Book picks similar to
The Doll by J.C. Martin
horror
short-stories
fiction
short-story
Blood Debt
Nancy Straight - 2012
Before her mother’s last breath, she gave Camille the information she had craved her entire life: the identity of her father. Daring to contact him, Camille was welcomed by an entire family she never knew existed. But nothing comes without a price, as she discovers when her family claims a legendary heritage tracing back to a centaur touched by Zeus. As she learns the secrets of her Centaur bloodline, she is drawn into a forbidden love with Drake. Her life may be the blood debt required to pay for her mother’s transgressions. The same person who once held her mother captive, and forced her into decades of hiding, now controls Camille. Her only chance is to seek a piece of her mother’s past that will win her freedom and the life she desperately wants.
Stronger
Lexie Ray - 2013
Cast away by the same people I thought were family, I was ready to take my own life. Until I met Nate. He didn't run away when I said I was sick. But I wonder why a handsome, funny, Mr. Right like him would love someone like me?My name is Nate and I have a secret.I met Jasmine at a crossroads in my life. She was beautiful, desperate, and inspired me in ways I didn't know were possible. She makes me better in everything and I want to help her get better, too. But I have a secret, one she doesn't have to know - until the time is right.
The Princess Game
Soman Chainani - 2020
To find the killer, rookie detective Callum Pederson has gone undercover where the Princes hold court. He’s found enough secrets among the bros to bring them in for questioning—but he could very well get lost in the games the Princes play.
The Test
Sylvain Neuvel - 2019
Twenty-five chances to impress.When the test takes an unexpected and tragic turn, Idir is handed the power of life and death.How do you value a life when all you have is multiple choice?
Umbrella Man
Willow Rose - 2017
Julian was popular, loved by all, and the circumstances of his death are more than strange.
What secrets is the boy in the swamps hiding?
Stephanie Boulder has returned to the town after fifteen years to take care of her grandmother, who is terminally ill. She writes for the local paper, and as soon as she starts digging into the story of Julian Long, she discovers secrets deep within the town’s history. Secrets so cruel, so profoundly buried, uncovering them will put her life in grave danger.
What if dreams were not just dreams? Would you dare to sleep again?
Desperate for answers, Stephanie embarks on a journey that spans beyond her beliefs, heading towards a terrifying nightmare, trying to figure out who the Umbrella Man is.
Umbrella Man is a page-turning supernatural thriller from the Queen of Scream, Willow Rose. It is fast paced and packed with suspense. This is one book you don’t want to miss.
Scroll up and grab a copy today.
Long Time Coming
Edie Claire - 2003
But back at home, the past is ready and waiting to haunt her...Eighteen years have passed since Joy's childhood best friend, Jenny, met her death in a tragic car accident just a few days after their senior prom. A broken Joy left their small Kentucky hometown shortly after - determined never to come back. But when her father's illness forces her to return, she realizes that neither time nor distance have truly healed her troubled soul.Plagued with nightmares of the accident and crippled by a vague fear whose source she can't identify, Joy realizes that in order to move on she must face the truth behind several disturbing gaps in her memory of that fateful spring. But the only person who can help her is a man she despises - Jenny's erstwhile boyfriend Jeff, now a respected doctor, whose carelessness as a teenager was the cause of Jenny's horrendous death - and Joy's own emotional destruction. Can she ever forgive? She may have no choice but to try. Because both the danger she sensed - and the childhood friendship she treasured - now suddenly seem very much alive...
Shattered Promises
Jessica Sorensen - 2013
She knows nothing about her past and has been haunted by the same monsters in her nightmares for the last few months. Unemotional and numb to life, she feels disconnected from everyone. Until the very first day she cries. After that, nothing in her life is the same. Her emotions slowly surface and she starts experiencing love, happiness, and anger, feelings she never knew existed. But they leave her confused and she doesn’t know whether to embrace them or run away from them.Her life only gets more complicated when she meets Alex. Sexy, arrogant, and secretive, Alex can get under Gemma’s skin like no one can. Yet she’s drawn to him by an invisible connection she has no control over. She’s also seen him before. In her nightmares. Every part of Gemma’s mind is screaming at her to stay away from Alex, but every other part of her is begging to get close to him. But the closer she gets, the more she realizes Alex knows more about her than he originally let on.As secrets about her past unravel, Gemma’s life becomes threatened. She needs to figure out what’s going on, before she winds up dead. But the only person she can turn to for answers is the one person she isn’t sure she can trust.
The Princess & the Penis
R.J. Silver - 2010
The lump soon morphs into a shape familiar to everyone but her, triggering her curiosity and her father's greatest fears. He frantically tries to intervene, but having a large phantom phallus in a curious maiden's bed is never a good combination.
