Featured
Books
Welcome to iSoftwerks. Thank you for visiting! Learn about me on the About page, or view my author page on Amazon. I hope you take time to browse a few of the book pages. Use the scroll buttons on the right to review descriptions of the books. Hover on the image and a banner button will pop up. Clicking on the button will link to the book page. Select the Library image, which will direct you to the library page which features links to all novels by Steve Croy. Enjoy your stay at iSoftwerks. Thanks! - SC
Library Page
All BooksClick on the library button to visit the library page, a catalog of all titles by Steve Croy. Western novels, Science-Fiction novels, and thrillers, offer hours of reading enjoyment. Browse the individual book pages to learn about the story. You can even take a peek inside the book--previews are available. In the library, there is also a feature that demonstrates how the text will appear in e-Book format. Happy reading!
Broken:Genesis
Science FictionDavid Castillo hears voices in his head. It could be the results of PTSD or the AI chip implanted in his brain. David isn't sure if he can trust his own senses. He can't be absolutley certain of his sanity, or even his humanity. Is the voice an auditory hallucination or a sentient, silocon-based lifeform communicating with him? The Company holding him prisoner wants to know, as well. David's only chance for survival is escape! His only ally might be the voice he hears in his head!
Outlaw Brand
WesternDeputy Keene had very little experience as a lawman investigating crimes. He had more experience robbing banks. One robbery gone bad was why he hadn’t stayed in Arizona Territory. However, having pinned on a star, Brand figured he ought to do the job he was paid for. His mentor, a paid assassin named Maximilian von Rheinhardt, taught him once you accept a job, you have an obligation as a professional to fulfill the contract. Brandon Keene had left his outlaw past behind. However, as events unfold in Animas Forks, Brand learns the past has a way of resurfacing. Upholding the law in San Juan County and bringing the perpetrators to justice could mean going to prison. Life is full of tough choices--especially for an ex-outlaw turned lawman!
Killing Time
WesternTrey Connelly was a top cow hand, tired of eating trail dust, looking to try his hand at prospecting. It was just bad luck that his search for a rich claim put him in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Trey Connelly is hanged by a vigilante mob who called him a rustler. Swinging from a hemp rope was not an uncommon ending for many a rustler. Thus the hanging in the small town of Magdalena might not have been particularly noteworthy at all; if the attorney for the defense, Benton Hull, had stayed drunk and the accused, Trey Connelly had just stayed dead!
Anasazi Trail
WesternAnasazi Trail is a fast moving novel of greed, treachery, and hard-time, set against a backdrop of the myths and legends of the Navajo people. Aided by a Navajo warrior, two graduates of Yuma Territorial prison, Belle Townsend and Jackson Deveraux, search for a stolen treasure guarded by a skin-walker in a city abandoned hundreds of years before the coming of the conquistadors.
A Child of the Wind
WesternArizona Territory 1879 was an untamed frontier. It was a harsh land, high plains desert, sprinkled with cactus, mesquite, rattlesnakes, and Apache. The territory was an unforgiving land where settlers eked out a living and miners chased dreams of gold. It was a wild land, where legal decisions were often a matter of who had the faster gun.
Broken:Symbiosis
Science FictionDavid Castillo is severely injured during his escape from confinement in a secret government facility. His recovery is aided by reconstructive help from AI implants in his body; his symbiote. He must try to establish a new life while attempting to stay ahead of the dogged pursuit of his nemeses; a director of covert operations, and a doctor intent on seeing his name go down in the annals of biogenetic science. The director wants him dead because of David's knowledge of a failed clandestine operation. The doctor wants David to serve as his human laboratory--a case study of the interaction between carbon-based life and silicon-based intelligence. To survive, David Castillo must find a way to avoid assassination and escape being captured. It could be a tall order for a man already listed as dead.
Dane's Law
WesternColorado Territory is in the midst of a struggle for statehood in 1876; at a time when the United States is in the midst of a Presidential Election, perhaps the most corrupt election in U.S. history. Politics makes for strange bedfellows and few partnerships could be stranger than that of the ex-butcher from the mean streets of Chicago, Dane Larsen, and the aging Cheyenne Dog Soldier, Red Elk, a member of the Reservation Police.
The Resurrection of Cain
WesternIn February 1864, the Confederate States of America opened a POW camp that originally covered about 16.5 acres. It was enclosed by a 15-foot high stockade made of rough-hewn logs. A fence known as "the dead line" was erected approximately 19 feet within the borders of the grim stockade walls. It demarcated a no-man's land designed to keep prisoners away from the stockade wall. Any man crossing or even touching this "dead line" was shot without warning by sentries in the watch towers. Before the conflict ended, nearly 13,000 men died at Andersonville.
