The Dead Man: Crucible of Fire / the Dark Need / the Rising Dead: Vol 7

After dying in a freak accident, Matt Cahill inexplicably “wakes up” three months later with the disturbing ability to see things―terrible things―that others cannot. Drafted as a warrior in the battle between good and evil, Matt will stop at nothing to destroy the malevolent Mr. Dark. In The Dead Man Volume 7, a trio of sinister new stories tracks the reluctant hero on his nightmarish quest.

Matt Cahill is part of a team of smokejumpers who are dropped into the heart of a raging forest fire that is fueled by a flamethrower-wielding madman under the sway of Mr. Dark. Almost every living thing in this hellacious Crucible of Fire, including Matt’s fellow firefighters, are falling prey to Mr. Dark’s evil touch and bowing to his furious command: Kill the Dead Man!

Matt is tracking a blood-sucking, shape-shifting killer through the icy Cascade Mountains when he encounters a mysterious woman who is on the same corpse-strewn trail...but who has a terrifying secret of her own...and an unspeakable lust for The Dark Need.

In the blasted hell of the Arizona desert, Matt hitches a ride with a young couple who meets a terrible fate that he’s powerless to stop. The bloody encounter leads him to a deadly stranger who may know why Matt became part of The Rising Dead. But first they must survive in an unforgiving wasteland to do battle with a gang of heavily-armed smugglers who trade in human flesh.

Mel Odom lives in Oklahoma with his wife and children. He’s written dozens of novels in a variety of fields and many based on popular television shows and role-playing games. He currently teaches in the Professional Writing program at the University of Oklahoma.

Born a farmer’s son in the Pacific Northwest, Stant Litore took the college road and eventually earned his PhD in English, but remains passionate for things that grow. He spent several years in a dim corner of a library, repairing bruised and battered books, before heading overseas to backpack through Europe. Haunted by the hunger and poverty he witnessed at home and abroad, he began spinning stories about the hungers that devour us and the hopes that preserve us. He is the author of the acclaimed horror series The Zombie Bible. Today he lives in Colorado with his wife and their two daughters, writing about the restless dead and the restless living. He avoids certain parts of the mountains during the dark of the moon.

Stella Green is a former entertainment executive and the author of Awakening Snakes. She currently lives in Los Angeles and is working on her next book.

Lee Goldberg is a two-time Edgar Award–nominated TV producer and a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. His many books include the long-running Diagnosis Murder and Monk mysteries, The Walk, King City, Watch Me Die, and the international bestseller The Heist, which he co-wrote with Janet Evanovich. His numerous TV writing and producing credits include Diagnosis Murder, Monk, SeaQuest, Nero Wolfe, and The Glades. He’s also worked as a consultant for TV networks and studios in Europe, Canada, and Sweden and has served on the Board of the Mystery Writers of America.

William Rabkin is a two-time Edgar Award nominee who writes the Psych series of novels and is the author of Writing the Pilot. He has consulted for studios in Canada, Germany, and Spain on television series production and teaches screenwriting at UCLA Extension and as an adjunct professor in UC Riverside’s low-residency master’s program.