Short Thrillers

Four ridiculously silly stories with Henry, Lassie, Murdock, and some surprise guests.

From its launch in 1920 until its demise in 1951, the magazine Black Mask published pulp crime fiction. The first hard-boiled detective stories appeared on its pages. Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, Erle Stanley Gardner and John D. MacDonald got their start in Black Mask. The urban crime stories that appeared in Black Mask helped to shape American culture. Modern computer games, films, and television are rooted in the fiction popularized by the magazine.

International best-selling author Anthony Horowitz's short story collection expands the universe of teen spy Alex Rider with more thrilling action, espionage, and pulse-pounding heroics. Inspired by Horowitz's millions of fans worldwide, Secret Weapon expands the world of Alex Rider with more thrilling action and pulse-pounding heroics. Follow Alex as he infiltrates a terrorist hideout in Afghanistan, fights to prevent an assassination attempt at a ski resort over Christmas, and much more!

From its launch in 1920 until its demise in 1951, the magazine Black Mask published pulp crime fiction. The first hard-boiled detective stories appeared on its pages. Never before in audio, these vintage stories are the darkest of the dark, and the best of the best.

Crime fiction fans old and new will delight in rediscovering these taut, character-rich, heart-stopping tales, now on audio for the first time.

He’s the man I was never supposed to want. And now… he’s my professor. Easton Koch was my childhood obsession—the older man I couldn’t stop watching, couldn’t stop needing. Back then, I was just a bright-eyed kid with a hopeless crush. Now I’m grown. And he’s standing at the front of my lecture hall. Same sharp jaw. Same cold, calculating eyes. Only now, when he looks at me? There’s nothing innocent about it. He warns me to keep my distance. He says I don’t know what I’m doing. But I know exactly what I want. And it’s him. Every stolen glance, every brush of skin, ...

Commander Kurt Kins loves a challenge. But this might be the one he and his crew can’t beat. By 2039, the United States is a year and a half into World War III. Submarine meets submarine beneath the waves, and one out of every three American subs deployed isn’t coming home. Commander Kurt Kins and USS Darter, however, seem to have a magic touch—they’ve been among the best of the best from the start. Kins loves action and he’s never backed down from a challenge. Faced with clever Russian enemies who are out to make their nation a superpower once more, he knows he has his work cut out for him.

A powerful EMP attack leaves the city in chaos, plunging society into darkness and uncertainty. Stephanie Dupont, a podcast host who exposed government secrets, must navigate the crumbling streets of Chicago with her teenage brother and a frightened stranger. With limited supplies, rising violence, and no power, they race against time to escape the city and find safety. As societal order collapses, Stephanie must confront her beliefs and decide whom she can trust. Will they survive the journey, or will the city’s descent into anarchy consume them all?

With this critically acclaimed debut collection, Frank Bill announces himself as an author of fiercely defined vision. In these vivid tales, Bill’s southern Indiana proves a literary destination of immense nuance, even as his mostly working-class characters cry out in voices that cannot be denied.

Back in the harness after his abortive retirement to Florida, Rumpole glories in the mushroom pie, rainy day life of the Old Bailey. Here he spars with some old familiars like the venomous Judge Bullingham, and makes the acquaintance of some fresh foes. Six stories.

A collection of horror/thriller stories for readers who would enjoy a stroll through a graveyard after midnight. Hark! Don’t read this book if a deranged maniac has escaped from the local asylum. Otherwise, enjoy the horror.The creepers include: THE RANSOM OF ELVIS BOZO: After a tech billionaire is murdered in a staged kidnapping, his restless spirit seeks revenge. CAMP PINE HOLLOW: A father’s deal with the occult to bring his son back from the dead unleashes a bloodthirsty curse on a summer camp. FIRST DRAFT: A creative writing class turns deadly when students realize their horror ...

A collection of 22 horror/thriller stories with surprise endings to chill you and thrill you to the bone. The nightmares include: THE CADAVER: Blanche foolishly risks her career as a university professor to enhance the learning curve of her students by supplying fresher cadavers for them to dissect. THE GOBLIN: A tourist in Vegas steals money from a quadriplegic panhandler who has special powers FEELINGS: A motorist seeks revenge on a TV news reporter whose ambition to be a star causes an accident that takes the life of the man's wife. THE VELVET CAGE: An abusive and destructive marriage ...

Ten years ago, Craig Johnson wrote his first short story, the Hillerman Award-winning "Old Indian Trick". This was one of the earliest appearances of the sheriff who would go on to star in Johnson’s best-selling, award-winning novels and the A&E hit series Longmire. Each Christmas Eve thereafter, fans rejoiced when Johnson sent out a new short story featuring an episode in Walt’s life that doesn’t appear in the novels; over the years, many have asked why they can’t buy the stories in book form.

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.

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.

From its launch in 1920 until its demise in 1951, the magazine Black Mask published pulp crime fiction. The first hard-boiled detective stories appeared on its pages. Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, Erle Stanley Gardner and John D. MacDonald got their start in Black Mask. The urban crime stories that appeared in Black Mask helped to shape American culture. Modern computer games, films, and television are rooted in the fiction popularized by "the seminal and venerated mystery pulp magazine" ( Booklist).

The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job. Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job isn't like the others. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes—especially after what happened last time.

Unlike the other arts, American literature has been a powerful, influential, and leading aspect of American culture. By turns sedate and mercurial and possessing a moral mind set of various social values, the American short story reveals in its pages the psyche of a growing, sprawling nation whose sense of destiny has always been larger than life. Here are seven masterpieces that will make you smile, make you frown, and leave you pondering the mystery that surrounds the soul of a great nation.

Some roads should never be traveled. From isolated rest stops to forgotten overpasses, Haunted Highways takes you deep into the eerie silence between mile markers—where lost travelers hear whispers in the dark and headlights vanish into nowhere. These 25 immersive horror stories are inspired by real unexplained encounters across America’s roads. Each tale pulls you into a nightmarish stretch of asphalt haunted by phantoms, cryptids, and things far stranger. Perfect for fans of Creepshow, The Twilight Zone, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, this collection brings atmospheric, slow-...

The Blood Test – A Psychological Thriller That Will Keep You Guessing When Olivia takes her son Henry for a routine checkup, the last thing she expects is a blood test result that doesn’t make sense. She and her husband, Noah, conceived Henry through IVF—but the numbers don’t add up. With a nagging suspicion that won’t let her go, Olivia digs deeper, uncovering a series of unsettling coincidences. Then she meets Margo, another mother at Henry’s preschool, whose daughter looks eerily like him. The two women bond over their shared experience with the same fertility doctor—Dr. ...

A collection of horror/thriller stories for readers who would enjoy a stroll through a graveyard after midnight.The nightmares include: SHIVERS: The last thing Steve remembers is stopping at the rest stop off the interstate. UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT: The meat at Big Mama's Restaurant is extremely fresh. TATTOO: Marla picks a ferocious black panther for the free tattoo she won. GENIE IN THE BOTTLE: Three college friends find a strange bottle in the surf and make a wish that comes with a price. DOMINANCE: The Simmons family encounters an escaped madman on a camping trip in the Adirondacks. ...