Beef Stroganoff? Micah Reed finds himself in a fancy restaurant, in a suit and tie, waiting on a blind date. Should be in for a good time, right? A nice, quiet evening? If you know Micah Reed, you know things usually aren't what they seem. Micah might not survive the night... A FREE short story in the award-winning Micah Reed series. Grab this quick, fun thriller now to read it all in one sitting!

    A little later an Admiralty physicist disappears from Gibraltar, and a body is found washed up against its shores… Deep below Gibraltar’s Rock, a secret, auto-powered nuclear fuel-production unit throbs and hums as its builds up a store of AGL SIX, a dangerous new motivating-agent for the British atomic submarines to be based there. This fuel unit has developed a fault. Allowed to overrun beyond a certain point, it will produce the biggest atomic blast since Hiroshima. Only Ackroyd, the persecution-complexed inventor of the unit, can stop it. And Ackroyd has disappeared. Commander Esmonde Shaw, R.N, of the Naval Intelligence Division wants to get out and settle down with a house in the suburbs. Unfortunately for Naval Intelligence’s finest secret agent, these peaceful plans will have to wait. Shaw establishes that the physicist has fallen into the hands of foreign agents operating from Spanish territory. Shaw's job is to get Ackroyd back to Gibraltar before the Rock blows up — and before Ackroyd is smuggled out of Spain. As Shaw wanders rounds the Spanish streets, he catches the heavy odour of a well-remembered perfume. Karina Czercov, the most dangerous, beautiful woman behind the Iron Curtain, is caught up in this intrigue. Something in the air tells them that this encounter was going to be a fight to the finish. Gibraltar Road is a high-octane thriller filled with espionage and intrigue. Praise for Philip McCutchan "A nautical war buffs feast...[McCutchan] keeps an authoritative hand on the wheel and his descriptions of battles at sea ring with laconic truth." —The New York Times Book Review 'A gripping page-turner.' - Tom Kasey, best-selling author of 'Trade-Off.' Philip McCutchan(1920-1996) grew up in the naval atmosphere of Portsmouth Dockyard and developed a lifetime's interest in the sea. Military history was an early interest resulting in several fiction books, from amongst his large output, about the British Army and its campaigns, especially in the last 150 years.

    Rapid expansion into habitable worlds brings immense prosperity and a new age of exploration unlike any humanity has seen. WAR Conflicts over control of the colonial worlds spawn a massive, generation-long war among humans. Under a shaky armistice, humanity has just begun to crawl out of the shadows of destruction, but suspicion and bitter hostility run deep. INVASION On a rocky, desolate planet, a small band of gold prospectors find themselves making a discovery they never expected—valuable and powerful relics of the galaxy's deep past. The prospectors also discover a hostile alien species, ruthless beings who do not tolerate humans and wipe them out on sight. Humanity's first contact with intelligent aliens becomes a war for survival. The invasion has begun...but the beginning of the invasion is also the beginning of the resistance. "Resistance is a terrific space opera adventure. It combines mystery, heart-pounding action, and a good dose of humor. It's Aliens meets Tremors. I can't wait to read the sequel." -Daniel Arenson, USA Today bestselling author of the Earthrise series

    Someone you once knew, but have almost forgotten. Now, imagine that they are clever, patient and will not stop. They'll get inside your head and make you doubt yourself. They'll make you question who you are, and ensure that everyone you care for starts to doubt you too. Each perfectly-orchestrated doubt will slowly, steadily, build to a crescendo and destroy you. This is real and it could be happening to you. Best Eaten Cold is a chilling reminder of how quickly – and how blindly – we have learnt to trust in the online world, despite the somewhat ironic fact that none of us really understand it at all.Fabiola lives an idyllic life in Oxford – beautiful house, adoring husband, happy healthy baby. She thinks she’s left her past behind her. But in a world of smartphones and social media, it’s not so easy to wipe the slate clean. Best Eaten Cold is a terrifying psychological thriller of gaslighting, technological trickery and the depths of human vindictiveness. It is a nail-biting story that could happen to any one of us in this digital age.

     Five years after the brutal slaying of her husband, software executive Jill Shannon is ready to take the next step in her life. But with her wedding to prosecuting attorney Conner Manning just eight weeks away, her future father-in-law’s political ambitions for her fiancé threaten all her hopes. Jill’s past holds dark secrets. Secrets she can’t afford to have exposed under the relentless lights of a political campaign. When Phoenix Detective David Shaw turns up at Jill’s door asking questions about a reporter's murder, he has no idea what a lethal Pandora’s Box he’s just opened. Was the womanizing reporter killed by a jealous husband, or was it related to his drug use? Or did it have something to do with the secret expose the reporter was working on? Jill Shannon looks like a dead-end lead but Shaw can’t shake the feeling the beautiful widow has secrets she’s not sharing. Jill is caught between the sins of her past and the shattered hopes for her future. Shaw finds himself drawn deeper into a twisted labyrinth of lies and danger. One thing is clear: some vows are made out loud in front of witnesses. But some vows are made in silence, and witnesses can’t be left alive.

