Book picks similar to
The Boy by Rayne Havok
horror
dark
short
standalone
Hazel and Gray
Nic Stone - 2020
A beckoning mansion in a dark clearing. A short modern-day retelling of Hansel and Gretel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin.It’s bad enough that Hazel and Gray have defied the demands of Hazel’s foul stepfather. The Monster has forbidden their romance. Now they’ve awakened in the forest, phones dead, hours past curfew. But not far away is a grand estate in the middle of nowhere. The door is open. In this short story about choosing your own path, the fury of the Monster that awaits them back home may be nothing compared to what lies ahead.
The Hollow City
Dan Wells - 2011
That’s bad enough. But what can he do if some of the monsters he sees turn out to be real?
Protection
S.A. Reid - 2011
Tough, smart, and ruthless in a fight, he quickly makes a name for himself inside. But Gabriel, saved from the noose by a social crusader, is serving two life sentences. And life is a very long time to endure Wentworth with no comforts but prison food, card games and cigarettes. To survive endless days without the touch of another human being...Five years after Gabriel’s incarceration, Joey Cooper arrives at Wentworth. Every convict claims imprisonment through a miscarriage of justice, but Joey is truly blameless. Trained at Oxford as a physician, the young doctor is innocent of prison culture and too handsome for his own good. Facing eighteen years behind Wentworth’s towering gates, Joey cannot hope to survive without protection. And protection is just what Gabriel MacKenna offers. At a price...
Pleasure with Business
Jex Lane - 2018
He aches for it. The problem? The two species have been at war for thousands of years, and approaching a vampire like Loth means certain death. But the taste of him might be worth dying for…
Head Case: A Halloween Classic Reimagined
Kendra Moreno - 2019
She’d fallen into a strange but happy routine that included her best friend and boyfriend, but when he’s fired for inappropriate conduct, Kenzie begins to spiral. Her fixation on the newest resident becomes a welcome distraction but as Halloween approaches, she starts to wonder where Crane’s delusions end and a strange reality begins. …where the petting zoo gets a little insane. Crane has always avoided the living at all costs, his job in the morgue only helping his desires. When he runs into a mysterious stranger at a bar one night, his life takes a sudden turn into hell. Now, he’s hearing a mysterious voice and the proper jerk has a fascination with heads. Willingly checking himself into Whisperwood should have been the answer to his problems. Instead, the feisty blonde with a taste for trouble only seems to make his own yearning for blood stronger. When All Hallows Eve crashes down upon Kenzie and Crane, will they be strong enough to survive the massacre, or will they remain locked within the suffocating walls of Whisperwood Sanitorium? **Head Case contains depictions of gore, blood, and a sexy Horseman. Don't forget to mind your head...**
Santiago's Conquest
V.F. Mason - 2020
𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒓.Power. Money. Status.Whatever I want, I get.And if something stands in my way?I conquer and destroy it.I’m a monster with no redeeming qualities.A hunter who seeks his prey so viciously nothing can stop me.My prey hides in the shadows thinking it might save him from my wrath.It won't.A true hunter knows one rule:Every prey can be lured out of the darkness with the right bait.And I just found mine.His daughter.The monster inside me craves to possess her.A beauty who ends up trapped in a castle by the horrible beast.Seducing and then breaking her will be my greatest conquest.After all, la vida es cruel.Life is cruel.And so am I.
A Special Place: The Heart of a Dark Matter
Peter Straub - 2009
A rumination on the nature of evil, the story centers on a boy, Keith Hayward, who is drawn by his nature to an irresistible fascination with death and the taking of life. His father's brother, the good-looking suave Uncle Till - the infamous ladykiller, who has led a shadowy career as a local celebrity - recognizes his nephew's innermost nature and gleefully tutors him in the art of doing ill without getting caught. Even a cold-blooded sociopath must learn some lessons in survival, it seems and Uncle Till is only too happy to provide a tutorial, in the latest imaginative and disturbing work from one of America's most celebrated horror writers.
Reaper's Rise
K.L. Savage - 2020
Jenkins was my responsibility.But he wasn't the only one I had.Raising a kid while being the President of the Ruthless Kings MC?The club had as much influence over him as I did.But somehow we made him a man his father would be proud of.Then his sister showed up... Covered in bruises. Fighting for her life.Her attacker is going to learn a lesson he will never forget.Nothing is more dangerous than a woman with the Ruthless Kings by her side.
