Short Shockers: Collection One


Peter James - 2013
    Funny, sad, but always shocking, each tale carries a twist that will haunt readers for days after they turn the final page . . .This 25,000 word collection, available exclusively in this ebook edition, includes:12 Bolingbroke Avenue (First published in 1998)Number Thirteen (First published in 2010)Just Two Clicks (First published in 2004)Dead on the Hour (First published in 2006)Virtually Alive (First published in 1997)Meet Me at the Crematorium (First published in 2009)Venice Aphrodisiac (First published in 2011)Time Rich (First published in 2013)Christmas is for the Kids (First published in 1993)

Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes


Karin Slaughter - 2015
    She becomes gradually more obsessed with the case, never imagining how close she herself is to danger. Includes an extract from Karin Slaughter’s gripping new novel, Pretty Girls.

Like A Thief In The Night


Lawrence Block
    Not only does it lack the word burglar in the title, but Bernie’s not the story’s viewpoint character. It’s told entirely through the spirited and enterprising young woman whose fate it is to walk in on our lad in mid-job, all in a near-empty office building in the middle of the night. That could be pretty frightening, but hey, it’s Bernie. She’s got nothing to be afraid of, and neither do we.The story originated in the late 70s, commissioned by a women’s magazine called Savvy, with a suite of offices in the huge old Port Authority building on Ninth Avenue in Chelsea. A couple of editors decided it was an intimidating location late at night, and thought it would be a good setting for a short story, even though they hadn’t yet run any fiction. One of them knew my work, and they got in touch.I wrote the story, and they loved it and paid a decent price for it, but they never seemed to find room for it in an issue of the magazine. They kept scheduling it and changing their minds, and it seems to me they changed editors in the bargain, and after a couple of years of this they went out of business. Which was a pity, because it was an interesting publication, except for the fiction—of which, alas, there wasn’t any. My agent got the story back, and I believe he sent it over to Cosmopolitan, and no end of online sources now assure me that it ran in that magazine’s May 1983 issue.And maybe it did. Except I don’t have a copy of the magazine, and don’t think I ever saw one. I’ve seen Cosmo’s May 1983 cover, it’s not hard to find online, and they blurbed eight or nine major pieces on it, and my story is not among them. Well, really, what difference does it make? It either ran there or it didn’t, and it’s been in short story collections of mine since, including my omnibus, Enough Rope. I had to read it closely in order to format the scanned story for ePublication, and I was pleased to find that I like it a lot. I can only hope, Dear Reader, that it works as well for you.

The Intruder (Audible Original)


Jeffery Deaver - 2021
    But that tranquility is shattered when he realizes a figure from his past has arrived in town, armed with a knife, his intentions clear from the man’s attempts to break into Evan’s house in the middle of the night. The authorities can do nothing.Evan can turn only to the nightmares that plague his sleeping hours for answers. But the question is: can those dreams save him, or are they part of the intruder’s plan?

Dead Pig Collector


Warren Ellis - 2013
    So while it might be a love story, it's also about killing people and disposing of their bodies in the most efficient manner possible.DEAD PIG COLLECTOR introduces readers to Mister Sun, a very proficient businessman whose trade is the murder and spotless removal of human beings. Like any businessman, he knows each transaction is only as good as his client - and today's client, in Los Angeles, has turned out to be so dangerously stupid that Mister Sun's work and life are now in jeopardy...

