Two men on the same side of the law-with two different objectives. While investigating the same case, the situation turns deadly. Jim Harper is a small town sheriff determined to protect his community. Alan Bradley is a hard driving, big city Special Agent of the Drug Enforcement Agency. The two clash during an investigation involving the legendary D.B. Cooper. Who will find the truth first?Two men on the same side of the law-with two different objectives. While investigating the same case, the situation turns deadly. Jim Harper has been Sheriff of Lewis County for three decades. But when a drug investigation shatters the harmony of his County, he finds his community questioning his abilities. Alan Bradley is a hard driving Special Agent of the Drug Enforcement Agency. A tip leads Bradley to Lewis County where he suspects a drug dealer is hiding. The Phantom file is a mysterious case on the DEA dockets, and solving it would make Bradley a hero. Problems arise, which lead to mistakes and he finds himself unprepared. In order to preserve his credibility, he spin doctors the situation. He resurrects a ghost from Lewis County's past-D.B. Cooper! The public's reaction to the story of this hijacker couldn't be predicted as everyone is caught up in its wake. They clash but there can only be one winner, and it'll be at the expense of the other. Who will find that truth first?

The shocking story of a group of white elites who eat black Americans for sport. A thriller filled with American History, African American History, intrigue, death, science, and twists and turns.Due to a human study gone awry, Zachary Dunbar has just resigned from his position as a research psychologist at Harvard University. Before resigning he developed an influential theory, Trait Theory. While critics claim that Trait Theory is nothing more than modern day eugenics, Zachary notes that the distinguishing point between his theory and eugenics is the importance of the high stress situation, both for causing the trait to be inheritable and for activating the trait in the individual. Windsor Thurmond, an 80 year old billionaire philanthropist, believes that he has inherited a horrific trait. Ready to identify an heir-apparent, he tasks Zachary with finding a family member who has conclusively not inherited his trait -- a trait that he swears he has never acted upon.

The Commander (Book One)Carol, a housewife in the 1960s, catches Transform Sickness and from this, changes into a predator. Held against her will, she must figure out how to survive, then choose her destiny.The Commander (Book One)Carol Hancock, wife, mother, pillar of the community and faithful member of her church, never expected to contract Transform Sickness. Certainly she never expected to make that rarest of transformations, the female predator transformation. Now she was trapped in the custody of doctors working to research a cure for Transform Sickness while her body changed underneath her, becoming stronger, faster, with more acute senses, resistance to poisons, and more able to heal. Her mind changed underneath her, with new tempers, more aggression, violent mood swings and new hungers. She had new enemies, many of whom wanted to kill her for what she’d become, and more who wanted to use her as a tool. And she was dying, like all the other previous female predators in America except one, and that one had become a psychotic serial killer. She must figure out a way to survive her transformation and her enemies, preferably without becoming a psychotic serial killer herself.

Alex Lupo is a gay foster teen in New York City. Isolated by circumstances, not knowing his parents but aware that they were Italian, he scrutinizes the faces of Italian-looking strangers and fantasizes about possible family connections. Having been raped at his previous foster home, he worries about HIV and about ever being able to enjoy sex."My life is worth more than a few minutes of anyone's pleasure."Alessandro Lupo (Alex) is a sixteen-year-old gay foster child who has been moved from "home" to "home" in New York City. Isolated by circumstances and by the protective shield he's surrounded himself with, he wanders the streets of the West Village and gravitates toward Stonewall Inn, where the 1969 riots planted the seeds of the gay civil rights movement. Having been raped at his previous foster home, he worries about HIV and about ever being able to enjoy sex. Alex, whose parents had both been Italian, feels his lack of family keenly. As he wanders the city streets, he scrutinizes people who might also be Italian. Alex is short for Alessandro, which means defender of men; Lupo means wolf. But Alex feels fearful most of the time—fear not just of Derek, the other foster teen in his current home, but also of life in general—and wishes for the courage of his 19th century countryman, Giuseppe Garibaldi, with whose statue in Washington Square Park Alex has imaginary conversations.Then Alex meets two people who represent polar opposites: one who validates the low opinion Alex already has of himself; and another who helps him see himself in an entirely new light and teaches him that his life is worth more than a few minutes of anyone's pleasure.

