Bøger af Darrell Maloney

Tom Haskins is near death, severely beaten and taken prisoner by the vilest man in south central Texas. He knows that young Sara and their Texas Ranger friend are coming to rescue him. But he doesn't know when or how. He's determined to try to help them, but he's chained to the floor, broken and almost helpless. As sorry a state as he's ever been in. And a mob of people come pouring out of the ranch house to witness his execution. Has Tom seen his last sunrise? In nearby San Antonio, Robbie Benton has finally decided to make his move. He wants to carry out his vendetta against John Castro, steal Hannah, and to take her far away from San Antonio forever. Before the day is out, seven people will lay dead. And to all of them, good and bad, the cruelest deed of all is getting ready to play out. And their lives will be changed forever.

The story of Tony Hance and the Lubbock murders draws to a close. He's been through the wringer in the three years since two people were found shot to death on the floor of that seedy motel room. That they died at Tony's hand was never in question. What wasn't clear was the circumstances in which they'd been killed. And they weren't telling. Only Tony himself could tell his story. And he was on the run. For two long years he evaded capture by assuming a false identity and joining the military. When they finally caught him, in a tiny cabin in the Alaskan wilderness, he had no more fight left in him. He went back home to accept his fate and to die in the Texas gas chamber. But fate stepped in. The same homicide detective who'd pursued Tony so relentlessly felt something was wrong. There was more to Tony's story. And he of all people was the one who would discover the missing piece of the puzzle. The piece that exonerated Tony and allowed him to walk out of trial a free man. Tony's troubles weren't over yet, though. He still faced charges for crimes he'd committed while in the military. He was guilty beyond doubt, and they were serious crimes. Could he beat them as well? And what of the people he'd hurt along the way? What of the relationships he'd destroyed? What of the two women who loved him? One had been at his side since he was a small child. The other had fallen for the man he pretended to be, but continued to support him as the truth came to light. What about them? Tony was the first to admit he was nothing but a naïve kid when he shot those two people on that fateful night. Was his life really over? Or could there be a second chance? A chance at redemption? An opportunity to have a fresh start? Maybe.

A sequel to last year's success "Life's Lessons From A Candy Machine," this book is a light-hearted look at simpler times. Growing up in the 1960s wasn't always fun, but it was a great adventure. Join the author as he goes back to a better time, before the fast paced technology of our modern world came along and ruined everything.

1001 hilarious jokes, quips, insults and one liners you can tell anywhere. These are jokes you could tell your mother without her washing your mouth out with soap. She'll be too busy laughing to chase you anyway.

Dave and Sarah Anna Speer had been preparing for Armageddon for years. They thought they'd covered all the bases, and had planned for everything. It never occurred to them that the single thing they had no control over was the timing. Sarah was on an airplane with her young daughters when solar storms bombarded the earth with electromagnetic pulses. Everything powered by electricity or batteries was instantly shorted out and would never work again. Dave was suddenly alone. He was also unsure whether his family was dead or alive. He assumed that the airplane stopped working and plunged from the sky. But it was scheduled to land in Kansas City at almost the exact time everything stopped working. Had they landed in time? Was it possible they survived? This is the story of a man facing Armageddon alone. It chronicles the things he does to survive in a newly vicious world. It also includes Dave's desperate and poignant diary entries to his wife. Just in case she did survive, and somehow makes it back to him to find he didn't make it himself. From the author of last year's best sellers "Final Dawn" and "Countdown to Armageddon" comes a new tale of one man's journey through hell... alone.

The saga continues. Mark and Hannah, and their group of forty one, are just getting comfortable in their mountain hideaway. For six and a half years they'd scratched out a minimal existence in an old salt mine, waiting for the world to thaw. Now they've entered a new home and a brave new world. One of sunshine, fresh air, and new opportunities. But the gods of fate aren't going to make it easy on them. They are forced to evacuate their new home by a band of ruthless outlaws. They aren't ready to give it up, though. So they go to war... literally, and use guerilla tactics to take out the outlaws a few at a time. Along the way, there are other problems to deal with. One of their own commits an act so heinous he is put on trial. The group must decide whether to do something they'd never had to do before: banish someone they know well and love. On Buena Vista Drive, a massacre kills all but a handful of people. They're forced to leave everything behind, and are given refuge in the compound. Frank is seriously wounded in the battle, and despite Eva's assurances he'll recover, it didn't look good. It isn't all gloom and doom, though. Hannah and the girls still have fun at their guys' expense. Little Markie continues to grow and to see his new world in wide-eyed wonder. And new love blossoms.

