Two actor performances in the style of a scene out of a movie.
It is the year 1991, and the villainous, blood-thirsty sadist Tony Caulfield, who pursued our heroes across the globe in the first volume, is only eleven years old, and not a monster. Not yet. Four stories, where psychological horror butts heads with raucous comedy and savage erotica, four stories that unearth the grotesque roots of the mystery that is Maranatha.
Once when Tony was reading his books on the top ledge of the barn, he found Puck, his family's groundskeeper, with a male prostitute. Instead of turning the doberman in, Puck convinced the young cougar to accept a promise of a future favour. Tony's father Troy has become an angry, violent drunk ever since losing his career, and when one night he beats his wife and child for trying to escape into the night, young Tony finally knows what he wants from the the secret-harboring groundskeeper.
Chicago. 1929. The streets run red with the blood from Al Capony's ruthless gangs, controlling everything from bootleg liquor to state senators. And when he needs the top driver and gunner to do his dirty work - there's no way in hell he'd choose these two bozos. But Tony Provolone is a ferret with a mission to be the best getaway driver for the mob, and the tommygun-toting grizzly bear Vinny Mozzarella will do anything to prove he's got what it takes to be the G-man. Even if they both have to fake it the whole way. When they're marked for an 'early retirement', the two have to put their differences aside and find out who set them up, before they nap with the fishes. Or something like that. Whaddya want, I ain't no college boy!
After getting chewed out by a lieutenant in the mafia for bringing stale lasagna to the gang meeting, the two are sent out on a drive by hit, the target unknown until they open an envelope presumably assigned to them. As they argue, they realize they took another duo's assignment by mistake, and the intended targets make the two very nervous.
In the war on terror, a bold new enemy has risen. Jackal and Ostrich are the codenames for a pair of bold terrorists that have attacked some of the most senstive targets in the Middle East, drawing international attention. But while their attacks have been bold, their motives have been less clear, with the top agents from many nations trying to figure out their next move, struggling to see what will become their most unexpected challenge yet.
Jackal has been in August's custody for a week, where the canine has refused to give any information on Ostrich's whereabouts. Things get worse when bad intel botches an operation leaving Cherry captured by the elusive Ostrich. With Len at the boiling point, desperate to rescue his hawk partner, he's been fighting the cool desk agent August for access at jackal, determined to get information out of him, not realizing August had been gathering valuable intel all this time.
Gabriel works at a newspaper conglomerate as an overworked but talented typesetter for the classified ads. Straight as an arrow, a bit OCD, but otherwise the Irish Setter is a good solid worker and a great guy to hang out with. Until he falls head over heels for a new mailworker, a siamese cat named Carlene. Swooning over her, he wracks his brain thinking of ways to win her over, until he comes across a personals ad *SHE* placed. Hatching a scheme to woo her, he replies as an alias, "Eduardo", and the two hit it off with written communication but soon starts mixing up his information with his alter ego as things proceed to real life work and dating encounters. Can Gabe keep all the balls juggling, or is it too late to come clean and hope for the best?
Despite Gabriel's efforts, Kialo's curiosity leads him to finding out about the woman his best friend wants to pursue. Gabriel may be annoyed, but he's caught and figures he might as well ask Kialo for help, despite knowing the kiwi will be a combination of jealous and vain.
On a vacation through South America, Danny, an American fox nutritionist, accidentally gets lost in the civil-war ravaged nation of Cordoba. But before he can get out, he discovers an undiscovered fruit with the health benefits of Açaí, aguaje, yumanasa, and applesauce rolled into one. When he tries to smuggle the special fruit out of the country, though, he learns from the military it's not for export.
A Cordoba military officer has captured Danny and has him strapped to a chair in an interrogation room.
The dams may have given the city its water supply, but it also flooded the farms, turning good fields into worthless swamp. Of course, the city hoofers never did care much for the country, leaving the now out-of-work horses, donkeys and cattle to fend for themselves. While most just made the best of it, one donkey's ambition led him to stealing goods from the city, a major crime that made him a lot of enemies. But also the loyalty of Colette, his mare girlfriend, who hid him in the swamp after his bold escape from jail. Now with the swamp sheriff smelling an opportunity at some fat reward money, it's a fight to hide the longear as long as she can.