New publisher Crossroad Press has launched a shared-world series titled O.C.L.T., standing for Orphic Crisis Logistical Taskforce. These novels, written by a number of different authors, will center around a core team of nine characters. Series creators and owners David Niall Wilson and Aaron Rosenberg, who have been writing original and tie-in novels for decades, have launched the series with a pair of novellas, Rosenberg’s Brought to Light, and Wilson’s The Temple of Camazotz. There is also a full-length novel available by Wilson, The Parting.

These initial works are intended to set the stage for the novel Incursion, by Aaron Rosenberg. This is the book that will bring the nine together under one command and set the stage for all future works in the series.

The premise of the series is simple, and will be familiar to fans of television shows like The X-Files, Fringe, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Second Unit Two. There are incidents and emergencies in the world that defy logical explanation, events that could be defined as supernatural, extraterrestrial, or simply otherworldly. Standard laws do not allow for such instances, nor are most officials or authorities trained to handle them. In recognition of these facts, one organization has been created that can. Assembled by a loose international coalition, their mission is to deal with these situations using diplomacy, guile, force, and strategy as necessary. They shield the rest of the world from their own actions, and clean up the messes left in their wake. They are our protection, our guide, our sword, and our voice, all rolled into one.

They are O. C. L. T.

The novels will rarely include the entire team, but instead will utilize the members in the roles of consultant, or localized assistance. They will liaise with CIA, MI6, Mossad, and many other international intelligence groups. They will help sheriffs and detectives, private citizens and governments.

The team is comprised of a folklorist, Geoffrey Bullfinch, an American computer expert, Wendell “Mack” Macklemore, a Cuban-American linguist, Elizabeth Lapsey, an Israeli occult expert and sorceress, Rebecca York, an Italian monster hunter, Isabella Ferrara, an ex-military intelligence agent with unique experience, Reed Christopher “RC” Hayes, a German-born physicist, Gunter Krieg, a mystic, Malana Tai, who hails from a small island, and a Japanese archaeologist, Hideyoshi Tidijin. Each of these characters has a particular discipline that they excel in, unique experience with the unknown, and an array of secondary abilities and skills that will become clear as their stories unfold.

Brought to Light, the first novella to be published, intrudes Reed Hayes, many years before the formation of O.C.L.T. on a mission in Sweden. It is his first encounter with the unknown, and marks him accordingly. A scientist, and then a CIA operative disappear under mysterious circumstances. Can RC neutralize the threat before others are lost? Find out in Brought to Light.

The Temple of Camazotz, the second novella, introduces Geoffrey Bullfinch and Wendell “Mack” Macklemore, who team up to investigate a series of deaths by decapitation just across the Mexican border. Bullfinch has been called in because the locals believe it is the work of an ancient deity, Camazotz.

In The Parting, the first full-length novel, Mack is again paired with one of the other team members, Rebecca York, who, after a harrowing vision involving ancient Egypt and a long-dead sorcerer, joins Mack, a renegade Vatican monk, a Mossad agent, and several others in a bid to save the world from ancient revenge and certain war.

One focus of each of these early entries in the series is to drive home the need for a central point of operations, and a strong, ready team of agents, setting the stage for the organizations creation. Each book will also introduce second tier characters, agents, detectives, and experts in a variety of fields that will work with the O.C.L.T. on particular adventures, and can be brought back to help again in the future. The hope is that this will build into a fast-paced, intricate world of monsters, science, adventure and intrigue that will keep readers coming back for more. It will also give individual authors the chance to create characters and exercise freedom not usually available in tie-in work.

The novels will appear first in a variety of eBook formats, and next in trade paperback. Each will also be made into an unabridged audiobook to reach as many readers as possible. The novellas will run until there are six, and then the six will combine into a single volume for print and audio.

Upcoming works are by Aaron Rosenberg (Eureka, Stargate, Star Trek), Sidney Williams (Bloodhunter, Gnelfs, Midnight Eyes), Steven Savile, (International bestselling author of Silver) David Niall Wilson (Bram Stoker Award-winning author) and more. These books are available at the Crossroad Press Store, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Sony, Apple, and for libraries through Overdrive.com and EPSCO.

Find O.C.L.T. eBooks at:

Trade paperbacks of the full length novels will be available soon at Amazon and Crossroad Press, and the audiobooks will eventually be live at Amazon, Audible, and in iTunes.

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