But what of its opposite -- the moment when it becomes clear that things are indisputably over? Dumped is a survey of every type of romantic crack-up, a group of stories full of the hilarity, wisdom, insight, and sometimes, yes, fierce revenges of some of the most memorable broken hearts in recent literature. Dumped sheds light on what can be the toughest part of human relations -- whether newly elucidating the misery we've all endured, or merely reminding us that others have had it far worse -- from the mother in Elizabeth Berg's Open House absurdly attempting to tell her son his father has left, to the betrayed wife in Roald Dahl's "Lamb to Slaughter," who beats her husband to death with a leg of lamb, then cooks it for the police. With contributions from such notable authors as Will Self, Saul Bellow, Alice Munro, Raymond Carver, Lorrie Moore, Dorothy Parker, Andre Dubus, and Tobias Wolff, as well as rising stars like Lucinda Rosenfeld and Steve Almond, Dumped spans every variety of romantic catastrophe and every possible response to it; from the wise to the hilarious, the bitter to the bittersweet. This book is the panacea for problems of the heart.

    He's never tolerated bullies, but this time it's personal. And no matter how many heads he has to bash to do it, Joe will find his man.Includes a sneak preview of Blood and Ashes, the exhilarating fifth novel in the Joe Hunter series.

    Original. Spine-Chilling and a perfect start to the TRILOGY." OVER A SPAN OF TEN YEARS, HE KILLED FORTY PREGNANT WOMEN AND THEN VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE. AFTER FIVE YEARS OF SILENCE, HE IS BACK AGAIN, SEEKING HIS NEXT VICTIM. ONLY ONE MAN CAN STOP HIM - PROFESSOR BLACK. Maher was found unconscious in the middle of the highway and later, in the hospital, she revealed that she had escaped from a killer's house. All the details and patterns matched the serial killer 'Kansa,' who had disappeared five years ago after murdering forty pregnant women. ACP Saargi Desai was assigned to the case. She appealed to her department to bring back Professor Black to help her catch the killer. The Professor, who had a haunting past that had kept him away from the world of crime and investigation for several years, was not willing to take on this case. But the ACP managed to convince him to get on board just for this one last time. Soon after agreeing to help, the Professor realized that for the first time in his life, he had met his match. As he dug deeper into the case, everything got dirtier, the stakes went higher, and nothing was what it seemed.

    The investigation into his murder unearths a more than questionable lifestyle where it seems that everyone who knew him had a reason to see him dead. Detectives Steve Rickets and his partner Detective Sarah Branson follow a trail of dead ends that lead them scratching their heads. Is it the disgruntled business partner, the angry and upset daughter, the woman who secretly loves him, of the crime figure he owes thousands to? This classic who done it murder mystery will keep you guessing to the end. An unexpected twist will lead you right to the killer if you spot it. This short story of 12,000 words (appx) is ideal for lovers of hard boiled detective crime thrillers and murder mystery short stories.

    Michael Jameson is a successful, forty-something, African American husband and father. And he's just been charged with a 25-year-old cold case murder, a gang-related drug deal gone horribly wrong. Talon agrees to take the case, but the one question she needs answered is the one question Michael refuses to answer: Did he do it?Michael insists it doesn't matter. He's not the same person he was twenty-five years ago. He's built a new life in the intervening years, and nothing that happens now will bring the victim back. Instead, he poses a far more provocative question: Would the legal system reach back that far to take away everything built up by a successful White man?

    Fifteen-year-old Grace Kirby kisses her mum and heads off to school. It’s a day like any other, except that Grace will never return home.Fifteen years have passed since Grace went missing. In that time, Stephen Baxley has made millions and now he’s lost millions. Suicide seems like the only option, but Stephen has no intention of leaving behind his wife, son and daughter. He wants them all to be together forever, in this world or the next.Angel is on the brink of suicide too. Then she hears a name on the news that transports her back to a windowless basement. Something terrible happened in that basement. Something Angel has been running from most of her life. But the time for running is over. Now is the time to start fighting back.At the scene of a fatal shooting, Detective Jim Monahan finds evidence of a sickening crime linked to Grace Kirby. Then more people start turning up dead. Who is the killer? Are the victims also linked to Grace? Who will be next to die? The answers will test to breaking-point Jim’s faith in the law he’s spent his life upholding.