In Book 1 of this series, "Final Dawn", we met Hannah and Mark. She was a brilliant scientist, working for a NASA contractor. He was a successful engineer and a bit of a cornball. Together they made the perfect pair. They were a young couple in love, and looking forward to a bright future. Everything changed the day Hannah found out the world was doomed. She discovered a meteorite headed for earth that would wipe out most of mankind. The United States government, led by a corrupt President more concerned with saving his cronies than his citizens, tried to silence her. When she was able to spread the word anyway, President Sanders did what politicians usually do. He lied. "Don't worry," he told his citizens. "We have a plan. We'll work with the Chinese. We'll send up a weapon with a powerful nuclear warhead, capable of diverting the meteorite onto another path." People around the world were conflicted. They desperately wanted to believe. No one wanted to die. But they knew they couldn't trust their governments. Some panicked. Some rioted. Some calmly accepted their fate. And some, like Mark and Hannah, continued their efforts to save themselves and the people they loved. A few days before impact, the mine they would call home for the next seven years was finally ready. Mark and Hannah gathered up family and friends and gave them shelter. It wasn't a tropical paradise, but it would keep them alive. "Final Dawn" ended when Saris 7 collided with the earth. Around the world, millions were dying. But deeply hidden in an old salt mine outside of Junction, Texas, these forty people would survive. Here, in "Hidden", is the story of their survival.

Dave Speer was a prepper who knew something bad was coming. He didn't know what, exactly, or when. When the power finally went out it happened at the worst possible time: when his family was on an airliner bound for Kansas City. For a year Dave stumbled through life, not knowing whether they lived or died. He vowed to get to them and find out, and to bring them back home where they belonged. The last installment of the series ended when Dave finished his thousand mile trek, bloodied but still standing, only to find his wife held captive by two dozen hardened criminals. In "The Battle," Dave looks for reinforcements, and finds that there's no one left to help him. The sheriff's office of Winslow County has been decimated, the state police disbanded. Dave has to go it alone, but he's got right on his side, and knows he'll prevail in the end. This one's full of twists and turns that'll keep you wondering to the very last page.

Scott Harter was an average man. He wasn't dumb, but he'd never be invited to join Mensa either. He'd liked to have married a beauty queen, but his average looks certainly did nothing to attract any. Neither did his vanilla personality. No, Scott was average in every way, except when it came to luck. He was a very lucky man. And that's how he managed to discover what the Mayans really meant about the world ending on December 21st, 2012. Scott learned that the Mayans never said the world was going to end that day. What they said was that day marked the beginning of a period that would see the end of civilization as we know it. The Mayans called it "The last period of progress." Scott knew that big changes were coming. The Mayans left several clues about the pending disaster. He just didn't know when. He didn't know if he had two days to prepare, or two years. To protect his family, Scott threw every resource he had into preparing for the end. And some resources he didn't have. This is Scott's story.

There were some things that weren't in dispute. Before Tony Hance assumed another man's identity and went on the run, he did indeed shoot and kill two people. The evidence was irrefutable. In his mind, he had no choice. It was him or them, and he shot and killed him to survive. To others, it wasn't quite so cut and dry. Tony said he shot in self defense. So why, then, did he shoot each of them twice? The first shot to each of them was fatal. The second shot was overkill. In the words of the veteran police detective on Tony's trail, "a self-defense excuse ends when the threat no longer exists. Shooting people who are already dying is nothing but murder." But even the detective felt there was more to the story. Something about it gnawed at him. Tony was a good kid, with a bright future. It made no sense for him to throw it away. If there was a side of the story that remained untold, only Tony Hance himself could tell it. And would the jury believe it? Tony successfully evaded capture for the better part of two years, first by joining the Air Force and then by disappearing into the Alaska wilderness. But now, captured and jailed, he was on his way back to Texas to stand trial. Would telling his version of the story make a difference and save him from the gas chamber? Would it fix the damage he'd done to the women he loved, the family he destroyed, and the dying father who wanted nothing more in the world than to vindicate his son? Every accused has his day in court. This was Tony's...

