Fresh out of prison, a gunman who wants to put the past behind him has no choice but to join a gang of outlaws There was a time when Jake Worthy wouldn't have been arrested for killing the gambler in the Tucson saloon. The card cheat drew his gun first—Jake shot only in self-defense. But the West is on its way to being civilized, and the sheriff has no choice but to throw Jake in jail. After six months behind bars, he is released and immediately sets out for home and his sweetheart. His first night on the trail, a bandit shoots Jake's horse and leaves him to die. Stranded in the desert with a bullet in his leg, he starts walking, dreaming of the woman he may never see again. Near exhaustion, Jake is picked up by three riders bristling with guns. They give him food, shelter, and a bandage for his leg. Without their help, he will die, so Jake joins their gang, starting down a path that will lead him right back to prison—or the grave. Views: 616
A chance encounter in a supermarket coffee shop opens old wounds for the ex-Marine and the war widow. Soon they are reliving horrors of death and murder in the Afghan desert, duty and deceit blowing in the wind. Can an icon of crime fiction save them from themselves, or will it be just another case for the Sheriff of Tesco?A chance encounter in a supermarket coffee shop opens old wounds for the ex-Marine and the war widow. Soon they are reliving horrors of death and murder in the Afghan desert, duty and deceit blowing in the wind. Can an icon of crime fiction save them from themselves, or will it be just another case for the Sheriff of Tesco?He walked over to where she was sitting alone in the corner of the supermarket coffee shop sipping a cappuccino. Noticed, close up, that her brown hair, pulled back into a ponytail, was dashed with blonde highlights, her face young looking, probably mid thirties.“Mind if I join you?” he asked, pulling out a plastic chair.“Be my guest,” She looked up, saw this raw boned man, the angular planes of his face weather tanned, his eyes the palest blue.Although the store was busy with the usual throng of mid-week shoppers there were plenty of empty tables in the cafe. She raised a quizzical eyebrow and met his steady gaze.“Nice morning,” he began his gambit, his eyes not leaving hers. Hazel with flecks of white, like a snow-shower. He made a mental note.“That depends,” she said, “On how you define nice.” She read the ID tag clipped to the breast pocket of his dark blue shirt. John Russell. “I like this spot,” she said, nodding towards the trolley park, ”easy to keep an eye on my shopping from here,” the merest shrug, “you never know, do you.”“That’s for sure,” he replied, biding his time as he sized her up. “Always pays to be careful.”“Not that there’s much worth stealing,” she said, “Since my husband died I don’t do much in the way of fancy cooking anymore. Just convenience stuff, mostly, sort of lost my appetite.”He made another mental note: Widow.“So do you work here, John Russell?”He tilted the ID tag and she read the words under the stylised eye motif: Pinkerton Security.“Oh,” she smiled and the smile widened into a grin, “the dudes who tamed the West, railroad dicks, Dashiell Hammett.” He looked nonplussed“The Pinkertons...we never sleep!”“You’ve lost me,” he said“Don’t tell me you’ve never read Hammett, Maltese Falcon, The Glass Key?”He shook his head.“Great detective writer, oh, I’ve read ‘em all.” She smiled at the puzzled expression he was trying to disguise. “You don’t get it, do you?”“Get what?” This wasn’t the way he had intended to play it; she had thrown him off balance and he felt suddenly unsure of himself.“Why Dashiell Hammett. He was a Pinkerton agent, just like you. The immortal legend handed down from the railroads and the banks of the Wild West...” she glanced around the store, “...to Tesco’s Old Kent Road. Who would have thought it...the legend lives on.”No he didn’t get it. He’d become a 12-hour shift security guard when he left the Royal Marines. It was the only steady job he could get and legends didn’t come into it.She began quoting passages of Hammett from memory. The Maltese Falcon...The Thin Man, telling him they all celebrated the lone detective risking all in the quest for the truth. “And you’re carrying the torch now, John Russell, the Sheriff of Tesco,” she laughed, “ Or do your friends call you Jack?”“Jane, actually,” he smiled, harking back to Lima Company, “they called me Jane.”She laughed. “Jane Russell?”“A bootneck joke,” he said, slightly abashed, “but mostly they called me Colours...short for Colour Sergeant Russell.”"Royal Marines?”He nodded, wondering now if she was putting him on and the familiar stabbing ache started up in his leg. He was about to reply when the pager on his belt cheeped. Russell glanced down thankfully and read the message; looked up again, saw her watching him, and said: “Don’t go away...I’ll be right back.” Views: 616
A teenage boy ventures through a world devastated by a drug known as Chem 1 and eventually finds success he never expected.A teenager is recruited by a woman (Macy) who appears to be a police officer yet wholly partakes in both Chem 1 and Chem 2. She is much older, but they decide to date. He feels not like a lover but like one of her kids. She introduces him to Chem 1 and he experiences hallucinations, delusions, and thoughtful inspirations about the nature of death. Frightened and confused, he spends less time with Macy. Soon, he learns from one of the Captains that Macy intends for him to achieve some purpose as an "archetype." The captain, on Chem 2, explains that he's going to be famous. When Adam uncomfortably leaves his house, he is struck by a vehicle and sustains a brain injury.The book is about mental health and psychology, and contains those relevant depictions of what goes on in the mind of a unique boy dealing with a harsh science fiction reality. Views: 616
Two never-before-published stories from the archives of one of science fiction’s all-time masters
The novella “A Necessary Being” showcases Octavia E. Butler’s ability to create alien yet fully believable “others.” Tahneh’s father was a Hao, one of a dwindling race whose leadership abilities render them so valuable that their members are captured and forced to govern. When her father dies, Tahneh steps into his place, both chief and prisoner, and for twenty years has ruled without ever meeting another of her kind. She bears her loneliness privately until the day that a Hao youth is spotted wandering into her territory. As her warriors sharpen their weapons, Tahneh must choose between imprisoning the newcomer—and living the rest of her life alone.
