The Clarity of Cold Steel

Detective Avinash Singh is dying by degrees.

Outcast from his people, on the lam, and stricken by a deadly plague, Detective Singh survives on the fringes by his keen wits, quick draw, and cool silver tongue.

When a slick grifter hires the hard-boiled sleuth to locate a missing kid, a desperate search leads him through a maze of deceit and murder. But unraveling threads and digging up long-buried skeletons sets powerful forces clambering for his head.

Can the streetwise gumshoe withstand the endless onslaught long enough to locate the missing kid, and if he does, will he wish he hadn't?

The Clarity of Cold Steel is a gripping steampunk detective thriller.

If you like gritty heroes, twisty thrillers, and hard-boiled sleuths, you'll love The Clarity of Cold Steel.

Gain some clarity and buy the steampunk thriller today.

Questions with the author

What inspired you to write 'The Clarity of Cold Steel?'

I've always loved detective fiction. After fantasy, it's my favorite genre. And whatever I write, I always seem to inject some hard-boiled, noirish detective element into it.

And well, I wanted to write a story about a Hindu detective because I've always been fascinated with the culture. And I had created the apocalyptic steampunk world of the Machine City for a role-playing campaign I ran for my brother a long while back.

So I married the two ideas and the world of 'The Clarity of Cold Steel' was born.

Q: 'The Clarity of Cold Steel' is a mouthful. How did you come up with that as a title?

It's really just a line from the novel. I had a different working title at the time, but when I wrote that line, I knew it was going to be the title.

Coming up with a title can be incredibly frustrating. After I wrote Lord of Asylum it took me over a year to hammer out a title. I changed it at least three times before settling on it.

With The Clarity of Cold Steel, as soon as I wrote it, I just knew.

Why steampunk? What does it offer that other genres don't?

I had written two short stories set in this world before I wrote Clarity. I loved that they were set in a fantasy/sci-fi world but I could still use real-world history and culture and problems to flesh it out.

Plus, I love using steampunky tropes like clones and evil corporations and weird technological gadgetry.