The Chatterbox Killer


Ian Patterson - 2019
    I was on the edge of my seat, anticipating what was to come. So many delicious plot twists kept me on my toes.""I couldn't put it down...kept me wondering what next." It's a slow Monday at Manhattan's Midtown North Precinct when NYPD Detective Dexter Fortune takes the call. Recently returned to duty, Fortune is willing enough to be amused by what he believes to be a crank caller. But after listening to the man describe how he killed two women with a third victim awaiting discovery, Fortune soon realizes this call is no joke.Reunited with his partner, Detective Gabriella Fernandez, the pair race to apprehend a devious serial killer intent on adding to his body count. But to catch this killer, Fortune and Fernandez must uncover secrets long buried in the past. With the Mayor, the Chief of Police, and the City watching and the media treating the killer dubbed "The Chatterbox" like a celebrity, the detectives become caught-up in a game of catch-me-if-you-can with a killer promising more victims.Taunted by late-night phone calls from The Chatterbox, a sleep-deprived Fortune is seduced by the killer into making it personal. A killer who delights in manipulating and deceiving Fortune into drawing false and dangerous conclusions.Finally, convinced of the man's identity and with his superiors unwilling to act, Fortune defies authority to force The Chatterbox into the open. In doing so, he comes face-to-face with a predator he realizes, too late, he has seriously underestimated.Desperate to save the people he cares for and loves, Fortune is lured into a violent confrontation that could leave him, The Chatterbox, or both men dead.And for The Chatterbox? This suits him just fine. If you love Connelly, Kellerman, Baldacci, and J.D. Robb, you'll love Ian Patterson. With plenty of twists and turns, THE CHATTERBOX KILLER is BOOK I in a new, fast-paced Serial Killer Thriller Series featuring NYPD Homicide Detectives Dexter Fortune and Gabriella Fernandez. Buy THE CHATTERBOX KILLER today and enjoy these other page-turning Ian Patterson suspense thrillers available now on Amazon.com: AVENGING ANGEL and THE GIRL IN THE GLASS TOWER. For updates and Free Books, follow Ian Patterson at www.amazon.com/author/ianpatterson

The Rip-Off


Jim Thompson - 1989
    It's not just that he thinks she's out of his league. It's more that the longer he stays with her, the closer to death he seems to come. A vicious dog is somehow let loose in his hotel room. He's threatened at gunpoint by a man in a skeleton costume. And when he finally ends up in the hospital, someone pushes his wheelchair down the stairs.Nothing anything like this has ever happened to Britt before--and while Manuela's never around when the so-called "accidents" happen, neither can Britt prove she's behind the many threats on his life. Is a rival for Manuela's affections trying to chase him away? Is there more to Manuela herself than meets the eye? Whatever it is, Britt better find out fast--before whoever's after him hits their mark, and the man who never thought he'd land the ultimate girl ends up paying the ultimate price.

Unknown Remains: A Novel


Peter Leonard - 2016
    Outside his office window, Jack hears a booming sound, and then the worst thing imaginable. He works in the World Trade Center, and it is September 11, 2001.His wife in Connecticut, Diane, is visited the next day by a grief counselor, and then the mob, where she learns her husband owes them $750,000. Their personal bank accounts have been emptied. She’s totally and utterly broke. Lost in grief and now shock, Diane soon learns her husband was not the loving spouse he appeared to be. But neither is she, owing to that Beretta she keeps tucked into her handbag.The perfect summer read, Unknown Remains boasts an exciting crime story, inventive plot twists, and a cast of rogues, who just might be using a national tragedy to cover up their own deep transgressions and greed.

The Grownup


Gillian Flynn - 2014
    On a rainy April morning, she is reading auras at Spiritual Palms when Susan Burke walks in. A keen observer of human behavior, our unnamed narrator immediately diagnoses beautiful, rich Susan as an unhappy woman eager to give her lovely life a drama injection. However, when the "psychic" visits the eerie Victorian home that has been the source of Susan's terror and grief, she realizes she may not have to pretend to believe in ghosts anymore. Miles, Susan's teenage stepson, doesn't help matters with his disturbing manner and grisly imagination. The three are soon locked in a chilling battle to discover where the evil truly lurks and what, if anything, can be done to escape it.“The Grownup,” originally appeared as “What Do You Do?” in George R. R. Martin’s Rogues anthology.

