Book picks similar to
Playthings by Daniel I. Russell
general
gothic
horror
mystery-suspense
Immodest
L.S. Einat - 2021
But she knows that once she makes a drastic decision, there will be no way back into the arms of the Jewish community.Immodest tells the story of a courageous young woman who chooses to obey the commandments of her heart and not give up, despite the huge price she is forced to pay.
Call of the Arcade
F. Gardner - 2020
Two friends travel to an arcade in downtown Chicago, which they suspect may contain a haunted arcade machine from urban legends- Polybius. Unknown horrors await them, as they inch ever closer to the truth behind the sinister arcade game.Part of a series of interconnected horror novels that can be read in any order. Each book serves as a stand alone story, yet builds a greater picture behind a dark mystery in Chicago.
The Housewarming (The Guesthouse on the Green Book 11)
Michelle Vernal - 2021
Settle in and enjoy your stay at O'Mara's, where stories abound, romance lurks and laughter sounds. Aisling O'Mara. She's married to a Ronan Keating look-a-like, and okay, he can't sing to save himself, but he does think the world of her. Her life would be perfect if it weren't for the fact Mother Nature hasn't seen fit to bestow a child upon them yet. The tick-tock of her biological clock is getting louder, and she's determined to make it happen. But at what cost?Ita Finnegan. O'Mara's Director of Housekeeping, wants to be happy. She's decided the key to finding happiness is to find love, and she's hatched a plan to meet her perfect match. But how can she expect someone else to love her when she doesn't like herself very much?Meanwhile, Mammy O'Mara is planning a quiet soiree with neighbours and family to introduce herself and Donal to the neighbourhood, but, somehow, it's morphed into the Howth House party of the year. Oh, and you're invited!
The Silver Spurs Home for Aging Cowgirls
Laura Hesse - 2019
Turns out three of the four women aren’t cowgirls at all, and their horses aren’t ranch horses either.And then there is the cheating husband that came along for the ride.The word ‘baggage’ just got a whole new meaning.If you think senior living means the party is over, then you haven’t spent a night at The Silver Spurs Home for Aging Cowgirls where romance is in the air and sleeping with another woman’s man can be murder. This politically incorrect black comedy is one part Murder She Wrote and one part Blazing Saddles for lovers of outrageous romantic comedies and cozy mysteries where spurs are jingling and mysteries are afoot. Oh, and we can't forget horse and dog lovers too. More information: When the Montana family decide to turn their struggling ranch into a senior’s home for retired cowgirls and their horses, they don’t realize how much baggage comes along with them, not to mention the fact that only one of the four ladies who move in is a ‘real’ cowgirl, and one of them also comes with a husband with a wandering eye.Sam Montana thinks he’s seen it all until the four ladies show up with four stallions, blankets for every season, more tack than the barn has room for, and a list of what to feed and what not to feed the horses that is longer than his arm.Young widow, Emma Montana, and her children all agreed that a group of retired cowgirls in the house would be fun…just like having four new cowgirl grandmas. They didn’t count on a cheating husband, his completely disabled wife left helpless after a massive stroke, his mistress of forty years, and the multi-divorcee deciding that Sam’s the new mount she wants to ride. And then there are the crude jokes and midnight capers. Throw in a love struck sheriff, a jealous Forest Ranger, a hot ATF agent, a plane crash, a fugitive on the loose, and a rogue mountain lion, and Emma is over her head in no time.
This politically incorrect laugh-out-loud black comedy will leave you wondering just what your grandmother is up to when you aren’t around.