For the group of forty one, life had never been easy. In their early days together, when a meteorite crashed into the earth and forced them into an abandoned salt mine to survive a seven year freeze, they battled together and endured. And after the thaw they battled again, against evil men who tried to take what they'd worked so hard for. Now, at a time when everything appeared to be running smoothly, they were fighting again. Fighting against time to find three of their own. One was injured, alone and afraid... and lost in the woods. Two others had gone away on a helicopter and never returned. A helicopter they later learned had crashed. Despite their desperate efforts, not all would survive. And not all would be found.

The author who brought you "Final Dawn" and "Countdown to Armageddon" now brings you the story of Dave Speer. Dave and his wife Sarah were preppers who saw the end coming and made plans to survive it. The one thing they had no control over, though, was the timing. And the chaos happened at the worst time possible: when Sarah and the girls went to visit relatives a thousand miles away. Dave Speer has somehow managed to survive the worst winter in recorded history. He should be overjoyed, but he's sick with worry. He counted over a hundred nights in a row with below-freezing temperatures. Knowing he barely made it himself, he wonders how bad it was for his family, a thousand miles north, where presumably the winters would be much worse. Sarah and his girls were tough, sure. But if they weren't prepared for such a harsh winter, if they ran short of food or water and couldn't get more... And then there was the knowledge that the area north of Kansas City had been overrun by escaped criminals just after the world went to black. Escaped criminals who were still there unable to find transportation out of the area. Dave had planned and prepared all winter for his journey. A journey that would take him into a newly dark and evil world. A journey to Kansas City to see whether his family really did make it. And if they did, whether they were still free. Or whether they now belonged to criminals who kept them as slaves. They were alive. In his heart he had to believe that. He just couldn't consider the alternative. And he had to go get them. Along the way Dave encounters a group of men who don't take kindly to his rifling through one of their town's abandoned stores. They beat him almost to death to teach him a lesson. He is rescued by a mysterious figure named Red, who then watches over him as he heals and befriends him. And helps him deal with young Sarah's death.

At last, the much awaited sequel to last year's blockbuster hit, "A Secret Life." Tony Hance was a good kid, two years out of high school and grappling with his future. He had a job, and while it wasn't glamorous, it paid his bills and kept him in shape. He had a loving family and great friends. The Vietnam War was finally over, and the country was more concerned with disco dancing than fighting wars. Life was good. But things sometimes change in a hurry, and one bad decision can sometimes destroy a future. Sharon was a looker who accepted Tony's advances a bit too quickly. A man with more experience might have seen that as a red flag. But Tony was still innocent and naïve to many of the ways of the world. He considered Sharon not as a threat, but as a lonely woman who wanted his company, and he was more than happy to oblige. It was over in a flash in a seedy motel room. A drunken Tony was attacked from behind by Sharon's partner and hit in the head. When it was over, Sharon and her partner both lay dead by Tony's hand. He panicked, and he ran. His brother Mark was the first to find him, at a military base just outside of Anchorage. The FBI was not far behind him. But as the authorities closed in on him, Tony was able to slip through their grasp. It was only temporary, he knew. But it bought him enough time to disappear into the Alaskan wilderness. Mark helped Tony get away, assuming his brother's identity when boarding a jet back to Seattle, and drawing the feds with him. Then the trail went cold. The FBI assumed Tony landed in Seattle and then disappeared into parts unknown. His family knew he was still in Alaska, but not exactly where. And Tony did his level best to disappear from everybody. Here, in "The Hunted," is Book 2 of the series.

