On March 11, 2024, Candlemark & Gleam will unleash Moonlight Special, the sixth installment of Justin Robinson’s neo-noir alt-history in which humans have become a downtrodden minority in a world of pulp monsters. The digital version is available for pre-order at Amazon, B&N and Kobo; and if all goes as it should, the paperback pre-order should also go live within a week.

Candlemark readers first met Nick Moss—WWII veteran, Night War survivor, member of the dwindling human cohort, hard-bitten private eye—in Justin Robinson’s comédie fantastique City of Devils and renewed their acquaintance with Nick’s dangerous, fascinating world in Fifty Feet of Trouble, Wolfman Confidential, A Stitch in Crime, and Unwitch Hunt.

The first three works charted Nick’s bumpy progress as a PI. A Stitch in Crime and Unwitch Hunt followed two sympathetic monsters as they tried to untangle major knots in their second lives. Moonlight Special returns to Los Angeles and gives a rare glimpse of Nick Moss through the eyes of a tormented policeman who happens to be a wolfman. And with Kate Sullivan’s eloquent backgrounds, I created a cover that I hope conveys the protagonist’s inner and outer landscape while also paying visual tribute to its siblings. Here’s the enticing synopsis:

Los Angeles. Where the sun is bright, the beaches inviting, and the orange groves stretch to the horizon. Organized crime is a thing of the past, and these streets are the safest in the nation. Life is good in the City of Angels. That’s what they say, anyway.

The truth is that the mob owns the town, lock, stock, barrel. Honest police catch silver bullets, and the only way to survive is to be bought. Detective Frank Wolfman thought he could stay clean by getting a little dirty, but in the City of Devils, no one is half a sinner.

To save his friend, Frank must unearth every rotten decision he’s ever made in his life and unravel the secret of a “moonlight special.” But the answer is strangled in the oily tentacles of this town and the City of Devils keeps its secrets.

Because GoodReads giveaways are no longer free and our coffers are of the usual size for indie micro-presses, we’re doing a direct giveaway for Moonlight Special. You can enter it by leaving a comment to this post or by sending an email (with subject line “Moonlight Special Giveaway”) to our website address. Please rest assured that your email will only be visible to the site admin.

The giveaway will run from February 19 to March 10 (midnight EST), and random winners will be picked to receive a copy of the novel. For up to 25 requests, there will be one award copy. For up to 50 requests, two copies; and beyond that, three copies. Because the USPS slowdown continues to cause significant shipping problems, the giveaway will only award digital copies (it will include the PDF that contains all the print flourishes).

When Moonlight Special appears, the world will need to keep a firm grip on its police-issued weapons and besieged ethics. In the meantime, you can keep senses sharp and appetites whetted by checking out earlier works in this series (listed and linked above).

Note added on March 11: the giveaway is now closed.  We’ll pick winners and contact them within a week.