Short Thrillers

The first three books in the Irish Village Mystery series are included in this edition: Murder in an Irish Village, Murder at an Irish Wedding, and Murder in an Irish Churchyard.

Meet John Milton. He considers himself an artisan. A craftsman. His trade is murder. Milton is the man the government sends after you when everything else has failed. Ruthless. Brilliant. Anonymous. Lethal. You wouldn't pick him out of a crowd but you wouldn't want to be on his list. In this second dip into his case files (see 1000 Yards for a further novella), Milton is sent to Italy to investigate the death of a colleague from Group 15.

Best-selling authors Jeffery Deaver and Anne Perry join rising stars like Dana Chamblee Carpenter and Paul Gail Benson in a collection that proves Music City is a deadly place to be when your song gets called. Featuring stories by Donald Bain, Robert Dugoni, Jefferson Bass, Mary Burton, Jonathan Stone, Steven James, Maggie Toussaint, Clay Stafford, Heywood Gould, Jaden Terrell, and more....

Robert Louis Stevenson brings his mastery of story-telling and suspense to these intriguing tales of island mystery. In 1888, a year after leaving England, Stevenson and his wife left San Francisco and sailed to the South Pacific. The beauty, mystery, and lore of the islands captivated the great author, inspiring him to write several wonderful short stories. "The Bottle Imp," the main story in this outstanding collection, is a suspenseful folktale, introducing us to various ghosts, demons, and other frightening creatures.

Matthew, Claire, Ian, and Mason haven’t set foot on the Merle family property since the summer they were sixteen. They tried for years to put their history behind them, to forget the mystery of the girl who vanished so long ago. But a powerful force from their past is still at play. This time, there’s no hiding from it.

While on a run, Ariel finds herself chased by a truck and the demons of her past. Will she conquer her fears or succumb to the darkness of the road ahead...

Some secrets are better left buried. When forensic science senior Addison Lane joins a classmate for a peaceful weekend mushroom hunt, she stumbles upon a shallow grave—uncovering not just a body, but a chilling chain of murders stretching back into her own forgotten past. Now, someone is watching her. Someone who knows what she survived. Someone who’s ready to finish what they started. As Addison digs into a web of academic cover-ups, sealed juvenile records, and a killer obsessed with psychological control, she must face the most terrifying truth of all: She was never just a survivor....

>From its launch in 1920 until its demise in 1951, the magazine Black Mask published pulp crime fiction. The first hard-boiled detective stories appeared on its pages. Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, Erle Stanley Gardner and John D. MacDonald got their start in Black Mask.

The urban crime stories that appeared in Black Mask helped to shape American culture. Modern computer games, films, and television are rooted in the fiction popularized by “the seminal and venerated mystery pulp magazine” (Booklist).

Fashion designer turned amateur sleuth Maddie Springer can't wait to spend the holidays with her boyfriend, LAPD Detective Jack Ramirez. It's their first Christmas together, and Maddie wants it to be perfect. But between her zany family and wacky friends, Maddie's having a hard time finding alone time with her man. But come Christmas morning, this is one holiday she'll be sure to remember - naughty or nice!

THIS IS A SHORT STORY The Reliable Man is tasked with a highly political assassination in his own back yard. He's unsure whether to take the job but finally agrees. For this one he is planning to use the Sig Sauer SSG 3000 sniper rifle, not his usual weapon of choice but there are particular reasons why it is an effective tool. However, as always, things don't entirely go to plan.

A collection of horror/thriller stories for readers who would enjoy a stroll through a graveyard after midnight. Hark! Don’t read this book if a deranged maniac has escaped from the local asylum. Otherwise, enjoy the horror. The creepers include: BABY FRANKENSTEIN:The last descendant of Victor Frankenstein seeks to create an innocent child untouched by human frailty rather than a monstrosity built from body parts like his relative. THE TWELVE-DAY NIGHTMARE: Jessica wakes up twelve days in a row, reliving a terrifying nightmare of death and dismemberment. THE TOOTH COLLECTOR: The deaths of...

She remembers what she saw—or did she imagine it? When the Meekses come to stay, Marianne hopes the visit will lift the tension in her increasingly lifeless marriage to Charlie. But after a strange turn of events, Marianne finds herself doubting what she saw—and what she didn’t. Addy Meeks's behaviour was odd from the start, and now Marianne’s memories don’t seem to match anyone else’s. Has something terrible happened, or is she losing her grip on reality?

