in a fancy wagon provided by a wealthy father. Then one of them was adopted by a kyree, and then a town asked for help with a problem that seemed to be either demons or ghosts. This story first appeared in Moving Targets and Other Tales of Valdemar in 2008.

    Now the author of the Lincoln Rhyme series ("The Cold Moon" and "The Bone Collector," among others) has compiled a second volume of his award-winning, spine-tingling short stories of suspense.While best known for his twenty-four novels, Jeffery Deaver is also a short story master -- he is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Reader's Award for Best Short Story, and he won the Short Story Dagger from the Crime Writers Association for a piece that appeared in his first short story collection, "Twisted. The New York Times" said of that book: "A mystery hit for those who like their intrigue short and sweet . . . [The stories] feature tight, bare-bones plotting and the sneaky tricks that Mr. Deaver's title promises." The sneaky tricks are here in spades, and Deaver even gives his fans a new Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs story.Deaver is back with sixteen stories in the tradition of O. Henry and Edgar Allan Poe. His subjects range from a Westchester commuter to a brilliant Victorian England caper. With these intricately plotted, bone-chilling stories, Jeffery Deaver is at the top of his crime-writing game.

    Tense, action-packed and filled with more twists than the Coney Island Cyclone, THE ACCIDENTAL EXISTENTIALIST poses the question: How far would one man go to rid the world of evil, and avenge his son?

    But not all of them stay buried forever...When the Burgess family move into their 'forever' home, it seems like they are set for many happy years together at their new address. Steph and Grant, along with their children, Charlie and Amelia, settle into their new surroundings quickly. But then they receive an unexpected visit from a couple who claim to have lived in the house before.They wish to come in and have a look around for old time's sake. Seeming pleasant and plausible, Steph invites them in. And that's when things begin to change.It's not long after the peculiar visit when the homeowners begin to find evidence of the past all around their new home as they redecorate. But it's the discovery of a hidden wall containing several troubling messages that really sends Steph into a spin.After digging into the history of the house a little more, she learns it is connected to a shocking crime from the past. A crime that still remains unsolved...

    Terminate your current assignment with all haste." When an old-time English drug smuggler and his crew meet their end in a bloody shoot-out on the Costa del Sol, it's of little concern to most. After all, gangsters get killed. It's what happens in their line of work. Allegiances change. Men die. It's the way of things. However, when Mary Lawson a.k.a. 'The Accountant', a former MI6 agent turned independent contractor to the mob, is instructed by her shady bosses to investigate, things quickly get a lot more complicated. Hardened by her years in British military intelligence and ruthlessly professional, the woman who is no stranger to death and suffering, sets out to find who is responsible. However, on the 'Costa del Crime' with its regular influx of millions of tourists, a history of political corruption, and a diverse and thriving criminal underworld, nothing is ever simple. The father that deserted his family. The prodigal daughter, fallen from grace. A hoard of devious, manipulating and violent characters. And an unfortunate British tourist who gets caught up in the middle of the whole bloody mess. One thing is for sure. While Andalusia might seem like a paradise to visiting holidaymakers, for The Accountant, there's a job to be done. === Damian Vargas is an emerging author of action thrillers with a vein of dark humour running through them. He lives and works on the western end of the Costa del Sol in southern Spain. Six Hard Days in Andalusia is the first in Damian Vargas's 'Costa del Crime' series of action thrillers. Vargas constructs an enthralling and intricate plot, weaves in a cast of unique characters, and then places them in wonderfully-visualised, real-world locations in southern Spain. Ex-pats and holidaymakers alike will recognise many of the novel's settings.

    Sebastian Ryan, the risk analyst for the insurance company, takes one look at her history of winding up in the wrong place at the wrong time and deems her a "statistical nightmare." But for Ryan the nightmare is just beginning, and he'll need Caldridge's assistance if he's going to survive.

