This ebook has been self published as part of the Suffolk Writes project.This short story is the 2016 runner up in the Student New Angle Prize (SNAP) which is aimed at UCS students and is run by the organisers of the New Angle Prize for Literature. SNAP is an annual award for a piece of new writing (of 500 words) with an East Anglian connection: theme, topic, influence or association. Views: 68
A clergyman should be above reproach, an example to his flock. But what is Detective Chief Inspector Douglas Quantrill to make of the Reverend Robin Ainger, Rector of St Botolph's in the quiet Suffolk town of Breckham Market, when the good-looking, popular parson lies to the police? With the thawing of prolonged winter snow, the skeleton of a recently dead man has been found in a meadow belonging to the Rectory. Whose is the body, and how did it come there? Both Ainger and his wife Gillian are taut with suppressed hysteria at the discovery. As Quantrill – in the face of carefully framed denials from the Rectory, but with hints that Mrs Ainger's elderly father knows more than he's telling – struggles to piece together clues centering on the presence of two Australians, an uncouth backpacker and a clever girl with beautiful flame-red hair, he begins to guess at the depth of suffering hidden beneath the conventional routine of Rectory... Views: 68
Science Fiction/Fantasy. 73415 words long. Views: 68
Ruby Dee, licensed practical nurse, has come to the high plains of Oklahoma to care for an ailing old man. She brings her classic Ford Galaxie, her dog Sally and her dear Aunt Edna's ashes, seeking peace and healing of her own. She finds a fractured family of ranchers—intense Will, wild Lonnie and irascible Hardy—who each find in her balm for their troubled hearts. Three loves for Ruby Dee—but only one will heal her own bruised heart. Women's Fiction/Contemporary Romance by Curtiss Ann Matlock; originally published by Avon Views: 68
"Family Treed" is 1.5 in my Big Uneasy series. This short story is my amuse bouche, because it is a taste, a quick bite for my readers, a chance to check in on Nell and Alex (from Relatively Risky). Nell's not sure why the mob wants to have dinner with her. She is sure she wants a cop at her side. Alex wouldn't let Nell dine with the mob without him, despite much unease from his many siblings. But when Nell's newly found relatives start making threatening noises, Nell wonders if she's putting Alex's life in danger. Can they survive dinner with the killing cousins? This short story is about 13,000 words or 31 printed pages. When I started "Family Treed," I was determined to keep it a short story. The plot, the characters fought back, throwing complications at me like knives and bullets. I dodged. I ducked. And when they weren't looking, I trimmed out everything trying to turn it into a novel. And while I trimmed, I watched Top Chef. When they were asked to create an amuse... Views: 68
Tim Thomas is searching for dinosaur fossils in the hills above Pounamu, his grandparent′s sheep station. His mum drowned when he was four, leaving Tim with only a vague memory of her - and of a large tooth embedded in rock. But time is against him as he races to find the exact spot where the tooth lies, before the river gully is dammed and the rising waters cover the site. He also has to deal with Sam Mason, the school bully, and when Tim′s horse is stolen his attempts to get her back bring him up against a gang of horse thieves. And then when it starts to rain, the waters begin to rise, and Tim is in trouble. Deep trouble. Des Hunt specializes in exciting action-packed adventures set in the natural landscapes of New Zealand. This is his sixth novel since A Friend in Paradise, a 2003 finalist in the NZ Post Children′s Book Awards, and follows the success of The Moa Cave, 2007 finalist Frog Whistle Mine,... Views: 68
Egypt in the twenty-sixth century BC. The young pharaoh Cheops wants to forgo the construction of a pyramid in his honor, but his court sages hasten to persuade him otherwise. The pyramid, they tell him, is not a tomb but a paradox, designed to appease the masses by oppressing them. It is a symbol of nothing, a useless and infinite project designed to waste the country's wealth and keep security and prosperity, ever the fonts of sedition, constantly at bay. And so the greatest pyramid in the world has ever seen begins to rise. Rumors multiply. A secret police is formed. Conspiracies--real and imagined--swirl around the rising edifice. The most drastic purges follow. By the time the first stone is laid, Cheops's subjects are terrified enough to yield to his most murderous whims. Each time one of the massive stones is hoisted into place, dozens of men are crushed, and there are tens of thousands of stones. . . . Views: 68
The captain of the Prodigal Son has a deserved reputation as the deadliest (and best dressed) pirate in the Caribbean, but Robert St. Armand’s totally at sea when it comes to “Marauding Mattie,” the daughter he never knew he had. How in the world can he deal with the littlest pirate, one who prefers knife-throwing to arithmetic lessons, and who’d rather be keelhauled than eat her beets? He needs help!Lydia Burke is living a safe, respectable life, separated from England by an entire ocean. It’s exactly what she needs and she’s not going to risk her boring, but secure, position as a governess to consort with pirates, especially one who’s too pretty for his own good or her peace of mind.No self-respecting governess would be willing to come aboard the notorious Prodigal Son, but Robert didn’t fight his way to the top by letting small obstacles like scruples stop him. If he can’t hire Lydia Burke, he’ll steal her and take her to England with them, certain he can charm her into his bed along the way as an added bonus on the voyage.It will be a true voyage of discovery for the pirate and the governess, as one learns to navigate the rocky shoals of parenthood while the other tries to keep deadly secrets hidden, and both will find that while it’s a child who initially brings them together, the growing passion between them offers the greatest temptation. Views: 68
I'm not who I used to be....The remark, whispered by a stranger on the street to Irene Kelly, becomes all the more unnerving when the newswoman realizes she knows the man. He's Lucas Monroe, her former college instructor who had looked forward to a brilliant future. Now he's a derelict in hiding, an unlikely suspect in blackmail and murder. What happened to Monroe's life strikes Irene as bizarre. But it's what happens to him in death that fills her with dread. Her long-lost mentor is found murdered, and whatever the picturesque town of Las Piernas is hiding has made some people very rich, very guilty, and very dangerous. Views: 68
On the heels of landing his largest part yet, Brody Paget, has returned from Hollywood to Cottonwood Falls, to share the news with a family he’s not seen in years. Hermione Windsor can’t believe it when he walks into the bank. Even ten years wasn’t long enough for her to move on. Brody is determined to prove to her he’s still the only man for her. Views: 68
After a glamorous young TV soap star dies in a car crash, all eyes are on Detective Geraldine Steel to discover what caused the tragic accident. Another driver was involved in the collision but seems to have miraculously walked away unscathed and has now vanished. The deceased had no obvious enemies and nothing to hide, so the investigation seems to be stalling. But when another young actress is found dead, it becomes painfully clear that there is a murderer on the loose targeting beautiful, famous women. The only problem is that whoever is committing these crimes isn't leaving any clues. With public pressure mounting, Geraldine Steel unwittingly risks her sergeant's life in their search to track down a serial killer ... Views: 68