The 30 Nightmares: The CONDOM IN THE COFFIN: A wife finds a condom in the lining of her husband's coffin which triggers suspicions someone at the mortuary is a necrophiliac. THE LOOKER: Kidnappers abduct an unusually beautiful woman to harvest her organs for half a million dollars. THE BEAST OF SPOOKY HOLLOW: A freelance writer goes to his college reunion and decides a legendary beast devouring the locals there may be his ticket to a Pulitzer. THE ALIEN: A man struck by lightning while having an MRI is the only one who can see aliens invading the Big Apple. THE INTRUDER: Mary calls 9-1-1 ...

Fifteen vampire tales selected from my horror story collections, Black As Night, Shivers and Other Nightmares, Don't Look Behind You, Scary Stories- Vols. 1, 4 and 5, Midnight Snacks, and Scare Factory. Table of Contents: The Vampire Club: Something big in the basement has devoured Mike's neighbor's cat on loan to catch a mouse. The Babysitter: A psychotic teen impersonates a new sitter in order to obtain entrance to a wealthy estate. Vampire: After a woman and son move to town, a serial killer who drains his victims of blood begins a reign of terror. Tooth Fairy: A serial killer has driven...

Every town hides a few dark secrets. Some dogs track scents. Bentley tracks trouble. And Maggie Shaw has learned to trust him with her life. If you love quick read, small-town suspense, layered mysteries, and strong women who won’t back down, The Shelter Conspiracy is the perfect escape. When a simple volunteer job at a local animal shelter uncovers a chilling secret, Maggie and her intuitive therapy dog, Bentley, find themselves in the crosshairs of a danger no one saw coming. What makes The Shelter Conspiracy impossible to put down? A fearless K-9 handler willing to risk everything for ...

Night Light: Haunted Tales of Terror will keep you up at night with tales of creatures from deep underground coal mines in the the Appalachian Mountains, ghostly apparitions, mysterious prayer circles, a pact with the devil and blood curdling screams of the Jersey Devil haunting a couple in the middle of the night in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Featuring new suspense and horror stories from Mid-Atlantic authors Ellen Parry Lewis, SF Varney, Charles Matthew, Virginia Parrish and Sammi Caramela. May All My Dreams Come True by Ellen Parry Lewis Bridget Brown's life certainly isn't the worst ...

Tales from Withrow Key is an anthology of Withrow Key thriller short stories. Each tale centers around the adventures of Jackson Pauley, a New York City firefighter who retired after 9/11 and his partner Randy Littlebear, a tribal cop from the reservation to the north. And don’t forget the rest of the characters that make up the Conch Republic. Scuba diving, adventure, and beautiful visions of the Florida Keys above and below the water are front and center in this collection of action short stories. And quirk. Don’t forget the quirk. Withrow Key is filled with odd characters and real ...

How do you survive when an ordinary day explodes into a battle against nature's most terrifying power? When the sky turns a malevolent green and the roar of a thousand freight trains is the last thing you hear before your world is ripped apart? Tornado: Twisted Tales invites you into the heart of fifteen unforgettable storms through a collection of gripping short stories. These aren't just tales of destruction; they are visceral accounts of human endurance, the desperate courage of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances, and the unpredictable twists of fate that unfold when ...

Some things are best left alone…. When Charlie gets a text inviting her to play a game, her first instinct is to delete it. It’s obviously a scam because nothing in life comes for free. But her world is painfully dull, her future uninspiring. Surely, just looking can’t hurt… right? The rational side of her warns against it. Don’t fall for it. No one hands out opportunities like this. And yet, she goes ahead and clicks ‘yes’ and in that instant, her life veers off course in ways she never could have imagined. And once she’s in, there’s no way out...

A collection of horror/thriller stories for readers who would enjoy a stroll through a graveyard after midnight.The nightmares include: SHIVERS: The last thing Steve remembers is stopping at the rest stop off the interstate. UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT: The meat at Big Mama's Restaurant is extremely fresh. TATTOO: Marla picks a ferocious black panther for the free tattoo she won. GENIE IN THE BOTTLE: Three college friends find a strange bottle in the surf and make a wish that comes with a price. DOMINANCE: The Simmons family encounters an escaped madman on a camping trip in the Adirondacks. ...