ominous Red Cottage. But, legend also says, the secret is guarded by something unthinkably old and malevolent, said to tower above the tallest pine - a creature of living ice, who only waits to be awakened once again.

Long devoid of any life, the gray and still waters of Death Swamp brood silently beneath a sun dimmed by greenish fogs, and shadowed by tall, dead pitch-pines and oaks. No birds, fishes, frogs, or insects remain. And no foot of man has trod there for many years. It is the year 1750, in the upstate of New York Province, and from that swamp has emerged a monstrous evil. How many will die before it is finally stopped? Seth Athenor, village apothecary and former French Colonial Marine, must enter the desolate swamp with a handful of soldiers to try to find the Witch. But he begins to suspect that she is not just senselessly murdering villagers but seems to be working toward some kind of plan. What it might be is not yet clear, but with each step taken into the swamp, the awful truth starts to emerge... For further information about other books by the author and biographical details, please visit our website: petertelemarkbooks.com