Tina was moving with her umbrella on her head. The weather was cold and it was evening time. It was raining heavily and strong wind was blowing. Tina was coming back home from shopping in the market. When she stepped out of the home in the afternoon then the weather was not so bad.Tina was moving with her umbrella on her head. The weather was cold and it was evening time. It was raining heavily and strong wind was blowing. Tina was coming back home from shopping in the market. When she stepped out of the home in the afternoon then the weather was not so bad. In the afternoon time the weather was pleasant as there were some clouds on the sky and there was some wind blowing gently. Tina made a right decision to take the umbrella with her as it could be raining at any time. Now she was enjoying the weather as she had her umbrella on her head.

A famous Tampa Bay, FL defense attorney has been kidnapped, drugged, and thrown into a room containing only a potty chair, two rolls of toilet paper, a box of tissues, and a plastic bottle of water. He wakes up to find his wallet and jewelry are missing; his clothes are filthy and bloody. He has no idea where he is, who did this to him, or why. He must escape before "they" return, but how?This short story is the first in a series of six or seven short stories to be published here in Smashwords.com. When all of the books in the series are published, they will be combined into one book titled Great 'Lil Escapes and published in print and as an ebook in Amazon.com and here in Smashwords for $2.99.***READ THE NEXT STORY IN THIS SERIES, THE BRAVE 'LIL COCKROACH, FOR FREE IN MY BLOG SITE***The second story in this series titled The Brave 'Lil Cockroach will be published in December, 2016 in Smashwords for $0.99. The third short story in the series will be titled Give That Dog a Bone..NOTE: PRIOR to the publication of The Brave 'Lil Cockroach this December in Smashwords for $0.99, I will be posting one small segment a week of the entire short story in both of my blog sites until the entire book has been published there. If you're interested in this book, go to my blog site and read it online for FREE prior to publication in Smashwords for $0.99 in December.My BLOG site: www.mysterynovels.gailskibbywhite.com

Jacob has found himself in a situation. Taking care of a bed ridden man on Halloween wasn't to bad. Steve's family was away for a few hours, but that didn't bother the two. But when the wind started to pick up, the dog started to growl while starring out the window, Jacob did his best to ignore what was going on. Yet when the figures showed up unannounced, his job went beyond feeding.A man with an undeniable secret, another man without a clue, both have to work together to survive the night. Jacob Williamson is about to encounter his personal Halloween night that's about to test him. As a caretaker for his girlfriend's father, he sits there on that night while they've gone to party. The father, Steve, is lying there watching television. As they mind their own business, Jacob only thinks the small things are just the wind and the dog is easily bothered, but when noises across the porch and talking deer trophies start to get the better of him, he finds to fulfill his role, he only has one thing on his mind, he had to protect Steve, no matter the cost, even his own sanity.

Bonnie Parker is a private detective with a secret - she moonlights as a professional assassin. Now she's in the fight of her life against a ruthless international hit man, as the small New Jersey beach town of Brighton Cove erupts into a battleground. Cold Around the Heart is the newest thriller from bestselling suspense author Michael Prescott (Grave of Angels).Bonnie Parker is a small-town private detective on the Jersey shore who just happens to be named after America's most notorious female outlaw, the distaff half of Bonnie & Clyde. And though no one can prove it, she's an outlaw in her own right, willing to supplement her PI duties by acting as a professional assassin. For a price, and when circumstances warrant it, she'll take extreme measures to solve her clients' problems - permanently. Bonnie is experienced and tough – but she's never gone up against a man like Pascal, a globetrotting hit man who has raised murder to the level of a fine art. During a turbulent summer night, while Bonnie struggles to untangle a web of deception that stretches to the jungles of South America, she and Pascal face off in a blistering battle for survival - a battle only one of them can win. Michael Prescott is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 23 thrillers. His novels have been hailed as "brilliant ... chilling ... unrelentingly suspenseful" (Publishers Weekly), "harrowing ... intense" (Jeffery Deaver), "irresistible, un-put-downable" (Crescent Blues), and "stunning ... far above the usual offerings for the genre" (New Mystery Reader).

