Book picks similar to
Minstrel's Bargain by Richard Ayre


horror
free-reads
horror-fiction
got-it-ebook-mh

Recompense


Michelle Isenhoff - 2018
    Jack knows the truth.Born into Capernica’s lowest social tier and not permitted to leave Settlement 56, Jaclyn Holloway refuses to pour out her years in the local fish cannery. She gambles on the one chance available to her to advance—the high school Exit Exam. In a country that still keenly remembers the horrors of the Provocation, the period of unexplained disappearances that led to revolution, the smartest and strongest are richly rewarded in exchange for military service. Jack is adamant that her best friend, Will Ransom, join her in striving for induction. But if Jack fails to pass the stringent physical standards and Will succeeds, she will not be allowed to see him again until his tour of duty is completed—in twenty years.Meanwhile, the government has been keeping a tight lid on a new string of abductions. Jack’s Exam score places her in a position to aid Axis, an underground organization charged with investigating events that threaten national security. The evidence leads her back forty-seven years, to a series of high-profile cover-ups linked to the Provocation. Blowing the whistle could place her in danger, but holding her silence means history will likely repeat.And Capernica could never survive a second Provocation.

Gilchrist


Christian Galacar - 2017
    . . black as it may be.Two years after losing their infant son to a tragic accident, Peter Martell, a novelist with a peculiar knack for finding lost things, and his wife, Sylvia, are devastated to learn they may no longer be able to have children. In need of a fresh start, and compelled by strange dreams, the couple decide to rent a lake house in the idyllic town of Gilchrist, Massachusetts, a place where bad things might just happen for a reason. As bizarre events begin to unfold around them—a chance encounter with a gifted six-year-old boy, a series of violent deaths, and repeated sightings of a strange creature with a terrifying nature—Peter and Sylvia find themselves drawn into the chaos and soon discover that coming to Gilchrist may not have been their decision at all.Set against a small New England town in the summer of 1966, Gilchrist is a sinister tale about the haunting origins of violence, evil, and the undying power of memory.

Book of the Dead


John SkippBrian Hodge - 1989
    Romero reminds us, “There was a collection of stories called Book of the Dead, in which horror and science-fiction writers came together and wrote short stories about what was happening to other people on that first night (as depicted) in Night of the Living Dead.” Noted authors such as Joe R. Lansdale, Stephen King, Robert R. McCammon, and Douglas E. Winter use their macabre vision to bring us those stories. Forwarded by the Godfather himself, this anthology imbeds itself in the cannon of zombie lore.

American Terrorist


Wesley Robert Lowe - 2016
    Smart—IQ off the charts. Lethal—more kills than Chris Kyle. Black belt martial artist. And vulnerable, sexy and complicated. A video of desecration and beheading in a small Syrian village appears briefly on the deep web. When the sword-wielding executioner proclaims Jihad on America, no one knows whether to take him and his ragtag marauders seriously. Can they deliver? Or is this a cover for a more devious conspiracy? Rayna Tan, ex-Canadian Special Forces and newly minted covert operative, heads the mission to disarm the potential attack and discovers rats among the radicalists—not every terrorist is a true believer.

Bridge Daughter


Jim Nelson - 2016
    Hanna is a "bridge daughter" born pregnant with her parents' child. In a few months she will give birth and die, leaving her parents with their true child to raise. A mature bookworm who dreams of college and career, Hanna is determined to overcome her biological fate. Then Hanna learns of an illegal procedure that will allow her to live to adulthood...at the cost of the child's life.

The Girl Next Door


Jack Ketchum - 1989
    Shady, tree-lined streets, well-tended lawns and cozy homes. A nice, quiet place to grow up. Unless you are teenage Meg or her crippled sister, Susan. On a dead-end street, in the dark, damp basement of the Chandler house, Meg and Susan are left captive to the savage whims and rages of a distant aunt who is rapidly descending into madness. It is a madness that infects all three of her sons and finally the entire neighborhood. Only one troubled boy stands hesitantly between Meg and Susan and their cruel, torturous deaths. A boy with a very adult decision to make.