Man Found Dead in Park
Margaret Coel - 2017
I love Margaret Coel’s writing because there’s never a misplaced step. She balances two opposing cultures with little room for compromise, which is good because this chick works without a safety net. It’s human nature, or certainly the nature of writers, to analyze another’s work when reading it, in an attempt to take the story apart like an acrobatic trick—kick off your shoes and try it out. Every once in a while you second guess them and follow them out onto that tightrope just to find where they might’ve slipped up, but Margaret never does and just when you think she has she’ll turn and wink, so keep reading. Like Catherine McLeod, the reporter protagonist of Man Found Dead in Park, Margaret embraces both the mainstream and native cultures, all the while maintaining the aspect of her writing that transcends the genre with a deep understanding of human nature. When a man is found dead in an Indian section of Denver where no one is talking, McLeod finds herself in conflict with Mexican drug cartels and an investigation that leads north into Wyoming's Wind River Reservation and what turns out to be her roots. Transformative for both McLeod and the reader, the width and breath of the story is easy to miss, because Coel’s writing has a heady narrative that holds a sense of wonder and romance—a place that a lot of other writers fear to tread. I sometimes wonder if she knows how good she is, but I think probably not. The humility of a few artists is what keeps them grounded, and even when she’s out there flying high, I’m pretty sure she has her head up but is feeling every twitch of the story through the soles of her feet. Navigating with the finesse of a Flying Wallenda, Coel never misses a thing, because the devil is in the details, and like her character, Detective Nick Bustamante, Margaret knows that these indiscernible little slights of hand are the thing that makes for great drama under the Big Top. So join Margaret Coel out onto that high wire where she works without a safety net. Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out there will be moments of insecurity, thoughts that will disconcert, and you might be tempted to look down, but don’t. If things get too hairy just reach out and take this daredevil performer’s hand, and she’ll grin that signature smile and make sure you make it back to safety. --Craig Johnson
The Bakery Murder (Sweetland Witch)
Zoe Arden - 2018
Ava Fortune's got it all... magic, love, and a bakery. She just can't seem to stay out of trouble, especially now that her dad is getting married. And now Ava's father's been framed for murder… Obviously, she can't let this case rest. Ava can't let her dad down. She needs to find the real killer before he strikes again or her dad ends up behind bars forever. With her aunts and best friend there to help her, Ava can't possibly fail. Or can she? She wonders if this time the killer just might win. Can Ava save her father before it's too late, or is her magic all used up? Page Count: around 330 pages
Bane County: A Short Story
J.R. Rice - 2019
. . Mystery, Suspense, an edge-of-your-seat Thriller with characters you’ll fall in love with. An old-school, heart-pounding, coming-of-age Horror series with 100s of 5-Star Reviews. A Bane County Short Story. This 8,000-word Novelette entitled “When Bane Flowers Bloom” takes place within the Bane County Universe. The timeline of the story is set during the third book of the series (First Moon), and it answers many questions and reveals new mysteries spanning all the way back to Book 1 (Forgotten Moon). Prepare yourself, for a twisting turning descent into absolute terror.
Trick or Treat Free For All!: A Halloween Kids Book
M.K. RadicanScott Peters - 2020
BowmanA GOOD TRICKA Haunted Library StoryBy Dori Hillestad ButlerHALLOWEENINGA Tales of the Spooky Folk StoryBy J.K. CampbellSTICKY FINGERSFeaturing characters from The Boy Who Cried GhostBy Richard ClarkA KANDY BRAINZ HALLOWEENFeaturing characters from Books Make Brainz Taste BadBy Eli CranorSIDE QUESTA Magic Eaters StoryBy Connor GraysonA TRICKSTER HALLOWEENA Prentiss Twins StoryBy Deb LoganTHE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED EGYPTIAN KITCHENA Kid Detective Zet StoryBy Scott PetersFLYING SOLOBy D.M. PotterAuthor of the You Say Which Way SeriesTRICKING THE TREAT WITCHA Zombie Reconstruction Squad StoryBy M.K. Radican
Finding Lien
R. Bruce Logan - 2016
Her father, Ngoc, is desperate and with help from a young Australian volunteer overcomes his years of reluctance and writes a letter to his father, a retired American army officer. Ngoc’s letter shocks Peter Trutch. Torn between his sense of honor toward this unknown son and his contentedly pleasant life in Seattle with his devoted wife Catherine, he hurls himself into his past and back to a country and memories that he had left behind forty years earlier. Lien is sold to a brothel in Cambodia and, in his frantic search for her, Trutch confronts not only his past but a seedy, corrupt world where bad cops, pimps and the destitute, clash with courageous international prevention workers and a few honest officials. Along with Trutch, the reader will be outraged at the worldwide plague of sex trafficking.