Red was a bit of an enigma. She was all woman, and a beautiful one at that. She never really wanted the attention of the men who always seemed to vie for her affection, and she hated to break their hearts. But the fact was, few of them interested her. It wasn't their fault. It was just the way she was brought up. For although she had a softer side, Red was also tough. Texas tough, her father called it. It was easier to keep men at arm's length than it was to let them believe they could capture her heart. Red lost her mother at an early age and was raised by a father who worshipped her. He also equipped her with all the tools she'd need later when times got tough. She could hunt, fish and rope a steer as well as any man. When the worst natural disaster in the history of the world destroyed life as she knew it, her toughness kept her alive. And when her family was murdered, she became something else too. She became determined to find the killers and bring them to justice. Even if she had to administer it herself.

At long last... "Maribel," the much awaited sequel to Darrell Maloney's blockbuster hit "The Secession of Texas." Maribel is a love story: the tale of one woman's passion for her country, the resort town she created, and the only man who could tame her. It's a tale so big it could only be set in Texas. Follow President of Texas Dawn Brady as she leaves political office and enters the private sector. She devotes her life to Charlie Bennett and to Maribel, her city of dreams. This book has it all... romance, suspense, intrigue and passion. Lots of passion. Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts. You're about to enter Maribel...

The author of the best selling novel "The Secession of Texas" brings you "FINAL DAWN," an apocalyptic love story. What would you do if you finally found the love of your life and were making plans to spend eternity with them - and then found out that eternity was only two years? Mark is a romantic and carefree young engineer, and a bit of a cornball. His beloved Hannah is a beautiful scientist. Pragmatic, intelligent and analytical, she longs for the family she never had, and a change from her horrific childhood. Mark offers that change, and her life is finally complete. Then Hannah discovers that mankind is doomed. Suddenly their lives become a mad scramble, to find a way to save themselves and everyone they love.

The saga continues. At the compound in Junction, life settles into a peaceful routine. Tom Haskins is regarded as a local hero for his role in killing the Garza gang and for putting their bodies on display as a warning to other marauders. He's asked by the Kerrville City Council to accept the role of Kerr County Sheriff. In nearby San Antonio, the plague continues to wreak havoc, even in its waning days. Scott Harter, nearing the end of his self-imposed exile, learns that Becky has been keeping a secret. But Becky's not the only one with secrets. First Tom, then young Zachary, disappear from the compound. Each of them has a very personal and very secret mission to attend to. The worst secret of all, though, is held by Robbie Benton, one of San Antonio's finest police officers. The end of the plague is expected to bring joy to all and unite many loved ones. But it will also give Robbie the opportunity to murder one of his closest friends.

Dave's quest to find his daughter was long and arduous. It was dangerous too, fraught with situations which almost killed him more than once. But find her he did, and now they were on their way back to Kansas City. The journey back would be no easier, but it would be full of surprises. In Albuquerque they were to encounter a rag-tag bunch of warrior wannabes; the descendents of majestic Mescalero Apache and Comanche Indians who once ruled the deserts of the great southwest. They fancied themselves braves but didn't even look the part, wearing souvenir-stand buckskins made in China. Most of them had never been on a horse. Most had never fired a shot in anger. But a noble leader who called himself Bold Eagle was determined to help the Red Man rise again and to chase the bands of marauders from their lands. Bold Eagle lets Dave and his party through, but only after teaching Dave something he should have already known. And the two part friends. Seven hundred long miles to go, the trio encounters one tribulation after another. For nothing in the new world is ever easy. Back in Kansas City, buried ten feet beneath the earth in an elaborate bunker system, Joe Manson meets his end at the hands of an unlikely source. The dynamic is changed considerably. Sarah is shunned and deservedly so. Lindsey is looking for a way out. Dave considers himself incredibly lucky, for although separated his family is still alive; they've all survived, and that's rare in the new world. It might not be that way for long.

The world has finally thawed. It's been seven long years since a meteorite called Saris 7 struck the earth and plunged it into a nuclear winter. Most of the world has perished. But there are pockets of survivors here and there. Hidden deep within an abandoned salt mine are Mark and Hannah and forty others. They've gone through the worst and are looking forward to coming out and starting the next chapter of their lives. But the world is still a very ugly place, and it's not going to be easy.

