Oct 9, 2026
( Great Stories
This is the fifth and final of the of the new Omnibus editions of this excellent series. It is the complete collection of stories and is great for those who have collected the original novels. It is available in physical from the publisher and the eBook has a wider release. I have absolutely loved rereading these stories. I will again state that Declan Finn is one of my favourite contemporary authors. I have read all the published books and short stories, and many contributions to anthologies. I had been planning to reread this series for a while now, especially as I await the republication of the Pius series. These new omnibus editions look amazing! My son and I both absolutely love these new editions. Without the words on the covers we would both do them as prints and put them up on our wall with Icons we have. About the author we are informed: “As penance for his sins, Declan Finn spent over 40 years in New York City. He has since made his escape from New York to Texas. He is the author of books ranging from thrillers to urban fantasy to SciFi, including the Dragon Award Nominated Novel for Best horror in 2016, Honor at Stake, and the 2017 follow-up, Live and Let Bite. He was also nominated for "Best Apocalypse" novel at the Dragons in 2017. He also won the book of the year award with his novel Hell Spawn from CLFA. Finn is known for being annoyingly Catholic, his action sequences, and writing faster than most readers can keep up with. In less than a decade, he has written over 30 novels, and is waiting for all of them to be published. He's been part of multiple anthologies, and will write for anyone.” This is yet another excellent collection, and short stories are a very different art form than novels. The writing needs to be crisper, cleaner and tighter. Finn is a master of both the long form and short form fiction. I was even more impressed reading these stories this time, for some of the stories I have read them 4 or 5 times now. Spiritual warfare and the war on crime collide. Officer Nolan thought he had his work cut out for him. And as he has said many times, to be a Saint you have to be dead! The stories in this collection are: One Ranger Lupus Dei They Burn Witches, Don’t They? Succubus Blues Saints And Monsters In The Garden Of Madness Mark Of Kane Principle Necromancy Vessel – by John Griffing A brief review of each story is: One Ranger This volume also includes the story One Ranger, which was previously unpublished. We do encounter Texas Ranger Lloyd Lermon in other future stories. It was a great new offering. Lupus Dei It takes place during single night. Nolan has been captured, taken to a remote location and teams of three witches are hunting him. He needs to survive for an hour or he will die. He does battle with several sets of witches. Each is a trio, and each wielding similar powers in similar methods. Tommy on the other hand uses prayer, cunning, and the assistance of certain charisms knowing to be gifts of God to certain saints. The meaning of the title is an interesting twist. But to find out you will need to read this excellent little story. They Burn Witches, Don’t They? This story is told from Alex Packerd’s point of view. He has been staying in Tommy’s house while he is overseas and he is prepared for what happens. Being Tommy’s partner had given him some skills, some tools, and he has been doing his research. Soon Alex, the chief medical examiner Doctor Sinead Holland and Father Freeman realize what they are up against and they start to work to stop something that will be bad, very, very bad. But can they take on a coven, some of whom are super powered without Tommy? Succubus Blues I read this in the original anthology it appeared it, and at the time it was like a visit with an old friend. A creature as the title indicates appears in the stations. Tommy decides to figure out if it is a try or real. And soon Tommy, the woman, and her man are fighting a demon. A great little story with some very interesting twists. Saints And Monsters We are informed at the beginning that this story is not official canon. But that being said, what a great story. This is a crossover with the Love at First Bite series. Or I should say specifically a reworking of part of the Honeymoon from hel story called Cross Over. Specifically parts of middle chapters called Saint, Meet Monster to After Action. It is a really fun story of Tommy and Marco both being at the Vatican training, and as happens to both of them often, trouble just seems to find them. It is surprising how well they worked together! A great read. In The Garden Of Madness Having not read this story it was like a visit with old friends. Tommy and Alex working a strange case together. This one reminds me of some of the Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley aka Poison Ivy Story arcs from the past as well as Murder Most Picante by Karina Fabian in her DragonEye, PI series. And of course it makes reference to a certain film with Rick Moranis, Steve Martin and Bill Murray. This is an intriguing story. The whole story takes place over the period of a day and night. And Tommy and Alex pull out some old tricks and some new. And even a bit of a Scooby Doo reference in the ending. An excellent story! Mark Of Kane Wow! This is an excellent cross over story. A main character from one of Finn’s other series carries relics of Saint Tommy. Those relics are spent brass. And he encounters a demon Tommy had faced before. A short story with a lot of punch. Characters who we know and love. And action galore. Finn has written another excellent story in this piece! Principle Necromancy Having seen pictures of Finn I could easily see him beating a person with a book! Reading this story as a short story was powerful. Tommy deals with a vampire, the undead, and even a necromancer. He uses a Charism that he had used once before. And this time it has a surprising effect on the director. Vessel – by John Griffing In some ways this story fits between the end of Blue Saint, Saint Tommy Book 12, and Epilogue: Devil’s Advocate. Or it fits in as part of that Epilogue or the events to soon follow. The main part of this story is an action short story with a battle between Tommy’s son and ward and the Chinese agents. The lead agent falls from grace and Saint Tommy and a saint who appears to Tommy appear and rescue Lim. This is another outstanding collection to read it brings together for the first time all the shorter Saint Tommy Pieces. Excellent stories in a series that are now available in 4 Omnibus editions and a this collection of all the short stories. I highly recommend this series for mature readers. I have recommended these stories to dozens of people and all have loved them. Therefore I recommend them to you. Pick this up and read the conclusion to this awesome series!
