Cover art by Mmeizn
Séances and speakeasies. Flyboys and flappers. It’s 1929, and the world is roaring—right up to the edge of collapse. Werewolves and fairies are just bedtime stories. Science is thriving. Magic is nearly dead.
Or so people believe. Operation PYRE was meant to safeguard dangerous magic; now they’re being consumed by it. Nicoletta is entrapped by those in power and forced to hunt other creatures. Fex is pulled in by promises he can’t trust and threats he can’t escape. Together, they’re sent on missions that grow darker, deadlier, and far more personal than either expected.
As corruption spreads, Nicoletta and Fex realize that as operatives, they’re expendable. Their only chance at getting out alive may be to burn the organization to the ground, and damn the consequences.
Operation PYRE ©2026 is entirely human written by JB McDonald and Zach McCallum. Edited by C Eastman. All our em-dashes are home grown.
★★★★★
JB and Zach are experts at their craft, and Operation PYRE is a goddamn delight to behold. With richly rounded characters and attention to detail usually reserved for watchmaking, I can’t recommend this enough. There is a dedication to worldbuilding here that pulls you in as easily as Nicolette and Fex find themselves slipping into trouble. -Morgan D.
★★★★★
Fex and Nicoletta are fully realized and wonderfully written! I’m really enjoying watching their relationship develop as they work to extricate themselves from situations that range from unpleasant to life-threatening. Page-turning action scenes mix beautifully with deeply felt emotional ones. I can’t wait to see what happens next! -Catharine E.
★★★★★
The authors do a fantastic job of grounding you in the story immediately, laying a perfect foundation for a cast of characters whose sharp, witty chemistry leaps off the page. -Chelsea V.
April 10th, 1929 Nicoletta jumped out of the truck gratefully, while Dunfre and the assistant that had joined them sorted out stopwatches and clipboards and bits of paper and whatever else they thought they needed. Even a short ride crammed between people was too long for her wolven frame. But now, out of the truck…
April 10th, 1929 Nicoletta stared hard at the photograph, her thumb running over and over Vano’s pained little smile and the curly hair falling in his face. He was reading yesterday’s newspaper. She’d have preferred a phone call as proof of life, but that hadn’t happened yet. “Satisfied?” Moore asked, less impatient than some of…
March 19th, 1929 It had taken some time for Nicoletta to find the right diner. She’d walked them into town, catching the scent of massed humans from half a mile away, but there was more than one eatery. She’d passed two before she saw Fex—Droste had coaxed the name out of him, or maybe tricked…
Operation PYRE 