     Eddie is tasked to recover the Enigma Key, an object that holds the balance of worldly power. Using information from an old computer game his grandfather had created to hide the key’s location, and working with unlikely allies, Eddie must push himself to new limits if he’s to fulfil his destiny and become a guardian. With help from skilled computer engineer, Solomon Finch, Eddie must work his way through a challenging string of international clues for the answer to a puzzle that reaches back centuries. If Eddie and his team fail to recover the Enigma Key before their rivals and clandestine global forces, then everything will change… Enigma Key is the first book in an exciting new thriller series from Tom Defoe and Darren Wearmouth and is for fans of Crichton, Rollins, Brown, and Preston & Child. Mixing history and edge technology, Defoe and Wearmouth invite you into a new world of fast-paced, exciting adventures. *Complete the book for a chance to win the latest Alienware laptop, a retro games console, and many other prizes!*

    She had the radio on as she danced around the kitchen waiting for Karl to get back from his business trip in New Orleans. They were married almost 2 months and she had missed him. That is when it happened. There was a knock at the door; she almost didn’t hear it as she sang along to the latest catchy tune that was sure to get annoying in the next few days. She ran from the kitchen thinking Karl was going to be his usual sweet self and try to surprise her with a grand entrance – or maybe he had left his keys. She opened the door with excitement only to see two police officers with solemn faces. Her world came crashing down around her as she invited them in and continued cooking. She couldn’t believe it, Karl was going to come through that door any minute and tell them it was all a mistake. He would want dinner when he got back. She needed to keep cooking so he wouldn’t go hungry. Jessica came around and talked her down, told her that she needed to go with the police officers to identify the body. She would be with her every step of the way. What followed was the realization that her husband was dead and their future was no more. All the things they were going to do; getting a chateaux in France, having a family, getting a cat when they moved to the suburbs and bought their own place. The future was full of life and in a split second it became a blank canvas; all because of a stupid accident.

    His solitary life sailing the Caribbean is the only way he can survive. That is, until, he meets…HerA widow with nothing left to lose, she finds herself on his sleek forty-foot yacht. He’s handsome and charming; exactly what she’s been looking for.But the night doesn’t go exactly as they had planned, and only one of them will get out alive.

    Betrayal. Rage. Paranoia. Lust. Revenge. Murder. Anthony Award–winning author Hilary Davidson’s short stories invariably lead to dark places.In “Stepmonster,” a jilted wife learns that the younger woman who stole her husband may be on the prowl again. In “Son of So Many Tears,” the mother of a criminal discovers the carnage left behind by her son. In “Anniversary,” a man prepares a very special meal for the girl of his dreams. In “Beast,” a wedding-obsessed woman refuses to accept a bad breakup. In “Undying Love,” a dead man with a fading memory tries to piece together the mystery of his own murder. In “Insatiable,” a wealthy old man watches his beautiful wife seduce a new lover. In “Fetish,” a father’s terror about the sick, twisted world his daughter inhabits leads him to take some terrible measures to save her. In “The Other Man,” a bar owner realizes his adulterous days may be numbered when a cuckolded husband starts stalking him. And in the title story, “The Black Widow Club,” a young mother discovers that murder may be a family tradition.Read The Black Widow Club: Nine Tales of Obsession and Murder at your own risk.

     Her two daughters, from a previous relationship, are now both adult. Jo, ambitious and independent, is pursuing a career as a barrister. Jo’s younger sister is very different. Shelley, just 20, sweet natured, trusting and innocent, still lives at home and works at a local animal clinic. They are a normal, happy family - and then Shelley meets Sam on the street and everything changes. Martha struggles to accept Shelley’s choice of boyfriend as, with increasing anger, she witnesses the erosion of all Shelley’s values under Sam’s influence. When Martha’s efforts to persuade Shelley to give Sam up fail, she decides on a more direct approach. The consequences of her actions are devastating for everyone and change the course of Martha’s life forever. “After I’d gone up to bed that night, leaving Gabe amidst the carnage I had created in the living room, I formulated my plan. But it was pure chance that I met Sam on Putney Bridge some three weeks later and I went ahead with it.”

