Stefan Rudnicki

When the alien ship screamed through the solar system, it disrupted communications between the far-flung human mining ships and supply stations and between them and Earth. So Earth and Luna were unaware that they had been invaded until the ship pulled into Earth orbit, and began landing terra-forming crews in China. Politics and pride slowed the response on Earth, and on Luna, corporate power struggles seemed more urgent than distant deaths. In this...

"The discovery of an Earth-sized planet 30 light years from Earth sparks a race to develop a telescope to create a photographic record of the new world. The far side of the moon, with its "clear" view of space, seems an ideal location, but the project's planners must contend with rivalries from the existing moon colony of Selene. Sent from Earth to assist Dr. Ulrich, director of Angel Observatory, Dr. Trudy Yost immediately becomes involved in the...

"After he fails to save a stranger from being mauled to death by a bear, a young mercenary is saddled with the baby girl the man died to protect. He leaves her with a kindly shepherd family and goes on with his violent life. Now, sixteen years later, that young mercenary has grown up to become cynical sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse. When his vacation travels bring him back to that same part of the world, he can't resist trying to discover what has become...

"Luke Abramson, a brilliant cellular biologist who is battling lung cancer, has one joy in life, his ten-year-old granddaughter, Angela. When he learns that Angela has an inoperable brain tumor and is given less than six months to live, Abramson wants to try a new enzyme, Mortality Factor 4 (MORF4), that he believes will kill Angela's tumor. However, the hospital bureaucracy won't let him do it because MORF4 has not yet been approved by the FDA. Knowing...

All ex-boxer, ex-corporate executive Sam Aquillo wants to do is hammer a few nails into his ramshackle cottage, drink a great deal of vodka, hang out with his dog, Eddie, and stay out of trouble. But trouble seems to find him anyway. When a car bomb outside a trendy waterfront restaurant kills a prominent financial consultant and injures Sam and his lawyer friend Jackie Swaitkowski, he is drawn into the investigation. Where the police have met roadblocks,...

"Did the warriors of ancient Sparta simply vanish without a trace along with their city, or did they find sanctuary at the tip of the mountainous Peloponnese? That stark, unforgiving region's roots today run deep with a history of pirates, highwaymen, and neighbors ferociously repelling any foreigner foolishly bent on occupying this part of Greece. Less well- recorded are the Mani's families' strict code of honor and their history of endless vendettas...

The Star Quest series continues with Survival. A "human team sent to scout a few hundred light years in front of the death wave encounters a civilization far in advance of our own, a civilization of machine intelligences. The sentient, intelligent machines have existed for eons, and have survived earlier "death waves," gamma ray bursts from the core of the galaxy. They are totally self-sufficient, completely certain that the death wave cannot harm...

"A wave of lethal gamma radiation is expanding from the core of the Milky Way galaxy at the speed of light, killing everything in its path. The countdown to when the death wave will reach Earth and the rest of the solar system is at two thousand years. Humans were helped by the Predecessors, who provided shielding generators that can protect the solar system. In return, the Predecessors asked humankind's help to save other intelligent species that...

Dr. Jake Ross, the science advisor to a newly elected freshman senator, must figure out how Washington really works when his comprehensive energy plan runs afoul of special interests, cynical bureaucrats, and a powerful U.S. senator.

"Biloxi blues: Quarry is a pro in the murder business. When the man he works for becomes a target himself, Quarry is sent South to remove a traitor in the ranks. But in this wide-open city--with sin everywhere, and betrayal around every corner--Quarry must make the most dangerous choice of his deadly career: who to kill?"--Page [4] of cover.