Duke Rogers finds himself in a racially charged situation. The case might have to wait... The immediate problem: getting out of South Central Los Angeles in one piece during the 1992 Rodney King riots and that's just the beginning of his problems.Private investigator Duke Rogers finds an old "friend" for a client. The client's "friend," an up and coming black actress, ends up dead. Duke knows his client did it. Now, feeling guilty, he wants to find the client/killer. He starts his mission by going to the dead actress' family in South Central L.A. - and while there the Rodney King riots ignite. And while he tries to track down the killer he must also deal with the racism of his partner, Jack, and from the dead woman's brother, Warren. He must also confront his own possible latent racism - even as he's in an interracial relationship with the murder victim's dead woman's sister.

     Fans of James Patterson, Harlan Coben, John Grisham, David Baldacci, Lydia Davis and Stephen King will love this collection of exclusive short stories that will be sure to leave you breathless.  The award-winning and best-selling authors in this collection turn up the heat - it's pedal to the metal break-neck action from start to finish! The short story is back with a vengeance! Murder, mystery, suspense, chills, thrills and kills this collection has it all!  About the Stories What Money Can’t Buy – by Paul Casselle Are you a bad person trying to be good or a good person that sometimes does bad? It’s a difficult question to answer, but that doesn’t stop life asking regularly! The Butcher – by Will Patching Not all of us are ‘normal’. Some of us are stone cold killers… Collin O’Connor by Ernest Dempsey In a world where terrorist attacks seem to cover the front page of every news outlet, the people of Earth need a new kind of hero. The planet needs someone who isn’t afraid to do whatever it takes to bring justice to those who would harm the innocent. We need Collin O’Connor. A Love Affair by Leah Monroe Have you ever asked yourself, "What am I here for?" Is it wealth? To leave a legacy? Or perhaps you're playing with the cards life deals you. One man comes face-to-face with this age old question and his decision will leave you speechless. Downside Up by Jane Thornley She climbs roofs at night but how could she know how far she’ll have to fall to find the truth? The Son-in-Law by Craig Hart Can you go straight by committing murder? One man is about to find out-if he lives long enough. Linking Arms with the Devil by Michael Maxwell They tell us, “You can’t take it with you”. Maybe you can if you link arms with the devil. Red Eyes – by Terry Keys A small town middle-school teacher suddenly vanishes and returns six months, six days, and six hours after he disappeared. But now he is hiding a terrible secret, and only the next victim can see the . . . Red Eyes.

    Hidden deep beneath Manhattan lies a warren of tunnels, sewers, and galleries, mostly forgotten by those who walk the streets above. There lies the ultimate secret of the Museum Beat.Relic — Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum's dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human...Reliquary —When two grotesquely deformed skeletons are found deep in the mud off the Manhattan shoreline, museum curator Margo Green is called in to aid the investigation. Margo must once again team up with police lieutenant D'Agosta and FBI agent Pendergast, as well as the brilliant Dr. Frock, to try and solve the puzzle. Books by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child The Pendergast Series Relic Reliquary Other books Mount Dragon Books by Douglas Preston The Kraken Project Impact Blasphemy The Monster of Florence The Codex Jennie At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

