San Antonio Del Tequendama Cundinamarca, Colombia November 1938 'My front door is broken, bleeding guts of shadows...' '...how do I find new skin...' '...among my desolate bones...' "But this is nothing, right?" whispered Tatiana. "I'm still alive." These were her abstract thoughts as she stared like a saucer-eyed cat confronting a deluge--stared into her emerald green eyes in the large, heart-shaped crest-mirror hanging above the vanity table in her bedroom suite at Hotel "Bochica", Salto del Tequendama. Tatiana Marita Ospina has run away from her forced marriage to an aristocratic philanderer, and sought sanctuary at "Bochica", a retreat for the rich and famous. The last thing she expected, however, was to discover a convoy of Nazi SS soldiers arriving at the hotel under cover of night, led by Deputy F hrer Rudolf Hess. In the darkest hours of the morning, Tatiana's sleep is disrupted by strange, ghostly music and voices, which grip her imagination and compel her to explore the lower levels of "Bochica", where she stumbles onto the true secret the hotel has been hiding: the occult mystery behind the rising Axis powers. Openly confronted by this insurmountable horror, she must decide if she can make the sacrifice necessary to accept her role in the secret history of World War II. But will it be destiny or damnation for Tatiana Marita Ospina, as well as for the rest of the world? Weaving together psychological horror and alternative history with theater of the absurd, A CATCH IN TIME marks the triumphant and genre-defying return of dark fantasist Christopher Alan Broadstone following last year's SUICIDE THE HARD WAY: AND OTHER TALES OF THE INNERZONE. A CATCH IN TIME also includes two short stories from SUICIDE THE HARD WAY: And Other Tales of the Innerzone--SMILEYS' GRAVE and ROSEBLOOD--and also Nazi-Excerpt "Chapter 19" from the novel PUZZLEMAN. SMILEYS' GRAVE Poet Aaron Shelley Wanton has become a lost soul among artists. He's alone, miserable, broke and -- worst of all -- he's no longer writing. His inability to string together any words-of-worth is driving him closer and closer toward a cliff-edge of madness. Somehow he must reconnect with his muse, the Moon, who has abandoned him. Heartbroken, he once again finds himself lying among the grim stones of Mulls Cemetery, staring up at the lunar orb through the tangle of trees. On this night, however, his burning desire for the Moon's inspiration will invoke far more than he ever bargained for. ROSEBLOOD "It's every place I look." The voices agreed. The voices also intoned that today would bring something special. With a dozen roses in hand, Andre--a filthy, bearded flower-seller wearing a prairie coat and ragged cowboy hat--stepped up to the curb before him. There was a mess of merging cars inching down the frontage road, exiting from Interstate 30 into Garland, Texas. Once again the voices spoke to Andre, insisting that somewhere in this herd of vehicles there would be a sacred man. One who would nod his head yes, roll down his window, and ask how much for a rose--a blossom of God "A great man," muttered Andre, studying the traffic. "A saint." Evening was approaching, and Andre knew it was going to spiral into a very glorious night. PUZZLEMAN: A HORROR-MYSTERY-THRILLER Fall into a world of Grumemonsters--hideous zombie-like creatures that thrive in a living hell created by the Puzzleman--where no one is sane down a drain, and down a drain no one is sane. Follow Amanda Zimmerman, Professor John Rainbow, Jeannette Orf vre, Ben Henfy, and The Legless Man, all seeking retribution and escape from a horror worse than death. They are five disparate lives meticulously woven together over time to play a special part in the Puzzleman's twisted vision of eternal life. Welcome to truth and eternity. Welcome to the Pipeworld.