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!
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!
Judgment Rendered
WesternBounty hunter John Priest scoured the Missouri Breaks of Montana searching for outlaws. As soon as he received word that his brother was killed in the mining town of Gillett, he made a beeline for Arizona Territory. Unlike Zachariah, John Priest wasn’t the type to turn the other cheek. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life—John Priest swore he would find whoever was responsible for his brother’s death. The guilty would face judgment; he’d see to it personally.
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. 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
Promoting the book, Bones of the Earth, I brought some of my fossils that I thought might interest the audience. The book and the fossils definitely sparked some interest in paleontology. After my session at the Meigs-Decatur Public Library on Bones of the Earth, I was asked if I would give a short presentation on dinosaurs. One of my grandsons is a fan of prehistoric beasts, so occasionally I will take a pencil and draw him a picture. The last one I attempted was a plesiosaur. If you are interested in my efforts in digital art, and photography, you can review some of my artwork on Deviant Art, an on-line artist community. Many of the fractals are available for a free download, if you are a member of the community.
This is an iSoftwerks presentation.
Bones of a large prehistoric beast were uncovered at Como Bluff, Wyoming, in 1877. Othniel Charles Marsh, a noted professor of paleontology at Yale University, organizes an expedition to recover the artifacts, which prove to be the remains of Apatosaurus, the first giant sauropod unearthed. Sergeant Dalton Rawlings, U.S. Cavalry, is the leader of a detachment assigned to babysit the Easterners’ band of tenderfoot novices. Saddle up for a trip to Medicine Bow, Wyoming to join the expedition.
Click on a button for a peek at the book.
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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Dinosaur Heresies!
Jul 8 2024Saturday, Jul 27 From 11 AM - 12 PM at the Meigs-Decatur Public Library in Decatur, Tennessee join me for a discussion on dinosaurs. What were dinosaurs? Were they lizards? When did the first dinosaurs appear? Were all dinosaurs enormous? Did dinosaurs fly? I hope everyone will find the presentation interesting. By the way, the book cover for Bones of the Earth, is composed of photos of fossils--the background is an image of a fossil ammonites enbedded in Jurassic Age shale. The foot bones belong to an Apatosaurus, a giant sauropod from the Jurassic. The skeleton of the beast is on display at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia. For directions to the library, or more information about the Meigs-Decatur Library, click the button below.
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Broken Necrosis
Jun 3 2024Book 4 of the Broken Saga on schedule to be published in late July. I hope the readers that requested the saga of David Castillo and SARACEN will be pleased with the new story. Necrosis introduces new characters including a new nemesis for David. If you haven't read the previous novels, Necrosis will still be a captivating read, exploring the notion of AI becoming sentient and whether or not AI might be the salvation or the downfall of humankind. Be sure to check out Broken: Genesis, Broken: Symbiosis, and Broken: Morphosis, if you haven't read the earlier novels in the saga.
Visit the library and browse all of the books by Steve Croy. I hope you find something to pique your interest. The cover art for the Broken Saga comes from computer generated images. The fractal generator Mandelbulb3D was used to create the picture. Fractals are a form of non-Euclidean geometry and the resulting images can be fascinating. If you are interested in digital art, and photography, you can review some of artwork on my gallery at Deviant Art, an on-line artist community. . You may find some interesting background wallpapers for your desktop. Free downloads are available if you are a member.
Library Revised
Jun 2 2024Book 4 of the Broken Saga is pending publication. The book is tentatively scheduled to be released in July 2024.The library page now has a link to a new page on the website featuring a preview of the coming novel.
Visit the library and browse the books. I hope you find something to pique your interest. The cover art for the Broken Saga comes from computer generated images. The fractal generator Mandelbulb3D was used to create the picture. Fractals are a form of non-Euclidean geometry and the resulting images can be fascinating. Try the artwork link on the about page. You may find some interesting background wallpapers for your desktop, and you can read a short bio of the author.
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Library Revised
May 20 2024Book 4 of the Broken Saga is under review. The book is tentatively scheduled to be released in July 2024.The library page now has a link to a new page on the website featuring a preview of the coming novel.
Visit the library and browse the books. I hope you find something to pique your interest. The cover art for the Broken Saga comes from computer generated images. The fractal generator Mandelbulb3D was used to create the picture. Fractals are a form of non-Euclidean geometry and the resulting images can be fascinating. Try the artwork link on the about page. You may find some interesting background wallpapers for your desktop.
Broken Necrosis
May 6 2024Book 4 of the Broken Saga has been completed. The manuscript is under review and a proof copy has been created. There may be revisions but the novel is still on schedule to be published later this year, perhaps as soon as July. I hope the readers that requested the saga of David Castillo and SARACEN will be pleased with the new story. Necrosis introduces new characters including a new nemesis for David. If you haven't read the previous novels, Necrosis will still be a captivating read, exploring the notion of AI becoming sentient and whether or not AI might be the salvation or the downfall of humankind. Be sure to check out Broken: Genesis, Broken: Symbiosis, and Broken: Morphosis, if you haven't read the earlier novels in the saga.
Visit the library and browse the books. I hope you find something to pique your interest. The cover art for the Broken Saga comes from computer generated images. The fractal generator Mandelbulb3D was used to create the picture. Fractals are a form of non-Euclidean geometry and the resulting images can be fascinating. Try the artwork link on the about page. You may find some interesting background wallpapers for your desktop.
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Decatur Library
Apr 24 2024Thanks to the Friends of the Library, there was a cordial crowd at the book signing featuring the novel, Bones of the Earth. Many of the attendees were curious about fossils and asked questions about the period of palenontology in the U.S. history referred to as the Bone Wars. Having a small collection of fossils on display sparked more questions. The presentation was accompanied by a display of fossil shark teeth from the Miocene Epoch (Neogene Period) and the Late Cretaceous Period. The audience enthusiastic and questions ranged from fossil hunting in the Old West to dinosaurs.
Book Signing
Apr 7 2024Bones of the Earth is now available for Kindle readers or paperback from Amazon. The novel is also available for Nook readers from Barnes & Noble Press. Be sure to check out the book page for a glimpse at the story. I have been invited to give a presentation to the Friends of the Library, at the Meigs-Decatur Library Saturday, April 13. The event will feature Bones of the Earth. If you are curious about the artwork for the cover, the background is an image of a fossil ammonite from Jurassic Age shale. The foot bones belong to an Apatosaurus, a giant sauropod from the Jurassic. Don't miss the book signing event at the Meigs-Decatur Library on Saturday, April 13, from 12:00 - 2:00 PM. I hope to see you there!
Author Fest
Apr 6 2024Saturday, April 6 From 10 AM - 2 PM at the Dalton-Whitfield County Public Library, 310 Cappes Street in Dalton, GA hosted an event where people got to meet and talk with local authors. Panel discussions were held for those interested! The Art of Story Telling featured Mandy L. Cantrell, Kelley Frank, Lorlai Watson, and Adny Carley. The Thrills and Chills panel featured Seth Tucker, Marlena Frank, C.L. Ledford, and Becky Wooley. A Screen Play How To panel included Gary Miller, Dan Jolley (who shared a table with me), and Kenyon Henry.
Contact
iSoftwerksContact iSoftwerks if you have questions about a novel or how to order the books or send a note just to say hello!
Links
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