    Shipp.The stories include:GigglesPrincessDon’t LaughThe Glass Box

    But her fantasies about heroic outdoor survival flop as hard as her marriage. Dejected beyond measure, she takes a bus to Montana to visit an old high school suitor–someone she once suspected too sinister to pursue. Turns out her initial suspicions about him were spot-on. She soon finds herself in the exact predicament she'd so long imagined. Only now she must outwit a vast wilderness ... and sheer evil.Marty Clawson's got a big problem: 264 pounds’ worth. Doc warns of dire consequences if something doesn't change, but Marty's already tried every diet on the market plus an endless list of her own concoctions. Still, she devises a NEW PLAN–and unlike the others–this one is terrifying: a rendezvous with the state park, a place she considers the very heart of darkness (and snack-free) where she won't emerge again until she is thin. Hubby Raymond believes the method too dangerous–abandoning his super-sized wife like a broken dresser–and refuses to help with her scheme; his crap attitude, along with everything else, changes when she catches him in bed with an aging porn star. Surviving the backwoods alone is challenging for a seasoned outdoorsman but unthinkable for a woman nearing red-alert obesity; yet, she believes it's her last chance to avoid eating herself to death. Despite Ray's newfound assistance, Marty fails at her plan. Desperate and depressed, she contacts Logan Myers, a peculiar boy from her past. Her hopelessness prompts her to accept his offer of bus fare north into the unforgiving Montana bush where he hunts and traps wild animals.Logan soon reveals himself to be far worse than she remembered. So bad that he tosses her to the elements as punishment for rejecting him. In a wicked and ironic twist, her once farfetched idea morphs into an epic web of repetitious terrain and pure malevolence. Now she needs to make it back to the Greyhound station before nightfall, without getting mauled by a random grizzly or discovered by a roaming psychopath determined to hunt her down.THE CHASE IS ON.

    (60,000 words.)Meet Parker.In a world devastated by plague, Parker has to fight everything from mutant vermin to the horrific, hissing 'things' that were once human.Parker also looks out for other survivors, all the while trying to keep clear of the vicious, murdering road-gangs known as 'hogs'.Then he saves the life of a young girl, Abigail - and finds that his life once again has purpose and meaning.But with the odds hopelessly stacked against the mismatched pair, how can they possibly hope to survive...?'A nightmare world... Brutal biker gangs, flesh-hungry zombies and also the occasional 'good guy'... Much better written than the usual 'apocalypse/zombie' slush... Get PARKER...' Cliveinsydney

     Do you like puppets? Well, we have a marvelous one. This poor little thing was left all alone to die, only to wake up with a taste for revenge. If smiling, red-nosed clowns bore you, you’ve come to the right place. Just follow the bloody path of mutilated clowns, and it will lead you to a room filled with gruesome revelations. But that’s not all. Ready for a mind-bending experience? Wonderful! Our contortionist won’t just showcase her extreme flexibility, she’ll also shock you with her insatiable appetite. Want to know her secret? She’s cursed—but shhhhhh, don’t tell. So grab your friends and join us as we create the most bone-chilling atmosphere. Because we’re coming to your town… …and we’re bringing the Carnival of Fear.

    Fantastic psychic visions, specters looming in the shadows, encounters with deities, a man who switches bodies with a cat—be sure to keep the light on whilst reading these tales. The Last Séance gathers twenty stories, some featuring Christie’s beloved detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, in one haunting compendium that explores all things occult and paranormal, and is an essential omnibus for Christie fans.

    Stories of drugs and violent murders were something occasionally seen on the evening news and had not yet pervaded this somewhat remote part of the world. Their culture was not dramatically different from what it had been at the end of the Big War. But that was about to change drastically. When two barrels containing bodies that have been dissolved with acidic chemicals mysteriously turn up on an impoverished family’s farm, the people of Long Hollow are quick to jump to conclusions. Hugh Williams, who has never harmed anyone, is arrested and his destitute family become outcasts by almost everyone in the community. What the people don’t know is that a couple whose evil knows no bounds are the real culprits. They are extremely intelligent and feed off each others twisted, torturous proclivities. Now that the focus is on the unfortunate Williams family, they are free to carry on with their horrific torture and heinous murders, as well as other crimes. But the bodies in the barrels turn out to be just the tip of the iceberg, and George and Glenn are about to get caught right in the middle of this nightmare. A southern noir crime thriller filled with mystery, suspense, and very creative serial killers.

    GOODNIGHT - A short story by the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE TURTLE BOY.

    He doesn't laugh when I mention vampires."They're in the cellar," he says.It must be the heat. The old man is delusional. At least that's what I tell myself. Things are different in the middle of the night. When monsters come tapping, it's impossible to dismiss the idea that the Maine woods hold secrets--deadly secrets. Until the Sun Goes Down - a terrifying and inventive novel by Ike Hamill A new look at the vampire genre, this book draws you into the slow madness that overtakes our protagonist. There's not much time Until the Sun Goes Down.

    Read about Holmes and Watson through time and space, as they tackle a witch-trial in seventeenth century Scotland, bandy words with Andy Warhol in 1970s New York, travel the Wild Frontier in the Old West, solve future crimes in a world of robots and even cross paths with a young Elvis Presley... Set to include stories by Kasey Lansdale, Guy Adams, Jamie Wyman, J E Cohen, Gini Koch, Glen Mehn, Kelly Hale, Kaaron Warren, Emma Newman and more.