Originally posted on Substack on March 11, 2024. So, there will be another update on this coming soon.
This blog tracks the epic of kick-starting a whole writing career, with spies and thrillers, now saints and vampires. I cover the creative process, stuff that blows up, history, philosophy, and theology. If you like any or all of the above, you'll like this one. We talk about comic books, movies, music, and writing. Usually, all at the same time. [Note: All Amazon links here are associate links. Which means nothing to you, but it means Declan Finn gets a few pennies for the sale. Thank you.]
Thursday, March 6, 2025
The Warning Labels of Declan Finn
There have been some poor little babies over on Amazon who have objected to things in my Saint Tommy NYPD series.
They object to things like…
Jokes about other Catholic orders. Jokes that my father, the 3rd order lay Dominican (OP, not DR), have told since the day I was born.
Their sins being written down and insulted.
Prayers. In something labeled **CATHOLIC** **ACTION** **HORROR** and a series called SAINT TOMMY. I mean, the poor little babies.
Action. In an action novel.
“Waaahhhh! A Christian should be more forgiving and tolerant!!!” — of rapists and murderers and people actively trying to kill our hero. How dare he defend himself.
So, we've got some warnings.
There are minor spoilers kicking around.
Click here for the entire series
Hell Spawn
Warning: This book contains Catholicism, God, Guns, miracles, America and the presumption that all life is sacred starting from conception. It will also accurately depict abortion, psychopathology, and other things that will be horrific. It's a horror novel, that should be expected. Also, it pokes fun at other Catholic orders and societies, because Catholics have a sense of humor. If you don’t, that’s your problem
Death Cult
Warning: Catholicism and violence ahead. If your favorite sins are insulted, keep reading, there will be more. If you are offended, you were warned. Insulting politicians included. We would apologize for the depictions of ancient Carthage, but the Romans wiped them out, so good riddance. Also, there is some gore ahead. But this is horror, you were warned.
Infernal Affairs
Warning, this novel will have accurate and harsh depictions of politicians and other monsters. Extreme Catholicism ahead. Also, extreme chemistry, prayer, and creatures from Hell. Enjoy.
City of Shadows
Warning: the following book contains horrors of the real world, including current events in London (CA 2019), terrorism, atheists in positions of power, and rioting. There will be prayer, God and guns. Read at your own risk. Urban II did nothing wrong.
Crusader
Warning: This book involves sex trafficking, nudity, demons from Hell, Guns, John Wick level violence, Jewish mysticism, extreme Catholicism, and excessive levels of Deus Vult.
Deus Vult
Warning, this is Catholic action horror. There is gore. There are prayers, demons, stupid bureaucrats in clerical garb, and a Lovecraftian Bond villain.
Coven
Warning: There are accurate portrayals of Catholicism, Asatru, and dealing with evil. If you have problems with the concept of evil, you have purchased the wrong novel.
Hussar
WARNING: This novel involves human trafficking, child abuse, Big Tech, an accurate portrayal of Child Protection Services, Anti-Fa thugs and other Socialists.
Destiny
WARNING: This book may be offensive to ancient Carthage, abortion fetishists, people without a sense of humor, et al. There will be prayers, miracles, corrupt priests, and Italians. If Italians offend you, I was there during COVID-19, I assure you they offend me more.
Lightbringer
WARNING: This book portrays pedophilia as the crime is it, and the belief that perpetrators should have a millstone tied to their neck. Extreme Deus Vult level Catholicism ahead. Accurate portrayals of the history of Hollywood and corrupt politicians included.
Dark Web
WARNING: This book has action, Catholicism, evil witches, kicking the crap out of evil, Chinese spies, evil academics, dismemberment by zoo animal, and combat exorcists. If any or all of these cause you sadness, grief, or mild annoyance, consider removing the stick from your ass.
Blue Saint
WARNING: Catholicism, action, a sense of humor, and no sympathy for the devil. Also, there will be no body positivity, and no pandering to mental disorders.
Fan suggestions
A fan of mine drew up some more. Funny enough, his name is Brendan Kelly … the name of someone I went to high school with. But they’re not the same person. Anyway, just funny. And some of these are variations on those above, so pardon the repetition. I just wanted to keep his funny variants distinct from my original attempts.
Warning: This book contains Catholicism, God, guns, miracles, a belief in America, and the presumption that all life is sacred starting from conception; all of which are extremely unpopular with the governments of the City, County, and State of New York. It also accurately depicts abortion, psychopathology, and other horrific things. It's a horror novel, that should be expected. Furthermore, it pokes fun at various Catholic orders and societies, because Catholics have a sense of humor. May not be legal in the State of California. Do not dry clean.