The #1 bestselling novel that inspired the major new motion picture Alex Cross starring Tyler Perry. Alex Cross was a rising star in the Washington, DC, Police Department when an unknown shooter gunned down his wife, Maria, in front of him. The killer was never found, and the case turned cold, filed among the unsolved drive-bys in D.C.'s rough neighborhoods. Years later, still haunted by his wife's death, Cross is making a bold move in his life. Now a free agent from the police and the FBI, he's set up practice as a psychologist once again. His life with Nana Mama, Damon, Jannie, and little Alex is finally getting in order. He even has a chance at a new love. Then Cross's former partner, John Sampson, calls in a favor. He is tracking a serial rapist in Georgetown, one whose brutal modus operandi recalls a case Sampson and Cross worked together years earlier. When the case reveals a connection to Maria's death, Cross latches on for the most urgent and terrifying ride of his life. From the man USA TODAY has called the "master of the genre," CROSS is the high-velocity thriller James Patterson and Alex Cross's fans have waited years to read - and the pinnacle of the bestselling detective series of the past two decades. This novel was originally published under the title Cross. The movie tie-in editions are published under the title Alex Cross.

Sometimes the gravest dangers -- and the darkest souls -- live right beside us.... In the span of twenty-four hours, every-thing Laurel Shields believes about her life and her marriage to a prominent doctor will be shattered -- if she survives a terrifying ordeal. The day begins with the jarring discovery that, soon after ending an affair, Laurel is pregnant. But when she returns home to find her husband ashen, unkempt, and on the brink of violence, a nightmare quickly unfolds. In the heart of an idyllic Mississippi town, behind the walls of her perfect house, Laurel finds herself locked in a volatile standoff with a husband she barely recognizes. Confronted with evidence of her betrayal, she must tread a deadly path between truth and deception while a ring of armed police prepares a dangerous rescue. But Laurel's greatest fear -- and her only hope -- lies with her former lover, a brave man whom fate has granted the power to save both Laurel and her children -- if she can protect his identity long enough....

What if the person you thought you knew best turns out to be someone you never knew at all . . . ? Andrea knows everything about her mother, Laura. She knows she’s spent her whole life in the small beachside town of Belle Isle; she knows she’s never wanted anything more than to live a quiet life as a pillar of the community; she knows she’s never kept a secret in her life. Because we all know our mothers, don’t we? But all that changes when a trip to the mall explodes into violence and Andrea suddenly sees a completely different side to Laura. Because it turns out that before Laura was Laura, she was someone completely different. For nearly thirty years she’s been hiding from her previous identity, lying low in the hope that no one would ever find her. But now she’s been exposed, and nothing will ever be the same again. The police want answers and Laura’s innocence is on the line, but she won’t speak to anyone, including her own daughter. Andrea is on a desperate journey following the breadcrumb trail of her mother’s past. And if she can’t uncover the secrets hidden there, there may be no future for either one of them. . . . *NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR*** I thought you guys might want to know some of my thoughts on my new book, PIECES OF HER. First off, let me say it’s NOT a Will and Sara book (that will be next year). I hope that you’ll give this one a try even if you’re a series fan. I’ve been writing about father/daughter relationships a lot in my standalones, but when the plot of PIECES OF HER started taking shape in my brain, I found myself thinking about how much I enjoyed writing scenes in the Grant County series between Sara and her mother . Mother/daughter relationships tend to be more fraught than father/daughter ones, and it’s always fun to play with those tensions. Primarily, I wanted to focus on the opportunities for women now vs. the limited choices when I was growing up. Laura Oliver is older than me, but she was faced with the same messages that I grew up with. No one was telling me I could be a doctor or lawyer—us girls were either fast tracked into nursing, teaching, or library sciences. Title IX was just reaching Morrow High School and I vividly recall being told again and again that girls weren’t interested in sports, or that girls weren’t good at math and science and all those other lies that young women are told about themselves. In contrast to this experience is Laura's 31 year old daughter, Andrea (Andy), who has so many choices that she is paralyzed. I think in many ways 31 year olds are closer to my generation’s 21 year olds. There is no stigma to living with your parents or even hanging out with them. All of the things that for better or worse furiously propelled my generation into adulthood—getting your own car, having your own apartment, making your own decisions, paying for your stupid mistakes—have ceased being motivating factors. I think a lot of readers can relate to this dynamic, whether they are on the mother side or the daughter side. Everywhere I’ve traveled, there’s some phrase in the popular culture that describes what we in the US call a “helicopter parent.” (In Denmark, they’re “curling parents”). Laura has done her level best to make Andy’s life easy and conflict-free, and the end result is that Andy is teetering on the precipice of adulthood, unable to take the leap and with no one around to give her a gentle shove. But don’t worry about all this character stuff. Those of you looking for a thriller should be very satisfied with the story. It opens (as all of my books do) with something really horrible happening. Andy is having a birthday celebration with her mother when suddenly, shit goes sideways. In a flash of violence, Andy sees Laura as not the gentle, loving mother she grew up with but as a complete stranger who is capable of doing terrible things. This leads Andy into a dark place—and also into a quest to find out who her mother really is. Most kids can relate to not really knowing their parents (and some kids don’t want to know!) but Laura’s secrets are deadly, which Andy quickly finds out when she starts to put together all the pieces of a woman she has never known.

