Cover: Horseman of Death, Limbourg Brothers. © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY.

My first full-length novel, THE SECOND GREAT MORTALITY, is set to be released on May 2, 2016. It is an intriguing blend of historical fiction, adventure and horror that should appeal to fans of Bernard Cornwell’s Winter King and AMC’s The Walking Dead.

Synopsis: The year is 1436. Sir Richard de Colleville is out hunting with his son when their hounds come upon a pale stranger savagely gnawing the neck of a fawn. Thinking the stranger deranged or simply starving, Richard’s men intervene only to be viciously attacked. What seemed an isolated incident in the forest spurs a deadly turn of events when Richard learns that the man’s corpse bears the unmistakable signs of Plague. Richard tries to allay people’s fears that the Great Mortality is returned to Gloucester, but these fears soon prove true when someone within the manor walls exhibits symptoms. Fear then gives way to unspeakable horror once the true nature of this Pestilence is revealed. As lord of the land, Richard has a responsibility to protect his villagers and tenants, but how can he protect them from the invisible hand of death? Worse yet, how can he protect the survivors—including his wife and daughters—from the victims?

Unlike the classic medieval tales of yore, this novel explores what would have happened had the Great Plague carried more than just buboes and death. It offers a fresh take on the modern zombie story by taking the reader back to a time when sword, armor, and honor were all a man had to protect himself and those he loved.