Warning: The following book contains horrors of the real world, including current events in London (CA 2019), terrorism, rioting, and atheists in positions of power. There will be prayer, God, and guns. Possession and/or sale of this book within the boundaries of the United States Judicial District for the Southern District of New York is purely at your own risk. Not to be taken orally. Do not read if you are allergic to Catholicism, Theology, Morality, or Rational Thought. This book is not to be fastened to the boat. Do not expose to temperatures over 450 F.
Warning: This book involves sex trafficking, nudity, politicians and other demons from Hell, Guns, John Wick level violence, Jewish mysticism, extreme Catholicism, and excessive levels of Deus Vult. Urban II did nothing wrong. Not for sale in Turkish occupied Byzantium. This book is not certified as organic or gluten free. This book has not been rated by The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) and is not to be used for fighting electrical fires. Not tested for personal protection from impact.
Warning: This novel contains accurate and harsh depictions of politicians, monsters, and other creatures from hell. Any resemblances to real politicians is hereby declaimed by the author and publisher and any inferences that said real politicians may have sold their souls, and/or be agents of The Evil One are purely a function of the readers own intelligence, perceptive ability and knowledge of current events. Extreme Catholicism and prayer ahead. May cause feelings of excitement, guilt, repentance, a desire for salvation, and/or hope for the future. Not to be read while operating heavy machinery or while performing cardiac surgery.
Warning: This novel belongs to the genre of Catholic action horror. There is gore, prayer, demons, and stupid bureaucrats in clerical garb; so it’s pretty much just like real life. Warning: reading this book may result in excitement, loss of sleep, serious theological thought, interest in the Catholic church, interest in the Crusades, and/or a desire to fight evil. Read at your own risk. May not be legal in the State of California. Store in a cool, dry place.
Warning: This book contains accurate portrayals of Catholicism, Asatru, and contains several unflattering descriptions of evil. It is not recommended for people who support evil, enjoy evil, actively aid and abet evil, people who have sold their souls to the Devil, or people who have not yet learned to read. Use, possession, and/or sale of this book within the District of Columbia is at your own risk. This book has not been approved by the United States Coast Guard for use as a floatation device.
Warning: Reading this book can expose you to ideas, including eternal, universal, and objective truths, all of which are extremely unpopular in the State of California. Public support or espousal of these ideas may cause serious physical, financial, and reputational harm.
Warning: This book may expose you to ideas that are known to the State of California to cause thought, curiosity, excitement, interest in the meaning of life, interest in God, a sense of purpose and direction, a desire for eternal salvation, and/or hope for the future. Please read responsibly. Do not throw at cats, birds, dogs or other creatures. Not to be used in the manufacture of ice cream or other dairy products.
Warning! This book may contain deep knowledge from beyond the dawn of time, and information certain demonic entities do not want you to know, or it may not. Honestly we never really bothered to check for that.
Warning: Reading this book can expose you to proven, traditional values and ideas, including eternal, universal, and objective truths, all of which are extremely unpopular in certain circles. Public support or espousal of these ideas may cause serious physical, financial, and reputational harm, including intimidation, death threats, hate mail, boycotts, and even an assassination attempt from ideological opponents!
The Accounting of Declan Finn
I usually have to do this at least once a year for my own sanity … despite how little sanity there really is.
This is going to be a quick list of my books. And yes, I mean quick. If you want a previous, long, drawn out version, you can check here. That one is from … 2021? That’s the most recent one? That’s … odd.
Anyway, let’s do this quickly.
To start with, all of my books can be found here, over at Book2Read. It saved me from having to rewrite this exact post every few minutes.
NonFiction
2 books
Non-Series Shorts
Williams and Miller (Thriller)
2 books … it’s a mess, really
Too Secret Service (PB)
The Last Survivors (SF / Distopian)
2 novels
Codename: Winterborn
Codename: UnSub.
Non-Series books
Anthologies (16)
Love at First Bite
Three Ravens Press
Four books, Four short stories
White Ops (Space Opera)
Tuscany Bay Books
5 Novels, 2 shorts
Shoot the Devil 2: Dark Matter (Anthology): The closest I’m going to get to a Saint Tommy crossover.
White Ops (Book #1)
Politics Kills (Book #2)
Main Street DOA (Book #3)
Gathering Storm (Book #4)
Eye of the Storm (Book #5)
Saint Tommy, NYPD. (Urban Fantasy, Action-Horror)
Tuscany Bay Books
12 novels, 5 short stories
Vessel (Short story, with Josh Griffing)
The Pius Trilogy (Coming Back Soon)
5 books
Pius Tales
Pius History
A Pius Man
A Pius Legacy
A Pius Stand
Honeymoon from Hell (Coming soon)
Land & Sea (Coming soon)
On Tiber’s Edge (With Blaine Pardoe)
Total
36 books (42 books with the coming soon)
3 Nonfiction
16 Anthologies
The stories of Shoot the Devil 2: Dark Matter
Do you remember the anthology Shoot the Devil?
