Book picks similar to
Steel Valentine by Joe R. Lansdale
horror
short-stories
fiction
crime
Clouds Gathering
David Beers - 2016
His corner office looks out on Dallas’s beautiful skyline. His amazing wife and children love him. His father and sister adore him. John has it all. Except every few years, when Harry shows back up. Harry wants John to kill people. Harry wants to watch the world burn. Murderous thoughts take hold of John, and as flames ignite across his life, the sky doesn’t send cool rain water, but blood to feed their hunger. If you love taut, psychological thrillers, grab Red Rain today and prepare to sleep with the lights on!
Kellie's Diary #1
Thomas Jenner - 2013
When the world crumbles and the dead walk, Kellie struggles to survive and find her way home, all the while sharing her tale with her diary.This is an account of our hypothetical past, present and future.
Warm Up
V.E. Schwab - 2013
His wife moved out, taking his son with her, and a devastated David hasn’t left his house since, terrified of the mysterious new power that followed him home from the ill-fated expedition.After months in seclusion, David’s ready for a fresh start, and ventures out, determined to keep his power in check. But David’s power isn’t the one he needs to worry about.
Dirty Secrets
Karen Rose - 2014
Finding the courage to sort through their possessions, she's astonished to find an old love letter from friend Chris Walker, and determines to make amends for the past. That we all mustChris, now a college professor, is trying to deal with the tragic death of a graduate student. Seeing Emma again brings back a flood of memories, re-kindling a long-lost passion. But with police investigating the student's death, Chris cannot act on his desires. FearBut is it too late? Because now someone's watching Emma and Chris. Someone who's nursing revenge. And they are about to be plunged into a nightmare where no one can be trusted and every dirty little secret is sealed with a kiss.Dirty Secrets previously appeared in the anthology Hot PursuitFrom Sunday Times bestseller Karen Rose comes an intense, pulse-pounding novella, with extracts from Karen's last four full-length books.
Lies That Bind Us
Andrew Hart - 2018
She’s flying to Crete to reunite with friends she met there five years ago and relive an idyllic vacation. Basking in the warmth of the sun, the azure sea, and the aura of antiquity, she can once again pretend—for a little while—that she belongs. Her ex-boyfriend Marcus will be among them, but even he doesn’t know the secrets she keeps hidden behind a veil of lies. None of them really know her, and that’s only part of the problem.Then again, how well does she know them?When Jan awakens in utter darkness, chained to a wall, a manacle around her wrist, her echoing screams only give her a sense of how small her cell is. As she desperately tries to reconstruct what happened and determine who is holding her prisoner, dread covers despair like a hand clamped over her mouth. Because, like the Minotaur in the labyrinth in Greek myth, her captor will be coming back for her, and all the lies will catch up to her…
The Bone Keeper
Luca Veste - 2018
Your bones he'll keep. Twenty years ago, four teenagers went exploring in the local woods, trying to find to the supposed home of The Bone Keeper. Only three returned. Now, a woman is found wandering the streets of Liverpool, horrifically injured, claiming to have fled the Bone Keeper. Investigating officer DC Louise Henderson must convince skeptical colleagues that this urban myth might be flesh and blood. But when a body is unearthed in the woodland the woman has fled from, the case takes on a much darker tone. The disappeared have been found. And their killer is watching every move the police make.The brilliant new police procedural from Luca Veste, featuring series characters Murphy and Rossi - a guaranteed page-turner.
Slab City Blues
Anthony Ryan - 2011
Where rats grow big and sweat falls in rain. There's a stranger in town, a stranger with claws and a penchant for killing assassins. Finding him is the job of Inspector Alex McLeod, detective, disfigured war veteran and reluctant widower. Some days are worse than others on the Slab but this one's going to be a gem.
Killing Mum
Allan Guthrie - 2009
After all, arranging contract killings is his business. But he never expected that someone might want his mother dead! What's equally troubling is the fact that the anonymous package arrived addressed to 'Charlie'. Only two people call him by that name: his wife and his mother. Has his wife just hired him to whack her mother-in-law? Or is his mother just looking for some help to put an end to her misery? Or maybe there's another answer entirely. One thing's for sure: Carlos is about to find out.
The Grave Man
David Archer - 2015
Sam Prichard was a cop, and a good one, until the bullets took out the joint of his right hip. Now he's trying to learn to live without being a cop, and getting to know his neighbors, learning to walk again and even ride a motorcycle. Life is bearable, barely, but then he gets asked to find a missing child, and the lure of getting back into some kind of police work is too much for him to resist. When he teams up with computer whiz Indiana Perkins, he suddenly becomes one of the best investigators he's ever even known. Now, he's found the missing child, but it's thrown him right into the middle of something that may be a drug war--or could be a chance to stop the next 911! There's no way out for Sam, so he's in for the ride of his life, but when the girl he's becoming fond of is suddenly drawn into the line of fire with her own little daughter, Sam is ready to forget all the rules and do whatever is necessary to win the day.
