Book picks similar to
The Scent of a Lie by Paulo da Costa


portugal
canlit
short-stories
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The Dead Prince


Matthew Reilly - 2007
    Name of the Rose meets Basic Instinct in this old-world thriller.

The Light of Cabo Rojo


Austin Star - 2019
    The night of January 5th begins; the air seems heavier, the real and the imaginary is blurred. However, what is really happening?Five teenagers head for a summer vacation to Cabo Rojo and they will be confronted with a presence more terrifying than death itself...a hideously and powerful luminescence that terrorizes and kills everything in its way.These five friends will face a storm of epic proportions, an old legend, a mysterious red light, and as if that were not enough, they must do it in a wood cabin away from any connection with civilization.A threat that looms over reality in a terrifying nightmare.All condiments for an exciting novel of horror and mystery that you will cannot stop reading.

Vampire Abduction


D.C. Young - 2015
    The grief of losing one of their own, coupled with their frustration at the careless behavior of newborn immortals forces Julia Agrippina to employ Samantha Moon to find out who took Alexei, find him and bring him home safely.  Sam finds that its an offer she can’t refuse. It seems The Watchers have been very active in the background of Los Angeles, ensuring that the locals don't find out too much about the various creatures of the night that live and hunt among them... but the time to pay for their services has arrived.  Sam teams up with prolific vampire hunter Veronica, a close friend of Alexei’s, to locate the boy and with a little help from his sister, the two investigators are soon hot on the trail. But, of course, neither is used to things sailing smoothly for very long. A warning from an unlikely source, reveals a deeper, sinister reason behind Alexei’s abduction and deep in the Central American jungle, Sam uncovers a mad man’s plan to destroy an entire nation.  In a display of their all-encompassing power, The Watchers move swiftly into action and while Sam and Veronica bring their lost friend home, Julia leads the others onto the battlefield for one more stand against evil and corruption.

High Spirits


Robertson Davies - 1982
    Wishing to provide entertainment at the College's Gaudy Night, the annual Christmas party, Professor Davies created a "spooky story," which he read aloud to the gathering. That story, "Revelation from a Smoky Fire," is the first in this wonderful, haunting collection. A tradition quickly became established and, for eighteen years, Davies delighted and amused the Gaudy Night guests with his tales of the supernatural. Here, gathered together in one volume, are those eighteen stories, just as Davies first read them.

25 Gates of Hell


Brian KeeneAlex R. Knight III - 2020
    A group of storytellers banded together to chronicle the tsunami of evil that ensued. Their scribblings depicted events so horrific, the manuscript was hidden away.Now, dear reader, you seem to have stumbled upon it.And you have opened it.You must reap what you have sown.Come, step into the pages. See firsthand what hell is capable of.Of course, just know, you won’t last long enough to scream.

Balzac's War: A Tale of Veniss Underground


Jeff VanderMeer - 2011
    A terrible secret discovered in a ruined city. Earth is no longer ruled by humans, but by the species they uplifted. Creatures called fleshdogs are their emissaries, and humanity must fight this implacable enemy or face extinction. Balzac must confront monsters and more trying to find his lover. And when he does find her, will the price be too great? This novella is part of Jeff VanderMeer’s cycle of far-future stories, which culminated with the critically acclaimed novel Veniss Underground. As an added bonus, this e-book also includes two extras: an incomplete story set during the same time period as “Balzac’s War” and VanderMeer’s original afterword to the UK edition of Veniss Underground, shedding light on the original creator of the creatures that take center stage in “Balzac’s War.”

SNAFU: Black Ops


Geoff BrownSeth Skorkowsky - 2016
    The very sharpest edge of any military throughout history. Now, they face their greatest challenge yet. Undead, mutations, monsters, all the things no-one ever believed could happen are here in the pages of SNAFU: Black Ops. Read tales from existing bestselling series by Jonathan Maberry, Nicholas Sansbury Smith, Hank Schwaeble, John O'Brien, and James Lovegrove, along with some of your SNAFU favourites in this collection of the very best stories by the very best writers of military horror. Full list of contributors: Jonathan Mayberry & Bryan Thomas Schmidt (A Joe Ledger/Rot & Ruin crossover novella) RPL Johnson Richard Lee Byers James A Moore & Charles R Rutledge Alan Baxter Christine Morgan John O'Brien (A New World novella) Tim Marquitz & J M Martin Kirsten Cross Hank Schwaeble (A Jake Hatcher novella) Seth Skorkowsky Lovegrove & Sharps (A Pantheon series novella) Nicholas Sansbury Smith (An Extinction Cycle novella)

Chroma


Frederick Barthelme - 1987
    Frederick Barthelme creates an unforgettably wistful cast of characters, ordinary people moving carefully and curiously through a gently painful world.