    Trinity’s ready to lace up her Doc Marten boots to be a church lady and bake pies for the county fair, but is her hometown ready to welcome her back? With some help from her old friend Deputy Bobby Grace, she tries to solve the mystery of her Grandfather’s death and track down just who has been hell-bent on ruining her reputation. What she finds out could get her killed. You can take the girl out of the country, put red streaks in her hair, and dress her all in black, but you can’t take the country out of the girl. Pitchfork in hand, this American Goth is ready to find a killer, save the farm, win a blue ribbon for jam, and just maybe snag herself a good ole country boy.

    A former cop, he’s recently taken a job with the brand new security firm, Barracuda Security. He’s handed a new case, one that seems simple enough. Keep a lady attorney safe from a potential stalker. But what starts as simple becomes complicated when Maclean meets Rylee. Rylee Gruffydd is a demanding, high spirited woman who is fiercely protective of what’s hers. When she catches some guy following her around town, she confronts him, demands to know what his deal is. The revelation that her estranged brother believes her to be in danger seems more like a game than anything to be afraid of. Book Two There is something about the new accountant that Ayden Vaughn can’t ignore, a certain control disguised by a winning smile. A confirmed bachelor, he’d never known anyone like her. And the fact that she keeps him at arm’s length even after some of the hottest kisses he’s ever experienced just make it that much harder to turn away. Paxton Morris has made mistakes in her life, some that haunt her every time she looks in the mirror. Everyone thinks they understand her, that they can see right through her, but none of them know her real self. And that’s the way she plans to keep it. Book Three General Wayne Crawford has a problem. He suspects someone in his command is stealing information and using it to help homegrown terrorists. He knows he needs to go to his superiors with his suspicions, but he wants strong evidence to back up his claims. For help, he looks up a former student, Kai Gabriel. But the moment he tells his story to Kai, his ordered world suddenly implodes, drawing him into a game he didn’t even know he was playing. Lili McMahon is Kai’s neighbor, owner of Lili’s Bakery and all the delicious treats that are threatening to turn his six pack into a twelve pack. Lili is also a woman with secrets that hide just beneath the surface. When Wayne Crawford shows up in Walnut Estates, Lili is immediately drawn to him, to the uniform he wears, and the power it represents. Book Four Rock Steel was a sniper under Kai Gabriel’s command when he had to make a split second decision to take a child’s life or allow that child to take his commander’s life. Rock made the choice, but paid a stiff price. Rock has spent the years since blaming Kai for his ruined career. Therefore, when a client contacts him and asks that he plant a bomb in Kai’s office, he jumps at the chance to get a little revenge back on his old pal. Cady Miller is the receptionist at Barracuda Security. She loves her job, but she wants to know what it's like to be an operative, to share in the excitement of the job. Unfortunately, her first assignment proves to be a weak man just looking for attention. She’s quickly bored, and that allows her to become fascinated with a man she’s seen three days in a row go into a nearby bank. She decides to follow him and is shocked when he gets the better of her, pinning her to a wall after she allowed herself to become convinced that he was gone. Book Five Kai Gabriel was obsessed with Briar Pierce from the moment he read her beautiful letters. Those letters weren’t addressed to him, but they saved him from a dark depression that had him in its grips just the same. To say he wanted her abusive husband out of the way was an understatement. But did he really resort to murder to make it happen? Briar Cox Pierce was born into a bad situation that she barely escaped as a teenager. Determined to make it on her own, she fought for everything she achieved in life.

    But, a serial killer is back in town, and Jake has to follow his trail. The only clue left behind is the dying words of the three victims. And, before he could have asked Kiara's help, she is sucked into a high political game that is spread across continents. Will they be able to solve the cases without each other's help and that too using their new, inexperienced partners? Book 2 - Perfect Crime The daughter of one of the most influential man in New York falls for a struggling investment banker. After a torrid affair, they finally get married. Everything seems to head towards a life of joy when the wife vanishes into thin air and the husband becomes the prime suspect. As Agent Kiara Davenport is about to get hold of him, a ransom call is made from overseas. And, as she is about to catch the caller, someone else confesses to the crime. She knows something is amiss and as she is about to get to the bottom of it, all the suspects start getting killed one by one. Everyone is a suspect and each suspect is more influential than the other. Will Kiara find the real culprit or become a pawn in the cat and mouse game? Book 3 - Wrong One When Kiara invited Jake to a family wedding, he had not thought that it will be different from any other wedding. However, he started sensing something wrong with everyone in the wedding party. Is Jake going to find out anything or is it a mere hunch? Or Kiara's fear of Jake creating a trouble in the marriage will come true?