    From #1 Amazon Bestseller, Scott Blade.The only thing that Jack Cameron finds worse than the long day that he has had trying to hitch a ride on a long, lonely stretch of Route 66 between Texas and New Mexico is the car that comes barreling down the road at high speeds and then almost runs him over. After barely missing Cameron, the car crashes into a tree. Cameron rescues the driver and calls an ambulance for him. Only the driver is more than what he seems and Cameron is sucked into a mystery that leads him to a small roadside town and a twenty-year witness protection case. Jack Cameron is left alone to protect a witness that has no idea that an old enemy is after her. And Cameron has no idea who the enemy is, but he knows one thing that they are right behind him. Note: This is a JACK CAMERON novella.

    When radical fringe candidate James Marshall becomes the front-runner in the race to be President, powerful interests will do anything to stop him. Just as he's on the brink of capturing the White House, the unthinkable happens. With time running out, James is forced to make an impossible choice between saving his family and the country he loves... A heart-pounding political thriller for fans of Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, and Brad Thor. Catch the excitement — read the reader reviews: "Starts out with a bang and keeps rolling right to the end." "I couldn't put it down. From beginning to end I sat on the edge of my seat until I finished it." "A rollercoaster ride of political maneuvering, murder, and double-crossing." "A political thriller that hits all the marks." "With the current political climate in America, this book reads like a modern utopia you can only dream of."

     This terrorist group, called the Boko Haram, has finally gotten the attention of America's leaders. Its tactics of abducting children and ruthlessly expanding its territory pose a threat to Nigeria and the countries surrounding it. But when S3 stumbles upon a dangerous plot by Boko Haram's leader, their daunting task transforms into a terrifying matter of national security. S3 must change its focus immediately to tracking down four lethal weapons in an all-out race against time.

    A twenty-first-century legal thriller with a twist, "The Partnership" reveals what happens to rich and powerful insiders as the business school mentality extends its tentacles across a once-noble profession. The themes resonate; "The Bonfire of the Vanities" still burns.Albert Knight has reached the pinnacle of power as one of the “magnificent seven”— leaders of the international legal powerhouse Michelman & Samson. Only one step remains: Knight and his archenemy Ronald Ratkin are front-runners to replace the Executive Committee’s retiring chairman.Knight and Ratkin were once best friends, but that was long ago. Despite their twenty-year animosity, each has embraced the firm’s transformation to a bottom-line business and the stunning wealth it produces. As the price of success, they endure and inflict profound personal damage along the way.When gifted trial lawyer Ronald Ratkin’s $100 million client defies protocol by interrupting the sacrosanct Executive Committee meeting, all seven attorneys are suspicious. The news, Ratkin suspects, could upset his ongoing billion-dollar trial, send stocks plummeting, and destroy his client, his law firm, and his personal wealth. But the wily Ratkin has a foolproof plan. Or will his own greed and that of his fellow partners undo him?***Praise for "Crossing Hoffa" One of the "BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR" -- Chicago Tribune "Gripping, tender, and intriguing" -- Scott Turow "A tale of mystery and intrigue" -- Booklist "Tightly woven and gritty" -- American Lawyer "Fascinating and moving" -- Bloomberg News "Riveting eyewitness history...Bravo!" -- Charles Brandt***About the AuthorSteven J. Harper is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University and the author of two non-fiction books: true-crime award winner "Crossing Hoffa: A Teamster’s Story" and "Straddling Worlds: The Jewish-American Journey of Professor Richard W. Leopold."He is also a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. For thirty years, he was a litigation attorney in a large law firm that he joined upon graduation from Harvard Law School. He received combined B.A. and M.A. degrees in economics from Northwestern.He and his wife have three adult children and live in suburban Chicago.Visit his website at: www.stevenjharper.com