The second story in this volume, “Childminder,” was commissioned by Harlan Ellison for his legendary (and never-published) anthology The Last Dangerous Visions™. A disaffected telepath connects with a young girl in a desperate attempt to help her harness her growing powers. But in the richly evocative fiction of Octavia E. Butler, mentorship is a rocky path, and every lesson comes at a price. Views: 616
When the Sea-Born cadets walk out of space academy in protest, the stage is set for the long impending clash between the sea and land. Can these two races co-operate, or will they destroy each other first? Views: 616
Physicist Jon Grady and his team have discovered a device that can reflect gravity—a triumph that will revolutionize the field of physics and change the future. But instead of acclaim, Grady’s lab is locked down by a covert organization known as the Bureau of Technology Control.
The bureau’s mission: suppress the truth of sudden technological progress and prevent the social upheaval it would trigger. Because the future is already here. And it’s rewards are only for a select few.
When Grady refuses to join the BTC, he’s thrown into a nightmarish high-tech prison housing other doomed rebel intellects. Now, as the only hope to usher humanity out of its artificial dark age, Grady and his fellow prisoners must try to expose the secrets of an unimaginable enemy—one that wields a technological advantage half a century in the making. Views: 616
I reflect on my surroundings in this essay. I seek a deeper understanding of the gap between man and nature in a very confronting way, because not everything is as it seems. Are we all blind to the answers staring at us in the face?After landing at Changi airport in Singapore without a passport, with her friends Lanai and former Herbaline employee Ambi Mivel, teleoperator Clarity Nice is set aside before customs by a hostess from Singapore Airlines, Devi. Devi has connections with a Secret Society of warrior monks known as the Society of the Enlightened Jade Dragon, and she gets Clarity a passport with diplomatic status and a false name, Darcy Emmers, along with a badge confirming her credentials with the company which paid for her ticket, the diet and weight prevention company, Herbaline.Clarity trusts Devi, who simply says she is a friend, and leads Clarity to an important Forum on health and longevity, attended by Taoist Master Professor Chang, and Owens & Owell heiress Shalia Owell, who becomes infatuated with Clarity. Left on her own without Devi, Clarity stays close to Shalia, befriending her, learning of the various insecurities of the wealthy socialite. The blond girl is reassured by the presence of Clarity, and simply wants to get her board seat back from a stern father who disapproves of her marriage with good looking girlfriend and human sexuality university student Jenny Owens.Devi gets in touch with Clarity, telling her that she must protect a chart which holds the mystery of immortality, known as Meridian 57, built by the monks of the Enlightened Jade Dragon Society after years of studying the Taoist canons. Coveted by Singapore billionaire Dao Bin, and a White Tigress linked to Professor Chang, Madame Wa, the chart is part of a module inside the symbolic decryptor of Clarity, who is told by the monks that the esoteric knowledge inside the module is not ready to be revealed.When a shipment of rare earth metals addressed to Owens & Owell is stolen by Dao Bin, Singapore authorities from the ministry of Media and Communications begin inquiring, questioning Shalia Owell about the circumstance of the theft. Caught in a business struggle between Dao Bin and Owens & Owell, Clarity must trust her intuition and her new friends of the Enlightened Dragon, to overcome the ruse of Dao Bin and Madame Wa, who is luring Shalia Owell into her own Secret Society, the Shade of the White Lotus. Views: 616
Escape was just the beginning... Freydis Haraldsdatter grew up with tales of Asgard and the gods that reside there. But, in the midst of battle, she finds herself standing before Odin Allfather himself and it soon becomes clear the stories she knows so well are nothing but lies. When Odin reveals a prophecy of an impending war and that he needs her and her unique powers, to help him triumph, Freydis is left with more questions than answers: what is this prophecy of which he speaks? And what powers does she have that Odin, of all people, needs? As her burgeoning powers prove difficult to control, it soon becomes clear that Odin is not the only one seeking her abilities. But, in a world ruled by gods and monsters, is there anyone she can really trust? The Rising Storm is the second book in a historical fantasy trilogy, featuring some of the greatest Norse myths and legends. Click 'Download' and... Views: 616