Magnet


David Adams - 2012
    I'm Mike Williams, but you can call me 'Magnet'. Everyone else does. It's short for 'Chick Magnet', which is good old-fashioned military humour at its finest. At age fifteen, my face picked a fight with the propeller of my family's boat, on a shoal near Broome, off Western Australia. It was an accident, but, needless to say, the propeller won.Twelve years later, I was a not-so-ruggedly-handsome fighter pilot assigned to the TFR Sydney. Not the Captain, or flight leader, or anything similarly exciting. Nobody special, just one mostly-unmemorable pilot among the many nameless, faceless masses.I'm Magnet. This is the beginning of my story.A 5500 word story in the Lacuna universe, set during the events of Lacuna: The Sands of Karathi but suitable to read as a stand-alone story. Parts of the Lacuna universe:MagnetImperfectFaithThe Lacuna series:Lacuna: Demons of the VoidLacuna: The Sands of Karathi (New Release!)Lacuna: The Spectre of Oblivion (Coming December, 2012!)

Bedlam Boy: The Forger & The Traitor


Ian W. Sainsbury - 2020
    Sainsbury. Two short, punchy, action-packed episodes in each book.They murdered his parents, shot him in the head, and left him to die. They should have made sure.Twenty years after Tom Lewis watched his parents die, those responsible are being killed. One by one.Gentle, brain-damaged Tom, a giant of a man who can barely speak, can’t be responsible for their deaths. Can he?When Tom Lewis was shot, something new was created. Something unique. Something deadly. Something patient enough to plan revenge for twenty long years.Meet Bedlam Boy

The Two of Us


Kathy Page - 2016
    Lovers, spouses, siblings, hairdresser and client, mother and baby, teacher and pupil, girl and fox—these are the characters who animate Kathy Page's stunning new collection. While undergoing medical tests, tending the garden, starving themselves, touring museums, travelling, considering suicide, and falling pregnant, they drive each other towards moments where the true shapes of their lives are glimpsed. With humour, tenderness, and occasionally ruthless observation, Page offers us a sense of who they—and we—might become.United by her characters' primal desire for intimacy, these stories reflect our yearning for meaningful connection. In doing so, The Two of Us strengthens Kathy Page's reputation as one of the most powerful writers at work today.

The Man Who Traveled In Elephants


Robert A. Heinlein - 1948
    Written may 1948.First published in Saturn, October 1957 as The Elephant Circuit.First collected into The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag, 1959.

Book of the Damned: A Hellraiser Companion


Clive Barker - 1991
    A Hellraiser Companion, first in a 4 volume set.

The Travelling Bag


Susan Hill - 2016
    As a young man he took away all the honours and prizes and some of his work was ground-breaking. But after he became seriously ill, his genius faded, and he needed the help of an assistant. When Silas Webb was appointed to the job he seemed the perfect choice, but he always preferred to work alone, even in secret. Then, quite suddenly, Webb disappeared. Why ? Later, Craig opens a prestigious scientific journal and finds a paper, containing his own work, in detail, together with the significant results he had worked out. The research is his and his alone. But the author of the paper is Dr Silas Webb. Craig determines that he will hunt Webb down and exact revenge. Were it not for a terrifying twist of circumstance, he might have succeeded. Susan Hill has won the Whitbread, Somerset Maugham and John Llewelyn Rhys prizes, as well as being shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She has written over 55 books in several genres, including the ghost story, THE WOMAN IN BLACK. The stage adaption is still running in London’s West End after 25 years. I’M THE KING OF THE CASTLE has been a GCSE set text. She has also published collections of short stories, fiction for children, several non fiction books and the highly successful crime novel series about the detective Simon Serrailler. SUSAN HILL is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Fellow of King’s College, London, and was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Honours of 2012

Santa's Claws


M.J. Ware - 2012
    Recipe for death – Sam learns an important lesson about ticking off the lunch lady.Monitor Mayhem – There's something strange about the new baby monitor, but will Stephanie figure it out before it's too late?Free Five Chapter Extended Preview of Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb:When life gives you lemons, kill zombies—turns out lemon juice neutralizes the undead. Best friends Nathan & Misty return home to discover the military has destroyed the bridges out of their rural town & everyone's fled—except a small horde of zombies.Even with the help of the town geek, they'll need more then lemonade-powered Super-Soakers; they'll need the Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb. These stories are not recommended for kids under 8.