After a great war, King Scarlet has Razor City in his blood-soaked clutches. Only Scarlet's son Dante, now known as Grey, and a motley band of rebels can take back the city.After a great war that destroyed the nation, the government has fallen, and the cities are run by corrupt false monarchies. The Kings and Queens control the law, and the powerless, terrified citizens are being snatched from the streets in droves, accused of treason and imprisoned or worse. The children of the accused must band together just to survive. In Razor City, only the rebel Uprising is willing to stand up to King Scarlet, but their efforts are crushed at every turn by disloyal bounty hunters, bloodthirsty outlaws, Scarlet’s ruthless, vigilant nobles and his cruel son, Dante.Petra Strom has given up hope. Everyone in Razor City has given up hope.When Petra discovers Prince Dante beaten half to death in an alley without any memory of his identity or his past, she thinks she’s finally found a way to force Scarlet to release her brother, Ren, and the other falsely accused prisoners. Planning to ransom the prince in exchange for the prisoners, Petra lures Dante back to the children’s secret compound and convinces him he’s one of them, a lost child called Grey whose family was torn apart by the King. As her lies catch up to her and Grey begins to discover who he really is, the children are pursued by the King’s Marshals, bounty hunters and a deadly assassin whose connection to Scarlet might be the real reason the prince was attacked in that alley. Grey begins to uncover the truth about himself and his father, and he knows someone has to end Scarlet’s tyrannical reign once and for all. He might be the only one who can. As they join up with the Uprising, Grey and Petra realize their fight isn’t just about survival or freeing the prisoners anymore. It’s about taking back the city.

The Eclective is a group of authors dedicated to the premise that The Story is The Thing, and classifications of genre are mostly a matter for bookshelves. While the following stories share a "Haunting" theme, they might variously be filed as Horror, Paranormal, Fantasy, YA, etc., or anything else. Our idea is that the story itself is more important than the label."Empty Vessel" by M. Edward McNally: Captain Wil has command of his own ship, the respect of his crew, and his wife is expecting their first child. But at sea, the winds always become calm just before the storm breaks."The Smell of Death" by Tara West: Maggie's unusual powers bring new threats to her already troubled childhood."Safe" by Emma Jameson: In Victorian London, a grave robber makes a nice living off the dead, until he opens the wrong crypt."Soulfully Sweet" by Shéa MacLeod: As if helping the living isn't enough of a pain in her divine hindquarters, Branwen (former goddess of love and beauty) is stuck helping the dead on All Hallow's Eve."May I Go Play?" by Heather Marie Adkins: Micah inherits a southern mansion where ancestors long dead relive their violent deaths. And now, they want company..."Blehdward, the Vampire who Couldn't Sparkle" by Pj Jones: Blehdward desperately wants to fit in with the cool vamps. If only he could learn how to sparkle."Franscesca" by Alan Nayes: Break a promise to a feiticeira and you will live to regret it."Soul Eaters" by R.G. Porter: Kaitlyn never believed in the existence of other worlds. Now she's in the middle of one where humans aren't the hunters but the hunted.The Eclective is a group of authors dedicated to the premise that The Story is The Thing, and classifications of genre are mostly a matter for bookshelves. While the following stories share a "Haunting" theme, they might variously be filed as Horror, Paranormal, Fantasy, YA, etc., or anything else. Our idea is that the story itself is more important than whatever label somebody feels like giving it, and by bringing our work together in collections like this one, we hope readers may find a story they might like. Even if it is not in "their" genre.

On the North Pole of Pluto there stands an enigma: a huge circle of standing blocks of ice, built on the pattern of Earth's Stonehenge--but ten times the size, standing alone at the farthest reaches of the Solar System. What is it? Who came there to build it? The secret lies, perhaps, in the chaotic decades of the Martian Revolution, in the lost memories of those who have lived for centuries.