    A postcard-pretty company town. Families. Children. Sunshine. Happiness. A high school football team that never-ever loses. And something else. Something horrible ... Now, there is a new family in town. A shy, nature-loving teenager. A new hometown. A new set of bullies. Maybe the team's sports clinic can help him. Rebuild him. They won't hurt him again. They won't dare. "Saul has the instincts of a natural storyteller." -- "People"

    They were also the most expensive, so it was no coincidence that they were hired to find the heir to a fortune totaling over 1.6 billion dollars. Nicholas Gladstone left everything to a granddaughter he didn't know he had until a week before he died, but which one was it - the maid secretly working in the parent's home, an office worker, or the young woman tragically killed in a car accident?

    A Pyschic/Medium and Crime Novelist who inadvertently gets tangled up in Murder! From the author of the Darcy Sweet Mystery Series. Miranda Wylder is on her way up. Life is good for the Psychic/Medium Crime Novelist with one successful novel already and a second on its way up the charts. But then her best friend, Kyle Hunter, is murdered right in her own backyard and the detective in charge of the investigation seems determined to put her in the frame. She has to convince the police of her innocence so she must use her intuition and deduction, along with help from Kyle's ghost, to discover the truth behind the murder and to see the true Killer behind bars. In this Psychic Mystery, can Miranda overcome this terrible truth to see justice done?

    Thistlethwaite and the Magpie: "Super early review on Mrs. Thistlethwaite book from beta reader, Lisa Hudson: AN ABSOLUTE DELIGHT!! I've been a fan of J.B. Hawker's fantastic writing for sometime. This book is outstanding!! Her ability to use elderly characters - Matilda Thistlewaite and Slim Bottoms - is brilliant!! These characters (as well as all the other characters) are painted so vividly that you feel as though you would recognize them if you met them in your local church, grocery store, or neighborhood. The story is set in a small town and reflects the devastation and fear brought by the disappearance of a young teenaged girl and the evidence of the return of a serial killer. The author seamlessly weaves the story and has you wanting to read the entire book in one sitting. It's about friendships, families, First Responders, and the criminal element. There are a myriad of surprises scattered all throughout this book. Read it. You'll be so glad you did!! " Fans of Miss Seeton and Mrs. Pollifax will welcome the indomitable Mrs. Thistlethwaite. Like these beloved, mature characters, at the ripe old age of eighty-five Mrs. T. is ready for whatever comes her way. When a beautiful and talented teenage ballet student disappears, rumors fly in the charming village of Tillamook, Oregon. Did she run away to the big city, or is she the latest victim of the notorious serial killer preying upon lonely young women along the coastal highways? Beguiling octogenarian, retired school teacher, Tillie Thistlethwaite, applies her exceptionally sharp mental skills and no-nonsense practicality to the mystery. Petite Mrs. T. and her tall gentleman friend, Slim, reject both theories and launch their own investigation. Will the amateur sleuthing of this unlikely and adorable pair succeed where the police fail, or will they fall victim to foul play?

    They've come up with a plan to lure the criminal out of hiding, but everything goes terribly wrong during the mission when each agent becomes compromised and sent to the principal's office. The worst part is that Nolan himself has been labeled as the cheater! Now the only way he can clear his name is to find the real cheater, but with the entire school hunting after him, it's not going to be so easy. Join Nolan as he unravels the mystery with a jaw dropping twist at the end.6th Grade Spy is a 7500 word exciting mystery that's entertaining for kids and adults (who never grew up).

     Jolted awake by the scary noise, Sally ran to her parent’s bedroom for comfort. Instead, she found her mother slumped against the headboard, her ravaged nightdress drenched from a double-barreled wound. Climbing on the bed, Sally cradled her mother’s head against her tiny chest, mindless of the blood and the cloying stench of death. There was no sign of her father, and Sally was too frightened to call out, when a voice from deep within her dead mother’s throat screamed: “Run, Sally! Run!” Twenty-five years later, Sally has finally stopped running. She finds peace among the dead as a mortician’s beautician, and on the night of a strange murder that reawakens a special gift within her, she actually meets an interesting man: Jersey Castle, homicide detective by day, punk rock drummer by night. But what Sally doesn’t know is that someone has been hunting for her all this time, and now that she’s passed his test of blood, he will stop at nothing to bring her home again.

    So, when Grace finally announces that she is pregnant, she isn’t prepared for Justin’s reaction. Why does he act so strangely? Why does he leave and never return?Two years later, while at the seaside with baby Daniel, Grace sees Justin—who is desperate to come home, but can’t reveal the reason he left. However, Grace too is harboring a secret, one that won’t just hurt Justin—but will destroy him completely.One thing is certain: their secrets will be exposed. And when they are, neither Grace nor Justin will be prepared for what follows . . .