There once was a killer who knew the night, its secrets and rhythms. How to hide within its shadows. When to hunt. He roamed from town to town, city to city, choosing his prey for their beauty and innocence. His cruelties were infinite, his humanity long since forfeit. But still . . . he had not yet discovered how to make his special mark among monsters, how to come fully alive as Death. This is the story of how he learned those things, and of what we might do to ensure that he does not visit us.

    The show's about to begin. Step right up for the Circus of the Dead: where YOU are the concessions. #CircusoftheDead

    Organs labeled in thee victim's own blood, the killer had thorough knowledge of the human body. Can Kent and Nicole catch him before he kills and dissects again?This 10,000+ word short story introduces FBI profiler Kent Harbinger to Detective Nicole Usher while trying to catch a vicious serial killer.

    A chocoholic grizzly bear, a talking Christmas tree, mince pie overdoses and a very bloody murder. Will poor old Saint Nick make it out alive? Sad, strange, funny and gruesome, this overlapping, multi-genre collection of tales has a little something for every reader. Curl up with a mulled wine and some fictional festive misery, and discover what Father Christmas really likes to drink when he wriggles down your chimney. Spoiler: it isn’t milk.

    It has lain in the cold and dark of the bog, waiting patiently for a host to set it free. Now, for John Cluer and his family, nothing will ever be the same again.A novelette of approximately 10,000 words.

    Now the author of the Lincoln Rhyme series ("The Cold Moon" and "The Bone Collector," among others) has compiled a second volume of his award-winning, spine-tingling short stories of suspense.While best known for his twenty-four novels, Jeffery Deaver is also a short story master -- he is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Reader's Award for Best Short Story, and he won the Short Story Dagger from the Crime Writers Association for a piece that appeared in his first short story collection, "Twisted. The New York Times" said of that book: "A mystery hit for those who like their intrigue short and sweet . . . [The stories] feature tight, bare-bones plotting and the sneaky tricks that Mr. Deaver's title promises." The sneaky tricks are here in spades, and Deaver even gives his fans a new Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs story.Deaver is back with sixteen stories in the tradition of O. Henry and Edgar Allan Poe. His subjects range from a Westchester commuter to a brilliant Victorian England caper. With these intricately plotted, bone-chilling stories, Jeffery Deaver is at the top of his crime-writing game.

    Entering a dark wood on a rainy night, they must try to understand and anticipate the mind of the sick killer before it's too late.Richard Heinz is out for a reason, and he’s just taken a hostage.IF YOU GO INTO THE WOODS TONIGHT, YOU’RE SURE OF A BIG SURPRISE… Iain Rob Wright tackles the sick killer with Slasher, writing a tale that will appeal to fans of Hannibal Lector, The Following, and True Detectives.

    That is, his specialty is opening safes. Every job is a little mystery, and he has yet to encounter a lock he can't break or a box he can't crack. But the day Holloway gets called in to open a rare, antique safe in a famous author's library, his skills open a door that should have remained closed.In this haunting and singular story, previously published anonymously, Michael Connelly proves once again that he is "superb at building suspense.... the reader can never be sure what sudden turns the plot may take" (Wall Street Journal).

    ‘Chauthi khidaki’ is a fantastic scientific tale built around the concept of Time. ‘Porkhel’ uses theanalogy of a childat play with her dolls, to highlight that human beings are mere pawns in the hands of Fate. ‘Sucheta Chakrapani ani Ticha Kokilkanth’ tackles the tangle between an artiste and her art – a fantastic rendering reminiscent of magical realism. Matkari’s stories give us the feeling of entering a jungle at dusk. The reader begins his journey along the border that separates reality from fantasy. Matkari employs different narrative styles and structure to lead the reader along familiar as well as unfamiliar paths in this jungle.While being immensely attractive, this journey takes the reader into ever deeper regions.

