The End and the Beginning: A Charlie Walker Interlude

By Nick Pobursky

A new Bambooniverse adventure from the author of HOLLOW WORLD! Some time has passed since Detective Charlie Walker faced off against Spencer Holloway and the demons of Chaos Squad. Life has finally started to return to normal for the Walker family. And then everything changes in an instant, forcing the Walkers to start a new life far frome home. A better life, in a familiar, happy place. And, for a while, everything seems too good to be true. But old friends arrive with shocking news, and Charlie's fairy tale existence is abruptly threatened when he learns that a new enemy has quietly emerged from the shadows of the past....

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bamboo Forest Publishing
• Release date: Mar 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781507081303

Book preview

PART ONE

1

It had been four long, strenuous, tedious, painful, happy, dull, and stressful months since those terrible days in Walt Disney World.

While the memories of Spencer Holloway, Jeremy O’Neill, the monsters of Chaos Squad, and all the terrible things that had happened were still fresh in the minds of the Walker family, they were just that: memories.

The Walkers are a rare breed of human being. Kind yet strong. Compassionate yet ruthless. Careful yet bold. They stand for what is right, regardless of the cost. It is due to these qualities that each member of the family was able to deal with those tragic events and move past them without any lasting emotional or psychological damage. They possess the ability to constantly look to the future and are eternally captivated by the wonders it may hold because they, more than most, understand that life cannot be predicted, only experienced and accepted.

Life, as it turns out, still had big plans for the Walkers....

• • •

Chuck, come on in here, will you?

It was Harland Caulfield, vice chairperson of the Board of Police Commissioners for the city of Detroit. The asshole always called him Chuck. Charlie couldn’t stand the man. He was as corrupt as they come—and he was still the cleanest member of the board by a long shot.

With a curt nod that betrayed none of his irritation, Charlie followed the vice chair into the conference room, and was shocked to see nearly the entire board of commissioners seated inside. Aside from Caulfield, there was the primary chairperson, representatives from five of the seven districts, and a couple of people he didn’t recognize. Charlie’s friend and superior, Captain Pete Valdez, was also seated at the conference table but his face was a stone mask of neutrality.

Whatever this is about, it can’t be good, Charlie thought.

Have a seat, Charlie, said the chairperson, Cheryl Stover. Charlie had generally gotten along with the older woman,