Cherokee Mists: The Complete Set


Meredith Blevins - 2017
    It brings to life an ancient people and a time of magic in a warm and intimate storyteller’s voice. A young Shaman of the Galayi people has had a powerful and frightening vision: it is of the Eagle Feather Cape, the gift of the Thunderbird, which is worn by the Seer of the People to see the future and gain the guidance of the gods. The cape is torn and bloody, and it will no longer bring visions to the Seer of the People. But the Shaman's vision also tells her of the cure: a child will be born to the People, a hero who will restore the cape and return the goodwill of the gods to the People. Dahzi may be that hero, if he can survive the hatred of his grandfather. He was born after his mother’s death, as she fled from her father’s anger. But Dahzi carries the hope of all of his People, along with the power to become a great Chief. He will be tested--by his family, by his people, and by the Gods. (Originally published as 'Zadayi Red.') SHADOWS IN THE CAVE Let go of everything . . . fall into a young man's thrilling quest to reach back in time, save his family, and return healing magic to his tribe. A dynamic combination of an ancient quest and Native American Spiritualism.

The Sighting


Christopher Coleman - 2017
    From the ocean, it rose.Every fourteen months it appears on a secluded beach in a small town just before dawn.One morning during his daily run to the beach, Danny Lynch witnesses the strangest and most incredible thing he's ever seen.A dark, man-like figure emerges from the ocean, stands for just a few moments on the beach, and then retreats back to the surf.Danny's perspective on the world changes in an instant, and as the only eyewitness to this event, his mission now is to convince anyone who will listen that what he saw was real.But with only a vague photo and a dubious story, that task is proving almost impossible, and his only hope may be in finding a mysterious woman who was at the beach earlier that morning, and who may hold the terrifying secret that could cost Danny his life.What did Danny see? And why is he in danger?

Since the Sirens


E.E. Isherwood - 2016
    Who will save Grandma? What would you do if a mysterious plague began to devour your city and the dead started banging on your door?Fifteen-year-old Liam Peters is spending the summer with his great-grandmother (not by choice) when the authorities of St. Louis spin up the tornado sirens to announce a civic emergency. Police robocalls declare mass disturbances throughout the city, suggesting citizens try to escape to safer jurisdictions. Radio offers contradictory instructions: stay inside, hunker down, ride it out. The President tries to convey a message of hope to calm a scared populace, but the tone is interpreted as a goodbye. The mixed messaging sends society--already on the verge of panic--into a tailspin. When the President signs off, half the city hunkers down while the other half dashes for the interstate.Now Liam is faced with his first dilemma of an increasingly complicated morning. Should he stay with Grandma and attempt to defend her urban home against both the living and the dead, or should he try to get her out of the city to his parents' home in the suburbs? Nothing is ever as simple as it sounds when life and death are on the line.As an avid reader of zombie literature, Liam realizes you go into the zombie apocalypse with the army you have, not the one you want. He sees himself as an unlikely savior, with an unlikely ally, but he embarks on the hero's journey nonetheless. As the city implodes, they race against the clock to outpace desperate refugees, gang violence, criminal opportunists, overzealous military units, scared civilians, and a growing horde of bloodthirsty zombies. He does it while burdened with a woman who is unable to walk more than ten feet without help.As they chase the elusive vision of safety, Liam comes to appreciate why there are no atheists in foxholes. Introducing the Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse series. Book 1: Since the Sirens Book 2: Siren Songs Book 3: Stop the Sirens Author's Notes: Since the Sirens can be read as a standalone story. It doesn't end with a cliffhanger. Books 2 and 3 are optional reading beyond this first volume. I hope you'll enjoy Liam and Grandma's journey enough to follow them further, but as an author and a reader of zombie books, I abhor misleading or otherwise trapping readers.This cover replaces original edition ASIN B018H82ZYU.

