Short Game

Stephen Crane's fascinating story "The Blue Hotel" is seen by many as a study of fear. Crane used the stereotypical 1890's American West as his setting, and the story uses a card game to show how fear feeds upon itself. There are both inner fears and fears existing in reality, and the ways that they interact with each other make for a fascinating tale.

These women all want to hook up an alien, and what better way to find one than on a TV show? Too bad the show isn't all that it seems. These high-heat short stories include women who are just looking to hook up with aliens and didn't plan to become fated to one. The Bolan men are dominant in the bedroom and know exactly how to thrill their human mates. Contains all four stories in the Mated to the Bolan series, as well as Halloween Mating, which is a related story. Alien Love Games: The Arena Ava's tired of her life and is obsessed with aliens. When she's handed the opportunity to go on the...

The nine stories and one poem in this volume formed the basis for the astonishingly original film Short Cuts, directed by Robert Altman. Collected altogether in this volume, these stories form a searing and indelible portrait of American innocence and loss. With deadpan humor and enormous tenderness, this is the work of "one of the true contemporary masters" ( The New York Review of Books).

Off the court, tennis star Jason Cartwright's playboy image is taking a public beating. On the court, he's down 40-love. A knee injury is shutting down his game, and the paparazzi are splashing his love life on every magazine. A comeback is in order, but the makeover he needs to save his faltering career is in the hands of the woman he loved and left 15 years ago. While single-mom Izzy Connors sees people for who they really are through the lens of her camera, even without it, she knows Jason isn't the star he appears to be.

Games are everywhere: Drivers maneuvering in heavy traffic are playing a driving game. Bargain hunters bidding on eBay are playing an auctioning game. The supermarket's price for corn flakes is decided by playing an economic game. This Very Short Introduction offers a succinct tour of the fascinating world of game theory, a groundbreaking field that analyzes how to play games in a rational way.

Michael Maloney reads this original adventure by Dan Abnett, featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory. For centuries the Maintainers have worked. With no help from other worlds, they subsist on the food they can grow and that’s little enough. But their purpose, their whole life, is to maintain the machines that will one day make their world as habitable as old Earth. Life used to be hard. Now as crops fail, livestock sicken, and the temperature drops, it’s becoming impossible.

Richard just wanted a girlfriend - not the apocalypse. Richard Peak's senior year is looking painfully ordinary - fighting for position on the soccer team, his parents' constant arguing, a glaring lack of a girlfriend. He can't wait to graduate and join a soccer team overseas, preferably as far from home as possible. Then the president is assassinated and his life changes forever. As an alarming chain of nationwide terrorist attacks trigger a civil war, Richard finds himself on a dangerous journey for survival.

Time to steer the Short Shorts series in a different direction. The drift began during Short Shorts 2, but it’s time to take this series back a little to where it started. This is the fifth compilation in the Short Shorts series and likely the last, although I never planned to run these shorter short stories beyond two collections. Devoting a few weeks to put this group together from scratch allowed me to better match the plotlines to focus more on the ENF angle and to include some different ideas. This mix certainly focuses more on public humiliation. It reminds me more of Short Shorts 1...

From tales of chilling horror, to heart-stopping stories of suspense, Warped is best-selling author Jeff Menapace's ultimate collection of short fiction. Warped contains currently published tales of the macabre like "Princess" and "The Straw Man and a Murder", the currently out of print and award-winning "Sugar Daddy" and its sequel, "Sugar Daddy 2", and the author's preferred version of his controversial "Torment".

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most iconic and lasting figures in literature. In this new edition of Baker Street Irregulars, authors present the iconic detective in over a dozen wildly entertaining new ways. In Keith DeCandido's "Six Red Dragons", Sherlock is a young girl in modern New York City. In Sarah Stegall's "Papyrus", Sherlock is a female librarian in ancient Egypt. In Daniel M. Kimmel's mesmerizing "A Scandal in Chelm", Sherlock is a rabbi. Derek Beebe sends Sherlock to the moon, while Mike Strauss, in "The Adventure of the Double Sized Final Issue", casts him as a comic book character.