Six people are meeting in the lounge of an airport terminal. The meeting is ultra-secretive where membership is by invitation only. Unbeknownst to the other members one person is there with an ulterior and deadly motive. A SHORT STORY.AA is also available in the collection: TEN TYPEWRITER TALES.Mark's Mad Phonic Series is a set of graded readers helping children learn to read. The series starts from your child's first words and continues to reading fluency. This is Level 4 Book 3. This book is all about a group of children (and a sheep) going to sea! Reviewing long E sounds.

A mysterious young boy terrorizes a young mother and forces her to face her demons.When celebrated author Jack Rogan stumbles upon a hidden diary, he can’t resist investigating. Honouring the last wish of a dying friend, he is irresistibly drawn into a web of intriguing clues, hinting at a long forgotten treasure.Joining forces with Cecilia Crawford, a glamorous New York journalist, and Tristan, a remarkable boy with psychic powers, Jack soon finds himself on a precarious journey of discovery, exposing dark secrets from a distant, violent time, when life was cheap and cruelty ruled without mercy.Meanwhile, Emil Fuchs, an enigmatic Swiss banker with a murky past, has an agenda of his own. Ruthless, and determined to defend his reputation at all cost, he threatens to expose a fraud that could destroy everything.Will Rogan succeed? Can he find the forgotten treasure he has been searching for, or will it be lost forever, depriving the world of a masterpiece that belongs to all mankind?Author's Note: The Forgotten Painting is a novella, and as such, it is of course much shorter than my novels. That was one of the reasons I have chosen this genre as the vehicle to introduce new readers to my work. However, I hope it will also entertain existing readers and give them something new and exciting to explore and enjoy. New readers interested in learning more about my writing, can find excerpts from my novels at the back.

Razio Yamata is one of Japan's most influential industrialists, and part of a relatively small group of authority who wield tremendous authority in the Pacific Rim's economic powerhouse. He has devised a plan to cripple the American greatness, humble the US military, and elevate Japan to a position of dominance on the world stage. Yamata's motivation lies in his desire to pay off aDebt of Honor to his parents and to the country he feels is responsible for their deaths—America. All he needs is a catalyst to set his plan in motion. When the faulty gas tank on one Tennessee family's car leads to their fiery death, an opportunistic U. S. congressman uses the occasion to rush a new trade law through the system. The law is designed to squeeze Japan economically. Instead, it provides Yamata with the leverage he needs to put his plan into action. As Yamata's plan begins to unfold, it becomes clear to the world that someone is launching a fully-integrated operation against the United States. There's only one man to find out who the culprit is—Jack Ryan, the new President's National Security Advisor.

A LONG-LOST EXPERIMENT OF UNGUESSABLE INTENT   A SECRET ROOM, INGENIOUSLY HIDDEN INSIDE A VAST SEACOAST MANSION   NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR LINCOLN CHILD AT HIS RIVETING BEST Professor Jeremy Logan (the quirky and charismatic “enigmalogist” who specializes in solving problems of the strange or seemingly supernatural variety) receives an urgent summons from the director of Lux, one of the oldest and most respected think tanks in America. An unexplainable tragedy has taken place in the sprawling compound located on the coastline of Newport, Rhode Island. One of Lux’s most distinguished doctors, overcome by erratic behavior, violently attacked his assistant before meeting with a gruesome self-inflflflffllflicted end. Deeply shaken by the incident and the bizarre evidence left behind from the doctor’s final project—as well as recent troubling behavior among several of the think tank’s other scientists—Lux fears there is something more sinister occurring within its walls and looks to Jeremy Logan to investigate.      Logan quickly makes a surprising discovery. In a long-dormant wing of the estate, he uncovers an ingeniously hidden secret room, unknown and untouched for decades. The room is essentially a time capsule, fiffiilled with eerie machinery and obscure references to a top-secret experiment known as “Project S.” As Logan attempts to unravel its meaning, he begins to discern what transpired in that room—and why the frightening project was suddenly abandoned and sealed off many years before. As his work draws him ever deeper into harm’s way, Logan soon unleashes a series of catastrophic events upon the rest of Lux . . . and himself.      One of Lincoln Child’s most thrilling novels to date, The Forgotten Room is replete with exhilarating action, veiled history, and mesmerizing science—making for a truly intelligent page-turner. From the Hardcover edition.