Chasing the Ripper


Patricia Cornwell - 2014
    Applying modern science and forensic techniques to a century-old crime, Cornwell’s research led to the publication of Portrait of a Killer, in which she identified the renowned British painter Walter Sickert as the Ripper. The book became a #1 bestseller but also embroiled Cornwell in controversy as Ripperologists dismissed her claims and her credibility. But for Cornwell, the book was only the beginning. For more than a decade, Cornwell has devoted countless hours and invested millions in her pursuit of new evidence against Sickert. Now, twelve years later, Cornwell revisits the most notorious unsolved crime in history—determined to solve the mystery once and for all.In this exclusive Kindle Single, Cornwell restates her case against Sickert, unveils new evidence, clarifies his motivations, and makes him human—and, along the way, explains how such a prominent cultural figure could be a notorious killer. She also directly faces down her critics with withering skill and, in doing so, is likely to re-ignite the debate over history’s most heinous unsolved crime.Chasing the Ripper offers a surprisingly personal and revealing look into what it has been like for Cornwell to pursue the most sensational murder case in criminal history—even as she continues to thrill her fans with a steady diet of new Scarpetta novels, including Flesh and Blood, her latest New York Times bestseller.

Escaping the Arroyo


Joyce Nance - 2012
    The next morning, the girls were found in a desolate mountain arroyo; one raped and murdered, the other savagely stabbed 33 times and left for dead. As fear engulfed the University of New Mexico's quiet campus, police had few clues to assist them in tracking down the vicious killer. This book is based on the true story of what happened that night in the Sandia Mountains, a shockingly brutal crime that changed the city of Albuquerque forever. It is a gritty tale of unspeakable violence and the relentless search for justice, but it is also the story of a young woman's incredible will to live ... and her life-long struggle to escape the legacy of that deadly arroyo.

Legion


Brandon Sanderson - 2012
    As the story begins, Leeds and his 'aspects' are drawn into the search for the missing Balubal Razon, inventor of a camera whose astonishing properties could alter our understanding of human history and change the very structure of society"--From publisher's description

Thunder Storme (Wyatt Storme Mystery #5)


W.L. Ripley - 2020
    Wyatt and Chick save the woman and are swept into a violent battle for control of a new casino and all the riches and power it will bring. The Kansas City mob, the Dixie Mafia and the local syndicate have them out-numbered and out-gunned but it's the gangsters who should be worried. There's a deadly storm coming...and his name is Wyatt.

Dead Times Four


Joel Goldman - 2011
    Fans will set in motion a plea for Mr. Goldman to return with more Mason (Lou not Perry) legal thrillers." Harrriett Klausner Lou Mason is back in The Last Witness and this time it's personal as Mason unearths secrets someone will do anything to keep. Goldman goes Grisham one better! "Fast, furious and thoroughly enjoyable, The Last Witness is classic and classy noir for our time, filled with great characters and sharp, stylish writing." Jeffery Deaver, bestselling author of The Vanished Man A troubled young woman turns herself in for murder in Cold Truth and Lou Mason takes the case. A riveting, page-turning romp in the tradition of James Patterson! "Wanted for good writing: Joel Goldman strikes again with Cold Truth." The Kansas City Star When Lou Mason is hired to prove a death row convict's innocence in Deadlocked, the past and present collide in an explosion of deceit, corruption and murder. "Deadlocked, the fourth Lou Mason case, is the best and...when the action starts it is a real page turner delivered by a pro." Mystery Scene Magazine Think Lee Child's Jack Reacher meets Michael Connelly's Mickey Haller and you'll get Joel Goldman's Lou Mason! Dead Times Four is the perfect gift at a great price! Buy it today for someone you love or treat yourself to four unforgettable thrillers!

The Last Day of Christmas: The Fall of Jack Parlabane


Christopher Brookmyre - 2014
    But as he follows the threads and others get wind of his investigation, Parlabane realises this story might prove dangerous to both of them.This is one Christmas present Parlabane might regret opening.Suspense, conspiracy and Jack Parlabane - a journalist who doesn't know what's good for him - lie within this superb short story prequel to the forthcoming novel Dead Girl Walking.