Summer and Smoke and Murder
Nevada Barr - 2011
At six cents a page, Summer and Smoke and Murder is a steal.
Partners
Mimi Barbour - 2012
In this novel, Aurora is forced to accept one very difficult fact—she's lonesome for her partner Debbie. An attack by a maniac put paid to their working together and Aurora is pissed. She's out to get the madman who hurt her friend and God help anyone who gets in her way. Therefore when a new partner is forced on her, a bloody hotshot no less, the kind of dude she always stays as far away from as possible, she's even more pissed. This action–packed short is humorous and will sweep you into the lives of these Las Vegas Detectives
Blood Lite III: Aftertaste
Kevin J. AndersonHeather Graham - 2012
Banks, Kelley Armstrong, and many more! Horror fiction explores the dark side of human nature, often pushing the limits of violence, graphic gore, and extreme emotions. But with the popularity of shows and movies, such as "The Walking Dead," "True Blood," "Twilight," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," audiences have demonstrated their love for the genre--especially accompanied with a dose of humor to tone down the terror."Blood Lite III: Aftertaste" continues to put the fun back into dark fiction, featuring a wide range of humorous and highly entertaining horror-filled tales. Edited by Horror Writers Association founding member and award-winning author Kevin J. Anderson, the stories vary in tone from wry to downright laugh-out-loud funny. Featuring such well-known horror writers as Jim Butcher, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Christopher Golden, and many others, this collection of tales is perfect for anyone who enjoys being entertained as much as they love a good scare.Contents:I was a teenage Bigfoot / Jim Butcher --Blood-red greens / Joel A. Sutherland --V plates / Kelley Armstong --Put on a happy face / Christopher Golden --Devil's contract / E.S. Magill --Nine-tenths of the law / Eric James Stone --Scrumptious bone bread / Jeff Strand --Let that be a lesson to you / Mark Onspaugh --Mint in box / Mike Baron --Great zombie invasion of 1979 / J.G. Faherty --Dating after the apocalypse / Stephen Dorato --Typecast / Jeff Ryan --Making the cut / Mike Resnick, Lezli Robyn --Acknowledgments / Will Ludwigsen --Mannequin / Heather Graham --Short term / Daniel Pyle --Distressed travelers / Nina Kiriki Hoffman --Bayou brawl / L.A. Banks --Steeple people / John Alfred Taylor --For sale / David Sakmyster --Man who could not be bothered to die / Norman Prentiss --Last demon / Don D'Ammassa --Misadventure to call your own / Adrian Ludens --Smoke and mirrorballs / Chris Abbey --Brians!!! / D.L. Snell --Still life / Ken Lilli-Paetz --Day in the life / Sherrilyn
Confidential
Jack Parker - 2013
After being forced into hiding until the trial, Heidi finds Camdon, someone who changes her :Making her new life more than bearable, he makes it perfect.Now she has to decide if it's worth giving up the perfect life she has to testify, if it's worth it to go back to the old life she had before, and if she can keep lying to the only person that she's ever loved.
My Soul to Lose
Rachel Vincent - 2009
Then the panic attack started and Kaylee Cavanaugh finds herself screaming, unable to stop. Her secret fears are exposed and it's the worst day of her life.Until she wakes up in the psychiatric unit.She tries to convince everyone she's fine--despite the shadows she sees forming around another patient and the urge to scream which comes burbling up again and again. Everyone thinks she's crazy. Everyone except Lydia, that is. Another patient with some special abilities...."An eBook exclusive prequel to Rachel Vincent's SOUL SCREAMERS series."
The Abandoned
Amanda Stevens - 2011
Every grave, its secrets. Enter the world of Amanda Stevens's Graveyard Queen series--where forbidden passion and secrets from the past are as restless as the ghosts--in the series prequel novella, The Abandoned.There are rules for dealing with ghosts. Too bad Ree Hutchins doesn't know them.When her favorite patient at a private mental hospital passes away, psychology student Ree Hutchins mourns the elderly woman's death. But more unsettling is her growing suspicion that something unnatural is shadowing her.Amateur ghost hunter Hayden Priest believes Ree is being haunted. Even Amelia Gray, known in Charleston as the Graveyard Queen, senses a gathering darkness. Driven by a force she doesn't understand, Ree is compelled to uncover an old secret and put abandoned souls to rest--before she is locked away forever....Look for the other books in The Graveyard Queen series: The Restorer, The Kingdom and The Prophet, available now.