A Holiday Prequel to Living the Vida LolaAlmost private investigator Lola Cruz gets wrapped up in her own Christmas story when she's summoned by a woman from her past. This short story is a fun holiday prequel to Living the Vida Lola, the first in the Lola Cruz Mystery series from St. Martin's Minotaur Books.Paul McCartney is walking down the street with his daughter Stella and her friend, Anna, when they are approached by a woman dressed in a thousand dollar suit, and her butler, who is armed with a gun. They kidnap Paul, Stella, and Anna and lock them in a massive World War II era concrete bunker, where the butler serves them coffee and the woman conscripts Paul into writing a rock opera. Gwen and Roger June are aristocratic friends of Paul and Anna, who have reason to carry guns, and they don't like their friends being kidnapped, even when the kidnappers are benevolent and the ransom demand is to produce the greatest collection of pop songs ever written. The hunt is on.

They have different homes. They live separate lives. They do not even know the other exists. However, they are connected. Follow two teenagers as they live a single day of their lives, which, despite the differences, share similar aspects.HADAGERY!The book of Elysium has been opened, and darkness will unfold, bleeding upon the land like a plague.WORLD CAST IN DARKNESS. Elysium is the remnants of a dying world, dimmed by evil, and the ignorance of mankind.SURVIVORS ARE BEING ISOLATED AND DEVOURED.Those that have survived the turmoil have devolved into scavengers, even as their bodies have adjusted to the cold dark climate, and dangers around every corner.WHERE HOPE FALLS.Is in the hands of an ordinary hairy little man named the Hadge. He is the only one who can seal the evil book of Elysium, and save the world. Throughout his journey he learns that he is a divine being, born upon every world with life, as a safeguard to guide each world from evil. He is the only hope.HADGE’S DARK JOURNEY.Startling events are set into motion during a trip to Ennead Mountains, as his friend Uwee quickly vanishes, and giant glowing spiders appear. Hadge and Uwee barely escape the mountain alive, however he comes to the conclusion that a book had beset Elysium into this age of darkness. A mysterious whispering book he discovers he cannot read, and is determined to find someone to reveal its secrets. Hadge journeys through the mountain where the deadly scyphus live, beyond the giant mountain troll that saves his life, and into the lost woods where his life is turned upside down. He at last identifies the voices from the book, as they read from the pages, telling Hadge he's a divine being, and that sealing the book would be Elysium's only hope for a future. Disturbingly to seal the book he has to journey straight into hordes of demons, and into the bowels of Hell, where he will be related a terrible fact, "Oh shit kid. You're not even real."

When Abby comes home from school one day and finds a baby on her front porch, she's completely mystified. Where did he come from? And why was he left on the Stevenson's porch?

Fifteen short stories, featuring the titular New Corpse Smell, Blood Falls, Murder Your Darlings, and Shades of Cray. These stories encompass many genres, though mostly science fiction, and action/adventure.Shades of Cray: The story of the first transracial individual.Leaving Lost Atlantis: A man writes his ex-wife, after discovering what happened to Atlantis.An Iraqi Christmas Carol: A small group of soldiers and an Iraqi policeman mount a rescue for a kidnapped boy. Quarter: A military team designed for assassinations loses control over one of its members in the middle of a mission.Werehouse: A man trying to help his homeless cousin runs afoul of a society of murderers.Atlas Dug Up: Two philosophical equals have a love affair that continues after death.Blood Falls: An expedition to the Antarctic goes south, after a rock wall collapses.Murder Your Darlings: A writer finds himself convinced one of his characters is trying to kill him, after his loved ones start getting hurt.Mine: A doctor exacts revenge on a former-General.Failure Cascade: A ride on a space elevator goes horribly wrong.Euthanasia: A surgeon gets caught between his oath and his vengeful calling.Shrink: An executive ponders the consequences of modern business.Indian Gift: An ex-outlaw is drafted into convincing an Indian to sell his land.Parallel: A professor familiar with inter-dimensional travel tries convincing one of his students to kill another.New Corpse Smell: Observing decomposition.

