It's winter. It's cold. Very cold. But Archroy braves the winter scenes of Tealsdale to venture into town. However, the journey is fraught with the dangers of the rapidly decreasing temperatures, which Archroy is totally unaware of.The falling degrees of Archroy's ill-fated journey into town. Dazed and confused in the white world of snow, Archroy looks to shake off his fever and hangover but the winter weather is his biggest enemy. The townfolk are no help either.

From a master "mind reader who writes psychological horror stories about seriously disturbed minds" (New York Times Book Review), this gorgeously eerie story collection explores the deepest entwinings of lust and repulsion, creation and dissolution, Eros and Thanatos

The New York Times bestselling author delivers the follow-up to No Time for Goodbye--an electrifying novel of suspense in which a family's troubled past is about to return in more ways than one. And this time, they may not be able to escape.... Seven years ago, Terry Archer and his family experienced a horrific ordeal that nearly cost them their lives. Today, the echoes of that fateful night are still audible, and Terry is struggling to keep his family together. But when his daughter Grace foolishly follows her delinquent boyfriend into a strange house, the Archers must do more than stay together. They must survive. Because now they have all been unwillingly drawn into the shadowy depths of their seemingly idyllic hometown. And they will soon learn that there are some things people value much more than money, and will do anything to get. Caught in a labyrinth between family loyalty and ultimate betrayal, Terry must find a way to extricate his family from a lethal situation he doesn't fully comprehend. All he knows is that in order to stay alive, he may need to do the unthinkable...

The elderly owner of a Swiss bank had been murdered, the inheritance redirected to a retired British Intelligence officer. No one is who they seem, everyone has an agenda. Groups within groups, secrets inside secrets, lies on top of lies. Part 1 of a 6 part spy series. Action, dark humour, romance, mystery, suspense.I'm Frump... He's not. He's popular... I prefer my bubble. I have a crush on him... He's way out of my league. Right?Well thats what I thought too until one night changed everything... Just one single night with a busy friend who takes off on me, a bunch of awesome guys who become instant big brothers, and a little faith to believe that it can happen for even me too. This is my story about believeing in love, about having the courage to push past whats uncomfortable and about a hope that no one should ever lose no matter what happens to them. It's about how just one night can change your whole world without you even realising it. Those several hours in the dark where magical things happen and dreams do come true.They happened for me and so they can happen for you.

Samantha never intended to kill the President. As a doctor, she swore an oath to protect life – not take it. But that was before he ordered the murder of her family.Samantha never intended to kill the President. As a doctor, she swore an oath to protect life – not take it. But that was before he ordered the murder of her family.Swept from the frigid New York City winter, Dr. Samantha Bartlett returns to the Midwest to once again confront the sting of death – and face those she left behind. But she’s not alone. A strange man she dubs “Shades” haunts her every step as she seeks answers to the inferno which claimed her grandmother’s life, an eerie reminder of her parents’ deaths. The secrets Samantha uncovers forever shatter the image of those she only thought she knew.Confronted by Shades, Samantha joins a secret underworld known only as the Elite, where a web of power and control is woven deep within governments worldwide. Their sights are set on the seat of domination behind the Resolute desk that is the powerhouse of nations – the presidency of the United States of America. Samantha becomes the Elite’s unlikely key to infiltrating the White House at its most intimate levels.The Hippocratic Oath. All doctors swear by it. But the most despicable deeds must be avenged. The quest for blood swallows Samantha in a veil of darkness and threatens to destroy everything she once stood for.And from the darkness there is no escape.

In Wyoming for a medical conference, Boston medical examiner Maura Isles joins a group of friends on a spur-of-the-moment ski trip. But when their SUV stalls on a snow-choked mountain road, they're stranded with no help in sight. As night falls, the group seeks refuge from the blizzard in the remote village of Kingdom Come, where twelve eerily identical houses stand dark and abandoned. Something terrible has happened in Kingdom Come: Meals sit untouched on tables, cars are still parked in garages. The town's previous residents seem to have vanished into thin air, but footprints in the snow betray the presence of someone who still lurks in the cold darkness--someone who is watching Maura and her friends. Days later, Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli receives the grim news that Maura's charred body has been found in a mountain ravine. Shocked and grieving, Jane is determined to learn what happened to her friend. The investigation plunges Jane into the twisted history of Kingdom Come, where a gruesome discovery lies buried beneath the snow. As horrifying revelations come to light, Jane closes in on an enemy both powerful and merciless--and the chilling truth about Maura's fate. Published in the UK as THE KILLING PLACE.