As I said yesterday, it was a unique premise… confront demons; beat them to death.
My story back then was of a demon hunter working off his penance. It was the narrator, the damsel, and the demon. And the demon bounced back from being hit by a bus.
And then there’s Shoot the Devil 2: Dark Matter.
The premise here is fighting the demonic IN SPPAAACCCEEE.
Anyway, the stories.
Ahem…
“A Ship Without A Sail” by Frank Luke: The far space exploration ship Lexington comes across an alien derelict ship whose crew are reluctant to accept help; Chaplain Thomas Malcolm tags along, and discovers something dark hiding aboard that’s attuned to his personal demons.
“And Hell Followed With Them” by Michael Gallagher: An obnoxious tech billionaire enlists two disgraced astronauts to crew the Lightbringer with him, for a far-reaching voyage meant to pave the way for interstellar tourism. Upon reaching their destination, the seething and desolate planet TrES-2b, the magnate begins behaving erratically .
“Demon Bridge” by T.J. Marquis: Shore leave for Snake Division gets interrupted when the black ops team gets enlisted to track down a prototype ship from the military whose AI has gone and is heading for the dangerous and mysterious B-void.
“From Beyond,” by Stephen G. Johnson: When a member of a rough group of colonists settling a cold, poisonous planet goes missing, his compatriots risk their lives to find him, knowing his oxygen won’t last forever. What they don’t know is that their arrival awakened ancient alien beings that had been lying dormant for ages, waiting. Hungry.
“The Cleansing of Lethe” by N.R. LaPoint In this high-octane space fantasy tale, the battleship Principality’s Blade continues fighting the intergalactic Final Crusade against a demonically enthralled foe known as The Archenemy. A crew of human, elven, dwarven and Sindari soldiers fight to rescue a besieged research facility on a far-flung planet.
“The Heavens Declare His Glory” by James Pyles: A young woman with child awaits a brutal fate for false accusations leveled at her. Her people’s tribal justice is as darkly harsh as her home world’s dusky desert climate; but hope arrives from the most unexpected of places.
“Mark of Kane” by Declan Finn: When an ancient demon threatens a massive space station, Sean Patrick Ryan steps into action. But even the most dangerous man in the galaxy may need a little help.
“Daughters of Men” by Trevor Denning: It’s 1940s L.A., and detective Nick Pike wasn’t interested in finding a missing starlet, but the nervous studio heads were willing to pay him anything. His five o’clock shadow has barely hit half past when people around him start dying and his only clues point to a ruined German castle with more than secrets buried beneath the rubble.
“In the Place Called Har-Magedon” by Richard Paolinelli: When a whole colony is possessed by demons, the Catholic Church call in her oldest, and most surprising weapon.
“Better Than Being a Leopard” by L. Jagi Lamplighter: The immortal witch hunter Gregor Prospero has been imprisoned beneath the surface of Mars for his sins. With nowhere to escape to, where will he turn when the minions of The Evil One seek him out to torture him?
“The Last War” by Van Treeck: As the sentient all-consuming alien race known as The Rot threatens to devour all in its path, an unlikely alliance is formed between a technologically superior race of werewolf starfighters and an underpowered but cunning human fleet.
Funny thing is? This might be the closest I get to a White Ops and Saint Tommy, NYPD crossover.
Because this is going to involve Sean Patrick Ryan versus a demon on a space station.
Yes. It is fun.
And we have an ad.
So let’s shoot the devil today.
Buy Shoot the Devil: Dark Matter
Cover Reveal(s)
Thirteen tales of Horror, perfect for a dark and stormy Friday the 13th…or a sunny Tuesday afternoon.
From science fiction to classic European horror, interwoven with layers of creep factor, gore, and mystery that will keep you turning the page…while looking over your shoulder.
So, light the candles, stir the cauldron, and check your ammo count, because things are about to get dark
Starring authors:
Nick Steverson (Editor)
by Marisa Wolf (Author, Editor)
Nick Steverson
Christopher Woods
Dan Bridgwater
H.Y. Gregor
Kevin Ikenberry
Marie Whittaker
Mark Wandrey
Rob Howell
Matt Novotny
Melissa Olthoff
Kacey Ezell
Declan Finn
Steve Diamond
DJ Butler
The stories"?
Dave Butler - Unclean Hands: Hiram's nutball theories on magical protections might just prove right in the investigation of several local murders.
Matt Novotny - They called him Jack: A respected London doctor runs into some trouble with his new wife, a shopkeeper, and some cultists circa 1888.
Nick and Melissa - Buyer's Remorse: New guy moves to town, makes more connections than he bargained for.
Kevin Ikenberry - Hungry: When even the best snack can't satisfy.
