Showing results by author "A J Grayson" in All Categories

Darlington is a small Northern town where everyone knows everyone. And Detectives Tanzy and Byrd know there’s a twisted serial killer in their midst... They find Julia Porter’s body tied to a chair in her quiet family home in the outskirts of Darlington. She’s covered in blood, and someone has cut out her eyes. Next to her is a message written in red crayon: She didn’t see it coming. Detectives Tanzy and Byrd have never seen the like of this in their town before. Then a few days later a woman is handed a package on the high street. It contains Julia Porter’s eyes ... It’s a warning.

Dylan goes to the same park every day. He starts to notice a young boy who comes down to the small boating lake and soon realises that all is not right with the child; he seems troubled and unhappy, and when bruises start to appear on the boy's arms, Dylan realises that he has to take action. As Dylan's obsession with the boy takes hold, he embarks on a dark, intense and powerful journey where nothing is what it seems....

Question your typical perception. See beyond the normal you know. Step into divergent realms. Let this anthology of new and original short stories show you the fantastic and futuristic through a new lens. A struggling father discovers why his autistic daughter becomes consumed with a virtual reality simulator in the wake of her mother’s death. An android who can’t stop ruminating about her consciousness being trapped inside a machine for all eternity confronts her worst fear to stop a sentient AI.

Darlington is a small Northern town where everyone knows everyone. But Detectives Orion Tanzy and Max Byrd know that small towns can harbour deadly killers ... Anna Greenwell is walking home through the park with her sixyearold son when they come across a body. As soon as she sees the trainers and tracksuit, she knows. Her eldest was wearing those same clothes last night — and he never came home. At the postmortem, Tanzy and Byrd see that Mark Greenwell’s back is covered in deep scars. Some have healed, but others are fresh and raw. Someone was punishing this boy with regular whippings.

Amber is happy. She loves her husband, David, and their dog, Sadie; she even loves her job as a junior editor on a local newspaper. But when the body of a young woman is found in a stretch of river near her home, Amber’s world begins to implode. The headaches that she has been struggling with seem to intensify, and Amber begins to doubt her husband. Why doesn’t he want to probe deeper into the story, and why does she seem to have such a shaky hold on her own thoughts and memories?

Late one night Danny Walters tucks his young son back into bed. He realizes the carpet is soaking wet just as he sees a man standing at the bottom of the stairs. The man lights a match. The house goes up in flames. The next day, Detectives Tanzy and Byrd witness a horrific video posted online. Someone stood in the back garden filming as Danny and his whole family burned alive. Across town, four women wake up in a dark, cold room. Every time they fall asleep, one of them is taken. People on the internet are paying good money to watch what happens to them.

Two-year-old Abigail is fast asleep in the back of the car, clutching her little red lion. Tony, her father, steps out onto the pavement. The man he’s meeting punches him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Before it all goes black, Tony sees his car speed away—with his little girl inside. When he finally gets home after the worst day of his life, the house is empty. His wife is gone too. The place is ransacked and the kitchen is streaked with blood. Someone out there has Tony’s little girl. And his wife may already be dead.

Two-year-old Abigail is fast asleep in the back of the car, clutching her little red lion. Tony, her father, steps out onto the pavement. The man he’s meeting punches him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Before it all goes black, Tony sees his car speed away—with his little girl inside. When he finally gets home after the worst day of his life, the house is empty. His wife is gone too. The place is ransacked and the kitchen is streaked with blood.