Book excerpt: Carcosa. Yhtill. Hali. Hastur the Unspeakable. The King in Yellow, a terrible, faceless being bent on revenge. A mysterious city on the shore of a cloud-covered lake. A world with two suns where, at night, ominous black stars shine. People and places only briefly mentioned in centuries-old literature yet have, over the years, bored into the collective human psyche. A horrific encounter with a mysterious cult propels Don Mason, an ordinary warehouse manager, into an interplanetary conspiracy. Kidnapped and sent into slavery on an alien world, he discovers the terrible truth behind the legends. If he is to have any chance to return home, Don must fight to free a world ruled by the tyrannical god-king Hastur before his plan to seize control of Earth dooms the human race. The Carcosa Conspiracy is the first novel in a four-book series. It is a unique blend of science fiction, horror, speculative history, and military action. Its main character is an ordinary man who finds himself thrust into extraordinary circumstances and must either rise to the occasion or lose everything. With nods to H. P. Lovecraft, Ambrose Bierce, and Robert W. Chambers, seasoned with the occasional bit of irreverent humor, it exemplifies the eternal battle between good and evil, freedom and oppression, and the sacrifices good men and women must make to do what is right regardless of the personal cost.