It's 1958 and the night sky of Mars sings to a hot-jazz tune played by a quartet of slot machine, rocket engine, laser fire and broken bone. The Outfit and the corporations run Mars, keeping the mines running and the Strip humming. Deputy Marshals ride between the waystations and the city, bringing rough justice to the roughest beat in the solar system. Barsoomist rebels fight a hit-and-run war, staying one step ahead of the law and the Mob, knowing they've got miles to go before they sleep and deals to honor before they're free of the yoke of Terra and their own all-too-human biology. An army of chancers, either too clever or too foolhardy, make their way through occupied space in search of a bit of green. And in hidden valleys and lost caverns, the old masters of Mars awaken, peer out with tar-black eyes and prepare to up the ante.

Critically acclaimed, "The Ballad of the Wayfaring Stranger and the Dead Man's Whore" tells a backwoods spook story driven by longing, loss and unescapable doom. "Demory catches the atmosphere of the old murder ballads perfectly here. It's a world where everyone takes it for granted that terrible things happen to the innocent, and where the only possible reaction to that news is a stoical shrug. The tale's chilling effect comes not from set-piece shocks, but rather from a sense of quiet, creeping unease that crawls a little deeper beneath your skin with every careful sentence." - Paul Slade, PlanetSlade.com Locus Recommended Short Story - 2012 Honorable Mention - Year's Best Horror, Vol. 5