The Death Master Chronicles: Book One, The Ultimatum

The old sailor pulled out a stub of a pencil from a soiled shirt pocket and began to cross out letters on the drink coaster. The circular piece of paper had the words "The Brass Monkey" in a nice scroll at the top and then a picture of three monkeys in the center, with the additional worlds, "see, hear, speak, no evil" underneath. He first removed, no evil, and then began to systematically pencil out all the letters in "The Brass Monkey" which were not contained in see, hear, speak. This left H. E. Rasske on the face of the coaster. An alert waitress soon picked up the empty drink glass and paper coaster returning both items to the bartender. In this manner, word reached Rasske quickly that someone needed to talk to him.

The author was selected for training as a death master when he was a raw recruit in the USMC at age 17. Due to unforeseen events and a service aggravated injury he did not complete the training but has remained fascinated by the concept for over 60 years. He has traced the origins of the death master regimen as far back as 8,000 years to the Assamese culture. The author has planned 11 stories in The Death Master Chronicles series. All will be about the 11 generations of the de Rasske family from the year 1383 to the present. He grew up in the Great Basin country and much of it is mentioned in the first three books of The Death Master Chronicles. He is a lover of Siamese cats and loves to grow orchids and roses. Now, at almost 79 years of age, he still has very fast hands. Was he or wasn't he? He will never tell.