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Mark McNease’s Fearsome Fiction Podcast 80: Night Flight to Murder Town – A Marshall James Thriller (Chapters 10 – 12)
Welcome back to Fearsome Fiction, and to Night Flight to Murder Town: A Marshall James Thriller.
In the next three chapters, Marshall’s fresh start in New York takes a sharp, unsettling turn. What begins as a nostalgic breakfast in a familiar Manhattan diner becomes something far more dangerous when Trent finally hints at the truth behind his sudden wealth. Laundromats? Not exactly. And the “job” he has in mind for Marshall may come with consequences neither of them can fully control .
As the charm of Trent’s polished world gives way to whispers, bodyguards, locked lobbies, and carefully managed secrets, Marshall realizes he may have stepped into something darker than he imagined. And just when the walls begin to close in, we shift—back to Lambertville. Back to Boo. Back to the choices that will define what kind of man Marshall becomes.
A new city. A dangerous offer. And a past that refuses to stay in the rearview mirror.
Settle in… the flight’s about to get turbulent.
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Listen Along! Night Flight to Murder Town: A Marshall James Thriller, on the Fearsome Fiction Podcast
Listen Along to Night Flight to Murder Town: A Marshall James Thriller (Book 4)
On the Fearsome Fiction Podcast
The engines are humming. The runway lights flicker. And somewhere in the darkened city below, things are about to go very wrong.
On the Fearsome Fiction Podcast, you’re invited to listen along as I roll out three new chapters at a time of Night Flight to Murder Town: A Marshall James Thriller (Book 4).
This is a serialized descent into mystery, murder and corruption on a killer scale. Three chapters. Then a breath. Then three more.
Marshall James returns in Night Flight to Murder Town, Book 4. Marshall is thinking of leaving New York City with his husband for a new life away from the hectic pace of the nation’s largest city. But how did he get here in the first place? After three stories detailing his harrowing Hollywood past, where lovers, losers, and a serial killer or two nearly ended his life before he could make something of it, he finally tells us how and why he left LaLa Land for Gotham.
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Mark McNease’s Fearsome Fiction Podcast: Night Flight to Murder Town – A Marshall James Thriller (Chapters 7 – 9)
Welcome back to the Fearsome Fiction Podcast. One of my offerings is the weekly serialization of Night Flight to Murder Town – A Marshall James Thriller, book 4. This week, we dive into Chapters Seven through Nine of Night Flight to Murder Town: A Marshall James Thriller. Marshall leaves behind Hollywood—and a heartbreaking goodbye—to chase a new life in New York City. But from a turbulent red-eye flight to a sunrise over Manhattan, it’s clear this isn’t just a fresh start. With Trent waiting at the gate, a mysterious chauffeur, and whispers of danger already in the air, Marshall’s arrival in the City may be the beginning of something far more complicated—and far more dangerous—than he ever imagined.
Let’s step into the night flight… and what’s waiting on the other side.
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Audiobook for ‘A Marriage Below Zero’ by Alan Dale Now Available!
Listen to a 20 minute sample – Narration provided by Wondervox
I’ve just released an audiobook edition of ‘A Marriage Below Zero’ by Alan Dale. You can listen to a 20 minute sample by clicking the audio file above OR HERE. It’s just $3.99 at my Payhip storefront storefront, and provides a Zip file with all individual chapters, AND a single MP3 with the entire audiobook.
More about the book …
This month I’ve released a very hidden gem: A Marriage Below Zero, by Alan Dale. It’s one of the earliest published novels to deal with same-sex attraction, narrated by a woman who married a man with a secret life.
A Marriage Below Zero (1889), written by Alan Dale, is a pioneering work of early gay fiction and one of the first English-language novels to center a homosexual male character in a serious, tragic narrative. The story is told from the perspective of Elsie Bouverie, a young woman who enters into what appears to be a promising marriage with the charming and refined Arthur Ravener. At first, their life together seems socially enviable—secure, respectable, and filled with the expectations of Victorian domestic happiness.
But beneath the surface, something is wrong.