Marie Whittaker - Wraith: June Bug Dempsey only ever had faith in herself. Years after the world ends, will that be enough?
Christopher Woods - Dark of Night: Daniel Keller gets pulled into one last job - and things get messy.
H.Y. Gregor - Three Graves Later: Early explorations of the Arctic come with a steep cost.
Rob Howell - Hyarkeen: Deals with the devil are always more than they seem - and the rules change when you play
Kacey and Marisa - Undergrowth: New girl moves to town. Meets Boy. Accidental killing spree.
Dan Bridgwater - Call of the Temple: Sometimes the secrets of ancient civilizations might be better left undisturbed.
Mark Wandrey - Dream of Distant Shores: In space, someone can hear you scream...for a time.
Declan Finn - They Burn Witches: Detective Alex Packard is no saint, but he can still bring down the wrath of God.
Steve Diamond - Happy Birthday: It's her 18th birthday, and the surprises in store for her are sure to take the cake.
What’s next?
Well, a little more magic.
Yes, I’m in Fantastic Schools Seven. Link to follow
You’ve met the students of magic schools, but what about the staff? What is it like to work in a magic school, to teach students and serve as their mentors and disciplinarians and everything else young minds need? We know their types … the headmasters – kindly or unpleasant; the teachers – friendly or cruel; the matrons and assistants and inspectors and janitors, all of whom have their own role to play beyond being characters in a student-themed story. But what is it like to be them?
But we’re not done yet…
You know, with my father dying and then moving to Texas, I felt like I haven’t done much this year. For “not doing much” I have a lot coming out at once.
Again, no link yet. To be discussed
Whatever Happened to Declan Finn?
You might be part of this blog and go, “Is Declan still alive?”
You may have even seen me on social media, or at LibertyCon.
The next question is, what is that fat bastard doing?
I’ll tell you … I’ve been busy.
You may remember my Love at First Bite vampire series. Maybe you remember Saint Tommy, NYPD.
Buy my books
How would you like a follow up for Love at First Bite?
And another Saint Tommy novel?
I have a five book series that I’m getting ready to launch. It’s called Honeymoon from Hell.
Book four is called Cross Over.
Guess what? It’s a crossover.
And these books have been done for months. And they’ve been rewritten at least once. Why haven’t they been released sooner? Hint: I’m self-publishing them. Why aren’t I publishing them with Three Ravens, the people who are publishing Love at First Bite? You’d have to ask them. I don’t think they’ve made any public announcements about their current issues. I could be wrong.
I will be discussing Honeymoon from Hell more over the coming weeks. I have covers. I have merchandizing. I have a cafepress store with shirts and mugs and things.
However, the biggest thing I’ve been working on has been a new novel I’ve been calling On Tiber’s Edge. (Title subject to change)
Subtitle: A Land & Sea novel.
If that means nothing to you, a little bit of backstory.
Blaine Lee Pardoe is an author who used to write Battletech novels. If you don’t know what Battletech is, it’s an RPG, and I don’t mean a rocket propelled grenade. Since Blaine is to the right of Mao, he fell out with Battletech … mostly because of a deranged stalker who made a number of absurd claims.
So, Blaine told them to stuff their games and went out to create his own world of big stompy mechs. There are several reviews over at Upstream, which you should already be subscribed to. I’ll be reviewing them myself once my scheduled gets unf***ed.
And the Land & Sea series is brilliant. It’s Tom Clancy with mech combat. And aliens. Can’t forget the aliens.
At one point, Blaine put a line into his books about the Catholic church declaring a crusade against the alien hordes. So he needed a book on what a crusade would look like. He needed someone Catholic.
Did I mention that Blaine read Hell Spawn?
So, first, that happened.
He needed a Catholic guy.
Guess who?
And, if you pop in at the 1:51:55 minute mark, he’ll explain further.
I’m still confused how about all these people know who I am.
Must be the jacket.
Anyway, so I’ve been working on a military science fiction novel. And I don’t mean White Ops, where the solution to everything is SpecOps / irregular forces win everything.
Right now, I am over 80,000 words into On Tiber’s Edge (title subject to change), and it’s kicking my ass a bit. After all, I’m playing in someone else’s world, his rules, and it’s not like I can just grab the RPG manual and look up everything … yet. It’s coming. I’ll probably post about it when it does.
I’ve been working with On Tiber’s Edge on and off since October. That was while I was also writing Honeymoon from Hell #4 and #5. And writing two short stories for the Fantastic School series. And maintaining the substack. And working with Upstream Reviews…
Anyway, as you can tell, I’ve been busy.
More from me soon on the kickstarter, Honeymoon from Hell, and just what the Hell is going on with my books.
As always, Non illegitimi carborundum
Buy my books
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)