{"product_id":"useful-monster-stephen-c-poore-9798195659240","title":"Useful Monster: The Government Mercenary Years","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBefore the peace, he belonged to the dark.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLong before the orchard, before Ellie, before the quiet life that would one day be taken from him, Caine was already a name buried in files no government admitted keeping.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe was not recruited in the ordinary way. He was found. Feared. Studied. Pointed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo crowns, ministries, intelligence services and covert handlers, he became the answer to missions too brutal to acknowledge and wars too dirty to name. A deniable weapon. A living contingency. A monster useful enough to keep close and dangerous enough to fear in silence.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCaine has walked through centuries of violence, but the modern world gives old sins new machinery. Safe houses. Black sites. Classified orders. Disposable teams. Clean reports written over blood. In this era, he is not just the myth with the blade. He is the shadow sent through locked doors when diplomacy fails, when soldiers are not enough, and when the state wants a thing done without ever admitting it asked.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut every system that uses a monster begins to believe control is the same thing as loyalty.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs missions grow darker and the men around him begin to understand what he truly is, Caine becomes both asset and threat. The same governments that point him at their enemies start asking the inevitable question: what happens when the weapon no longer obeys?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eUseful Monster: The Government Mercenary Years\u003c\/b\u003e is a dark supernatural thriller set in the Caine universe, following the years when an immortal killer was turned into a covert instrument of state power.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is not the story of a hero.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is the story of what happens when governments make use of something older, colder and far harder to bury than they understand.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Stephen C. Poore\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798195659240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/08\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 300\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.89lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.63d","brand":"Stephen C. Poore","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49173617541375,"sku":"9798195659240","price":13.53,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/useful-monster-stephen-c-poore-9798195659240","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}