Fleeing from the growing sinkhole that was once the Glory mines, Ryan Cawdor and his companions struggle to make their way east to Ryan's home of Front Royal as a safe haven for delivering Krysty's child. Along the way, they are welcomed into a Deathlands community based on the structure and devolved traditions of a 20th century Iowa State prison. One of the bizarre customs that has evolved is the tallying of victorious acts of violence as a way of achieving dominance. Through a misunderstanding, Doc Tanner is believed to have achieved 246 of such acts and is thrust unwillingly into a cage match against a savage, hulking opponent. The companions fate may well rest on the outcome. Elsewhere, Ricky Morales and Jo Abernathy are on the trail of his long-lost sister Yamile who was captured into slavery when he first met Ryan and the others. Having appropriated a slavers' wagon, they are pretending to be slavers themselves when they enter the territory of Cloudville, a thriving community that employs slave labor to maintain its prosperity. The ruse comes to a head when the real slavers arrive. Colleen Delany has been a sparkling jewel in the crown of Washington's vastly talented acting community for thirty-seven days now and will confidently challenge to a fierce best out of three in "paper-rock-scissors" anyone wishing to topple her from that lofty perch. Primarily a stage actress, --having played roles at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Arena Stage, Signature Theatre, Folger Shakespeare Library, Studio Theatre, Olney Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Theater J, Washington Stage Guild, Theater of the First Amendment, and Source Theatre, among others--Ms. Delany does a you-name-it of various acting jobs, including audiobook narration. Marni Penning co-founded Fahrenheit Theatre Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, which was renamed the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company in 2006. While she also performs in contemporary plays and comedies, her stage career has included more than fifty productions of Shakespeare's plays. Richard Rohan is a stage, film, and voice-over actor who has narrated hundreds of audiobooks over the last decade, in every genre. He is particularly proud of his work as director and performer on the acclaimed Space Fantasy audio drama series Deathstalker . Eva Wilhelm is a classically trained stage actor, with two decades of theater experience, primarily in Washington, D.C., and Chicago; she has worked with theaters like The Folger Theatre, Studio Theatre, The Shakespeare Theatre, and The Court Theatre. Eva has recorded over a hundred audiobooks for various producers, and teaches everything from Acting for Business Professionals to Shakespeare Scene Study and Voice for the Microphone for The Shakespeare Theatre, Howard University, and other educational institutions. Matthew Ward is a writer, cat-servant and owner of more musical instruments than he can actually play (and considerably more than he can play well). He's afflicted with an obsession for old places - castles, historic cities and the London Underground chief among them - and should probably cultivate more interests to help expand out his author biography. After a decade serving as a principle architect for Games Workshop's Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 properties, Matthew embarked on an adventure to tell stories set in worlds of his own design. He lives near Nottingham with his extremely patient wife - as well as a pride of attention- seeking cats - and writes to entertain anyone who feels there's not enough magic in the world.