The Dead Girls Club
Damien Angelica Walters - 2019
Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real--and she could prove it.That belief got Becca killed.It's been nearly thirty years, but Heather has never told anyone what really happened that night--that Becca was right and the Red Lady was real. She's done her best to put that fateful summer, Becca, and the Red Lady, behind her. Until a familiar necklace arrives in the mail, a necklace Heather hasn't seen since the night Becca died.The night Heather killed her.Now, someone else knows what she did...and they're determined to make Heather pay.
Shaman, Healer, Heretic
M. Terry Green - 2011
When Olivia Lawson wakes to find one towering over her, she panics. A Hopi god visiting the real world isn't just wrong-it's impossible.Or is it?Soon Olivia learns that the kachina is the least of her worries. As she struggles to save her clients, clashes with other shamans, and fends off the attacks of real-world vigilantes, Olivia finds herself in the destructive path of a malevolent ancient force intent on leaving the spiritual realm to conquer this one.Left with few options, Olivia is forced to defy centuries of shaman prohibitions. As she and her allies risk everything in their bid for survival, Olivia ultimately learns that the rules are there for a reason and that breaking them has a terrible cost.
Snapshot
Brandon Sanderson - 2017
In this vivid world that author Brandon Sanderson has built, society can create a snapshot of a specific day in time. The experiences people have, the paths they follow—all of them are real again for a one day in the snapshot. All for the purposes of investigation by the court. Davis’s job as a cop on Snapshot Duty is straight forward. Sometimes he is tasked with finding where a criminal dumped a weapon. Sometimes he is tasked with documenting domestic disputes. Simple. Mundane. One day, in between two snapshot assignments, Davis decides to investigate the memory of a call that was mysteriously never logged at the precinct, and he makes a horrifying discovery.As in all many stories, Snapshot follows a wonderfully flawed character as he attempts to solve a horrific crime. Sanderson proves that no matter the genre, he is one of the most skilled storytellers in the business.
Bewitching the Werewolf
Caroline Hanson - 2011
Get in, get it up and get gone. But when she meets Zack Connor, she realizes her future might have a lot more dog jokes in it than she ever imagined.word count: 16,652
Amity
Micol Ostow - 2014
destruction, and revenge. Dreams he kind of likes. Dreams he could make real, with Amity's help.Ten years later, Gwen's family moves to Amity for a fresh start. Instead, she's haunted by lurid visions, disturbing voices, and questions about her own sanity. But with her history, who would ever believe her? And what could be done if they did?Because Amity isn't just a house. She is a living force, bent on manipulating her inhabitants to her twisted will. She will use Connor and Gwen to bring about a violent end as she's done before. As she'll do again. And again. And again.Inspired by a true-crime story, Amity spans generations to weave an overlapping, interconnected tale of terror, insanity. danger, and death.
Untamed Magick
Eliza Gayle - 2008
When a Tarot historian shows up with stolen family cards and a theory of balance, all hell breaks loose. But his insatiable lust for the blue-eyed beauty clouds his judgment, making it difficult for him to separate fact from fiction.Determined to understand the secrets that have plagued her for months, Rena Gallagher lands on Graelen’s doorstep in search of answers. When fantasy becomes reality and a remarkable power sparks between them, a deep craving to surrender to his raw sexuality is revealed.Now Graelen and Rena must race to uncover the clues that will break the curse before the seductive magick can consume he and his brothers. And before the darkness drives the woman he needs away for good.Warning: This book contains a hot demanding alpha who enjoys the wild and unexpected and will go to any length to satisfy his woman, including magick water sex and psychic voyeurism.Four male witches. Two Sets of twins. Born with a dark curse. Unlimited power bequeathed to the four when used together. A seductive power that over time will destroy their souls. To fight the prophecy they are forced to live separately to save themselves.**Previously published as The Bonding. This book has now been revised and edited for re-release.**First of a series.
Light as a Feather
Zoe Aarsen - 2013
After a transformative summer, McKenna is welcomed into the elite group of popular girls at Weeping Willow High, led by the gorgeous Olivia Richmond. For the first time in a long time, things are looking up. But everything changes the night of Olivia’s Sweet Sixteen sleepover. Violet, the mysterious new girl in town, suggests the girls play a game during which Violet makes up elaborate, creepily specific stories about the violent ways the friends will die. Though it unsettles McKenna, it all seems harmless at the time. Until a week later, when Olivia dies…exactly as Violet predicted. As Violet rises to popularity and steps into the life Olivia left unfinished, McKenna becomes convinced Olivia’s death wasn’t just a coincidence, especially when a ghost haunting her bedroom keeps leaving clues that point to Violet. With the help of her cute neighbor, Trey, McKenna pledges to get to the bottom of Violet’s secrets and true intentions before it’s too late. Because it’s only a matter of time before more lives are lost.