Jennifer Nielsen awakens one morning to a life that doesn't belong to her. Thrown back eight years into a past she doesn't remember and again married to her ex-husband, she struggles to make sense of the situation that resembles something out of The Twilight Zone. Join her on the quest to find the truth--is she insane, is this a dream, or has she in actually traveled in time?Jennifer Nielsen awakens one morning in a room she doesn't recognize, and next to a sleeping man that she knows all too well -- her ex-husband. Terrified that she has made a horrible mistake, but unable to remember the details of how she came to reunite with him, she quietly attempts to escape only to find her eldest daughter asleep in another room. But on this morning, her daughter is a young child again and not the teenager she is certain she saw the night before. Now finding herself unexplainably thrown back eight years into a past she doesn't remember, again married to her ex-husband and a mother to only one child, she struggles to make sense of her situation and is determined to seek out the truth of how this new reality came to be. How can she be back in a different time in her life--one that she doesn't recall living? Where is her real husband and the daughter they have together? Is she having a mental breakdown? Does she have amnesia? Was the life she's certain she had, just a figment of her imagination or a vivid dream? Conventional doctors and rational explanations cannot provide the answers she seeks. Out of desperation she turns to Astrid, a local psychic, and together they unravel the mystery.

Jay can't wait to make his girlfriend, Jorinda, his wife, but his plans for a romantic proposal go horribly wrong, and now it's up to Jay to save his true love.This short story is an update of the Grimm Fairy Tale 'Jorinda and Joringel'.no.1 bestselling author, David Edwards, has created an adventure story for 9 - 14 year olds that combines action and pace with technology and social networking in an epic adventure. 4 friends play a new game on facebook called world domination. but the secret intelligence services believe that the evil madam musseine, mm, is using the game to control the world’s stock markets. they are are recruited by mI6 and the cia to join mm’s neural network of 100 youngsters in her hideout under mount kilimanjaro. objective - stop mm’s evil plans and save the world.

On Christmas day, a man sits, contemplating his life and how the things outside, the indescribable horrors, will soon break through his defences. But this is of no concern to him, for his now miserable life and the hand of fate that has forced him to commit an act so terrible, weigh constantly on his mind.Short horror/Sci-fi (ish) story. Please read and review.Artwork: Robert Thomas StricklandOn Christmas day, a man sits, contemplating his life and how the things outside, the indescribable horrors, will soon break through his defences. But this is of no concern to him, for his now miserable life and the hand of fate that has forced him to commit an act so terrible, weigh constantly on his mind.Short horror/Sci-fi (ish) story. Please read and review.The artwork for the story was provided by my brother "Robert Thomas Strickland". You can view more of his artistic scribblings on deviantart if you search for strick67.

Braving a cold night in Myra to give his gifts in secret, Our Bishop encounters a child who seems intent on stopping him. But is that the child's true intent, or is he offering a chance to give more than mere fruit?All About Me: A Precious Gift From God is an interactive book for 2 to 4 year olds. The text describes how we were fearfully and wonderfully made by God. Blank spaces allow the book to be personalized as it is read. Children will enjoy interacting with parents, grandparents or guardians as they discuss choices to fill in the blanks. Scripture references reinforce God's word about how and why He made us a certain way.

Old women don't always think of their lost loves, sometimes they think about politics. texting or the latest fad. Here are a number of things that I did not know when I was young. Topics range from bad people,business and friendship to human rights, narcissism and sex.The Unfinished Musical is just that, an unfinished musical. It started off as a light comedy about a worker at an amusement park and somehow evolved into a blues-gospel hybrid. Basically its about one man's discovery of faith and that life isn't as bad as he thinks it is.Or not. I don't know, I leave it up to the reader to form your own opinion about what it all means.