Arthur grows emotionally distant, evasive, and restless. Elsie senses that she is not the true object of her husband’s affection. Gradually, she discovers the devastating truth: Arthur is romantically and physically involved with another man. In an era when homosexuality was not only taboo but criminalized, this revelation shatters her understanding of marriage, loyalty, and identity.
Rather than portraying Arthur as a villain, the novel presents him as a man trapped between societal expectations and his authentic self. The “marriage below zero” becomes a metaphor for a union devoid of warmth, passion, and truth—frozen by repression and secrecy. As scandal looms and emotional tensions escalate, the story moves toward a tragic conclusion that reflects the harsh realities faced by gay men in late 19th-century society.
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The Twist Podcast 320: Tooth Worms, Best Climates to Live In, Terrible Texting and More
Welcome to The Twist Podcast, Episode 320. Join co-hosts Mark and Rick as we drill into the bizarre history of teeth, with tooth worms and contagious cavities.
Then we hear from friends and fans about where the climates they prefer to live in, from dry desert air to breezy coastal towns and everything in between.
And finally, we dive into terrible texting habits and experiences, from relentless reminders to mysterious texters. “Who are you?” by the way.
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Mark McNease’s Fearsome Fiction Podcast: Night Flight to Murder Town – A Marshall James Thriller (Chapters 4 – 6)
Welcome back to the Fearsome Fiction Podcast. One of my offerings is the weekly serialization of Night Flight to Murder Town: A Marshall James Thriller, book 4. This week Chapters Four through Six take us from the fading shadows of Los Angeles to the restless pulse of New York—and toward a future neither Marshall nor Boo can quite see coming. Marshall says goodbye to a dying friend and the ghosts of his Hollywood past, turns down one last temptation on a city bus, and boards a flight east with more regret than luggage. Years later, settled into marriage and New York life, he finds himself facing a different kind of fear: leaving behind the city that became his identity. Love, loss, survival, and the uneasy sense that life is about to shift again—these chapters mark the end of one era and the trembling beginning of another.
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MadeMark Publishing to Offer Public Domain Works, Starting with ‘A Marriage Below Zero’ by Alan Dale
This is exciting. As a way to attracted subscribers to my long-running website, LGBTSr.com, I decided to offer free books of select public domain works. Fiction, nonfition, poetry, more will be revealed.
I’m also publishing them for the general public, as both ebooks and paperbacks.
This month I’ve released a very hidden gem: A Marriage Below Zero, by Alan Dale. It’s one of the earliest published novels to deal with same-sex attraction, narrated by a woman who married a man with a secret life.
A Marriage Below Zero (1889), written by Alan Dale, is a pioneering work of early gay fiction and one of the first English-language novels to center a homosexual male character in a serious, tragic narrative. The story is told from the perspective of Elsie Bouverie, a young woman who enters into what appears to be a promising marriage with the charming and refined Arthur Ravener. At first, their life together seems socially enviable—secure, respectable, and filled with the expectations of Victorian domestic happiness.
But beneath the surface, something is wrong.
Arthur grows emotionally distant, evasive, and restless. Elsie senses that she is not the true object of her husband’s affection. Gradually, she discovers the devastating truth: Arthur is romantically and physically involved with another man. In an era when homosexuality was not only taboo but criminalized, this revelation shatters her understanding of marriage, loyalty, and identity.
Rather than portraying Arthur as a villain, the novel presents him as a man trapped between societal expectations and his authentic self. The “marriage below zero” becomes a metaphor for a union devoid of warmth, passion, and truth—frozen by repression and secrecy. As scandal looms and emotional tensions escalate, the story moves toward a tragic conclusion that reflects the harsh realities faced by gay men in late 19th-century society.
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Mark McNease’s Fearsome Fiction Podcast – New Name, Same Great Storytelling: Night Flight to Murder Town – A Marshall James Thriller (Chapters 1 – 3)
Mysteries. Thrillers. Rare Finds.
I’ve renewed, refreshed, and rebranded my fiction podcast, and I’m thrilled to welcome you to the new Mark McNease’s Fearsome Fiction Podcast. Each week I’ll be sharing several chapters of my own harrowing fiction, the kind of stories that creep under your skin and refuse to leave, along with rare and forgotten gems, and select works from other authors whose voices deserve to be heard in the dark.
