Short Thrillers

Villanelle is the ultimate assassin. Beautiful and heartless, she's been trained to be the best. Her latest target is a firebrand Russian leader whose extreme political theories threaten to unleash global conflict. But lying in wait for Villanelle is intelligence officer Eve Polastri. A hunter by nature, fiercely clever, Eve is ready to pursue her adversary wherever the search leads her. And so starts a deadly game between two brilliant and determined female protagonists…

From the collection Mary Russell's War, "Mary's Christmas" delivers the author's signature blend of narrative mastery and historical detail while shining light on previously unexplored corners of the Russell-Holmes universe. Laurie R. King blends her long-running brand of crime fiction with historical treats and narrative sleight of hand.

On the 12th floor of the Acme Building, on a cold February day in St. Paul, Guy Noir looks down the barrel of a loaded revolver in the hands of geezer gangster Joey Roast Beef, who is demanding to hear what lucrative scheme Guy is cooking up with stripper-turned-women's-studies-professor Naomi Fallopian. Everyone wants to know, and Guy faces them one by one, as he and Naomi pursue a dream of earning gazillions by selling a surefire method of dramatic weight loss.

Alden McCausland and his mother are what they call “accident rich”; thanks to an unexpected life-insurance policy payout and a winning Big Maine Millions scratcher, Alden and his Ma are able to spend their summers down by Lake Abenaki, idly drinking their days away in a three-room cabin with an old dock and a lick of a beach. Across the lake, they can see what “real rich” looks like: the Massimo family’s Twelve Pines Camp, the big white mansion with guest house and tennis court that Alden’s Ma says is paid for by “ill-gotten gains” courtesy of Massimo Construction.

Sherlock Holmes is dead--or so most of the world thinks. His fatal plunge over the Reichenbach Falls as he struggled with his archenemy, Moriarty, has been widely reported. But Holmes has escaped and is alive. In his immediate circle, only Holmes's brother, the lethargic genius Mycroft, knows of his survival. Even Dr. Watson thinks that the great detective is dead. Among his enemies, Sebastian Moran, Moriarty's chief henchman, knows of Holmes's probable escape and waits for their inevitable meeting.

Caravan of Nightmares and Other Short Stories is my second collection of short stories. As with my first collection, Her Demonic Angel, there is no specific theme, but most stories are dark. Stories in this collection are: Caravan of Nightmares; Wonky Trolley; Friends and Neighbours; Barry and Jack; The Writing Group; Inappropriate Adult; The Faraway Park; Gone Fishing; Instafamous; Fairy Tales and Nightmares; Beneath the Sand; Fakes; Sins of the Son; and Sitting Ducks.

Best-selling author Linda Fairstein, who "makes legal issues more exciting than any high-speed chase" ( The New York Times), presents these thrilling stories of lawyers under pressure, criminals facing the needle, and heartbroken families who hope for justice and who sometimes take it into their own hands.

Season Two, Volume Two. Three more catastrophic crimes lead the Baker Street Team to distant shores as they struggle to save Lucy’s mother and defeat a relentless foe once and for all.

Ten tales of terror in the horror genre with surprise endings to scare you! If you are fans of Twilight Zone, Tales From the Crypt, Night Gallery, Outer Limits, One Step Beyond, and horror stories with a plot and a twist ending, look no further. Billy Wells Horror is your ticket to a journey into the macabre if you dare. Hark! Don’t read this book If you don't like to be scared. Heads roll literally in these stories, so why torture yourself? Otherwise, enjoy the horror! The average Amazon review rating on all Billy Wells Horror books 4.3. TABLE OF CONTENTS: NEVERMORE: A billionaire builds...

This audiobook collects Wellman’s John Thunstone and Lee Corbet stories, written between 1943 and 1979. These stories combine the mystical and horrific with traditional Southern folk tales and legends. These stories also reveal a post-World War II modernism that make them much more then pulp romanticism. The paranoia and cynicism of modern weird icons, such as The X-files, may well have had their genesis in the pulp musings of Manly Wade Wellman.

