Goon Squad #9

By Jonathan L. Howard

During World War II, the major cities of Britain were protected against spies, saboteurs, and unusual threats by secret teams made up of superhuman Talents. Manchester's was codenamed STOAT/6, the forerunner of the modern day GOON SQUAD. Comprised of three Talents -- the inhumanely strong BULLDOG, the pyrokinetic CORPORAL CROCODILE, and the acerbic GRANNY SPEAKE -- the team was ordered in 1944 to investigate a strange series of murders in the city. What they found was the work of a depraved and monstrous mind, a killer who experimented on his victims, and whose plans seemed to be approaching their unknowable climax.

Now there has been a new killing that bears all the same hallmarks. Ian Mears, the REVENANT, interviews the last surviving member of STOAT/6. Has the dread VIVISECTOR truly returned? The secret may just lurk in the memories of one who experienced LIFE DURING WARTIME.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jonathan L. Howard
• Release date: Jan 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311905598

Jonathan L. Howard

JONATHAN L. HOWARD is a game designer, scriptwriter, and a veteran of the computer-games industry since the early nineties, with titles such as the Broken Sword series to his credit. He is author of Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, Johannes Cabal the Detective, and Johannes Cabal: The Fear Institute, as well as the YA novels Katya’s World and Katya’s War. He lives in the United Kingdom with his wife and daughter.

Book preview

GOON SQUAD #9: Life During Wartime

GOON SQUAD #9

Life During Wartime

by

Jonathan L. Howard

Copyright

Goon Squad #9 Life During Wartime

by Jonathan L. Howard

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.

Copyright © 2016 Jonathan L. Howard

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http://www.jonathanlhoward.com/

GOON SQUAD #9

Life During Wartime

St Sebastian's lay in the quiet Warwickshire countryside just outside Warwick itself. Established in a stately residence once the property of a Birmingham jewel magnate, it had served since the mid-1980s as a retirement home for a small but potentially troublesome demographic.

St Sebastian's was where old Talents went to die.

Ian Mears (an unusual sort of Talent even amongst Talents, in as far as he could see no likelihood of getting any older than he had been for the last twenty odd years since his murder and subsequent resurrection as an ill-tempered and unmannered sort-of zombie) arrived there just after noon in an attempt to beat lunch and any postprandial naps.

After signing in at reception he found the object of his visit sitting in a wheelchair out on the grounds, tucked in warm against the occasional breeze but otherwise happy enough beneath the warmth of an autumnal day when the light is sharp enough to cut.

Hullo, Ian, said the man, without turning.

Bugger me, George said Ian, deploying the garden chair he'd brought from the house. He sat down beside the aged man. Since when did you sprout extra-sensory perception?

Nothing extra-sensory about it, son. I'd know the engine note of that Bonneville of yours anywhere. Not so deaf I can't make that thing out. He gave Ian an appraising glance. So what bring you to the elephant's graveyard?

Can't I just be dropping by?

"No. You drop by on odd numbered months, so October's a bit of a departure. And don't tell me you were just passing; there's a railway and a motorway that means nobody 'just passes' here unless they have business. What's