That's what Harriet and Arthur Bloomsbury think, but that comforting feeling is a fiction. Hiding among the stone walls, picturesque barns, and hay bales is a horror they can't imagine. It's deadly, impossible -- maybe even paranormal. This short story isn’t your average murder mystery, because this time, the threat isn’t quite so clear. Is it the serial killers hunting you? Your own paranoia? Or the very laws of nature? The suspense is free.

     While acquiring vital information to infiltrate Hellstar, the maximum security prison her son is being held in, she makes an unlikely alliance that raises shadows from her past. It quickly becomes clear that the reasons behind the bounty on her head run deeper than she could ever have imagined. The shocking implications will turn Ryonna's entire life upside down. While attempting to break Ronan out of Hellstar remains her top priority, she embarks on a series of highly dangerous trials in order to uncover the truth behind it all, putting her life, mission and even her sanity on the line at every turn. --- The events of this Novella take place between book one (Earth – Last Sanctuary) and book two (Fury to the Stars) of the Universe in Flames saga. They focus around Ryonna's character. While it is not necessary to have read these books to enjoy this Novella, you’ll understand each reference to other characters and mention of races as well as some other world building details better if you did. If this is the first book you read from me, worry not, you can still go ahead and read it.

    Roth's intricate murder mystery - Mandarin Yellow - as Socrates investigates the burglary and attempts to recover the pen, all in an effort to curry favor with his lover's estranged father who is the leader of a Washington and Shanghai based criminal Triad. In a search that takes him from Georgetown to Chinatown and elsewhere in Washington, Socrates finds himself threatened, physically assaulted, suspected of having committed murder, jailed for a time, and constantly confronted by conflicts arising out of his three disparate cultures. Yet he is neither daunted nor deterred by these obstacles. Instead, Socrates draws upon his deep knowledge of vintage fountain pens, Chinese history, and the Mandarin language to puzzle out the complex motives behind the burglary and murders, until he finally uncovers the identities of the criminals and makes a discovery that forever changes his life and the lives of everyone else involved.

     After a year of preparation Riley is ready to take the stand on behalf of Abigail Michaelson. The trial unwinds as witness after witness gets up to build the prosecution’s case in their attempt to put away the young man accused of raping Abigail – Jonathan Campbell, Riley’s brother. Not only will Riley face the demands of the trial, but she will face the fear of losing her family as she stands up to testify against her own flesh and blood.

    He has long since passed away, but his book remains, gathering dust on my shelf when it should have been entertaining good folks like you. So here it is at last: a western with heart written on an old manual typewriter. The story takes place in the badlands of West Texas (where he lived), and is chock-full of all the sprawling drama, heartache, triumph, tragedy, and gun-slinging grit one could desire. The cover of the book is adapted from an oil painting brushed by our father back in 77—one of many. I remember it hanging on the wall when I was a kid. I believe it was his favorite, so thought it only fitting that it be the cover. Now, finally, after all these years, our dad will get the recognition he deserves for both his writing and his painting. I sure hope he can see what's going on down here, 'cause I know it would make him smile. So take a deep breath, and let the troubles of the modern world slip away as you journey back to a simpler time (two simpler times, actually), the old west, and the 1940's....

     Warrior. Patriot. Traitor? Jacques Fontaine always wanted to serve but he never expected to lead this band of brothers. Different nationalities, different languages, a collection of misfits. And the world's elite terrorist hunters. Sent to Iraq during the US drawdown on what appears to be a routine investigation, they find themselves under attack from insurgents, the military and unseen forces with widespread political connections. With their careers—if not their lives—under threat, Fontaine must lead his unit through the fire if this isn't to become their final tour of duty. "There is absolutely nothing to not like about this series debut if you like thrillers!" - Reader Review "Action packed story with realistic elements." - Reader Review USA Today bestseller list 6 April 2017

    Murder? Suicide? Was that Uncle Charlie running from the scene? The children refuse to speak to the police and the crime is never solved.Flash forward to the present and Sara – now an adult and the heiress to a very large fortune - is accused of killing Uncle Charlie. Soldier Boy has disappeared.New attorney Michael Tucker has few clients, yearns to be like his famous grandmother and cannot afford to move out of his parents’ home. When Sara hires Michael, he gets the chance to defend an innocent person, a beautiful lover and notoriety like his grandmother. But is it more than he bargained for? Is Sara innocent or is she really a murderer?Forbidden Room, a murder mystery, begins in the courtroom on the last day of Sara’s murder trial. The foreperson reads from the verdict form. “In The People of New York vs. Sara Goldstein, the defendant is found….”Sara awakens in a hospital room where she was taken after fainting. Michael is by her side. Court is in recess until the following day. The verdict has not yet been announced. Told from the points of view of both Sara and Michael, Forbidden Room unfolds in complicated layers until the verdict is pronounced and Uncle Charlie’s murderer is revealed.

     HE'S STEALING MOBILE PHONES AND USING THE DEVICES TO LURE INNOCENT LOVERS INTO VIOLENT PUBLIC SNARES AROUND THE TOURIST HAUNTS OF SYDNEY. Detective Inspector Stephanie Saxon is getting closer to finding him, and even the media can see that she'll be the one to break down his door. The stalker Saxon is desperately chasing knows where she lives, and whom she's sleeping with, and where he can find her family, but he does not know that she carries an unlicensed firearm on her ankle, and she's closer than he thinks. Will Stephanie Saxon send him to an ice cold slab in the morgue, or the blistering, chained yard of the slammer for leaving behind all of these BODIES WE WON'T BURY?

