The Republic of Selegania Series

Kingpin Righty Rick believes a few days of vacation at his new ranch are in order while he awaits the fallout from his recent rampage in Sivingdel, hoping that the public hanging of the traitors he recently served to the governor on a platter will convince law enforcement and the public that the brazen perpetrators have been duly punished. Upon return, he discovers a new problem. A shadowy group of men are murdering their way through his organization, climbing quickly up the ladder, and with no clear motive. When his sword instructor’s wife is kidnapped by his largest foreign client, matters become further complicated, as opposing her will put him at war with an organization possibly stronger than his own, and the kingpin of which happens to be the sister of his right-hand man.

When the former city kingpin bites the dust, it's a scramble to see whether a new monopoly will arise or if the market will be shared by various players. Small-time junkyard dealer, ex-boxer Righty Rick seeks to bypass the ensuing bloodbath by making an international connection and then taking over his home city piecemeal. But when demand for his product quickly begins to exceed his supply, he fears a rebellion from his underlings could be on the horizon. The legal battle over the Safety in Selegania Act heats up, as the capital's circuit court prepares to evaluate the constitutionality of the prohibition law. Senator Hutherton, now with a zealous anti-drug squad underneath his thumb, doesn't plan on leaving the outcome of this case to chance.

After a rash of brazen daylight crimes by wild drug fiends plagues the capital city’s plushest shopping district, the senate wonders if it is time to outlaw a popular new substance called Smokeless Green. However, more than one senator has found this treat to his liking, and thus an exemption for gentlemen is proposed. Some worry that outlawing this product is going to send crime rates through the stratosphere and bankroll a new criminal class.

Becoming Sivingdel’s kingpin is no easy task, and ex-boxer Righty Rick’s ascension to this level without incurring a single arrest is even more remarkable. But when several of his top-ranking criminal associates are hauled off to jail in a single catch, he finds his lack of experience with the criminal justice system to be more of a liability than an asset. Not wanting to turn his back on his men, but leery about waltzing into the police station to attempt a bribe, he vacillates on the correct course of action. His decision is disastrous, leaving him facing state and federal drug trafficking charges and making exposure of his closely guarded identity seem more a matter of when than if. Righty chooses to fight back, unleashing an eruption of violence the likes of which have not been seen in the city for centuries, if ever. But he thinks he sees a course that, at the end of it all, will leave him more firmly in charge than ever before.

Richard Franklin Simmers, better known as Righty Rick, once had the world by a string. His vicious, unstoppable body blows in the ring had made more than one opponent look like a mouse fleeing an alley cat. The national championship was on its way, and Righty was understandably expected to trounce his hapless competitor and achieve wealth and fame at an early age. Fate had other ideas, and an untimely wrist injury cost him the match. His explosive reaction cost him his career. Never having been the bookish type, Righty took his place amongst the town’s hardworking folk at the lumberyard, working hellish hours under a hot sun by day and soaking his parched throat with beer and whiskey by night. Though he occasionally polished his knuckles on any bar patron foolish enough to doubt the veracity of his once-legendary skills, his glory days had vanished before they ever fully materialized. A decade later, a bolt of inspiration and self-disgust catch him off guard at work one day, and he forms an iron determination to somehow do something great with what is left of his life. Not long after, he crosses paths with a new substance that has hit Selegania’s store shelves: Smokeless Green. Infinitely more powerful than coffee, a quick sniff gives its user unspeakable energy and concentration. Having recently hopped on the wagon, Righty is leery of trading serfdom to booze for slavery to powder. But though he doesn’t know it, he has found the means to his greatness. And to great destruction.

Kingpin Righty Rick knows he can expect a backlash after freeing Pitkins, a former Nikorian general, from the clutches of Rucifus—the ruthless, multibillionaire de facto ruler of Sodorf City, formerly his top customer. But when she sends a hundred armed men to commence a bloody rampage in his city while shouting his name, drawing an immediate response from the National Drug Police and other authorities, he realizes this is a war to the death. Pitkins shows his gratitude by proffering his services—which include elite sword skills, military strategy, and lethal craftsmanship—to the embattled Righty, who promptly makes use of the former general’s skills, as he commences a death struggle with his former customer.

Ex-boxer, ex-lumberman Righty Rick learns his days as junkyard freelancer are numbered when one of his Smokeless Green clients informs him a major kingpin has acquired near total dominance of the city’s black market. Righty now faces the choice of immediate retirement or assuming leadership of a ragtag gang of misfits. Attorney Megders is thrilled when he learns the first Smokeless Green arrests have taken place, as he can now begin an attack on the constitutionality of the Safety in Selegania Act, a law he voted against as senator. A bloody massacre in the city of Sivingdel prompts Megders’ archrival, Senator Hutherton, to consider the possibility that perhaps public sentiment is ripe for the formation of the National Drug Police, provided he can find a way to fund it without raising taxes.