Cover by Cody Tilson
Enslaved, trained as a killer, entombed, and abandoned: you can see why Raena Zacari might have a chip on her shoulder. In the grimdark universe of this propulsive action-heavy debut, the universe’s deadliest assassin sets off on a mission of vengeance into a galaxy destabilized by genocidal warfare. Her target–the despotic warlord Thallian–is on the run for war crimes but determined to reclaim what he believes is his by right. The stage is set for a revenge tale constructed from a web of complex, strained relationships made messier by two decades of forced separation.
The Dangerous Type mixes revenge with adventurous space opera that grabs you from the first pages and doesn’t let go. Along with a supporting cast of smugglers, black market doctors, and other ne’er-do-wells sprawled across a galaxy brimming with alien life, The Dangerous Type is a fantastic beginning to Loren Rhoads’s epic trilogy.
The Dangerous Type was published by Night Shade Books on July 7, 2015.
It came out as an audiobook on September 10, 2015. Here’s the link. Check out a taste of the first chapter for free.
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The Dangerous Type made a couple of must-read lists:
9 Space Operas to Read while you’re waiting for Ancillary Mercy: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/9-space-operas-to-read-while-you-wait-for-ancillary-mercy/
io9’s Must-Read Science Fiction for July 2015: http://io9.com/there-are-too-many-must-read-science-fiction-and-fantas-1715535068
B&N Bookseller’s Picks for July 2015: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/bn-booksellers-picks-for-july-2015/
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“Rhoads takes the best elements of Star Wars and makes them dark, gritty, and real; then mates them with Guardians of the Galaxy and Firefly to create a kick-ass and totally original love child. A must-read!” — Dana Fredsti, author of the Ashley Parker: Plague World series
“Rhoads brings the style of grimdark fantasy to space opera.” — Publishers Weekly
“I cannot wait to see where this story moves next…Don’t miss this fun ride!” — Geek Dad
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The Dangerous Type is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indie Bound, or at Borderlands Books in San Francisco, as well as wherever books are sold.
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Kill By Numbers, Book 2 in the series, mixes a Philip K. Dick mindwarp with sweeping space opera that features aliens, androids, drug dealers, journalists, and free-running media hackers. It is the second book in Loren Rhoads’s epic In the Wake of the Templars trilogy.
Former assassin Raena Zacari thinks she’s left the past behind. The human empire is disbanded and she is finally free. But Raena is troubled by nightmares that always seem to end with her shooting an ex-lover in the head. She needs to get her mind clear because there’s a flaw in the most commonly used stardrive technology — and the band of media-obsessed pirates she’s fallen in with is right at the heart of the controversy.
With humanity scattered across the galaxy, Raena’s going to have to rely on the alien crew members of the Veracity to help her put the pieces together. It doesn’t help that the Templars — wiped out by a genetic plague while Raena was imprisoned — left booby-trapped biotechnology scattered across the galaxy.
Kill By Numbers was published by Night Shade Books on September 1, 2015.
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“Spanning dozens of solar systems and thousands of light years, this military-flavored space opera, which launched with The Dangerous Type, is sure to please David Weber and Joel Shepherd fans.” — Library Journal
“I do like a good science fiction tale that revolves around questionable characters. That’s probably why I’m so crazy about Loren Rhoads ‘In the Wake of the Templars’ trilogy of books. There’s not an upstanding citizen to be found, but there are plenty of shades of gray. Raena and her crew are quickly becoming some of my favorite scoundrels, and I cannot wait to see where this story goes!” — Geek Dad
“Everyone on the ship is a different kind of alien but because of her past, Raena is the oddest one. I liked the idea that everyone on the ship was so different, making it like a melting pot of races.” — Horror Addicts
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Kill By Numbers is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indie Bound, and Borderlands Books, or anywhere that science fiction is sold.
Kill By Numbers came out as an audiobook on October 27, 2015. Here’s the link. There’s even a taste of the first chapter up for free.
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The multi-species crew of the Veracity are enjoying some well-deserved R&R after informing the galaxy about spread of the time-bending Messiah drug. Now that the galaxy has been saved again, the crew see each other in a new light.
Unfortunately, in the Veracity’s wake lie a string of crimes — and someone has got to pay. Former assassin Raena Zacari is hauled back to the weapons-free pleasure planet Kai to answer charges of kidnapping, murder, and the theft of an Imperial-era diplomatic transport: the Veracity itself.
In the meantime, something is moving in the undersea city Raena destroyed on the Thallian homeworld. Has the worst mass-murderer the galaxy has ever known been cloned back from the dead? Can the Veracity’s crew lay the ghosts to rest without Raena’s lethal skills?
No More Heroes mixes courtroom science fiction with sweeping space opera that features aliens, androids, drug dealers, journalists, and free-running media hackers. Following The Dangerous Type and Kill By Numbers, No More Heroes is the final book in Loren Rhoads’s epic trilogy.
No More Heroes came out November 10, 2015.
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“Completely lives up to its ‘adventurous space opera’ billing, complete with aliens, clones, double-crosses, sacrifices, daring rescues, and galaxy-spanning action. . . one of the more satisfying conclusions I’ve come across in years.” — Beauty in Ruins
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No More Heroes (the conclusion to In the Wake of the Templars) is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indie Bound, and Borderlands Books, or anywhere that science fiction is sold.
No More Heroes came out as an audiobook on December 31, 2015. Here’s the link. You can sample the first chapter for free.
My Favorite Guest Posts about the Trilogy:
Mary Robinette Kowal let me blog about my experiments in persona for her My Favorite Bit blog feature: http://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/my-favorite-bit-loren-rhoads-talks-about-the-dangerous-type/
Related to that, I wrote on Lisa Lane’s Cerebral Writer blog about how point of view affects The Dangerous Type: http://www.cerebralwriter.com/blog/loren-rhoads-shaping-your-story-through-point-of-view
At Tracie McBride’s Exquisite Corpse, I answered Publishers Weekly’s charge that I’m trying to bring grimdark to space opera: https://traciemcbridewriter.wordpress.com/2015/07/24/guest-post-grimdark-and-the-dangerous-type-by-loren-rhoads/
HorrorAddicts.net invited me to talk about where my claustrophobia came from and how it inspired The Dangerous Type: https://horroraddicts.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/claustrophobia-and-the-dangerous-type/
I followed that up by talking about the decision to imprison Raena in the Templar tombs at Emerian Rich’s Emz Box blog: https://emzbox.wordpress.com/2015/12/02/guest-blog-loren-rhoads-on-surviving-the-templar-tombs/
Nicholas Kaufmann encouraged me to talk about The Scariest Part of writing Kill By Numbers. This is another guest blog series that is absolutely fascinating. I’m excited to be able to take part.
For her Tell Me feature, Jennifer Brozek asked me to tell her about Kill By Numbers, so I talked about relationships falling apart: http://www.jenniferbrozek.com/blog/post/Tell-Me-Loren-Rhoads.aspx
At Unleaded Writing.com, I talked about the accusations of Mary Sueism thrown at any competent female character — and who the real Mary Sue is in Kill By Numbers: http://unleadedwriting.com/2015/10/29/guest-post-loren-rhoads-is-your-character-a-mary-sue/
For Fran Wilde’s Book Bites feature, I discussed using cooking as characterization of the Veracity’s captain: https://franwilde.wordpress.com/2015/11/10/book-bites-by-the-numbers-with-loren-rhoads/
