Point Blank: A Short Tale of Macabre Family Faults


Justine Avery - 2015
    ask your mother to stop pointing the gun at your head. Steven is a writer, by all accounts of self-proclamation. But no artist can be expected to work under serious pressure, especially not when the pressure consists of his own mother indenting his tender skull with the muzzle of the pistol held in her hand. Suddenly, it's write or die for Steven. He better tap away on that typewriter or expect to be extracted from the land of the living before he's had the opportunity to finish anything he's ever written. Not to mention that his recently departed Father lying on the floor beside him should supply enough motivation. When Steven manages to frustrate his murderous mother to no end, his wish made under duress actually comes true. Mother's vanished... along with all evidence of the foregoing incident ever having taken place. Is his beloved father really dead? Is his own mother now a criminal on the run? Can he truly never cure his lifetime disease of writer's block? Only one person can uncover the truth and set the world to rights again. That would be Tim, Steven's much more successful, though younger, brother. If only Tim would actually believe Steven's retelling of the frightful situation he's just managed to survive. Someone's got to fix the latest family faux pas. And everyone in the family knows it can't be Steven. In the dead of night, two brothers battle sibling rivalry, serious mother issues, one heinous surprise after another, and a lifetime of family strife to get to the bottom of it all and uncover what's been lying beneath all along. Start Reading Now... What are you waiting for? chuckle-worthy dark comedy, murder mystery, delicious sibling rivalry and family issues, the cure for writer's block, and so much more await you. About the Author Justine Avery Is a Genre-Breaker, a Writer of Delicious Story Above All Else Justine Avery is an avid reader of all genres, weaves her own stories among them all, and sets out to surprise her readers at every opportunity. She's an acutely observant introvert with an insatiable yearning to explorer, a risk-taker who's based in reality, a wanderer with a mission, and a grownup blessed with childlike wonder at the world. Her stories reflect the same, and readers can't get enough of them. Avery writes genre-breaking fiction with universal appeal, emphasizing enticing story above all else. She writes powerful, affecting stories accessible to all readers, regardless of what your own favorite genres happen to be. She writes the tales all readers are drawn to, the stories capable of changing your view of the world around you, the narratives that will become a part of you. Go ahead—take a peek. Use the Look Inside feature above, and start reading Point Blank now.

Winter Kill


Mike Oliveri - 2009
    But what she finds tests her training and sanity, for what she discovers should not exist. Winter Kill is the first book in the ongoing werewolf noir series, The Pack, by Bram Stoker Award winner Mike Oliveri. Book two, Lie with the Dead, is excerpted in this edition.

Murder At The Playgroup


Liz Hedgecock - 2017
    When she meets the locals, she’s absolutely sure. There’s just one problem; she’s 8 months pregnant. The village is turned upside down when Barbara Hamilton, pillar of the community, is found dead at Gadding Goslings playgroup. No one could have murdered her except the people who were there. The police suspect all of them, including Pippa herself…With a baby due any minute, and hampered by her toddler son, can Pippa unmask the murderer? Will Much Gadding return to normal? And does anyone in Much Gadding even know what normal is?Murder At The Playgroup is the first cozy mystery featuring Pippa Parker, mum and amateur sleuth, and set in the quiet but eccentric English village of Much Gadding.

Brother's Keeper


R.W.K. Clark - 2016
    A misunderstood act of chivalry places Scott at the mercy of a town hiding a sinister secret.As they say, no good deed goes unpunished, and for Scott, that punishment could be his life. Sit back and enjoy this stay-up-all-night serial killer psychological thriller.Author Commentary‘Brother’s Keeper’ is my first psychological thriller, and it was simultaneously fun and challenging to write. It tells the story of Scott Sharp, a traveler whose train makes a stop at the tiny town of Burdensville. There he begins to unravel the goings-on, which pulls him into the dark secrets the town holds, and the secrets won’t let him go.Writing this story was fun for a variety of reasons. It was off the beaten path compared to most books I write. The monster in this book is not a vampire, witch, or zombie; instead, the monster is an unknown man.Scott walks into Burdensville without the slightest idea of what has been happening to this town. The whole place is off, and he can’t seem to put his finger on what is happening around him. I wanted people to really be in Burdensville while they read this. I also wanted readers to get a very specific feel for the town, Mayberry, without a shower. I did my best to convey the gloom of the constant shadows that seem to hang over the place, even when the sun was shining. That’s more or less what happens in small-town life and, evil or not, Burdensville is no different.

Don't Scream 2: 30 More Tales to Terrify


Blair Daniels - 2019
    A sequel to a #1 bestselling horror anthology Don't Scream, featuring hideous doppelgangers, terrifying apps, lurking monsters, and more. Read... if you dare.

Mr Scarletti's Ghost


Linda Stratmann - 2015
     Those grieving for their lost love ones are desperate to communicate with the dead once more. But are they falling prey to unscrupulous fortune hunters? Brighton, 1871 Psychics and mediums have become all the rage in fashionable Brighton. But can they really communicate with the dead? Mina Scarletti, a local authoress, is sceptical. But when her recently widowed mother insists on hosting a séance, she agrees to take part. Miss Eustace certainly seems convincing, and there is no doubt that she has amassed plenty of loyal followers, but why are the meetings always held in the dark? And why is her address kept a secret? Plagued with doubts and concerned that her mother and her vulnerable friends may be falling prey to conmen and tricksters, Mina decides to investigate. Under the ploy of wishing to communicate with her dead father’s – Mr Scarletti’s – ghost, she leaves no stone unturned in her quest for the truth. Is Mina right to doubt the spiritualists? Can she convince her mother she is being duped by a fraudster? Or will Mr Scarletti’s Ghost return from the grave …? MR SCARLETTI’S GHOST is the first cosy mystery in Linda Stratmann’s intriguing historical series, the Mina Scarletti Mysteries, a traditional British detective series with a feisty woman sleuth set in Victorian Brighton.