Tony Hance was a good man who made a very bad mistake. Now he's on the run. He left behind everyone and everything he ever loved. This is a story of one man's struggle: against his past, his own personal demons, and those who would lock him away for life. Author Darrell Maloney brings back some of the characters from his best selling novel "The Secession of Texas" for "A Secret Life," the first of four installments in the Secret Life series.

The story continues... Not even the preppers expected a one-two punch that would bring the world to its knees once again. Everything has changed, and not for the better. An already chaotic world has become more volatile. Like a platoon suddenly finding itself trapped behind enemy lines, Tom, Sara and Tracey are in territory which is unfriendly and growing increasingly desperate. And they're saddled with two additional charges. A tender young girl of eleven named Millicent, and a troubled boy named Charles who'd rather spit upon someone than accept their help. In San Antonio, the war against the SAPD is over. Robbie Benton has lost his one-man crusade against his former brothers in blue. An uneasy calm comes over the city that will last only until the new blackout. It cripples the force, but not for long. Enter Tillie, a tough woman traveling alone in search of her loved ones. And R.J., a former executive chef at a five-star restaurant, now reduced to trapping and eating rats to survive. Back in Junction, in the compound Scott built to protect his family, things are falling apart. Most of their electronics were destroyed during the second wave of EMPs. They have no working surveillance system. They're short-handed and vulnerable as they've never been before. And the vultures are starting to circle.

In "Countdown to Armageddon," we met Scott Harter. There was absolutely nothing special about Scott. He was just an ordinary guy living in the suburbs with a typical family and a dog named Duke. If anything set Scott apart from everybody else, it was his extraordinary luck. It was that luck that helped him stumble across the cryptic notes of a mysterious missing professor. "The Mayans never said the world was going to end," the old professor wrote. "What they actually said was that December 21, 2012 started a new era. An era they called the last period of progress." Ugly things were on the horizon. Things that would change the world forever. The discovery haunted Scott, and drove him to stake everything he had on building a safe place to go when disaster struck. And on the day solar storms destroyed all technology on earth, he was ready. His group of six assembled and evacuated the chaotic city of San Antonio, and moved ninety miles away. They thought they were safe. But the world was different now. And nothing was certain anymore. Book two, "After the Dust Settled," finds the group struggling with a new reality in a vastly changed world. Nothing about the new world was going to be easy. Despite their best planning, life keeps throwing them curveballs. Their number has grown. And some of the group has secrets they're keeping. The world is now a vicious and dangerous place. The city of San Antonio is slowly dying. The once proud jewel of South Texas becomes a city of abandoned cars and piles of bones. And a plague. But San Antonio keeps calling them back. And each time is a dangerous new adventure.

Growing up in Texas in the 1960s wasn't always fun. But it was an incredible adventure. Life's Lessons From A Candy Machine is a series of short stories that document one boy's journey through adolescence and the teen years. It's sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, and sometimes outrageous. But it's nostalgic and entertaining from the first page through the last.

Sometimes the best of plans fall short. Scott Harter thought he'd covered every base, and planned for everything. His family was safe and comfortable, months after solar storms destroyed modern society and turned the world's cities into killing grounds. But he never planned on a good friend needing medicine that only he had the capability to deliver. And he never expected to be stranded in a decimated city, shot by bandits and left to die, then being unable to go home because of a deadly plague. He never expected to be a part of the effort to bring the city of San Antonio back to life once again. And he certainly never thought his family, tucked away in a secure compound ninety miles north of the city, would be fighting for their lives without him.

On a dark summer night in Washington, D.C., a hundred people are murdered. There are no witnesses and no clues, except a small circular bruise on each victim's chest. The same thing happens in Chicago the next night, and in Phoenix the night after that. The cleansing has begun. The whole world wonders how and why it's happening, but only one man has the answer. And that answer is out of this world. Darrell Maloney, author of last year's blockbuster hits "The Secession of Texas" and "Final Dawn," brings you a tale of murder, suspense and intrigue. You're about to witness the biggest challenge mankind has ever faced. Sit back and relax. The cleansing is about to begin.

