It is 1940 and Special Agent Harry Bierce (aka Alphonso Clay) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is facing his greatest series of challenges to date. On the orders of J. Edgar Hoover, who does not like Bierce (and is the only one who knows his century-old secret, except for the two children he fathered with his wife, Teresa Duval, of the Alphonso Clay series) but often must rely on the deceptively mild-looking agent, Bierce must thwart the efforts of Heinrich Himmler, head of the Nazi SS, to derail the re-election of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Not only that, he must identify a murderous spy in the midst of the Manhattan Project and supervise the detention of a monstrous creature that under no circumstances must be revealed to the American public. To top it off, he must guide the career of a young, troubled female agent (the daughter of a constable who was murdered by Bonnie and Clyde that Bierce blames himself for not intervening/preventing) through the maze of chauvinist corridors that is the FBI under Hoover.

Bierce aka Clay is a unique character whose lineage is a contaminated mesh of human and ‘other-worldly,’ giving him special gifts and talents — super-human eyesight, hearing, speed, and other abilities; one being he cannot die naturally. With the death of Arabella Lot, his first love, and now his deceased wife, Teresa Duval, he puts himself in repeatedly dangerous situations, volunteering for the most horrendous assignments, hoping for someone to kill him.

After receiving his Juris Doctorate from UCLA, Martin worked for The Department of Defense and the aerospace industry, specializing in contracts and regulatory issues. Tracing his Californian ancestry all the way back to the 1830s, Martin developed a passion for American history and the mystery genre. With encouragement and support from his beloved wife, Sonia, he began writing The Alphonso Clay Mysteries. Sonia passed away on Christmas Eve 2009, following a brave battle against ovarian cancer (the same devastating disease that took Teresa Duval from Alphonso). He promised her he would finish the books and become a published author. The series, all published by TouchPoint Press, includes: Treason on the Mississippi, The Siege of Knoxville, Murder on the March, Murder by Plague, and Assassination at Willard’s. Destroyer of Worlds is next in the series. Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (Amphorae Publishing) is the bridge novel that picks up with Clay in the late 1920s. Published by TouchPoint Press  Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency  Jack Martin