Swann


Ryan Schow - 2016
    You’re not your hair, your eyes or your nose. You’re not your diseases, your anxieties, or your psychosis. Welcome to Astor Academy where, with the right genetic coding and a stomach for the impossible, you can change not only your body but the very course of your life…Thrust into the sexy, ultra-elite social scene, sixteen year old Savannah Van Duyn starts Astor Academy armed with only her sarcasm, a survivalist’s wit and her father’s promise that the school’s geneticist can fix her many problems at the DNA level. The foremost expert in genetic engineering, however, is teeming with so much dark secrecy it has Savannah’s skin crawling. What begins as a bold promise of genetic therapy becomes a life-threatening search for morality in an immoral cure, and an obsession to right the wrongs heaped upon her and those students who have died before her. Swann is the first in this groundbreaking debut series of young adult novels. Prepare yourself for an unabashed, unapologetic look into today’s YA world, namely: coping with a body fit for shame, crazy mothers on meds, the notion that there’s a pill for every problem, bullying and cyberbullying, the ebb and flow of first love and all things humorous, sick and twisted. In the spirit of balance, however, Swann explores the allure of friendship, the resolve of the desperate soul to find light inside the darkness, and one girl’s path to redemption in the face of insurmountable odds. And so begins the story of the ugly duckling becoming the swan…

A Shadow on the Wall


Jonathan Aycliffe - 2000
    . .In the countryside of Victorian England, Edward Atherton, rector of Thornham St. Stephen, has taken on the arduous task of restoring the ancient church. But he should never have meddled with the tomb that lay beneath the church’s crumbling walls. The moment the workman raised the tomb lid, an unspeakable horror escaped. At a loss to explain the unsettling noises and frightening visions that begin to plague the church, Atherton calls upon fellow antiquarian and Cambridge professor Richard Asquith to help investigate the strange events that began in the wake of the tomb’s disturbance.The two discover tantalizing hints of whom and what may have been laid to rest in the tomb, but the unforeseen circumstances force Asquith to give up his inquiries and leave the small village of Thornham behind. Asquith tries to put the frightening experiences behind him and focus on his new wife and family. But death and disappearances abound, and Robert Asquith soon has no choice but to confront the darkness that has followed him from that ancient church into his own home.English novelist Jonathan Aycliffe has mastered the classic English ghost story, and A Shadow on the Wall, nominated in 2000 for the International Horror Guild Award, is sure to both mesmerize and haunt you.

Prehistoric


Michael Esola - 2015
    However, the boardwalk is incomplete and in need of more funding. The creator, John Corstine, assembles a group of potential investors for a weekend tour of the boardwalk. Little do they know that high up in the rainforest canopy, they are being watched, but more importantly, they are not alone.

Awakening


J.D. Demers - 2015
    But they are not the worst monsters to come from this plague. There is hope, though. Christian Hunt is immune. But how many lives will it take to bring his gift to what’s left of mankind?

A most haunted house


G.L. Davies - 2013
    Seen as controversial and sparking debate between skeptics and believers alike due to the ferocity and intensity of the haunting, A most haunted house is the grim eye witness account of a young couple fighting to keep their new home and each other as an entity tears their world apart. After an introduction by Investigator and paranormal re-searcher G L Davies , A most haunted house is a series of transcripts from the people involved that spans the three months that the haunting took place. Starting with almost small and mundane incidents and climaxing with the haunting reaching it's full and terrifying ferocity. Described as chilling and disturbing by some and thought provoking by others this is one novel that is a must for those interested in the Paranormal. A most haunted house invites you the reader to decide for yourself on what truly happened at this home. Should this be true, then there are unknown forces that we cannot combat in this world. A most haunted house has been #1 in both the Unexplained mystery and Supernatural categories on Kindle and has topped the charts since it's release. Read today and join, as thousands already have, a journey into fear and the unknown. What will you discover at A MOST HAUNTED HOUSE? Visit www.theparanormalchronicles.com for more paranormal investigations

Theft of Dragons


John Forrester - 2014
    The Black Heart Clan assassins have hunted him ever since. In the six years that have passed, King Braxion continues his ruthless tyranny against citizens and neighboring Kingdoms alike. He controls the dragon nobility through powerful spells of beast shamanism cast by the Hakkadians, sorcerers from the northlands.Princess Sebine, the girl the King believes is his daughter, plots to one day break free from the palace and discover the mystery behind her true father. Tempted by the lure of sorcery, she studies in secret with the Hakkadians in the palace dungeons. When a merchant from the east delivers her the Ring of Galdora as a gift from the Elven Kingdom of Drazal'tan, the course of her life will change forever.At the author's request, this book is offered without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.