For more than two decades Peter Straub has engrossed, entertained, and terrified us with his dazzling blend of cool artistry and mad, spine-tingling imagination. With Mr. X, the bestselling author of Ghost Story, The Talisman (with Stephen King), and The Hellfire Club takes us into the darkest dimensions of the human psyche and proves once again that he is without peer in the realm of psychological suspense and horror, a master storyteller whose unique and powerful gifts qualify him to be called the Edgar Allan Poe of our times. Mr. X is Straub's original and startling take on the theme of the doppelgänger. Ned Dunstan's birthday is fast approaching, and every year on this date, Ned experiences a paralyzing seizure in which he is forced to witness scenes of ruthless slaughter perpetrated by a mysterious and malevolent figure in black whom Ned calls Mr. X. Ned has been drawn back to his hometown, Edgerton, Illinois, by a premonition that his mother, Star, is dying. Before she loosens her hold on life, she imparts to Ned the name of his father, never before disclosed, and warns him that he is in grave danger. Despite her foreboding, Ned's determination to learn as much as possible about his absent father ignites a series of extraordinary adventures that gradually reveal the heart of both his own identity and that of his entirely fantastic family: He discovers that he is shadowed by an identical twin brother who can pass through doors and otherwise defy the laws of nature; he becomes the lead suspect in three violent deaths; he investigates the secret shadow-world within Edgerton; he learns to "eat time" and remembers the one occasion when he and his sinister brother united into a single being. Finally, at the moment of battle, he must call upon everything he has learned to save his own life. Brimming with the author's trademark wit, understated eloquence, vibrant characters, and brilliant sense of pace, Mr. X displays Peter Straub at the top of his form. From the Hardcover edition.

Former Soviet Secret Service agent Leo Demidov has built himself a new life as a civilian with his wife Raisa, and their two teenage daughters, Elena and Zoya. The Soviet Union is a country trying to reassert itself after the murderous excesses of Stalin and the chaos of the following years, and as the Cold War continues powers inside Russia seek to topple their great enemy, the United States of America. Communist allies within the United States will prove vital players in this game of intrigue and revolution.Raisa and their two daughters travel to the United States on a diplomatic mission, but a horrifying tragedy destroys everything Leo and Raisa have built. Exiled from the Soviet Union and separated from his family, Leo's quest takes him through the stark wilderness of Afghanistan, reawakening all his old instincts and forcing him to confront his demons.

For years Declan McIver has been one of the IRA's most deadly operatives. But the war has changed him. Now he desires peace above all else and a second chance at life. But when word reaches him that the woman he loves is involved in a plan to detonate a bomb on the Queen's birthday, he takes it upon himself to save her and hundreds of others from certain death.For years Declan McIver has been one of the IRA's most deadly operatives. But the war has changed him. Now he desires peace above all else and a second chance at life. But when word reaches him that the woman he loves is involved in a plan to detonate a bomb on the Queen's birthday, he takes it upon himself to save her and hundreds of others from certain death. "Ian Graham writes the kind of stories I want to read. Full on, action packed, adrenaline fueled. Keep your eye on this author, he's going to be a big name in thrillers before long." - Matt Hilton (author of the Joe Hunter thriller series)

"Have we met?"He laughs again and turns to look at me. "Every day of our lives," he says. His face is familiar. I've seen him before, the stubble and the angles of his jaw. "Where have I seen you? I’m usually good with faces."He smiles and turns back to his coffee. "Oh, just about everywhere," he says."There's a diner at the wrong end of the highway. I've seen it before, but I don't know where."Frank pulls into a diner parking lot to get something to eat. The service is terrible, the cook is rude, and the food leaves something to be desired. But who is that man at the other end of the counter, and why is he so familiar? Something about him is wrong. He's a phantom, haunting the depths of Frank's peripheral vision. Has this all happened before? Is this guy a ghost from his past?From THE BODY DOUBLE:"Have we met?"He laughs again and turns to look at me. "Every day of our lives," he says. His face is familiar. I've seen him before, the stubble and the angles of his jaw. "Where have I seen you? I’m usually good with faces."He smiles and turns back to his coffee. "Oh, just about everywhere," he says.I take a bite of my hamburger, and it's about like every other diner hamburger I've ever had."We come here every day," he says.I look over at him, and he's stirring his coffee. "I've never been here," I tell him.He looks over, raising one eyebrow at me. "Sure you have. You were here yesterday. We had this conversation, only you asked me how old I was.""I wasn't even in the state. You're thinking of someone else.""No," he says. "It was you."