Showing titles in Anthologies & Short Stories

He’s a handsome American Lieutenant in the French Foreign Legion. She’s a beautiful woman who’s as fiery as the North African sun...and as mysterious as the far side of the moon. And she’s all his - bought and paid for in the village square. Put them together, and you’re sure to get fireworks.

The final story in a collection of interlinked tales of crime and retribution laced with dark humour, set around the festive season. It’s Christmas Eve, but the criminals never stop working, so neither do the police. The raid is on... but things don’t go entirely to plan.

Not every crime is committed with intent, but each has one thing in common: The guilty party was asking for trouble. In "Making Ends Meet", Richard can’t stand the idea of supporting his deadbeat in-laws anymore, so he decides to remove them from his life - permanently. Matt is ready to reform his brawling ways, but the group he joins doesn’t turn out to be a typical 12-step program, in "The Taskmasters". "Protecting the Innocent" features Nick, who fails to heed the warnings of his girlfriend’s possessive brother....

Lucky Martin is a daredevil of the skies - a test pilot who lives to break the rules and push the envelope. He’s a trailblazer - flying higher and faster than any pilot out there. His latest invention could change the face of air warfare and alter the balance of world power. It’s The Dive Bomber - a perfectly designed aircraft for the US Navy. There’s only one problem - up to now, every test flight has ended in disaster. The reason: sabotage.

Pilot Pete England used to think there was nothing more exciting in the world than flying off into the wild blue yonder. But lately, the blue yonder hasn’t been wild at all...it’s been downright dull. Pete’s hungry for adventure - and he’s about to get his fill. Pete has fallen into a rut, flying the same route - New York to DC - with the same passengers, day after day after day. He might as well be driving a bus...until “her highness” climbs aboard. Apparently a princess, and for one flight, she’s bought up every ticket on the plane.

Why do you suppose some combat veterans give up the sport of hunting? Is it because they gain empathy with the hunted, or hunting a prey less cunning than they has lost its allure. Richard Connell, in this short story “The Most Dangerous Game” takes us where the hunter becomes the hunted. This hunter is not being hunted by a beast less cunning or calculating than he is, like a lion or a tiger. No, this hunter is a master at his craft, crueler and only slightly better armed than he is.

Tom Christian is on the trail of revenge and a fortune in gold. Square-jawed and rugged, Tom is headed deep into the jungles of the Solomon Islands to find Punjo Charlie—the ruthless criminal who killed his partner. But these jungles are thick with danger ... as greed, temptation and sudden violence threaten to draw Tom into the heart of darkness. There’s a pile of gold.... There’s a beautiful blonde.... And there’s a bloodthirsty tribe of headhunters who have fallen under the spell of Punjo Charlie. The trap has been set.

Second story in a collection of interlinked tales of crime and retribution laced with dark humour, set around the festive season. When a double suicide arrives at the city morgue, Sandra thinks it’s a Christmas like any other. But she’s about to get a very nasty shock – make that two very nasty shocks….

He aquí cuatro narraciones perturbadoras que arrastra al lector a los límites del desasosiego y de lo extraño. En Crímenes triviales, una primera obra que no lo parece, se escuchan los ecos de Kafka, Cortázar o Auster. Nos hallamos ante literatura del mayor nivel. Una prosa bien abastecida, un hábil manejo de la narración y de sus ritmos, la capacidad para envolvernos en una atmósfera de ansiedad y suspense- cuando no de mero terror-, y, a la vez, su hondo calado metafísico, hacen de Crímenes triviales una obra fecunda y de nada trivial en la lectura.

Third story in a collection of interlinked tales of crime and retribution laced with dark humour, set around the festive season. Being a top-flight chef can be stressful. Thankfully, a professional kitchen throws up some unique opportunities for body disposal….

When it comes to flying gliders, ace pilot Breeze Callaghan is as smooth as they come. He perfects a skill that will prove vitally important for decades to come - even into the jet age, as demonstrated by Captain Sully Sullenberger, who famously landed his disabled passenger plane on the Hudson River.

Esther is getting old. No, she is old. Aging with every blink, with every breath. After a life full of power and purpose, she is met with the harsh reality that she is now obsolete, and her fragile moments are short. On the eve of the last night in the city she has called home for years, Esther and her lover Jacob share their fears and their romance for this world over one last meal, as they wait in fearful unrest for what is coming.

When forensic psychiatrist Abigail Lee meets a baby-killing mother who has been declared criminally insane and acquitted, she discovers something lurking beneath the surface. Something far deeper and more insidious than mere psychopathy. But can she come to terms with her own struggle with science and faith in time to confront it?

A cop as well as an art historian, Marco Valoni leads a crack team of investigators in a race to solve a crime he's certain is about to shock the world: someone is planning to steal the Holy Shroud of Turin.

Each of eight short stories based on the characters from the author's eight continuing series make up a Party of 8. These characters are featured respectively in my Instinct Series, the Edge Series, the Dean Grant ME Series, the Decoy Series, the City Series, the PSI Series, the Bloodscreams Series, and the Flesh Wars Series. The stories then move from crime novels and medical examiners and police and serial killers to historical suspense to psychics, urban fantasy and strictly horror tales.

Eleventh story in a collection of interlinked tales of crime and retribution laced with dark humour, set around the festive season. What could be more festive than a trip to see Santa at the local shopping centre? Depends on who’s gunning for Santa…

Fourth story in a collection of interlinked tales of crime and retribution laced with dark humour, set around the festive season. Working in a call centre normally offers few career opportunities. But it looks as if Tracy’s about to get her big break.

The serial killer takes on many guises. But what happens when you unknowingly take him as your most trusted and loyal husband? Pathological is proof that even though you think you know your spouse inside and out, you might not really know him at all. This is the first of many Digital Shorts from Vincent Zandri.

In Blade of Hearts, hear some of the back story of a handful of Basil's recurring major characters. Find out about the past of Kharzai Ghiassi ("Karl's Last Flight"), Mojo Johnson ("65 Below"), and Mike Farris ("Faithful Warrior") - as well as others.

Violet Strange is no ordinary well-to-do young New York City debutante. Unbeknownst to family and society friends, she leads a secret life as a professional sleuth for a private detective agency. On a mission to raise money for an undisclosed project, the determined and gutsy young debutante diligently snoops around sleepwalking widows, violent and sinister characters, whispering clocks and concealed tombs, connecting clues to solve tales of murder, mystery and intrigue.