Meet Joe Nobody . . . and pray he never meets you. He's average height, with an average build, and average looks - an instantly forgettable face in the crowd. Joe also happens to be a hit man, quite possibly one of the best in the world. He's so good, in fact, that most of his work life has settled into a comfortable routine, where everything goes according to plan, and nothing at all is surprising anymore. He's been just about everywhere, and he's seen it all. But Joe hasn't seen everything. Not yet . . . **WARNING** - This work contains several curse words and some extremely violent themes and situations throughout. I mean, the main character is a hit man . . . there's your first sign. You've been warned. **ADDITIONAL WARNING** - This is soooooooo first-draft-ish, so any problems you see logistically, thematically, or grammatically are all the fault of a combination of absinthe and overzealous fingers. And please, for god's sake, if you see something glaringly wrong, tell me about it! :)

Where does inspiration come from? From our heroes? Our Villains? Great works of art, or ordinary people who demonstrate humanity’s incalculable capacity for greatness? For me, inspiration came from the inside of a dirty, wooden cage. This story was written in homage to Giorgio De Chirico's painting, Mystery and Melancholy of a Street. The cover art, title, and idea belong to him.

Anastasia Romanov is not just another royal. She's fun and mischievous, kind and loyal. And she's about to lose everything. Her parents, sisters, wealth, and title. But most of all, her younger brother, Alexei, her partner in crime. Anastasia has a lot to learn of loss, survival, and sacrifice if she's going to get out of Russia alive. She needs the world to know her story. Her truth. And she'll stop at nothing to bring down the people who took everything from her.