Psychological Thriller Short Stories

Janie is the last person Hannah and Christopher Bauer want to see again. But Janie’s moved back to Clarksville. She’s no longer the frail child Hannah and Christopher adopted over eleven years ago. The child who destroyed their lives. Now Janie is out of juvenile detention—a beautiful, confident young adult—and publicly promoting her new tell-all memoir.

No one could understand why Colin and Roy were best friends. Colin was so shy; Roy was so popular. Colin was fascinated by Roy - and Roy was fascinated by death. Then one day, Roy asked his timid friend: “You ever killed anything?” From that moment on, the two were bound together in a game too terrifying to imagine - and too irresistible to stop.

Fay Roper is a divorced single mom and a globally famous actress. She’s also unlucky in love. Maybe because the last thing Fay wants in a man is yet another superfan. But somehow, every time she has a boyfriend who isn’t a stalker, he abruptly disappears from her life. With the help of her best friend and right-hand woman, Poppy, Fay decides to change the game and join an exclusive new dating app under a false identity. A subscriber named Oliver takes the bait. But Oliver likes to play games too. And only one of them can win.

Three friends go on a foodie road trip to the Scottish Highlands and Islands to celebrate their pending retirement, expecting stunning scenery, great food, fine wines, and a chance to reminisce about the good old days. When they somehow secure a reservation at a remote and extremely exclusive restaurant set on a private island in Loch Broom, they know they’re in for a once-in-a-lifetime dining experience.

When Jules first meets the handsome artist Kirin, she’s still mourning her husband’s death, but a fairytale romance soon sweeps her off her feet. Now she and her daughter Scout are moving out of the city and into Kirin’s once-lonely mansion. He’s thoughtfully updated and adapted the home to match their personalities. But Scout is determined to keep her father’s memory alive by rejecting the new life her mother and Kirin have spun for her.

My husband is dead. I attended his funeral. I watched his casket be lowered six feet into the ground. (Actually, it may have been only five feet, but that still seems like more than enough.) And then we ate an array of finger sandwiches and deviled eggs and miniature beef wellingtons that cost more than my first car. My point is, Grant is gone. And so are all his many, many deep, dark secrets which I never really ever bothered to ask him about. He is never coming back.

Gabby Ashford has just survived an attempt on her life. Detectives have connected her story to two other cases in the area: Professional women drugged at a bar, brought to their homes, and drowned in their bathtubs. Gabby, who miraculously woke up in her own bathtub unharmed, could be the key to finding a serial killer on the loose - but she has no memory of the attack. Gabby admits herself to a high-end rehabilitation center to recover, and to seek the help of a psychiatrist renowned for his work with memory recovery.

The most terrifying thing that you can possibly imagine is your own body in the hands of a monster. Or worse, in the hands of another human being. In this definitive anthology of body horror selected by a World Horror Grandmaster, you'll find the unthinkable and the shocking: a couture designer preparing for an exquisitely grotesque runway show; a vengeful son seeking the parent who bred him as plasma donor; a celebrity-kink brothel that inflicts plastic surgery on sex workers; and organ-harvesting doctors who dissect a living man without anesthetic.

Blair Martin’s days rarely vary: she gets up, goes for a run, and then heads to work at a Manhattan literary agency where she nurtures authors through the publishing process. Her nights, spent alone in her too-large apartment, are similarly predictable. Then on an ordinary Wednesday, Blair enters her office building and spies a lost wallet. When Blair tracks down the owner, they arrange for a simple exchange. But the young woman, Maya, seems so vulnerable, much like Blair’s own daughter, Faith, who died tragically just last year, and Blair is unable to simply walk away.

This captivating listen begins with fan letters to a beloved young actress, Seraphina, that become increasingly unhinged. As more and more is revealed about the troubled woman behind the fan mail and her connection to the starlet, a story of obsession becomes an expertly plotted tale of wrongdoing and revenge.

Motive. Means. Opportunity. Without proof of all three, the guilty can walk free. But even with an alibi, the innocent can still be condemned. For six award-winning, bestselling authors of psychological suspense, truth and lies weave together in a tangle of conflicting loyalties, hidden crimes, and dark secrets. Pull one thread, and there’s no telling what will unravel.

Iris Thomas thought she’d never have to see Sasha Everett again after Sasha seduced her husband and broke up their marriage in a devastating betrayal. But as luck would have it, when Iris’ stepdaughter, Molly, and Sasha’s daughter, Bailey, wind up in the same second-grade class at an elite private school in Los Angeles, they form an instant bond and force the two women back into each other’s lives. Iris wants to put the past behind her and support Molly, but as time goes on, she suspects that Sasha may be guilty of something even worse than adultery....

Marti Greenwood has just moved into a brand-new home after a bitter divorce from her husband Emery, and while she’s still not quite done with him - of course, some of her most cherished possessions are nowhere to be found once she unpacks her things - a fresh start in a beautiful LA neighborhood is exactly what she needs. But days after her arrival, Marti is attacked in her home. She's found shaken and beaten, and her neighbors who immediately call the police. She never saw the face of her attacker, and so there is little to go on as detectives open an investigation.

Tammy Partridge and her boyfriend, Kevin, are on a photo-ready road trip across America in pursuit of influencer fame. Only a couple hundred followers so far, including Roxanne, a superfan of the beautiful young couple. But when Tammy’s body is discovered in the Utah wilderness, and Kevin is nowhere to be found, the picture-perfect adventure suddenly goes wrong—and viral, with three million followers and counting. Motives are questionable. Conspiracy theories cloud the dark corners of the internet. As everyone spins their own version of the truth, reality is getting harder to see.

They arrive alive. They always leave dead. But before they go, they tell me everything. My name’s Jack Steen, night nurse in an asylum for the criminally insane—where mercy is optional, and every secret comes with a pulse that’s fading fast. My job isn’t to save them. It’s to listen. For years, I’ve recorded their deathbed confessions in the dead of night, one story at a time. What began as whispers caught on tape has now been transcribed—unedited, unfiltered, raw. These aren’t stories meant to be read so much as listened to, in the quiet hours when even your own heartbeat sounds too loud.

Adela Bess is a recent graduate in the field of psychology. She has an interview to work with the prominent doctor, Ferris Hoover. She has heard nothing but great things about him. However, the hospital is in shambles and the patients are in poor condition. The plan is for Ms. Bess to work side by side with Dr. Hoover assisting him in his psychiatric work

This collection includes three novels: I Said Yes, The Mother-In-Law, and The Good Neighbors.

When Ella boards a sumptuous charter off the coast of Australia, she feels…dread. Her husband, Mac, the social butterfly who makes these wellness retreats so much easier to navigate, is stuck at work, leaving her exposed to the other passengers. Luckily, she forms an instant bond with the charismatic Chloe, a newly single woman salving a broken heart. But as the friendship grows, Ella discovers they share more than the need for an escape, and their devastating connection has the power to forever alter their lives.

From master of suspense author James Patterson comes the thrilling new novella in the globally bestselling series plus two gripping new stories.

In his three novellas, In Short Measures, Strong Conspirators, and Sally Forth, Michael Ruhlman delves deeply into the nuanced complexity of romantic and sexual love - and the inevitable evolution of the heart over the span of years and decades. Each novella asks questions about the nature of love in terms of loyalty and fidelity - what are one's obligations toward one's spouse, one's family, and one's heart?