In the spectacular and corrupt city of Polit, sixteen year-old Alana Bendrece and her family live in squalor, in a walled-in ghetto aptly named Black. After having killed an attacker from outside her caste neighborhood, she is arrested, quickly tried, and then condemned.Hours later, Alana is flown in a Helicere II aircraft to a land far, far away. An island only a chosen few even know exists. A place reserved for "special cases". Blindfolded, and with her hands lashed behind her ba...

13 year-old Jimmy McGuire just wants to see things burn. Stick matches in the old neighborhood theater. Plastic soldiers in the basement. The riled up anthill in the vacant lot across the street. He wants to resurrect a dying snake. Look at the stars at night and imagine undressed Martian Girls, and make a pipe bomb rocket that will reach the stratosphere (or accidentally kill someone). He wants to win the local Soapbox Derby race, but he has no wheels for his racer, so he wants to “borrow...

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton (1940-2017) entered the mystery field in 1982 with the publication of 'A' Is for Alibi, which introduced female hard-boiled private investigator, Kinsey Millhone, operating out of the fictional town of Santa Teresa, (aka Santa Barbara) California, and launched the bestselling Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries. In addition to her books, she’d published several Kinsey Millhone short stories, and with her hus...

Twenty of America's best mystery short stories from 2011, selected by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author.The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volume's series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made th...

"Intense and elegiac…devastatingly agile." — New York Times Book ReviewThe year is 1968. The world is changing, and sixteen-year-old Jon Mosher is determined to change with it. Racked by guilt over his older brother's childhood death and stuck in the dead-end town of Brewster, New York, he turns his rage into victories running track. Meanwhile, Ray Cappicciano, a rebel as gifted with his fists as Jon is with his feet, is trying to take care of his baby bro...

This story collection explores the violent underbelly of America's heartland: "A dark, hard-boiled debut . . . no doubt about it, Frank Bill can write." — Kirkus ReviewsWelcome to heartland America circa right about now, when the union jobs and family farms have given way to meth labs, backwoods gunrunners, and bare-knuckle brawling. Frank Bill's southern Indiana is haunted with the deep, abiding sense of place, and his people are men and women pre...

Married to an uncaring, workaholic husband, Shylia Allred walks to alleviate stress and to consider her divorce. Typical of many abused spouses, she dreams of escape but always comes up with a reason to thwart her own plans. Then, as she's walking past the local parish hall just as an AA meeting is letting out, she literally bumps into Randall Sly. As they get to know each other, she comes to trust him completely. He's the one man who can bring a huge change to her life. But change isn't a...

Zombie/Apocalypse 2012: A Political Horror Story is a zombie tale with a political background story- not from a left or right minded perspective, but from that of an average American who feels left behind by the system. It is the tale of a regular guy- an unemployed factory worker- in the first days of the end of the world, a time in which the ways of doing things have become muddled between pre and post apocalypse. It may not be too late to save humanity, but any progress that is made get...

Murder at 1217 – This first offering in Lisa and David's new detective series is an excellent whodunnit. Of course, this book also introduces the many diverse characters who will continue their roles in each Strickland Files mystery. We believe you will soon feel a part of the extended family that is The Strickland Files.Murder at 1217 is set in Nashville, Tennessee, appropriately known as Music City. Captain of Detectives Dan Strickland investigates the murder of a young oriental ...

When a ghost haunts the mountain getaway of a doctor recovering from a gunshot wound, he thinks he's going crazy until he starts to dig deeper and finds the truth. Will he be able to find her body and the killer and bring the murderer to justice, or will the killer succeed in making the doctor the next victim?A supernatural thriller short story of murder and mystery.

While driving through Georgia to Houston a young man gives a girl a ride only to discover she is being pursued by a maniac. He race away from the maniac in a vehicle that's on its last legs, the tires are bald, the transmission is slipping. Everything he tries the would be assailant is one step behind him. one step closer to catching them.

"Jimmy always told me there were only two kinds of gangbangers: Those who were dead and those who were going to die. Joining a gang doesn't make sense to Jimmy..."Jimmy is dead now—gunned down in front of his little sister, Mina, and his brother, Tito. And Tito is left wondering: Was Jimmy in a gang after all? Ice Breaker Joe and Lamar think so. They say Jimmy was skimming their drug money. And if the missing cash isn't returned, Tito may have to pay—with his life.Some peop...