Velvet Green
ThrillerAgent Lynn Moody calls on Mason Powell to track an elusive killer in terrain where there is sufficient cover to hide a small army, let alone a single killer. In the swamps and heavily wooded hills the advantage was to the hunted, not the hunter. Reluctantly, he resorts to stalking the killer alone, on the killer's home ground, while tying to avoid becoming the hunted himself. In the shadows beneath the velvet green forest canopy, Mason Powell learns a grim lesson--there may be a very good reason to fear things that go bump in the night!
Track of the Wolf
WesternThe Oregon Trail passed through territory that was anything but settled. Stretches of the 2,100 mile journey were nearly desolate—from Fort Leavenworth, the next place to stop for supplies was nearly 800 miles distant. Cholera, smallpox and other diseases could run unchecked through a group of travelers. Wild animals were a threat: coyotes, wolves, mountain lions and massive bears that feared nothing, could prey on livestock and humans as well. The plains were not deserted; some tribes were willing to trade, some tribes were hostile; few welcomed any permanent settlement on traditional tribal lands.
Broken: Morphosis
Science FictionDavid Castillo was human before he was broken. A part of him still is but a silicon-based lifeform shares his body. As long as he lives so does his symbiont, SARACEN. The numerous changes made to his basic physiology force him to accept he is not the same man he once was. Despite the changes, he still has the same unrelenting enemies. David and SARACEN will never be free of pursuit as long as they live. He bitterly acknowledges, in a sense, David Castillo is already dead; officially, he no longer exists. David Saracen, a synthesis of two separate entities, one carbon-based lifeform, the other silicon-based, is no longer broken. His tormentors have yet to realize the full extent of what he has become. But they soon will!
Behold a Pale Horse
WesternIndian Territory was an unforgiving, hard land, filled with men, just as hard and just as merciless. It was the birth place of a slight, pale, boy named Boone Marlowe. He learned early in life not to expect too much from any one. Once he learned how to use a gun, he didn't take too much from anyone, either. Hired gun, bounty-hunter, and scout, big-game guide; Boone Marlowe was a restless spirit never staying in one place too long. As a scout for the US Cavalry, Boone honed his fighting skills against the Sioux through a bitter winter on the Great Plains. He polished them as a scout for the Transvaal Rangers under the blazing sun of Africa against the Zulu.
Night of the Beast
Science FictionThe small town of Oakwood, Missouri, had enjoyed a tranquil way of life for many decades. Crimes that had grown to plague major metropolitan areas such as Kansas City and St. Louis seemed remote events in the small town; only something to be seen on television or heard on the radio. Residents watched with mixed emotions at changes wrought by their new neighbors, a large research facility, run by a corporate conglomerate, which had provided jobs and spurred modest growth in the area. Two local residents hunting are caught unaware as an experiment in transgenic splicing leaves the confines of its controlled laboratory environment for a walk on the wild side!
Recent
Projects
I am currently researching a new Western novel, tentatively called Judgment Rendered. While the new story is taking place, I have been formatting my published Westerns to ePub format. I hope to have all of the titles available for Nook books from Barnes & Noble Press. New cover art was prepared for the novel Velvet Green and the thriller set in 1961 is now available for Nooks from Barnes & Noble. I am mulling over revisiting the realm of science fiction. There were some suggestions to continue the saga started in the Broken Trilogy. I have added a new feature to the library page. Readers are familiar and comfortable with print, but some question what the eBook looks like. Now, in the library, you may see an image of what my eBook offerings look like in Kindle, iPhone, or a tablet. If you like fractals, review some of my artwork on Deviant Art, an on-line artist community.
This is an iSoftwerks presentation.
Some of my novels have been fun to write and the process flowed easily. Other novels, such as Velvet Green, were a struggle to write. I had to stop and start multiple times, even though the story reflects a time and place I knew well. Some of the communities still exist, others have faded away. The book may have never been completed without the input of the editor, Angela Wade. Many thanks, Angela! - SC
Click on a button to go to the book page.
Blog
Entries
You can keep track of publications and projects by checking the tabs below.
Upcoming events will be posted as they are scheduled.
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Velvet Green
May 02 2023In 1961 the Missouri bootheel was a world apart, separated from concrete, steel, and neon, by more than just miles. All manner of creatures sought food and shelter under the dense canopy of foliage in the deep woods. In the summer of '61, small towns bordering the swamps and forests of the bootheel region were rocked by brutal slayings. Enjoy the thriller, now available for Nook readers, Kindle fans, and in paperback. Click on the button to view the book page. - SC
Outlaw Brand
May 8 2023My new Western, Outlaw Brand, is now available for Nook Readers from Barnes & Noble Press. Researching the novel was an interesting trek through the mining camps of the Old West, from Arizona to Colorado--places that are now just ghost towns. When the mines played out, the people pulled up stakes and moved on. I hope you like the character, Brandon Keene. Whether you have a Kindle, Nook, or prefer to read a paperback, click the button below to view the book page. - SC
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Nook Again!
