About the Book
"Follow the blood trail down the alley, each droplet catching streetlight like tiny rubies. Three days ago, I'd be calling for backup. Three days ago, I was still human."
Jake Harlow, a cynical but brilliant private detective in Boston, specializes in finding people who don't want to be found. When his investigation into missing Egyptian artifacts leads to his own murder, Jake awakens to find himself bound as a servant to Anubis, the Egyptian god of death—who manifests as a powerful, supernatural cat entity.
Now existing between worlds with the ability to transform into a sleek black cat, Jake must solve his own murder while navigating a centuries-old conflict between forgotten gods and modern-day cultists.
Themes & Setting
Justice Beyond Death
Jake's journey explores whether justice can transcend mortality itself.
Transformation & Identity
Jake must reconcile his human self with his new dual existence.
Ancient vs. Modern
The collision between ancient magic and the modern world.
Grief & Acceptance
Characters grapple with loss and their inability to accept death.
Boston's Dual Nature
Historic architecture alongside modern development creates a perfect backdrop for a story bridging ancient and modern worlds.
The Dream Desert
The liminal space where Jake communicates with Anubis, shifting between Egyptian desert landscapes and Boston streetscapes.
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Begin Jake Harlow's supernatural investigation today
Available in multiple formats for your reading preference:
All formats contain the complete novel with chapter navigation.
Chapter Previews
Act I: Death and Rebirth
Jake Harlow, 32, is a former police detective turned private investigator with a reputation for finding people who don't want to be found. Struggling with both his finances and alcohol dependency following a case gone wrong that left his partner dead, Jake accepts a seemingly straightforward case: locating several missing Egyptian artifacts stolen from Boston University's archaeology department.
The case comes from Dr. Nadia Farouk, a brilliant young Egyptologist specializing in funerary rituals and death cults, whose passionate intensity immediately intrigues Jake despite his professional boundaries.
"I follow the blood trail down the alley, each droplet catching streetlight like tiny rubies. The knife wound in my side complains with every step. Three days ago, I'd be calling for backup. Three days ago, I was still human."
Act II: The Investigation
Jake awakens in the city morgue, his body somehow returned from the harbor. He discovers his new abilities: enhanced senses, particularly at night; rapid healing; the ability to perceive the "death signature" around people and objects (seeing how something died or how someone might die); and most importantly, the power to transform into a sleek black cat at will.
Realizing he needs access to archaeological expertise, Jake approaches Dr. Nadia Farouk again, initially in his cat form, observing her from the shadows of her office at Boston University.
"Nadia traced the hieroglyphs with a practiced finger, the familiar ritual helping to organize her thoughts. The artifact's significance wasn't in the standard funerary text—any first-year student could translate that—but in the subtle variations that suggested the scribe had firsthand knowledge of transformation rituals."
Act III: Revelations and Confrontation
While hiding in Nadia's family cabin outside the city, Jake and Nadia discover her grandfather's journals, revealing he had been researching the Order decades ago. The journals contain a crucial revelation: Anubis is not just the god of mummification but was once the guardian of a gateway between worlds, preventing entities of chaos from entering the mortal realm.
In the dream realm, Anubis confirms this truth but reveals more: the god has been weakened over centuries as belief in Egyptian deities waned. The binding to Jake was not just happenstance but orchestrated by Anubis himself, who arranged for Jake to take the case knowing his specific bloodline made him a perfect vessel.
Act IV: Final Confrontation
On the night of the eclipse, Jake and Nadia infiltrate the ritual site where the Order has gathered. Despite their preparations, they're captured when Jake's transformation is forcibly triggered by Blackwood, who wears an amulet that can control Anubis's magic.
As the eclipse begins, Blackwood initiates the ritual, revealing his true goal: not just immortality, but reuniting with his dead family by allowing chaos entities to possess their preserved bodies.
Jake realizes the final piece needed is a willing sacrifice from Anubis's servant. In the climactic moment, with Blackwood defeated but the gateway still opening, Jake makes his choice. Rather than sacrificing his life completely, he sacrifices his chance at returning to full humanity, permanently binding a portion of his soul to Anubis's service.