Nergal | Cranial Breach Media

Detective Buzzkill -

The Rite of Nergal

Detective Booker "Buzzkill" Basquill is the most meticulous investigator in his quiet New Jersey suburb. When multiple young girls started to go missing he knew the case would erupt. He expected long sleepless nights, endless paperwork, and desperate parents. He expected the complex navigation between the local, county and state law enforcement agencies.

He didn't expect demons.

As the investigation deepens, the sterile world of by-the-book law enforcement collides with an ancient horror and is tied to a pre-Babylonian prophecy meant to summon the god of the underground. Armed with his wits and a technical forensic science team. Buzzkill is forced into an uneasy alliance with a vampire who views demon blood as a performance-enhancing drug.

Can a local cop survive a turf war between county bureaucracy, a blood-drinking vigilante, and the hellish vanguard of Nergal?

The author would like to note that the plot, characters, and prose of this book are entirely original and human-created. AI tools were utilized purely as a research asset to gather logistics on multi-agency law enforcement protocols in the state of New Jersey. Any errors or creative liberties taken regarding the real-world operations of New Jersey law enforcement agencies are entirely unintentional; for the purposes of this fictional story, the narrative requirements and the guiding factors of the characters take precedence over strict procedural reality.

Bringing the book to life

Images and information provided to help bring a work of fiction to life.

Booker "Buzzkill" Basquill
Detective - Cherry Hill Police Dept.
A By-the-Book officer with a sarcastic sense of humor who finds himself deep in the midst of an ancient prophecy.

Phinn
A (man?) who doesn't know his own past and has no plans for the future. He only has an unrelenting desire to feed.

Larry Chappelow
Detective at the Camden County Prosecutor's Office - Special Victims Unit. He is always on point and will do whatever it takes to solve the case.

Hendrik, Marquis du Val-Ravenstein
Head of noble house in Belgium. Scholar. Anthropologist. Historian.

A researcher and collector of ancient artifacts.

Artifact "K-27"
Painting on display at the New York Metropolitan Museum. It is from the 13th century by an unknown artist. Found recently in the ruins of a church in Estonia.

Ancient Tablet
An ancient tablet that has been in Pastor's Dave's family for at least three generations. He doesn't know if it has any value outside of being a family heirloom.

Reverend David H. Earlman
“Pastor Dave” of Glory of Grace Lutheran Church.

Demons

Valice and K'herd don't usually dress this nice, but it was the first time anyone had ever asked to take their photo. They treated this special occasion with the respect it deserved.