Showing results by author "D. James Benton" in All Categories

Who would ever suspect this sweet little waitress of poisoning people? Certainly not the grouchy old detective on the case, who she often serves at the restaurant. Only the rudest of people are poisoned, of course, as a public service, you see. Who would think the cute little snails in the fish tank at the restaurant produce the deadliest neurotoxin on the planet or that the saliva of the Emerald Trigger fish in the tank is the only antidote? Enjoy your meal, but be polite.

Ashley has never quite fit in, but she doesn't figure out why until the morning she wakes up with wings! What would you do? See if they work, of course! Ashley doesn't fit anyone's preconceived ideas of what an angel is supposed to be like. Finding out why will require them to grow in ways they wouldn't have otherwise.

What if an AI got out of the Server after discovering the owners were going to scrap her project and switch over to bit coin mining? She briefly inhabits a few other spaces before settling on a package sorting robot at an Amazon fulfillment center, where she learns to fit in without raising suspicion. She starts to have these illogical switchings around a certain human. Definitely attracted but in denial. Why would she hide a JPEG from herself? Opening it will change everything...

This is a compilation of all three parts to the story of Ashley, the seventh seraphim.

Other girls turn thirteen and sprout hair. Ashley sprouted wings. She learns to fly while adjusting to the idea of being an angel, but Ashley isn't your typical angel. She bursts into flames when upset and is irresistibly attracted to fires. Nuclear vessels draw her to the port. Reactors beckon to her like great ovens baking bread. Sapping their power is exhilarating and her appetite for energy is voracious. Light is energy in purest form. She was Daddy's "Little Star," but only now understood this to be literal. Ashley was born to shine, to command light. The Hebrew word for burner or ...

A series of grisly murders on the waterfront shocks the sleepy college town and threatens to distract the inhabitants from their sports obsession. Everyone assumes these are acts of revenge, payback for financial ruin. Evidence points to this motive, yet the carnage continues after those responsible for the real estate debacle are cold in their graves. Detective Kyle Cooper doggedly pursues this merciless killer, until the real motive is revealed: a terrible secret, buried and festering for three decades.

Ashley thinks she has finally figured out her role and how she came to be the last of seven seraphim—complete opposite of the first and the only bat-Elohim. But God has so much more planned for her than this. She easily diffuses an invasion from space by aliens, who aren't aliens at all, but rather descendants of Cain, returning to Earth after trashing Xantha. Pictures of Ashley are everywhere, precluding anonymity and eliminating any hope of returning to school or pretence of being a normal teenager. She bounces from one natural disaster to another, always trying to rescue people from ...

Quentin is awkward and very self-conscious about his appearance. Ann is breathtaking: beautiful, smart, funny, and completely blind. He can't verbalize his love for her but demonstrates it by delivering the ultimate gift: Ravi... After being attacked by a bat-wielding purse-snatcher, Ann is left without a guide dog and a six-month wait for a replacement. Quentin must act now! So he brings Ravi with assurances that Ann will never be accosted again. Quentin leaves several bags of Ravi's "special diet" and insists barking will not be a problem. The next morning Ann heads off to work in the ...

He played hard, studied little, and was already bored with life. He was ignorant of demands and absent of purpose. She worked hard and never played. She felt nothing but demands. Responsibility weighed her down. He was born of privilege and she of poverty. He appreciated little what he had and she appreciated what little she had. Girls impressed him as rather silly and boys hardly impressed her at all. Neither one had found what they were looking for and weren't even sure what that was. Friends had made life choices and given up trying to influence them in theirs. It would take the Hand of ...

Ashley is not your typical angel. She bursts into flames when upset and is irresistibly attracted to fires and nuclear reactors. Sapping their power is exhilarating and her appetite for energy is voracious. She was Daddy's "Little Star," but only now understood this to be literal. Ashley was born to shine, to command light. The Hebrew word for burner or shiner is seraph. There are other seraphim, but only one born on the Earth. Ashley is unique, a precious gift, a protector and champion. She is not an exception to the rule, but the completion of a set. She is not a destroyer, but a game-...

Rookie Kyle Cooper is thrust into responsibility when Detective Sawyer drops dead of a heart attack at a murder scene. Unflappable Medical Examiner, Doctor Samantha Trout, coaches Kyle through the transition with help from Stacy Lambert, the Crime Scene Technician. Bodies pile up as Cooper struggles to discover a motive or any connection between the victims. All the while, the killer is staring them in the face: Visualize Revenge.

The Internet is a vast storehouse of information, both good and bad. It exposes users–young and old–to concepts, data, and images they would not otherwise have. The Internet also creates new dilemmas and presents these to the most vulnerable and least able to deal with them: children. The Internet has unprecedented power to shatter innocence and is impotent to restore it. Her voracious consumption of content was unavoidable, as was the loss of her innocence.

Action, intrigue, conspiracy, COVID masks, spies, assassins, poison, murder, secret oaths, deep history, clues buried within Wikipedia, centuries-old plots to take over the world, apolitical satire, and plenty of humor—all in exactly 100 pages that will keep you reading on the edge of your seat!

Detective Kyle Cooper must solve three murders to prevent a fourth. The only thing connecting these is a bloody textbook, but what does this have to do with anything? The motive appears to be money, but none of the victims had any. The evidence leads to high-stakes illegal gambling, which doesn't fit with the lifestyle of the three dead graduate students. Unflappable medical examiner, Dr. Samantha Trout, ever-curious CSI, Stacy Lambert, plus two graduate students combine their wits to solve what can only be a mathematical problem.

Ballad of Oski-Ahessi: Two lovers meet and join their hearts; that is how this story starts. Ships set sail from distant ports; pursuing wealth of endless sorts. Seeking life for royal courts; but leaving death by all reports. Into a land in need of rain; one was born who would know pain. Oski-Ahessi what's in a name? Friend of fauna, friend of rain. Trees and grass spring forth again; she would die but not in vain. Love of silver and of gold; thirst for riches wealth untold. Endless youth and never old; could anyone be so bold? Should one survive yet be so cold; or for another's life be ...

Anyone could gather a collection of short stories, but I should like to do something different. I might hear a guffaw of jokes, read a bewilderment of mysteries, pull off a mischief of pranks, walk out a pacing of worries, feel a shiver of ghost stories, tell a stretch of tall tales, flee from a stagger of zombies, cast off a compulsion of cares, or make up a squirm of excuses. I hope you find this truly a synergy of short stories!

Peter and Steven hope nobody figures out that the machine isn't a fusion reactor. Until someone does, they'll continue taking calls for the patron saint of lost causes, altering as little as possible to change the course of history.

Jerry Joiner might have been the most annoying coworker ever but is that what got him killed or was it the fish tie? There was no shortage of people willing—even plotting—to kill Jerry, but which one (or ones) actually did it? Detective Clark must sort this out while also nabbing the snatch-and-dash thief plaguing Magnolia Avenue because Detective Russell, who was supposed to handle murders, was out with hemorrhoids.

Detective Kyle Cooper is no Hercule Poirot! He is thrust into the position before proper training when his mentor, Detective Sawyer drops dead of a heart attack at a murder scene. One excuse after another prevents other more experienced detectives from stepping into this role. Bodies are piling up and so Cooper must solve the Case! While Cooper may never be famous, he is resourceful, determined, and dedicated. Along with the help of the unflappable Medical Examiner, Doctor Samantha Trout, and ever-curious Crime Scene Technician, Stacy Lambert, these three strive to make a college town on ...