Myke Phoenix 6: The Puzzle of the Talking Dinosaur

For as long as Paul Phillips has been the superpowered Myke Phoenix, he has been plagued by Deinonychus, the impossible foe from a bygone era who is the embodiment of evil in this world. Now, on a rainy night not fit even for ducks, as the signs point to her return, Paul tells his new best friend the story of his first deadly encounter with the talking dinosaur - and how it almost was his last.

This sixth episode in the 12-volume series of short stories that occur 18 years after The Adventures of Myke Phoenix brings us to a turning point in the saga, as the full implications of Deinonychus' return are revealed.

The overall name of the series is "Myke Phoenix: Year of the Dinosaur," so here at the midpoint we see our main antagonist in all of her fierce glory. When I started writing Myke Phoenix stories, the first sequence was leading up to this story. Parts of this were written those 20 years ago, but completion eluded me until it came time to plot Deinonychus' return. Before she could return, we had to see how it all started.

As I've written elsewhere, this is my "Serenity," referring the the film sequel to the TV series "Firefly." The story fills in many - but not all - of the gaps between the truncated end of "The Adventures of Myke Phoenix" and this series, which began with "The Song of the Serial Kisser." Here we see what Myke and his growing group of friends are dealing with.

If you grow impatient with my posting the stories one by one here, you can always buy the complete set called "Myke Phoenix: Year of the Dinosaur" through Amazon or Kobo, in ebook or paperback, for a modest price. It took two decades to pry this story out of my brain, and once completed the rest seemed easy. The first five chapters set the stage; here is where the adventure really kicks in ...