A Cosmos' Gateway short take.
A young woman falls for the college geek and has to convince him that he is the man for her.
Available for free from S.E. Smith's website: http://sesmithfl.com/free-reads/
A delightful, complete short story by S.E. Smith based on her USAT Bestselling Series, Cosmos' Gateway. Find out just what happens when Tilly sets her sights on Angus Bell. Views: 580
Terry Clark grew up surrounded by his parent's life's work, the rescue and rehabilitation of cetaceans. Born just after first contact with the Galactic Union, he's never known a time when aliens weren't visiting Earth. At 10 years old, he had a normal life, until a visit from one of the aliens resulted in a ground-breaking discovery. The cetaceans have a developed and complex language...and it can be deciphered by the aliens' translators. When Terry's father begins using alien implant technology to test the boundaries of the cetaceans' language and society, though, he goes too far, and the fledgling world government becomes involved. Without warning, the scientists are labeled as criminals, and the cetaceans are scheduled for termination. In order to save the cetaceans, the researchers have to flee off-world with them. In the Lupasha star system, Terry tries to begin a new life. While the world is ideal for the cetaceans, it's difficult for their... Views: 580
A dark, gorgeous reimagining about what happened to Captain Hook after Neverland from the bestselling author of Wendy, Darling – filled with eerie suspense and heart-breaking anguishOnce invited, always welcome. Once invited, never free. Captain James Hook, the immortal pirate of Neverland, has died a thousand times. Drowned, stabbed by Peter Pan’s sword, eaten by the beast swimming below the depths, yet James was resurrected every time by one boy’s dark imagination. Until he found a door in the sky, an escape. And he took the chance no matter the cost. Now in London twenty-two years later, Peter Pan’s monster has found Captain Hook again, intent on revenge. But a chance encounter leads James to another survivor of Neverland. Wendy Darling, now a grown woman, is the only one who knows how dark a shadow Neverland casts, no matter how far you run. To vanquish Pan’s monster... Views: 580
Mystery fiction's legendary trio, Raymond Chandler,
Dashiell Hammett, and Erle Stanley Gardner, are back as amateur detectives,
following their dynamic, critically acclaimed debut in The Black Mask
Murders. Here they interact in a complex, colorful, and ultimately dangerous
adventure, a richly textured thriller that also celebrates the joys of love and
marriage between Chandler and his exceptional wife, Cissy.
As narrated by Chandler, the adventure begins in East Los
Angeles with the discovery of what is apparently the ritual suicide of Cissy's
former husband in a Chinese cemetery. Action moves swiftly from the coastal
splendors of the Hearst castle, to the abandoned canals of Venice by the Sea, to
an ornate hotel on Coronado Island, to the rococo Victorian mansions of Bunker
Hill.
The characters are equally diverse: a mysterious screen
star known to millions as the Vampire Queen, a concert pianist who discovers
surprising romance, an ex-stage actor with a penchant for using his fists, a
missing sister who prefers to stay missing, and a pair of muscle-bound punks who
don't balk at kidnapping and murder.
Along the way readers will encounter such fascinating
real-life personalities as newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, America's
cinema sweetheart Shirley Temple, comic genius Charlie Chaplin, Hollywood gossip
columnist Hedda Hopper, and a brash young Orson Welles.
Once again, William F. Nolan expertly evokes the surreal
world of Southern California in the 1930s, when Hollywood provided golden dreams
for a nation in economic crisis, as the all-time masters of crime fiction return
in a bold, inventive new novel that will stun, shock, and delight.
***
From Kirkus Reviews
A thousand dollars is a lot of 1936 dollars, and even
though Raymond Chandler's never walked the mean streets he writes about, he's
happy to take the money from self-styled "Countess" Carmilla Blastok (Ce Letty
Knibbs of Newark) to find her missing sister Elina-especially since he'd like to
quiz Elina about the death of her rumored lover, pianist/composer Julian Pascal.