    Twenty-one years old and Annette Roberta Randall is searching, looking for herself. The perception and sensitivity she relied on to bolster her through an isolated childhood have disappeared and with them her sense of self. Nettie also seeks the truth, information about her dysfunctional family and the mysteries that whisper to her in their eccentric family home. She receives glimpses in the alcohol induced monologues of her mother, Delores Cecelia, “DeCe”. However, DeCe lost herself long before Nettie was born, and she buried her secrets so deep, even the spirits haunting her cannot unlock her soul. Pup, Nettie’s peculiar uncle, may have witnessed the most recent chaos, but he cannot communicate what he knows for sure. Nettie’s struggles are apparent to her extended family and neighbors, but only she can resolve to overcome the pull of the notorius Kirkland family and Berclaire mansion. The secrets fester and DeCe clings to them like the neglected ivy tendrils on the shadowed side of the mansion. Slowly, the truth will unfold, but will it be enough to free Nettie, or the undoing of her mother, DeCe? Nettie believed it was possible her grandfather, Old Nate, was responsible for the hauntings at the Berclaire mansion, but the more she learns of her great grandmother, Roberta, she decides he might have been a victim, also. DeCe had been taking pills and drinking alcohol from before the time she was a teenager, attempting to numb herself to her dysfunctional family. Nettie could only guess at a history during her drunken orations about DeCe's childhood. Nettie knows she is the seventh child born to DeCe, the others gone before Nettie was born. Some would filter back into her life, but would they help her learn more about her identity, or bring more pain?

    Out of prison, but still on parole, the only thing he wants is to keep his head down, go to work and maybe grab a cold beer at the end of his shift. He doesn't even care that the program stuck him in Essex - a nice, but nowhere small town. With his head already full of bloody and painful memories, he'd like it just fine if his past and future stayed nice and quiet.Too bad the present just got really messy.A body in a tree. A missing briefcase. A Russian hit man. A DEA agent bent on revenge. A corrupt mayor. Not to mention a sheriff with dangerous ambition. A meth lab in the woods. And some pissed off bikers. Things are suddenly very interesting in sleepy Essex county. Bodies are turning up. Secrets are coming out. Questions are being asked. Fingers are being pointed. It's not good being the new guy in a small town.

    Hit and run. By a motorcycle. The victim is an elderly Asian woman. A young witness in a nearby dry cleaner and a truck driver suggest all “accidents” aren’t created equal. Then the Captain drops a new assignment on their desk: an affluent Bay Area lawyer is missing. The man’s wife stomps into their office screaming about a contract she found hidden in the backups of their home computer. A contract with a seven-figure payout, and an incriminating Exhibit A.Following the trail of both the motorcycle rider and the lawyer with Kandy complaining, “We’re homicide detectives, there should be a body,” leads to a vintage motorcycle club called the Ton Up where lips are sealed, a yacht harbor on the coast where riddles run deep, and a midnight roadside confrontation that ends with a splash. As the trails twist they soon find that these people and places have one thing in common:A violist named Mylin. Who plays in an all-female orchestra called The Girls of the Orient. And, unbeknownst to her, is the subject of a fine-art photographer’s latest collection.From San Francisco to Mexico, the treacherous cliffs of the Pacific coast to the desolation of Nevada’s high desert, Tune Up moves like Kandy’s turbocharged Mini through a foggy landscape of false identities, fake romance, and frenzied chases, as Qigiq realizes one picture really can reveal more than 1,000 words.

    But is Susan who she claims to be? And was Gloria mentally competent when she made her will or was she manipulated in some way? Boston Investigator Mark Kane is hired to discover the truth, but as the investigation proceeds he soon finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery, and as the suspects mount up he needs all his wits about him to find out the truth, and prevent Greg’s adult sons from financial ruin or worse. As usual, Kane’s longtime companion Lucy is there to lend him a helping hand, but will she be able to help him solve the mystery? READ THE FIRST FIVE CHAPTERS AT www.johnhemmings.net. GET BOOK FIVE: ‘MISSING’ FREE OF CHARGE at www.johnhemmings.net

    Adam Bernstein wakes up on the beach at dead of night, next to a mutilated body, with a pounding, bloody headache and no memory. Terrified, he flees the crime scene, on a quest to discover his identity, his freedom and his life. Will he find himself before THEY find him? Adam quickly learns that his former life holds everything he could ask for: plenty of money, a stunning girlfriend and an enviable talent for drawing. For a moment, it even seems like things might go back to being normal again. But everything is shattered when an unknown man attempts at Adam's assassination. He knows something dark lies in his past. But he can’t imagine just how dark it is. A man on a desperate race for survival Adam is trying to piece together the remains of his past. A dark, urban thriller about love, crime and blood that will leave you sweating. Get your copy of Stormy Waters now!

    Just because you don’t believe in something doesn’t mean it can’t kill you.-----------------------------Trent Walker is a mentalist who makes his living off of people believing in magic and the afterlife, even though he doesn’t believe in anything other than science, logic, and sleight of hand.The two hundred or so residents of the strange town of Whittier, Alaska, are convinced that vengeful spirits and a horrific curse have doomed them to lives of eternal darkness.When Trent finds himself trapped in Whittier, with no way to leave until the next morning, he's forced to reassess his own beliefs and to fight for his life against an unnatural force that his logical mind can’t explain.

    Henry and Tom is an extraordinary tale of love and cooperation between a man and whale. It deals with enduring themes including marriage and family, life crises, finding one's self and personal development. It is a deep and very moving story for readers of all ages. Beautifully written and well produced. Henry and Tom won 1st prize in the 2015 Reader's Choice Fiction-Animals Genre and was a Semi-Finalist in the 2015 Kindle Book Awards.