Jeff Schanz, Author



The Saints



Series



Guardians of the Gates



Part 1 - The New Breed





**REVISED 2022**


There are cracks in the universe, punctures between dimensions where one dimension bleeds into another. These “rifts” are volatile and mere proximity to them can either kill living beings or deform them into horrific creatures. For half a millennia, a secret organization called The Saints has kept vigil over the rifts, shielding the public from their effects.


Sebastian is the best field agent The Saints have. On the surface, he doesn't seem special. He runs a small business, lives in a one bedroom apartment above a bar, likes Batman a little too much, and hasn't had a date in years. But Sebastian is special. All his life he's been able to hear other people's thoughts. Like radio stations, they stream through his brain, never leaving him alone or at peace. But it also gives him an advantage in his work.


One chilly London evening, Sebastian interrupts a deadly attack by a rift creature in normally serene Regent's Park. The creature is an oddity, even among the oddities that rifts produce, because it wasn’t created by chance. It was manufactured. And there are more of them. Why would anyone intentionally create these monsters?


Clues lead Sebastian to a broader scheme to harness and wield the powerful energy that comes from rifts. But since only damage and death have ever come from rift energy, what purpose could it possibly serve?


The Saints strangely dismiss Sebastian’s concerns and offer only the consolation help of a young computer hacker, completely inexperienced with work in the field, to further the investigation. Fortunately, Sebastian still has his brother, Marcellus, a witty and capable ghost who has his own unique skills and abilities. Other than being dead, Marcellus is The Saints’ next best field agent. Sebastian and his shortlist of allies are determined to find the source and purpose of the rift creatures at any cost, including possible expulsion from The Saints.

​

The ultimate showdown smells like a trap, and Sebastian’s meager team must survive the incredible odds against an even more incredible foe. A breed like Sebastian has never seen before. Smart, deadly, and powerful enough to supplant humanity as the most dominant species on the planet. The only obstacles in their way are a geek, a ghost, and an outcast.





Guardians of the Gates



Part 2 - The Thieves of Time





**REVISED 2022**


Fresh from battling the creatures from the ranch, Sebastian and has more questions than answers. And finding those answers may come at significant cost. The conspiracy to conceal them runs deep, and at the highest levels of society, including The Saints hierarchy. Someone wants Sebastian out of the way, and Sebastian soon finds himself to be a wanted man and an outcast from The Saints.


Sebastian is determined to get to the bottom of the plot, with or without The Saints’ help. He no longer has their resources, and only has a motley crew of helpers: three conspiracy blog geeks, a lady private detective with a dark secret, a shady informant with ulterior motives, and the ghost of Sebastian’s dead brother, Marcellus.


The search for the bizarre truth leads the team in two directions. While Marcellus and his team research a Los Angeles pharmaceuticals lab, Sebastian must head back to London where he is a wanted fugitive, and his only ally is a deceitful and slimy “reformed” demon. Sebastian must survive croco-werewolves, London police, falling from blimps, parachuting with patio umbrellas, and his awkward love life.


The enemy is not only guarded by bloodthirsty monsters, but also has Teflon social armor, obscene amounts of money, power, influence, and dangerous allies. All Sebastian has is makeshift gadgets and a plucky spirit. To survive the confrontation will take more than strategy and luck. It’ll take a miracle.

Sebastian is the only soul who knows the clock is ticking on doomsday, and he’s a fugitive from the only organization that can stop it.



Guardians of the Gates



Part 3 - The Osiris Gate





**REVISED 2022**


The clock is ticking on Morgan Ashe’s maniacal plan to erase most of earth’s population, and Sebastian must once again dive headfirst into the fire to save humanity.


On his way back to the U.S. to meet up with his fellow Saints, there’s a lot weighing on Sebastian’s mind. Though the stakes are already high with the fate of the human race, plus the abduction of his ghost brother, and his new girlfriend, a complicated situation nevertheless gets more complex. The Saint traitor abruptly reveals himself, and along with the goth hitman, Lucian, who has similar mind-reading abilities as Sebastian, they attempt to capture Sebastian and deliver him to Ashe.


But Sebastian is no longer an outlaw, and has help from his Saint confederates. The tables quickly turn, using Ashe’s own strategy against him to allow Sebastian to penetrate his hidden base. The ploy comes with a brutal price as Sebastian is trapped alone, bound, and beaten, yet all will be worth it if the Saints can track him in time.


Until they do, Sebastian and Marcellus are at Ashe’s mercy, and must play unwilling integral parts in a bizarre scheme that incorporates a mysterious, supernatural gate to an ancient, alternate version of Earth. Once Ashe’s mystery machines are turned on, the dimensional energy from the alternate Earth will be pulled through the gate, washing over our world to wipe it clean of human beings.


It’s a war greater than anything The Saints are prepared to fight, and is waged on three fronts. Sebastian and Benedict face off against Ashe, Lucian, and a host of croco-wolves in a modern-day Arizona cavern while Marcellus and Kasey are stuck in ancient Egypt trying to stop Troy the Dragon-boy, all while the remainder of The Saints battle a cornucopia of Ashe’s fanged monstrosities and well-armed mercenaries in the Grand Canyon desert.


Once the doomsday machines turn on, and the fatal energy flows through the gate, every minute spent fighting Ashe’s men is a minute closer to a cataclysmic fate that the world cannot reverse.