    5,000 words (16 pages).For Bafion, there is no farther to fall. Once a banneret, officer, and gentleman, he is none of those things now. He is a swordsman who has slipped through the cracks of society and is eking out an existence as a thug for hire.Bafion is presented with the opportunity to reclaim some of what was lost to him, but to do so will mean facing part of his past that he would rather forget.The Swordsman of Tanosa is a swashbuckling fantasy short story set in the same world as the Society of the Sword trilogy.

    Instead of putting a scare into his ex-boss as he intended, things quickly get out of hand and he kills five people. Howard gets sentenced to life at an experimental prison camp off the coast of Antarctica and he soon learns the true definition of rock bottom. Prison life at the remote island involves back breaking work in the illegal mine run by the corrupt warden and his abusive guards. A mysterious object is discovered deep in the mine and the inmates and staff start dying from an unknown disease. Howard is lucky to find himself one of the few survivors immune to the infection but he and his fellow inmates learn something far more sinister and terrifying has also emerged from the mine. The truly lucky ones are already dead.This book is intended to be read by adults and may be unsuitable for children under 17. Contains indecent language and descriptions of graphic violence.

    Konrath's favorite out of the more than one hundred he's written. Gritty, hardboiled, but with real heart, it follows the adventures of problem-solver Phineas Troutt (Whiskey Sour, Shaken) as he's hired to perform an assassination.But does Phin have a secret agenda? And where does his old pal Jack Daniels fit into the mystery?Action, twists, and a surprise finish make this one of Konrath's most memorable tales.About the AuthorJoe Konrath is the author of more than twenty novels and hundreds of short stories, written under the names J.A. Konrath (the Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels series), Jack Kilborn (Afraid, Trapped, Endurance, Draculas), and Joe Kimball (Timecaster.) Joe has a lot of names, apparently. He began self-publishing on Kindle in April, 2009. As of July, 2011, he's sold over 3500,000 ebooks. On his blog, A Newbie's Guide to Publishing, he has chronicled his writing journey.

    In “Shining Rock,” an older couple encounter a strange and menacing visitor during a camping trip in the North Carolina mountains. Friendly at first, this stranger seems to know them, seems to know their secrets, and as things escalate, they become convinced that they may never leave these mountains alive.*Note: This story is collected with others in the eBook, FOUR LIVE ROUNDS, which also contains a Foreword by J.A. Konrath and introductions to each story by Blake Crouch.

    As the disease spreads, it first kills its victims and then reanimates them into beings that are compelled to eat ravenously and crave human flesh.In Clearwater, Florida, Steve Wendell is following the stories of people attacking each other, but is unaware of the situation. When Heather Johansen, a Sheriff’s Deputy who is interested in Steve as more than a friend, tells him the real story of cities being overrun by the dead, Steve makes plans to barricade himself in the fifteen story bank building where the radio station manages has its suite of offices.After locking himself in with Heather and eight others, the group continues to broadcast live as the dead surround their redoubt and search for a way in. Coming across a ten year-old girl that is immune to the disease, the group tries to find a way to transport her across a land filled with the flesh-eating dead to a government facility where she can be studied and a cure found.

     A mutilated body is pulled from the Thames. A mysterious house hides dark secrets, protected by the greatest power in the land. When her daughter Katie vanishes just a few days after arriving in London, Winifred Wren immediately heads to the city. Frantic with worry, she quickly finds herself stonewalled. Katie's apartment appears to have been ransacked, with strange symbols daubed all over the walls, but the police refuse to help. And then Winifred meets Annabelle Churchill, a down-on-her-luck journalist who claims to know the truth. Soon, Winifred learns about the horrors that lurk behind some of London's doors. A mysterious house is said to hide an ancient society, and it quickly becomes apparent that Katie has been drawn into the clutches of a cult. Dark forces are gathering, and an ancient evil is about to be invoked. Meanwhile, the crows and ravens of the city are gathering, preparing for a day that was prophesied two thousand years ago. The Disappearance of Katie Wren is a horror novel about one woman's search for her daughter, and about the secrets that lurk in one of the world's largest cities.