When the President of the United States is caught with his pants down while playing a virtual reality game in the White House, his cabinet is thrown into complete disarray. With the State of the Union address only hours away, Parker Smalls, White House Chief of Staff, scrambles to have the president freed. Nona Norak, the game’s main adversary, has other plans. She’s an avatar created to be unbeatable, leaving Parker Smalls with one question. How does he free the president from a VR avatar that can’t be stopped? An Amazon one-hour read.

She’s not even a contestant on the Alien Love Game show, so how did she become fated to one of the alien men? Lyra I was finally taking a break from my grueling tour schedule on Earth between album releases. I was trying to do a good deed and helped my sister get on an alien love reality show. Somehow it got all messed up. The man my sister chose is now claiming I’m his one and only. How do I get out of this mess so I can go back to Earth and continue living my dream. Dhavoi When I saw Lyra, it was like I was hit over the head with a sledgehammer. She’s the only one for me, and now I ...

In the shadowy underbelly of 1940s Hollywood, a studio fixer finds himself protecting men he'd rather see behind bars. As he navigates through a world where desperate starlets trade their souls for a shot at fame and ruthless power brokers pull the strings, our hero struggles to preserve what remains of his moral compass. Each case chips away at his already fragile sense of justice, but this one – this case might be the one that finally breaks him. Step into a noir world where dreams turn to darkness and even the angels have fallen from grace. Will this be the investigation that pushes ...

Miss Lucy Lancester has loved her brother's best friend, Roman Alexander, for as long as she can remember. So devotedly, she's vowed never to marry anyone else. But her beloved libertine is hardly aware of her existence, and not the least deserving of her affection. Deciding her cause is lost, she makes plans to open a girls' school in Bath. There's just one thing she needs to do before she confirms her spinsterhood forever: spend one blissful night in Roman's arms.

Human populations have ballooned to seventy billion. The world teems to capacity with complacent human beings, and only strict adherence to crushing routine maintains order. Despite harsh discipline, the planet's prisons swell with rebels and reprobates. To maintain peace and ease congestion, the International League of Diamond Ballers formed and then passed their game's Rule Number One - condemned criminals can earn their freedom by competing in the One True Game, a lethal five-day spectacle televised around the world to its teeming inhabitants. After his father's execution for rebellion ...

In the digital realm of Virtual Nightmares, three young friends find themselves trapped within a malevolent video game. Guided by their unwavering friendship, they navigate treacherous landscapes, battle formidable foes, and confront their deepest fears. As the line between the game and reality blurs, they discover the true power of their bond and the resilience of the human spirit. Together, they defy the game's malevolent grasp, emerging as heroes who inspire others with their triumph over Virtual Nightmares. Their extraordinary journey becomes a testament to the strength of friendship ...

Ellie is the nicest animal in the jungle, but she is very sad. Her friends Lyle the lion, Fatima the flamingo, Rex the rhino, and Micky the monkey want to find out why! Each story is easy to comprehend and exciting. Join in on a great listening experience with friends and family, whether you're traveling, in a waiting room, or closing in on bedtime.

Electronic Gags presents a chilling portrait of a dystopian United States ruled by a tyrant. After a military coup, the United States of America becomes an autocracy. To tighten his grip on power, President Brandon Ward, the megalomaniac at the helm of military dictatorship, introduces a new surveillance system that can monitor people’s offline conversations. Privacy is dead. Freddie’s life changes when the government arrests his best friend, Michael, for attending an opposition meeting. Michael’s mother accuses Freddie of betraying her son. Against all odds, Freddie must prove his ...

Is two weeks in Paris long enough for these lifelong competitors to learn to play for the same team? Betsy Ever since I was a little girl, my dream was to go to the International Games. When I discovered an aptitude for volleyball, I pursued my dream with a laser focus that left no time for the frivolous things in life, like romance. Who cares if the snobby ice queen athlete who is my new roommate makes my heart race? It’s probably just the excitement of being on the world stage. Kelly I’ve fought incredible odds in my life to get to the Games. Growing up with conservative religious ...

Happy listeners - happy kids! Are you looking for a children's audiobook that is highly entertaining, great for beginners, and is jam-packed with stories, jokes, and more? Follow the adventures of Willy the Whale! Each story contains an important moral and lesson. These stories are great for quick bedtime stories and cute tales to be listened to aloud with friends and family!