Curvy Girls Mail Order Brides Club: Complete Edition Sassy BBW's match up with ridiculously hunky shifters for scorching hot, panty-melting romance! A dash of danger and suspense, a splash of humor, 6 sexy, curvy girls looking for love, hot, hunky shifters ready to mate and a LOT of romance = 'Curvy Girls Mail Order Brides Club'! Fed up with their love lives (or lack of one) 6 beautiful, sassy women decide to take matters into their own hands and start the 'Curvy Girls Mail Order Brides Club'. But there's something extra special about this club; it's for curvy girls and shifter men ONLY - ...

The first collection of stories Stephen King has published since Nightmares & Dreamscapes nine years ago, Everything's Eventual includes one O. Henry Prize winner, two other award winners, four stories published by The New Yorker, and "Riding the Bullet", King's original e-book, which attracted over half a million online readers and became the most famous short story of the decade. Intense, eerie, and instantly compelling, they announce the stunningly fertile imagination of perhaps the greatest storyteller of our time.

Joe Haynes is addicted to trophy hunting, with unusual weapons to make it more of a challenge. In a Manhattan bar, someone makes him an offer he can't resist. Later, he wishes he had... Be warned - the author's favorite short story author is Saki, and his favorite story is Sredni Vashtar. This tale is not for the faint-hearted, and it does not glorify trophy hunting.

BLACK AS NIGHT AND OTHER NIGHTMARES is a compilation of 32 short stories, most in the horror genre, and most with surprise endings. THE NIGHTMARES INCLUDE: THE CLOWN AT MIDNIGHT Charles likes to watch horror flicks by candlelight with his monster mannequins... MASQUERADE The Madeira Club has hired a travel agent to rent a castle in Transylvania for this year’s gala Halloween party... BLACK AS NIGHT Two teenagers try to rescue a helpless woman from being buried alive by a masked rider on Halloween... HANGMAN’S OVERLOOK A scam artist wagers $800 he will spend the night on Hangman’s ...

Some secrets are best left, buried deep within the earth… I am thrilled to put together this collection of creepy short stories set in different parts of the world!! Whether it is a small non-descript village in India, the magnificent monasteries in Tibet, the numerous alleys of Kathmandu, the terraced rice fields of Japan, or the Serengeti plains of Tanzania— the locations are as beautiful as the horrifying events which unravel in them! This volume contains 5 horror stories that will have you feverishly turning pages, wanting more— Whether it is a village which is terrorized by an ...

Every few years, a cabin goes dark. The door stays locked. And the red eyes return. In a forgotten Alaskan village, no one talks about the disappearances — the empty cabins, the warm meals left untouched, the locked doors with no one inside. When a newcomer arrives to teach at the village school, she starts to notice strange behavior: children drawing glowing red eyes in the trees, elders who whisper warnings, and tracks that circle the homes but never lead away. At night, something moves beyond the tree line. It watches. It waits. And when it knocks… it knows who will open the door. ...

Bane County is an Ongoing Saga . . . Mystery, Suspense, an edge-of-your-seat Thriller with characters you’ll fall in love with. An old-school, heart-pounding, coming-of-age Horror series with 1,000s of 5-Star Reviews. A Bane County Short Story. This 8,000-word Novelette entitled “When Bane Flowers Bloom” takes place within the Bane County Universe. The timeline of the story is set during the third book of the series (First Moon), and it answers many questions and reveals new mysteries spanning all the way back to Book 1 (Forgotten Moon). Prepare yourself, for a twisting turning ...

Best friends. Unbreakable loyalty. A deadly choice. When a routine night takes a dangerous turn, two friends are forced to confront the true cost of their devotion. Ride or Die is a gripping short story packed with tension, betrayal, and a choice that will change everything. How far would you go for the one who’s always had your back?

His Name is Snake. He Wants to Be King of the Streets. He’s put in the work and is on his way up in the drug game. When he meets Charity Jones, a sexy, younger white woman, his world is shaken to the core. His crew, his baby mama, and even his mother do NOT want him to get in a relationship with Charity. Her name is at odds with his career. After a night of passion, they fall for each other. Come what may, they are determined to make the best of what they have in their life. Will they be able to escape the dope game? BMWW Interracial Romance

Five haunting tales from Benedict Ashforth, the best-selling author of Abbot's Keep.