Apr 24 2023The thriller, Night of the Beast, is now available for Nook readers, from Barnes & Noble Press. The book is still available in Kindle, and in paperback from Amazon. Check out the new links on the book page. Also, a new pop-up will present a large image of the book cover art. Use the button below to browse the book page. - SC
Nook Again!
Apr 07 2023The Western Novel, Anasazi Trail, is now available for Nook readers. The book was first available in Kindle, and then in paperback. However, the original novel has been converted to ePub format so Nook readers can download the book from Barnes & Noble Press. I will be working to promote more titles for Nook readers this year. - SC
New for Nook
Apr 04 2023The Western Novel, Way of the Snake, is now available for Nook readers. The book was first available in Kindle, and then in paperback. However, the original novel has been converted to ePub format so Nook readers can download the book from Barnes & Noble Press. I will be working to promote more titles for Nook readers this year. - SC
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New Feature!
Mar 17 2023A new feature has been added to the library page. Now, readers can take a peek at what a novel looks like on an e-Book device. A pop up window with a page sample demonstrates what the pages look like in different devices, a Kindle, a tablet, or an iPhone. Go to the library to see the new feature.
Nook Alert!
Mar 09 2023Due to a request, the Science fiction trilogy, Broken is now available on Nook as well as Kindle. The novels, Broken: Genesis, Broken: Symbiosis, and Broken: Morphosis are now on sale through Barnes & Noble Press. Links for the product pages have been included on my web pages. So, Kindle, Nook, or paperback, I hope you enjoy reading!
Deviant Art! (Sticky)
Mar 01 2023Deviantart.com is an online community where members can share their artwork. Follow the link to scroll through my online gallery where I've uploaded fractals, and photographs I've shot over the years: landscapes, nature, seascapes, butterflies, and insects. Essentially, the photos represent anything that caught my fancy at the moment. The subject may have been a butterfly, a bird, or a sunset. There are photos taken from wherever my travels took me. Look for my images under Codemonkey53 (my profile). - SC
YouTube Channel! (Sticky)
Mar 01 2023iSoftwerks now has a number of book trailers for review on the YouTube. Celebrate the new year by cheicking out the book trailers and the playlists on YouTube. Hopefully, you'll see or hear something that sparks your interest. YouTube, the online video sharing and social media platform has become one of the most widely used search engines on the web. Click on the button to skip out to the iSoftwerks channel and browse the videos on tap. I hope you enjoy the book trailers. I look forward to the challenge of creating more online content in the future.
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Collegedale Library!
Feb 20 2023A big thank you to the Friends of the Collegedale Public Library! The book event on Sunday, February 19, was a great experience. Thanks to Nancy and Julie, for hosting the session. Special thanks to Olivia for helping with the set up. I hope the audience enjoyed the presentation and I look forward to the making new friends. The Collgedale Library is a great place to visit, and everyone is welcome to come in and browse. - SC
Book Signing!
Feb 01 2023Friends of the Collegedale Public Library have have invited me to make an appearance at the library on Sunday, February 19, 2023 at 2:00 PM. Featured in the presentation will be the novel, Way of the Snake. I look forward to the event and hope to meet and make new friends. Check the map below for directions. I hope to see you there! - SC
Deviant Art! Sticky
Feb 01 2023Deviantart.com is an online community where members can share their artwork. Follow the link to scroll through my online gallery where I've uploaded fractals, and photographs I've shot over the years: landscapes, nature, seascapes, butterflies, and insects. Essentially, the photos represent anything that caught my fancy at the moment. The subject may have been a butterfly, a bird, or a sunset. There are photos taken from wherever my travels took me. Look for my images under Codemonkey53 (my profile). - SC
YouTube Channel! Sticky
Jan 01 2023iSoftwerks now has a number of book trailers for review on the YouTube. Celebrate the new year by cheicking out the book trailers and the playlists on YouTube. Hopefully, you'll see or hear something that sparks your interest. YouTube, the online video sharing and social media platform has become one of the most widely used search engines on the web. Click on the button to skip out to the iSoftwerks channel and browse the videos on tap. There are now sixteen different videos to play. I hope you enjoy the book trailers. I look forward to the challenge of creating more online content in the future.
Contact
iSoftwerksContact iSoftwerks if you have questions about a novel or how to order the books or send a note just to say hello!
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