    It was ranked #1 political thriller by Amazon reader reviews for 8 months in 2012-2013. It has been favorably compared to Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged many times, but also to George Orwell’s 1984, Michael Chrichton’s State of Fear and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. In this novel the U.S. is nearing economic collapse as a result of political corruption, an un-repayable national debt, the selling of legislation by members of Congress, central command of the economy and devaluing of the national currency. Power hungry members of Congress have made democracy and the Constitution a sham with legislation making it almost impossible for a challenger to defeat an incumbent and absolutely impossible for a third party to compete. In a dramatic and very public manner the libertarian TLR accuse Congress of having “increased your powers far beyond the constitutional limits of your offices. You have become a political aristocracy taking our property and our production as if we are your serfs.” They give Congress “three days to approve a proposed Term Limits Amendment to the Constitution or, unless you first resign, the long-term incumbents will be term-limited in the only way you leave us.” If the amendment passes and is then approved by the people, it will prevent professional politicians from ever again serving in Congress. They announce to the nation, “Ours is the only form of revolution now possible in the United States. But our revolution has this advantage: If lives must be taken, it will be those that have stolen the lives and rights and property of the people, or, perhaps it will be our own.” In a brutal hunt for the TLR, the Department of Justice wrongly targets term-limit supporters and those who have opposed the administration or the Department of Justice. But it is clear the TLR will not be easily found or stopped when the first senator is “term-limited” in spite of all that federal authorities can do to stop them. The TLR are inside the federal law enforcement agencies that are hunting them. The characters on both sides in the struggle are as realistic as I could make them. Brave souls who defend liberty and family, lovers and cowards and even NSA, FBI and CIA agents confront their consciences and make their choices to aid the TLR or smash them. The novel examines a critical issue: If our liberties—our right to own ourselves and make our own choices in life—are diminishing with every year, is deadly force justified as a self-defense issue? If not, will we ever regain our individual rights? Erne el@ernelewis.com

    But it’s Averie who needs rescuing when all hell begins to break loose. Averie Cooke has never set foot on the old Faulkner plantation. The macabre history surrounding it is what keeps her away; not to mention everyone says the place is haunted. A hundred and fifty years ago Lunar Wilson was hung there. His lifeless body dangled in the breeze along with the gray Spanish moss. Later that same night, the petite southern belle, Emily Faulkner wrapped a thick rope around her delicate neck and joined her lover in the afterlife. Legend says all hell broke loose after that. Unaware that their only daughter was hanging dead up in the cupola, Emily’s parents continued on with their festivities, gorging themselves on prime rib, and guzzling expensive wine. They were pretty drunk by the time the Wilson boys burst inside the house slinging their hatchets, vindicating their brother’s murder. They decapitated James Faulkner, his socialite wife, Elizabeth and dismembered all eleven dinner guest. The massacre was the bloodiest ever recorded. So why does Averie agree to attend a dinner party in the same mansion where the massacre took place? She needs the money that’s why. But, she gets much more than a paycheck when she and another mysterious guest transports back to the year 1859, exactly one month before the gruesome event. Things go from bad to worse when she discovers the only way back home is to stop the murders. But can she put her fears aside long enough to change the past and find life in the place she fears the most?Thirteen for Dinner is a page turning thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat one minute, laughing out loud the next, and crying while you contemplate the meaning of life. Dealing with issues such as racism, slavery, hatred, and fear you’ll discover the only weapon that has the power to damage them all is love.

    I lifted the hinged lid of the trash can, swung it open, and tossed in the diaper. That's when Destiny not only called my name, she also spit in my face, thumbed her nose, and blew me a big old raspberry. Lucky me."         Those crazy Madams of Mischief, Destiny, Lady Luck, and Fate seem to be out to get Marty Sheffield! Marty just wants to live her quiet life in her quiet town while recovering from being left at the altar by up-and-coming country music star, Ricky Ray Riley. The Doom Divas seem to  have other ideas, though. While babysitting her sister's kids, Marty finds the body of a former classmate wedged in a ninety-gallon trash container at a local park. With the help of her sister, Marty sets out to solve the mystery and save her own hide before it's too late.    Also available in the Doom Divas series of humorous mystery novels for Kindle and in paperback: The Divas of Doom (Doom Divas Book 2) and The Floozies of Fate (Doom Divas Book 3)

    A unique twist of a tale. This is no ordinary paranormal horror story.When Walt Turner's mother died, he inherited her apartment and the antique shop below. After losing his job due to the treachery of a co-worker, The Spirit Box calls to him from the darkness of the shop with an offer of revenge. Lured by the promise of ultimate power and eternal life by the prisoner inside the box, Walt agrees to help it gather the final spirits it requires to return to human form.John Hazard is investigating a series of murders and missing persons in this otherwise quiet town. His perceptions of reality are about to be altered in a life changing confrontation that will force him beyond the boundaries of darkness and ancient evil.It is a spiraling descent into madness, where you may have everything you desire, if only you are willing to sacrifice all that you believe. When you look into The Spirit Box, be prepared to have more than your breath taken away.

