Dusk Peterson: 26 books

"'Shall we allow criminals to roam the streets at will because we're afraid to take the chance of harming an innocent prisoner?'" A bloody knife from a crime scene becomes a mystery to be solved and a foreshadow of trouble to come. The ties forged between the noble-minded Eternal...

Separated in time and place, these young women and young men are united in their goal: to protect those they care for from the destruction of battle. The odds are against them. From the introduction: "This series omnibus covers a range of disabilities: cognitive impairment, speech...

"All she needed to gather were the ingredients for the meal. This she tried to explain on one summer morning, standing by the outer dungeon's exit while confronting two guards who had their daggers pointed at her." Voluntarily incarcerated in a prison full of men, married to a man...

"I came here hoping you would give me an excuse to kill you, but now I can only feel pity for you – pity and horror." For eighteen years, he has survived in an army unit where few soldiers live more than two or three years. Now he finds himself in circumstances where his life is...

"'I am placed under the care of the Unknowable God; I obey his commands, wherever they take me. But you may have need of the amulet to protect you against the Prince.'" The boundaries of rank declare that Serva can be a princess or she can be a slave. But for the bastard daughter...

"'You have committed a vile and savage act, one that any other nation would punish with death. Our punishment, on the other hand, will only be to give you what you want. You have sought to live in a world without boundaries of civilization, and such a world shall henceforth be your dwelling place.'" A...

"'This prisoner deserves special treatment.' The hooded man looked over at the young man again." Elsdon Taylor, a prisoner accused of committing a terrible murder. Layle Smith, a torturer with a terrible past. Their meeting in the Eternal Dungeon appears certain to bring out the worst...

"'Do you have any questions?' the Seeker asked. 'About the routine of the dungeon? The times you will be fed? The questions you will be asked? The instruments of torture I use?'" The prisoner knew that the Eternal Dungeon was a place where suspected criminals were broken by torture,...

"Every psychologist of our day knows the origin of transformation therapy, though many prefer not to speak of it. It is considered embarrassing to be forced to admit that your primary tool for curing patients was developed by a group of torturers." The Eternal Dungeon, a royal prison...

"'The Eternal Dungeon is my home now,' the High Seeker said. But as he spoke, he lifted his face and looked at the Vovimian carving, as a man might look at a beloved he must leave forever." The Seekers (torturers) in the Eternal Dungeon have always expressed contempt toward the Hidden...

The Eternal Dungeon is celebrating the Commoners' Festival, and all the elite are feasting. Including a man who is secretly a commoner. This short story of love and sacrifice can be read on its own or as a side story in The Eternal Dungeon, a speculative fiction series set in a nineteenth-century...

"'Death did not hold the name then that he holds now.'" In Mip's most notorious life prison, Death appears in a strange disguise. It had seemed for a while that the plan would work: a bold conspiracy by a group of idealistic prisoners and sympathetic guards to stop abuse at...