Helltown: A Horror Novel
Stephen Bentley - 2015
It's nothing like the suburb you might live in . . . Unless, that is, an insane, Listerine-guzzling Realtor sold you your house? Or perhaps your postman happens to have a disturbing relationship with his claw hammer? A grieving Dan LaBarbara knows something is different in Helltown as soon as he comes back home. Yeah, sure, the town always been a little off. You can feel that about the place, like if you stepped into a house whose only occupants were freshly murdered corpses in an upstairs bedroom. But this is something else entirely. Standing in his little brother Barbie's basement workshop, holding one of those dioramas Barbie's been building since the accident, the ones that seem to move when you hold them, Dan can feel Barbie's terror. Barbie must know something is coming, something big, something evil. He's trying to warn Dan in the only way he knows. Why else would Barbie build a diorama depicting a man-sized version of a cartoon rabbit with bloody teeth about to devour a trembling teenager? Why else would he spend so much time crafting an intricate model of Death standing over a pimply teenager in the school library? And let's not even talk about that little model of the mob of undead surrounding the massive tower of vicious black spines behind the high school. Hilltown has a story to tell, and the lonely brain-damaged man who builds magical dioramas in his basement workshop has been telling it all along. As the evil closes in around them, Dan and his new love interest Jessica must do the impossible: save everyone one in Hilltown before it's too late.
Sin's Judgment: Supernatural Horror with Scary Ghosts & Haunted Houses (Death Hunter Series Book 5)
Ron Ripley - 2021
The Hell I Carry: An Autobiography
Lucas Derion - 2019
We are then forced to re-live the moments we have spent decades burying beneath amicable smiles and a false sense of security. This is my story; one shrouded in as much truth as my mind can tolerate. My story may mean nothing to you, but I believe, that if these words were to fall into the right hands, then they could have the potential to change someone’s life, someone’s mind. At a young age I learned what it meant to carry the scorching secrets of a fiery hell. For years I allowed the flames to consume my mind as I proceeded to live a life devoted to destruction and chaos. I blamed my mother. I blamed the men that raped me. I blamed the woman that refused to love me back. But when the smoke cleared, the mirror on the wall only painted a single reflection, that of myself. So, when the big bad wolf no longer blows, yet the house still falls, who will I have to blame then? Only me.
Paparazzi (Becky White Thriller #2)
Jo Fenton - 2021
A popstar’s family murdered. A terrified photographer.It’s thirty years since Becky White joined the police. Now, six months after leaving the force, she is suffering from PTSD, when an old friend turns up with a tempting offer. Following the creation of The White Knight Detective Agency, their first client is a press photographer – a member of the Paparazzi – a young woman with a mysterious and troublesome stalker.But as the case develops, Becky and Joanna find themselves embroiled in murder. When they are unable to prevent further deaths, their investigation takes them down an unexpected path.But can they trust their instinct? And will they identify the killer in time to save a child’s life?Paparazzi, the second instalment in the bestselling Becky White Thriller series. takes you on a journey into the deceptive world of superstars – and those who follow them!
Queenie's Castle
Lena Kennedy - 1994
The incident ends in murder and Joe is accused - of the real villains there remains not a trace.But his memory of that fateful night, and a clue to the identity of the murderers, helps him through his time in prison and fuels his desire to uncover the truth. His quest leads him back to the East End and to the Ship and Castle pub, run by the mysterious and formidable Queenie . . .
Love Comes with a Price: Tales of a Dopeboy's Girl
Bianca - 2016
She has a bad attitude and she does what she wants and when she wants and does not care who she hurts in the process. She has everything that she could possibly want in life, but she feels like she is missing one thing, the love of her biological father, Tristan “Triple T” Thompson. Briana turns to different men looking for that love and affection that she has never gotten from Trip. Will that missing love and affection cause Briana to turn to a man who does not have her best interest at heart?Shanice Miller and Briana are sisters and they are nothing alike. Shanice has always been in her sister’s shadow and she hates it. Shanice starts to hang out with a different crowd and starts doing things that she knows no one would be proud of. She meets someone who she believes has her best interest at heart and will help her get her life back on track. Will he help her get her life back on track or will he lead her down a path of more destruction.Jaslyn Roberson is the quiet and rational thinker of the group. Jaslyn find herself in an abusive relationship and along with home issues she sometimes doesn’t know which way is up. After an tragic event she seeks solace into the arms of another man. Jaslyn can sense that this new guy is keeping a secret from her, but can’t quite put her finger on it.