Hard Ride
Logan Chance - 2022
Always followed the rules, toed the line. As the police chief’s daughter, it’s been expected of me. But tonight, I’m done with the boring way of life. All it took was to walk inside this bar and one heated glance from the Silas Irons, the MC president.He’s too old for me, he’s dangerous and he’s on the wrong side of the law, and I’ve never wanted something more.SilasI live for my club and my brotherhood. It’s my job to keep everyone in line so I don’t have time for romance. Until the sweetest angel I’ve ever seen walks into our bar and shifts all of my priorities.Betty Hutton, the police chief's daughter.I don’t care that I’m too old for her or that she’s our enemy’s daughter.One taste of her innocence, and I will do whatever it takes to make her mine. When battle lines are drawn, it puts her life in danger. I’ll risk my club, my life, everything to keep her safe.
Devious
J.M. Stoneback - 2020
He doesn't let his debts go unpaid. He collects what he's owed.Lex Bartoli works for Devious. Lex should know better than to steal his money. But mistakes were made, and now it's time to pay.Unfortunately for me, Devious knows exactly what he wants as payment for Lex's stupid mistake.Me.Lex's daughter.If I won't agree to marry Devious, he has another way of making my family pay.The choice is mine.Marry the enemy... or watch him kill my father as payback.Devious is a mafia book with an arranged marriage, enemies to lovers and an age gap romance.
In the Heart of the Fire
Dean Koontz - 2019
Until Nameless arrives—a vigilante whose past is a mystery and whose future is written in blood.Anyone who crosses Sheriff Russell Soakes is dead, missing, or warned. One of them is a single mother trying to protect her children but bracing herself for the worst. Nameless fears the outcome. He’s seen it in his visions. Now it’s time to teach the depraved Soakes a lesson in fear. But in turning predators into prey, will Nameless unearth a few secrets of his own?From #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz comes In the Heart of the Fire, part of Nameless, a riveting collection of short stories about a vigilante nomad, stripped of his memories and commissioned to kill. Follow him in each story, which can be read or listened to in a single sitting.
Max
Bey Deckard - 2016
Crane takes on a new patient who both intrigues and unnerves him. Charming, manipulative, and amoral, Max has exactly the sort of mind Crane finds himself drawn to with fictional characters.As Max weaves himself into Crane's life, Crane realizes that while fiction might be safe, Max certainly is not.When the professional line between them thins, who gets to define where one man ends and the other begins?
None Shall Sleep
Ellie Marney - 2020
From the start, Emma and Travis develop a quick friendship, gaining information from juvenile murderers that even the FBI can't crack. But when the team is called in to give advice on an active case—a serial killer who exclusively hunts teenagers—things begin to unravel. Working against the clock, they must turn to one of the country's most notorious incarcerated murderers for help: teenage sociopath Simon Gutmunsson. Despite Travis's objections, Emma becomes the conduit between Simon and the FBI team. But while Simon seems to be giving them the information they need to save lives, he's an expert manipulator playing a very long game...and he has his sights set on Emma.
Tempting Fate
Sloane Kennedy - 2019
I've got a great kid, an amicable relationship with my ex, and a job working cattle on one of the largest ranches in Eden, Wyoming. Only problem is that "everyone" has no clue that I'm living a half-life.Because the other half is a closeted gay man who's got it bad for the young ranch hand he works with day in and day out.But the very straight Travis isn't an option. And even if he were, my sexy co-worker isn't exactly committed to commitment.So it's time for a change and since gay guys aren't exactly falling off trees in Eden, I'm going to need a little help...TravisIt was supposed to be a Friday night like any other. Me and my best friend heading into town to find some female company for a few hours. And even though Jackson usually goes home alone, he's still a great wingman.Unfortunately, between my impatience to get the night started and my bad habit of snooping, I've learned two things about Jackson in the space of five minutes that have left me all kinds of confused.Jackson's gay.And he's placed a classified ad to try and hook up with some guy he can't get his mind off after a brief run-in at a hardware store in the city.Now I can't get my mind off Jackson.Don't get me wrong, I like the ladies, but why can't I stop thinking about my good-looking best friend and the faceless stranger he's ready to start something new with? Jackson doesn't need some random guy right now. Not when he has me...Oh hell. Author's Note: Please note that this story was previously published as part of a charity anthology (Heart2Heart: A Charity Anthology, Volume 3) so it was intended to be a certain length. Although it is a complete story with an HEA, if you don’t care for short stories, Jackson and Travis’s tale may not be for you.