It's a troubling, yet also fulfilling time in Ranger Randy's life. The Ranger detachment loses another of their own. And it couldn't happen at a worse time, for Randy's still feeling guilt over his partner's death. And Tom's killers are still on the loose. The world is slowly adapting to life without machines. Most of the survivors are learning new skills. Most are helping one another, finally realizing that the key to survival is to work together. Still, an alarming number are simply giving up and taking the easy way out. Randy finally finds Sarah. And that helps a lot. But now that there's a second cop killer roaming the streets of Lubbock, he cannot rest. Not until justice is done.

The group of forty one had never had it easy. In the early days, just before a meteorite named Saris 7 struck the earth, their struggles were mostly those of conscience: how could they let themselves live while so many of their friends and loved ones were dying? The seven year freeze was no better than a long prison sentence, trapping them within the off-white walls of an abandoned salt mine deep in the bowels of the earth. But at least it was safe there. After the thaw, when the survivors broke out into the sunshine again, they faced a new danger. They'd been able to raise livestock, and even a limited number of crops, while locked within the earth. Now there were others who saw what they had and wanted it for themselves. Others who were more inclined to take things by force, than by reason. The group fought fierce gun battles to protect what was theirs. Now, when it seemed they'd finally won, they looked forward to a long period of peace. Then the Army came calling. On a beautiful spring day, out of a clear blue sky, a helicopter landed. The tall colonel was an officer, but certainly not a gentleman. Neither was he diplomatic. Instead of reason or negotiation, he merely stated his demands. "By order of the President of the United States, I have the authority to seize your livestock and your crops. Prepare them now. My people will be here to pick them up tomorrow." Now the group of forty one had a decision to make. Should they roll over and give everything they'd worked so hard for to the United States Army? Or do they risk everything, including their own lives, to take on the Army and the government, as they'd taken on other outlaws and bullies? They were a proud and determined bunch. Much too determined to just roll over and surrender.

For the forty one people who barricaded themselves in an abandoned salt mine to ride out Armageddon, life had never been easy. Even after the earth thawed and allowed them to venture out again, the world had become a dark and evil place. Other survivors had gotten accustomed to taking what they wanted at the end of a gun. And merely surviving from one day to the next was extremely difficult. The group had avoided a war with the United States Army by giving up half their livestock, and in the process had formed a friendship with an Army colonel named Montgomery. So much so that two of the group's members accepted an offer from Colonel Montgomery to tour a relief compound in nearby San Antonio. Their helicopter crashed, and John perished. Hannah made it, but just barely, and developed a special bond with the only other survivor: a crewmember named Joel who saved her life. Back at the compound, Sarah was missing. She'd gone into the forest to pick wildflowers and never returned. Her trail went cold at an isolated roadway where a dog-handler said someone picked her up. "From here, she could have gone anywhere," he said, and the search began. Sarah was injured, afraid, and brainwashed by an evil man who freely admitted he had no soul. He'd killed many times before and would think nothing of killing again. As soon as he grew tired of Sarah or she wore out her usefulness. Her life depended on Bryan and the others finding her in time and rescuing her from her captor. Don't get comfortable. This one has unexpected plot twists to the very end.

RED: THE FINAL CHAPTER Blanco was a tiny Texas town on edge. The residents had been under the thumb of a brutal banker for a very long time. He used the legal system to steal from them. To cheat them. And even to murder some of them. It might have gone on forever, had he not ran afoul of the wrong person. When he killed the family of Red Poston he finally made a mistake he could never recover from. The whole town knew it was just a matter of time before Red did battle with John Savage. They assumed Red would gun him down in an act of vengeance. But they'd be wrong. So very wrong. The final chapter in the Red series is full of twists and turns, and ends in a way none of its faithful readers will see coming.

The saga continues. Near Kerrville, the compound comes under a vicious attack by a band of outlaws. Scott and John lead a group of men coming to their aid. The cavalry is on its way. But it's ninety miles away. The group fights valiantly but loses one of its own. The loss tears at their very soul, and threatens to rip them apart. It also changes them, as a group and as individuals. They are now more hardened. More cynical. More suspicious of strangers. And perhaps a little more aware that life really is a fragile and precious thing, to be treasured. Tom struggles with a monumental decision that could change the makeup of the group forever. And new love blossoms.