Hell's Ditch

Haunted by the ghosts of her murdered family, Helen Damnation takes to The Black Road for revenge. As she traverses a landscape decimated by nuclear war, her resolve to take down Commander Tereus Winterborn and his brutal militia of Reapers only strengthens with every step. Along the way, Helen is reunited with her old mentor Darrow, who has formed a militia of his own from a rag-tag band of youths—the most formidable of them is Danny, a fighter so green only his skill with a gun and his grit keep him alive. Helen is also reunited with her ally Alannah, an intelligence officer so traumatized during the war she is more than ready for the coming revolt. All they need now is Gevaudan Shoal, the last surviving member of the genetically engineered Grendelwolves. Once Helen and her band of rebels win Shoal to their side, they'll be a force to be reckoned with.

Still, Commander Winterborn is a formidable nemesis. The only thing rivaling Winterborn's insatiable need for power is his all-too-personal vendetta against Helen. And with Dr. Mordrake working under his command on Project Tindalos, a top-secret experiment to harness of the potential of ancient technologies, Winterborn may just succeed at world domination.

But Winterborn doesn't foresee the devastation Tindalos could wreak on the world once unleashed. Unless Helen and her rebel faction stop him first.

"One of those stories that grabs you and won't let go." —Pat Cadigan, Hugo Award–winning author of Mindplayers