The Other Side of Fear

What happened before the events in the XK9 “Bones” Trilogy? Read Pam and Shady’s story in this novella-length prequel!

The Other Side of Fear: A Novella about the XK9s

This square image has a variegated brown background and a fairly strong yellow oval shape in the center. In front of that are an ebook and slender paperback of “The Other Side of Fear” by Jan S. Gephardt. Cover art shows a woman’s shoulder and the side of her face in the foreground. Viewers look as if from behind her toward a bonfire and an enormous wolflike dog in the middle ground. Behind the dog and the fire a group of bundled-up humans in coats and jackets look on, backed by a forest. Across the top the words say, “’Highly imaginative science fiction,’ – Robin Wayne Bailey, Author of the ‘Brothers of the Dragon’ Series.” Below that, “The Other Side of Fear, A novella about the XK9s. By Jan S. Gephardt.” Cover art © 2020 by Lucy A. Synk. — Cover Art © 2020 by Lucy A. Synk.

Officer Pamela Gómez has big dreams. And a tiny apartment.

She hopes to win a rare promotion as one of an elite corps of XK9 “super dog” handlers on the Orangeboro Police Department’s forensic team. But the odds are stacked against her. Pam’s never had a dog, never left her home space station. She’s never thought of herself as an “elite” anything.

Plus the dogs are huge! Her apartment’s really small. Her boyfriend secretly hopes she’ll wash out, and her mother advises she abandon all hope.

But she took the courses. She passed the tests, and she made the cut. Now she’s a partner-candidate bound for Planet Chayko. Pam knows she’ll feel awkward. She’s braced to be the oddball.

She never expected to fall in love.

All her inner voices scream “loser!” and “fail!”

Can big dreams and a giant dog take her to the other side of fear?

Available Now!

Buy the print edition via Weird Sisters Publishing on Bookshop!

Buy it from Barnes & Noble in Nook or Paperback format.

It’s also available from Apple Books, and other fine booksellers.

Hear Jan Read Chapter One!

Praise for The Other Side of Fear

“I love how Gephardt can so easily express the bond between humans and dogs.”
—Booker T’s Farm

“This whole series is on my instabuy list for life.”
—Amazon Review

“I really enjoyed this book. . . Loved the dogs; their personalities really shine.”
—Goodreads Review

“Ms. Gephardt does a fine job of fleshing out her characters—and making me want to know more, as my subsequent purchase of the first of the trilogy proves.”
—Amazon Review

Human/non-human interactions are always tricky . . . Gephardt treads this razor edge with such finesse that every encounter between XK9 and potential companion is sheer delight.
—Goodreads Review

Have you met the XK9s?

Whether or not you’ve read What’s Bred in the Bone, the first book in the XK9 “Bones” Trilogy, the prequel, The Other Side of Fear gives a glimpse of how the Pack and their partners first met.

Leap to What’s Bred in the Bone, Book One of the Trilogy!

Author Jan S. Gephardt has finished A Bone to Pick, the second book in the XK9″Bones” Trilogy.

Leap to A Bone to Pick, Book Two of the Trilogy!

Bone of Contention, the third book, is Jan’s current work-in-progress, with a projected 2024 release.

Learn more about Bone of Contention, Book Three of the Trilogy!