In the Beginning: The Phoenix Chronicles

By Lori Handeland

From New York Times Bestselling author Lori Handeland, comes a prequel short story for her urban fantasy world, The Phoenix Chronicles

Liz Phoenix does her best not to let anyone on the Milwaukee Police Force know that she's psychic.  But her partner, Max Murphy, suspects.  She's had one too many spot-on hunches. 

When they're sent to the scene of a murder, Liz's latest psychic flash leads to disaster. In the Beginning reveals how Liz came to be an ex-cop and started on the road to becoming the Leader of the Light.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lori Handeland
• Release date: Mar 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9780990596448

Lori Handeland

Lori Handeland is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with more than 60 published works of fiction to her credit. Her novels, novellas, and short stories span genres from paranormal and urban fantasy to historical romance. After a quarter-century of success and accolades, she began a new chapter in her career. Marking her women’s fiction debut, Just Once (Severn House, January 2019) is a richly layered novel about two women who love the same man, how their lives intertwine, and their journeys of loss, grief, sacrifice, and forgiveness. While student teaching, Lori started reading a life-changing book, How to Write a Romance and Get It Published. Within its pages. the author, Kathryn Falk, mentioned Romance Writers of America. There was a local chapter; Lori joined it, dived into learning all about the craft and business, and got busy writing a romance novel. With only five pages completed, she entered a contest where the prize was having an editor at Harlequin read her first chapter. She won. Lori sold her first novel, a western historical romance, in 1993. In the years since then, she has written eleven novels in the popular Nightcreature series, five installments in the Phoenix Chronicles, six works of spicy contemporary romance about the Luchettis, a duet of Shakespeare Undead novels, and many more books. Her fiction has won critical acclaim and coveted awards, including two RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America for Best Paranormal Romance (Blue Moon) and Best Long Contemporary Category Romance (The Mommy Quest), a Romantic Times Award for Best Harlequin Superromance (A Soldier’s Quest), and a National Reader’s Choice Award for Best Paranormal (Hunter’s Moon). Lori Handeland lives in Southern Wisconsin with her husband. In between writing and reading, she enjoys long walks with their rescue mutt, Arnold, and occasional visits from her two grown sons and her perfectly adorable grandson.

Book preview

In the Beginning

IN THE BEGINNING

A PHOENIX CHRONICLE PREQUEL SHORT STORY

LORI HANDELAND

CONTENTS

In The Beginning

Any Given Doomsday

Dear Reader/Free Story

Just Once (2)

About the Author

Also by Lori Handeland

IN THE BEGINNING

Murphy. Phoenix. What’s your 10-20?

My partner, Max, slid me a glance. We were ten minutes from end of shift. Not that it mattered. We were cops. We did what we had to do, regardless of the clock.

I reached for the radio, glanced up at a passing street sign, then answered, 24 th and Juneau.

Not the best neighborhood in Milwaukee, but not the worst either. The main claim to fame for our beat was that Dahmer had lived here. Lucky for us they’d torn down the apartment building, ending our chances for a spot on the serial killer bus tour.

Regardless, every few months or so some moron came around looking for the place and wound up mugged or worse. People are not only weird but so damn stupid.

I mean, think about it, if Dahmer had lived in any one of the suburbs, someone would have noticed the smell. That they hadn’t until he’d offed seventeen people gave some indication of the safety of the area.

Anyone with a brain should know you shouldn't wander around west of I-43 and north of I-94 asking about Jeffrey. People were understandably touchy on the subject. For that matter so were we. The incident hadn’t exactly been the Milwaukee Police Department’s finest hour.

But I’d like to see some of the naysayers work here for more than fifteen minutes. It wasn’t easy or pretty, but I loved my job—I was never bored; I always felt needed--and most days, I was