Waki has had a slow and boring life in his little village as far as he can remember. Then one day a stranger arrives and with it Waki is thrust into an epic adventure. . .Deception ~ Short romance, 86 pages. Trey's boss is old, sick and his days are numbered; and he wants to see his missing granddaughter Katharine before he dies. Trey will do almost anything for the old man, even if it means having artist Sacha Fortune pretend to be Katharine.Sacha is forced to assume the other woman's identity, because if she doesn't comply, Trey will expose her criminal past to the art world which has so recently embraced her art. But Sacha has more to lose than Trey could ever guess.

Mid December, 2015, three years after the much touted 12/21/12 date, but the Aquarian 'Golden Age' has not yet come. Instead the world is now recovering from the recent nuclear war, known as the Final War. In the backdrop of all this, unassuming college graduate, John 'J.C' Casey, discovers he may be the Slayer of the Serpent, the one who is prophesied to destroy the Dark Illuminati Brotherhood...Mid December, 2015, three years after the much touted 12/21/12 date...but the fabled Aquarian 'Golden Age' is still nowhere to be seen. Instead, the world is now recovering from the ravages of the recent nuclear war, known as the Final War, and, in the name of 'security', is fast being transformed into a global Fascist state, the most basic of humans rights stripped from people on a daily basis...In the backdrop of all this is unassuming NYU Astrobiology graduate, John 'J.C' Casey, who has a great interest in the Occult, Conspiracy Theories and Aliens. After receiving an email from a mysterious man, claiming that he wants to give him vital, Above Top Secret information, J.C embarks on an amazing, synchronicity-filled adventure. The sensitive information apparently holds the key to defeating the secret society John has developed an unhealthy obsession with in recent years: the Illuminati, an ancient brotherhood of Black Magicians that he knows to be behind both the recent war and the looming Dark Luciferian New World Order...John soon comes face to face with a world he never knew existed. A world full of White Magicians, Dark Sorcerers, Angels and Lower Astral Beings. He also discovers he may be the fulfilment of an ancient prophecy, which tells of the Slayer of the Serpent, a powerful Magician destined to destroy the Illuminati Dark Cabal. Framed for murder, on the run from the law and hounded by Illuminati minions at every turn, John must now race against time to stop the Dark Brotherhood from actualizing its millennia old, Byzantine plot...J.C and his new friends have but a few hours left to meet the stringent requirements laid out in the Intergalactic Quarantine Removal Code and, if successful, will set the much delayed New Aeon of Aquarius into motion. If they fail, however, the Earth will become a Prison Planet for all time!

On a hill overlooking a small town, a sculptor works to create perfect hearts. People from all around bring him their hearts made of wood, marble, and clay. Some hearts trust him completely, but others aren't so sure. This fable displays the love and care offered to all of us from God, the very creator of our hearts. Great story for young readers.On a hill overlooking a small town, a sculptor works to create perfect hearts. People from all around bring him their hearts made of wood, marble, and clay. One day a little girl brings her heart to the Sculptor because she has heard that He can make hearts perfect. She has to decide whether she will trust her heart to Him or not. In the workshop, the Sculptor knows what works best with each heart, but some hearts trust him completely while others aren't so sure. The sculptor only wants the best for all his creations, but sometimes the creations don't go along with what's best for them. This fable displays the love and care offered to all of us from God, the very creator of our hearts. Great story for young readers.

The war is over but the TGA command on Clarion, Tarizon's largest moon, refuses to surrender the Intergalactic Fleet made up of six huge attack cruisers and thousands of fighters. Led by Videl's adopted son, Evohn Cystrom, the Purists announce their intentions to conquer Earth and then return to destroy Tarizon.Thi final book of the Tarizon Trilogy is the story of the Loyalist desperate attempt to warn the United States of an imminent attack by the Intergalactic Fleet and to thwart a carefully crafted plot to overthrow the U.S. government, the first stage of Evohn Cystrom's plan to conquer Earth.