The thriller that opened a new chapter in the sex wars . . . Thomas Sanders' world collapses in just 24 hours – he is passed over for promotion, his new woman boss comes on to him during a drink after work, then, the next morning, he learns that she has accused him of sexually harassing her. She demands his transfer, thereby threatening to cut him off from the millions he would have made when his high-tech company was floated on the stock market. What followed next made Disclosure the most talked about novel of the decade. a

A man doing well in life is suddenly fearful that he may be going insane, suddenly lost in his world of life that seems no more or less than a living nightmare that he cannot escape. Something has gone wrong, and he is determined to figure it out fast, or die trying.For some, life can seem to be a dream at times, never real.For others, that is all it really is.Here's the short story of a man who has lived a full life, has done well with himself, but now seems to have the inescapable sensation that something seems terribly wrong. Is he really losing his sanity?Or is it something else altogether?

With his trademark elegance and intelligence Robert Harris recreates a world on the brink of disaster. All along the Mediterranean coast, the Roman empire's richest citizens are relaxing in their luxurious villas, enjoying the last days of summer. The world's largest navy lies peacefully at anchor in Misenum. The tourists are spending their money in the seaside resorts of Baiae, Herculaneum, and Pompeii. But the carefree lifestyle and gorgeous weather belie an impending cataclysm, and only one man is worried. The young engineer Marcus Attilius Primus has just taken charge of the Aqua Augusta, the enormous aqueduct that brings fresh water to a quarter of a million people in nine towns around the Bay of Naples. His predecessor has disappeared. Springs are failing for the first time in generations. And now there is a crisis on the Augusta's sixty-mile main line—somewhere to the north of Pompeii, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Attilius—decent, practical, and incorruptible—promises Pliny, the famous scholar who commands the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. His plan is to travel to Pompeii and put together an expedition, then head out to the place where he believes the fault lies. But Pompeii proves to be a corrupt and violent town, and Attilius soon discovers that there are powerful forces at work—both natural and man-made—threatening to destroy him. With his trademark elegance and intelligence, Robert Harris, bestselling author of Archangel and Fatherland, re-creates a world on the brink of disaster.

Gillian Flynn says, "Karin Slaughter is simply one of the best thriller writers working today." Saturday night dates at the skating rink have been a tradition in the small southern town of Heartsdale for as long as anyone can remember, but when a teenage quarrel explodes into a deadly shoot-out, Sara Linton—the town's pediatrician and medical examiner—finds herself entangled in a terrible tragedy. What seemed at first to be a horrific but individual catastrophe proves to have wider implications. The autopsy reveals evidence of long-term abuse, of ritualistic self -mutilation, but when Sara and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver start to investigate, they are frustrated at every turn. The children surrounding the victim close ranks. The families turn their backs. Then a young girl is abducted, and it becomes clear that the first death is linked to an even more brutal crime, one far more shocking than anyone could have imagined. Meanwhile, detective Lena Adams, still recovering from her sister's death and her own brutal attack, finds herself drawn to a young man who might hold the answers. But unless Lena, Sara, and Jeffrey can uncover the deadly secrets the children hide, it's going to happen again . . .

