The Burning City: An Avery Cates Novel

Book excerpt: The sequel to THE SHATTERED GEARS containing the previously published novellas THE NEW WORLD, THE DEVIL'S BARGAIN, THE LONG SIEGE, and THE DARK HUNT. Avery Cates has his city, but being a City Lord isn't what he thought it would be. Beset by problems, with the Archangel and his army of psionics marching inexorably towards him, he knows his one chance is to cobble together the resources to try and take Cochtopa, the secret System Security Force installation that might contain the tech and data he needs to reboot humanity and defeat the Archangel. Cates has his team: Techie Ezekial Marko, old-school System genius; Spectacular Dan, the most powerful Tele-K he's ever seen; Moreau, former Stormer and ultra-reliable enforcer; The Pale, silent precognitive monk; and Lucinda Barowel, former Undersecretary and now his partner. They're ready to make their play. But first, they'll have to get out of the city alive.