In the 1940s, P. L. Travers wrote three stories, which she gave as Christmas gifts to friends. Now, for the first time, they are available to a wider readership. Printed on board, with beautiful illustrations, this will be the perfect gift book for Christmas. Views: 616
Zelf, a Welfing humanoid wolf lost in a hostile alternate universe: London in the 1930s. Will she ever get home to First Den? But the unthinkable happens: she impresses on Zev the werewolf on the docks. The first book in the Steam Submarine series. If you like Tolkien, CS Lewis, Fringe, Naomi Novik, you will love this paranormal alternate history adventure. Download now and be captivated!Zelf, a Welfing, a humanoid wolf, is lost in a hostile alternate universe: the world of 1935 London. Will she ever get home to First Den? But the unthinkable happens: she impresses on Zev the werewolf, standing in his wolf form gazing at her on the docks. This is book one in the Steam Submarine series. If you like Tolkien, CS Lewis, Fringe, Susanna Clarke's supernatural alternate histories, Naomi Novik, you will love this paranormal alternate history adventure. Download now and be captivated!Proloup: Reflexion of a WolfThere was no sound but for the steady murmuring of the drizzling rain pelting the submarine’s hull. In the shiny brass dashboard she caught a glimpse of her own reflexion. Bright golden eyes stared back at her, and in the shadow of her grey cape she glimpsed the grey and white fur on her muzzle and ears, and the wet black nose of a wolf.She bared her teeth at her own visual echo and growled a deeply satisfying growl.In this realm, she was the monster.If she was caught they would surely kill her, or even worse, in this strange world of vivisection and animal experimentation, she would end up in a laboratory somewhere, being prodded by sticks and pricked with needles and cut apart by knives, so that human scientists could see what it was that made her different from everything else.In her home, in her cubhood the monsters in the fairytales and stories were all humans: evil hunters with their guns and bombs and bad knights slashing and killing with swords and pikestaffs; crazed, savage, barbaric men.In the Red Riding Hood story in her world, the heroine was a wolf cub, and her grandmother was killed by a woodsman who lay in wait in Red Riding Hood’s bed for her to return, lying there inside her grandmother’s skin that had been flayed from the poor unfortunate old wolf matriarch. It was not a comforting story, and it did not end nicely, not in the version she knew. She did not like to think of the end of it - that one was not a story for cubs. But she had to admit that, despite its gruesomeness, there was a grain of truth in it.Hmph.In the Fallen Realms, she thought to herself, something is broken in the very fabric of the world - fruit and vegetables are no longer nutritious enough to sustain life - Zelf had almost died of malnutrition before she finally relented and ate meat, and only because she would not have been able to fulfil her mission if she had died.Hunting was not a pleasure for her; it was a sad necessity. She always killed her prey quickly and cleanly, and only took what she needed. Views: 615
A town at the heart of Georgian Bay, idyllic place to live a comfy life. Suddenly a MURDER shatters this picture. The police investigation yields little results. Finally Joe Bryan the handsome, private eye will solve the case. Until then, there is a KILLER on the loose in PARRY SOUND.An old style detective story, where romance, danger, love and greed will keep you reading 'till the end...!Also available in print, here: https://www.createspace.com/4727260 Views: 615
A young girl, Sylvia Silver, is an orphan after the death of her mother. She has to steal to survive on the unkind streets. A mysterious jewel her mother had given her grants her wish and she finds herself in a strange land looking for the way home. A magical journey begins, and new friends are made.A teenage girl, Sylvia Silver, is an orphan after her mother passed away. Her father was unknown. For a long time she had to struggle out on the streets after she escaped the orphanage. Her bitter aunt had disowned her and made her leave. Though she hated it, she had to steal to survive. Little did she know that a mysterious jewel on a necklace her mother had given her would cause her wish to be granted. She will find herself in a strange land that she had heard stories about. Her magical journey will begin then to find her way back home. Views: 615