A short man can still be a hit with the ladies if he has sufficient width. That's all I'll tell you. Click the blue below to see why. Here it suffices to say that the story is short and free. Why read a summary when with little more effort you can read the whole thing? If you can't spare a moment more, you shouldn't be wasting time reading fiction anyway. Go back to work!"One can not judge a book by its cover." So we are told. But a cover is usually the only thing a reader has to base a judgment on. Smashwords tries to aid readers by providing summaries, one short, one long, for each book it distributes. For non-fiction this works well. But this, it seems to me, defeats the whole purpose of fiction. After all, one reads a story to find out what will happen. It’s the uncommon twists and turns that make a story interesting. But if a summary has told all this beforehand, what fun is to be had in the reading? Therefore, no summary of the present short story is given. It's short and it’s free! So read the whole thing and see if you like it. I ask you to do this because I think it is the best book judging method. To find fiction you like you must first read around enough to learn something of the style and stories of different authors. Then you can judge books, not by their cover, but by the your opinion of the writer. I'd like to help you do this. The present short story is one of several which I will make available free at Smashwords. Read a few (or all of them) and decide if you like them. It won't cost you a dime. If you like them, you can then purchase some of my not free (but still inexpensive) longer stories. All these stories are of one particular kind. To reflect this similarity all have the same cover picture, the Kitty & Rose shown above. So after you’ve read a few, you can, in fact, judge them by their cover. The common theme of the Kitty & Rose stories is human sexuality. This is not unusual. Most fiction concerns sex in one way or another; ranging from romances so sedate and demure an extraterrestrial could never know sex is at the root of everything described, to erotica so unrestricted even an extraterrestrial might blush. Kitty & Rose stories are in the middle of this range. All deal with human sexuality, but none do so explicitly. Rather, they are seemly. The dictionary gives three meanings for seemly: Attractive or agreeably fashioned; Decorous or conventionally proper; and Appropriate or suited to its purpose. With respect to appropriateness, seemly sex stories range from the humorous to the inspirational, but all concern human sexuality. So they are clearly appropriate. These stories are also seemly in the decorous and conventionally proper sense. For, while they treat sex candidly, they do not do so graphically. There is nothing pornographic nor erotic in any seemly sex story. Of course, different persons’ opinions about this may differ. A few consider frank pornography decorous. At the opposite extreme are those like the abbot of the monastery where the great biologist Gregor Mendel did his epochal research. This abbot thought Mendel’s studies were decidedly indecorous because they involved the sex of pea plants! Finally, there is the principal sense of seemly, attractive and agreeably fashioned. Like every author I exert my every effort and ability trying to make these stories seemly in this regard. But like every author, I must await your determination of the degree of my success. Since both of us will be pleased if you find them attractively seemly, I very much hope you do.Happy reading!BobbyBP.S. This is short story number three, uploaded 2-16-2017.

Bounty Hunters, Forty Lashes Less One, and Gunsights comprise this collection of great western stories by the author of Get Shorty.

When Brandon’s wife Marilyn fails to pick him up after work, he begins a long trail of “Really Bad Days.” He finds that his wife is drunk and she begins a long series of what would be considered at best, “acting up.” For months, Brandon tries to figure out what is going on with his wife, then he decides to divorce her. Then he meets Julie and has the ultimate Bad Day!Brandon and Marilyn have been married for eight years, they have the perfect life, then one day she doesn’t show up to pick him up after work. A strange man calls Brandon and tells him that his wife is okay but that she is afraid to pick him up. Brandon has no idea what has happened, but apparently his wife has done something that prevents her from wanting to see her husband or family. She comes home two days later, drunk and confessing that she has had an affair with her boss. Brandon begins a long series of “very bad days.” At best his wife is acting out, at worst she is seeing other men, drinking and doing drugs.” For months, Brandon tries to figure out what is going on with his wife, then he decides to divorce her. He goes through a string of girl friends, then he meets Julie, the most beautiful woman that he has ever seen. They fall in love with each other and soon marry. Brandon’s two small children fall in love with Julie and his life seems to have turned around. But, more bad days. Then the ultimate bad day happens!

When the discovery of a mass grave in northern Maine reveals the grim truth behind the disappearance of a religious community, private detective Charlie Parker is drawn into a violent conflict with a group of zealots intent on tracking down a relic that could link them to the slaughter. Haunted by the ghost of a small boy and tormented by the demonic killer known as Mr. Pudd, Parker is forced to fight for his lover, his friends...and his very soul.