    All of the women were beautiful, and were either famous at the time of their deaths, or became famous for being the victims of the charismatic, disturbed, men who ended their lives.Being dead doesn’t end a woman’s feelings, or her anger. There is Natalie, the international and revered movie star who died the death she had most feared all of her life. There is the beautiful, life-loving Nicole, who might just have gone back to the stunning athlete she loved, if only he hadn’t killed her first. Then there is Sunny, heiress to one of America's greatest fortunes, sent into an irreversible coma for paying too much for all the wrong things. And finally, there is Colette, the high school sweetheart who married the golden boy and endured a marriage of increasing lies and disappointment, culminating in her death and that of her little girls shortly after Valentine’s Day.These four amazing women’s lives were cut short, but each has a story to tell … and now they have.

    Though Edwin may not stand out as the best looking or most charming fifteen-year-old boy in Chardwick, he has an unexplainable way of drawing unwanted attention to himself. Edwin would face dire consequences were anyone to discover that he has befriended a strange creature made of black smoke, or that he harbors dark secrets of sorcery. But Edwin isn't the only one with secrets. His best friend, Walt, has a few that will change the life of every person in the mysterious village of Chardwick. Walt is the key to unlocking Edwin's own great destiny... if Edwin can survive the encounter.

    It seems they would like nothing more than to start a revolution...Can the three Scrapyard survivors come together with an Islamic Ambassador on a mission of peace, a smuggling ring bent on nothing more than making a profit, and a small, underarmed orbital station security force to somehow thwart a terrorist attack that threatens to ignite a new interplanetary war?

     What is the mystery that Lance Cutter’s DNA is hiding? Whatever the secret is, they had it, they lost it, and now they will do anything to get it back... Time is running out. Lance Cutter is born out of a horrific experiment by a deranged scientist. Presumed dead in an explosion at birth, Lance and his mother create a quiet, normal life. But what is normal for others is not so for Lance. He is faster, smarter and more agile than other children. When Lance and his mother go to Washington seeking answers, they are greeted by deadly force. Barely escaping the clutches of government agents, the plane they are traveling on crashes into the icy Potomac river. Thought dead for the second time in his life, Lance grows up and finds a quiet, secluded existence working as an arson investigator in Florida. But when innocent people begin to spontaneously combust, Lance must use all of his extraordinary talents to stop the deranged killer.Cutter now finds himself front page news. It’s these headlines that will finally bring him face to face with the truth about his birthright and put him in a life and death struggle to survive. Scroll up and grab a copy today.

    And it's all the fault of those people inside his head.Richard thinks he has them stereotyped for his autobiography, but he’s about to get a new tenant: the Insider, a malevolent soul-hopping spirit that may or may not be born from Richard’s nightmares and demands a co-writing credit and a little bit of foot-kissing dark worship.Now Richard doesn’t know which voice to trust. The book’s been rejected 117 times. The people he loves keep turning up dead. And here comes the woman of his dreams.

    it's hard to stop reading. An excellent story and really well told.'

    God will ignore us entirely.” A searing act of bioterrorism. A catastrophic plague they call the Pretty Pox. Most of the human race is dead, and for two years Arie McInnes has been alone, riding out the aftermath of the Pretty Pox, waiting for her own inevitable end. Hidden in the attic of her ruined home, Arie survives by wit and skill, ritual and habit. Convinced that humans are a dangerous fluke, a problematic species best allowed to expire, she chooses solitude…even in matters of life and death. Arie’s precarious world is upended when her youngest brother – a man she’s never met – appears out of nowhere with a badly injured woman. Their presence in the attic draws the attention of a dark watcher in the woods, and Arie is forced to choose between the narrow beliefs that have sustained her and the stubborn instinct to love and protect. In Book One of August Ansel’s captivating new post-apocalyptic series, After the Pretty Pox casts an unwavering eye on what it means to be human in a world where nature has the upper hand, and the only rules left to live by – for good or ill – are the ones written on our hearts.

    They quickly discover why the house was so cheap and that the past isn't so easy to ignore.