Raven Protocol — A Frank Stryker Mystery (Issue #3) When a classified military operation resurfaces years after it was buried, Frank Stryker is pulled into a case that was never meant to be reopened. What begins as a routine investigation quickly spirals into a web of coded transmissions, shadowy government agents, and a deadly secret known only as the Raven Protocol. Set against a gritty 1940s backdrop, Stryker and his loyal companion Bear follow a trail of cryptic clues—from abandoned facilities to late-night radio frequencies that shouldn’t exist. Every lead points to a cover-up, and every answer raises a more dangerous question: who’s still listening? As the line between patriotism and conspiracy blurs, Stryker must decide how far he’s willing to go to expose the truth… before the truth silences him. Some protocols were never meant to be broken.

The road out of town doesn’t forgive mistakes. And neither do the men who run it. They call it a supply job—just another late-night haul through the backroads of the Ozarks. No questions, no delays, and no headlights longer than necessary. But when a bootleg run goes sideways and a driver turns up dead in a ditch with a truck full of untouched shine, something doesn’t add up. Frank Stryker has seen plenty of bad deals, but this one smells different. Cleaner. Planned. The locals keep their mouths shut. The hills keep their secrets. And somewhere deep in the timber, copper stills burn through the night—feeding a network that stretches farther than anyone wants to admit. They call it the Moonshine Run. What starts as a simple investigation turns into a high-stakes chase across winding gravel roads, hidden hollers, and one wrong turn away from a bullet. The operation isn’t just about liquor anymore—it’s about control, territory… and a ledger that could bring the whole outfit crashing down. But in the Ozarks, truth doesn’t travel in the daylight. It rides in the dark—fast, quiet… and loaded.

On a rain-soaked night in Springfield, a routine cab ride turns deadly. When a young woman is found at the base of an old downtown building, the police call it an accident. Maybe a fall. Maybe a mistake. Case closed. But Frank Stryker doesn’t buy it. The victim was a late-night clerk who knew the city’s secrets—who came and went, who paid in cash, and who didn’t want to be seen. Her final cab ride—the last fare—wasn’t random. It was arranged. Digging through dimly lit streets, back-alley businesses, and a web of quiet payoffs, Frank and his loyal partner Bear uncover a trail that leads straight into the grip of organized crime. The deeper he goes, the clearer it becomes: she didn’t fall. She was silenced. Now Frank’s racing against the clock to expose the truth before he becomes the next loose end tied up and thrown away. Because in this city, the last ride doesn’t always take you home.

When a quiet clerk at a downtown Western Auto store is found dead beneath the building, the police call it an accident. A misstep. A tragic slip from the roof. But Frank Stryker doesn’t buy accidents—especially not the kind that leave too many questions behind. The store had a reputation: late-night inventory, locked doors after hours… and a radio in the back office that never quite shut off. Customers whispered about strange interference—voices cutting through static, numbers repeated like a code, signals that didn’t belong to any station on the dial. They called it the Western Auto signal. As Stryker and his dog Bear dig deeper, they uncover a trail that runs far beyond a simple storefront—into backroom deals, mob pressure, and a clerk who knew too much for her own good. The signal wasn’t random. It was a warning. Maybe even a ledger. And someone was willing to kill to keep it from being heard. In a city where neon lights flicker over rain-soaked streets and every frequency carries a secret, Stryker will have to decide how far he’s willing to go… before he becomes just another voice lost in the static.

Bodies are turning up all over the city and the ones thing they have in common their hearts are missing. What's causing this and what can stop the Raven's Omen?

From the darkness of unconsciousness comes a man who has lived for centuries, unaware, asleep. In a dream of aliens and deceit. When he woke, he found he was no longer in his time. But a new time. A new world. Strange. Foreign. His task, to seek and destroy those who had stolen a great power from the aliens of X, Y, and Z. He starts his search in a city called Nowhere. And it is from nowhere he must find the clues that will help him bring closure to the life that he now knows.

A politcally-charged superhero intervention turns strange. What unknown menace looms?

The Shaft at Devil’s Hollow Deep in the Tri-State mining country, an abandoned lead shaft long sealed after a deadly cave-in is said to hold more than ghosts. When a former miner dies clutching a map marked only Devil’s Hollow, Frank Stryker and Bear follow a trail into flooded tunnels, company corruption, and murders buried with the mines. Locals whisper of a shaft deliberately drowned to hide a killing. At the edge of the hollow, Frank learns the collapse was no accident. Years ago, union men, crooked mine owners, and hired gunmen fought over a ledger that could expose stolen claims and murder. That ledger may still lie somewhere below the black water. But others are hunting it too. As Frank descends through rotten timbers, flooded drifts, and forgotten chambers, he uncovers a conspiracy thought buried beneath the chat piles—and a killer willing to make sure the shaft keeps its dead. In Devil’s Hollow, some secrets don’t stay underground.