If you love mysteries with pulse, thrillers with heart, and stories that don’t behave themselves, you’re in exactly the right place.
You can purchase the entire audiobook HERE.
Or listen on Spotify Premium HERE.
This week: Night Flight to Murder Town: A Marshall James Thriller (Chapters 1 – 3)
Marshall James returns in Night Flight to Murder Town, Book 4 in the series. He’s thinking about leaving New York City with his husband for a quieter life, away from the relentless pace of the nation’s largest city. But how did he get here in the first place?
After three stories detailing his harrowing Hollywood past — where lovers, losers, and more than one serial killer nearly ended his life before he could make something of it — Marshall finally tells us how and why he left LaLa Land for Gotham.
This is the origin story beneath the scars. The turning point. The night everything changed.
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The Twist Podcast 319: Bad Bunny Banger, Travel Packing Tips, Vacation Recap and More
This week on The Twist Podcast with Mark and Rick, we dance to Bad Bunny’s tune, share listener suggestions for travel packing, and catch up with Mark after a whirlwind vacation. Find us on YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, and every angel’s top ten playlist.
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This Week’s Survey: What’s More Important to You As You Age?
As you age, what’s more important to you? Multiple answers okay
Feeling calm and content through the ups and downs of life
Staying curious, creative and engaged
Maintaining friendships and relationships
Feeling seen, valued and heard
Having flexibility with my time and choices
Something else (write in the comments) -
Devil’s Wood Chapter 4: Double Take (AUDIO – Final Tease)
Yes, this is my final offering from the upcoming ‘Devil’s Wood.’ It will be out by this summer, and if you’re hooked listening to these chapter samples, you’ll want to buy the book! Fasten your headphones for one last teaser. – Mark
Devil’s Wood begins when two boys wander into the woods outside Lambertville, New Jersey, and uncover a strange walking stick buried in the soil. One boy feels an immediate, nameless dread and keeps his distance; the other is drawn to it, pulling it free and revealing a grim truth beneath the earth—a human skull buried alongside the object. The discovery hints at an old, unfinished wrong, and a wood that has long remembered what was done there, waiting patiently for someone to find it.
The stick first surfaces in the life of Peter Brightly, a forty-two-year-old antique dealer struggling to hold together the fragments of his life after a painful divorce. As Peter becomes increasingly attached to the object, his health, judgment, and moral center begin to erode. The wood exerts a quiet pull, the past presses closer, and Peter is forced to confront how far he is willing to go to protect his own sanity.
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Devil’s Wood Chapter 3: Who’ll Stop the Rain? (AUDIO)
Devil’s Wood begins when two boys wander into the woods outside Lambertville, New Jersey, and uncover a strange walking stick buried in the soil. One boy feels an immediate, nameless dread and keeps his distance; the other is drawn to it, pulling it free and revealing a grim truth beneath the earth—a human skull buried alongside the object. The discovery hints at an old, unfinished wrong, and a wood that has long remembered what was done there, waiting patiently for someone to find it.
The stick first surfaces in the life of Peter Brightly, a forty-two-year-old antique dealer struggling to hold together the fragments of his life after a painful divorce. As Peter becomes increasingly attached to the object, his health, judgment, and moral center begin to erode. The wood exerts a quiet pull, the past presses closer, and Peter is forced to confront how far he is willing to go to protect his own sanity.
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Devil’s Wood Chapter 2: Going, Going, Gone (AUDIO)
Devil’s Wood begins when two boys wander into the woods outside Lambertville, New Jersey, and uncover a strange walking stick buried in the soil. One boy feels an immediate, nameless dread and keeps his distance; the other is drawn to it, pulling it free and revealing a grim truth beneath the earth—a human skull buried alongside the object. The discovery hints at an old, unfinished wrong, and a wood that has long remembered what was done there, waiting patiently for someone to find it.
The stick first surfaces in the life of Peter Brightly, a forty-two-year-old antique dealer struggling to hold together the fragments of his life after a painful divorce. As Peter becomes increasingly attached to the object, his health, judgment, and moral center begin to erode. The wood exerts a quiet pull, the past presses closer, and Peter is forced to confront how far he is willing to go to protect his own sanity.