The LAPD thinks Julian's death in a Chinese cemetery was a clear case of ritual
suicide, but Julian's ex-wife, Cissy, who left him for Chandler years ago, is
sure it was murder. With some help from Dashiell Hammett and Erle Stanley
Gardner, his buddies from Black Mask (The Black Mask Murders,
1994), Chandler goes after Elina's lowlife companion Merv Enright-and walks
right into a mulligan stew of fact and fiction, with many scenes he's evidently
planning to hoard for his own later novels. Despite clunky cameos by Orson
Welles, Hedda Hopper, Charlie Chaplin, William Randolph Hearst, and Shirley
Temple, the shaggy story moves along briskly, with detection-on-the-fly very
typical of Chandler's own work, and inaccurate social prophecies ("Maybe Los
Angeles will someday even lead the way in race relations," muses one character)
that mark a nice change from the usual 20/20 hindsight of most historical
mysteries. It's not just because of his subject that prolific Nolan may well
represent the last of the pulp tradition. Black Mask fans will be waiting
eagerly for his Erle Stanley Gardner installment.
***
From Booklist
The Black Mask boys are back, and that's a cause for
celebration. Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Erle Stanley Gardner,
introduced as detectives in Nolan's Black Mask Murders (1994), track down
the murderer of Chandler's wife's first husband, Julian, who has apparently
committed ritual suicide in a Chinese cemetery. Cissy Chandler, not buying the
suicide story, puts her husband on the case. Chandler follows Julian's trail to
horror-movie actress Carmilla Blastok, who leads the writerly sleuth to a thug
named Enright, who may have killed Carmilla's sister. When Chandler gets in over
his head, he calls his Black Mask cronies for help. Along the way,
Charlie Chaplin, William Randolph Hearst, and Orson Welles also make cameo
appearances. Nolan has obviously researched the Hollywood of the 1930s
thoroughly; his backgrounds are always convincing, even when you don't believe
the foreground for a minute. Entertaining for nostalgia buffs.
***
From Library Journal
Nolan's Black Mask Boys-Dashiell Hammett, Raymond
Chandler, and Erle Stanley Gardner-undertake their second amateur investigation.
The apparent suicide of Cissy Chandler's former husband entails visits to East
L.A., Hearst Castle, and Venice-by-the-Sea. Various famous people make
appearances. Especially good for fans of 1930s historical fiction.
***
"Masterfully penetrates the surreal Black Mask world of
Southern California in the 1930s. Nolan has captured the essence of both an era
and a literary form in one brilliant exercise."
-Robert R. Parker Views: 579
Outnumbered, outsmarted and desperate, the hunters are on the run, pursued by the vampaneze, the police, and an angry mob. With their enemies clamoring for blood, the vampires prepare for a deadly battle. Is this the end for Darren and his allies? Views: 578
Against a background of modern corporate culture and a tragic death, this bitter-sweet comedy weaves stories of love and relationships, ambition and folly.Rob Hamilton, a disaffected insurance lawyer, and Toni Haast, a quietly ambitious claims clerk, are sent to Exmouth, a small town on New Zealand's West Coast, to investigate the suspicious death of Artemis Washburn. On family holidays in Exmouth, Rob's father had filled his young son's mind with ideas of the fifth season - the time when things don't quite fit, like rain when it's sunny. As they delve into the truth behind Artemis's death and their relationship develops, Rob and Toni glimpse life in the fifth season. Meanwhile, back in Wellington, the gilded life of Andy Wu, the Dependable Insurance Company’s stellar CEO, starts to tarnish. Can his marriage to Samantha survive his jealousy of Owen Huntly, top salesman and Lothario? Against a background of modern corporate culture and a tragic death, this bitter-sweet comedy weaves stories of love and relationships, ambition and folly. Views: 578
On a routine business trip, Jeff Parker awakens at 2am in his hotel room to a loud knocking at his door... A voice outside claims there is a gas leak. Jeff makes the fatal mistake of opening the door...Jeff's mother worries when she does not hear from him. She recruits an old family friend and detective to help. Will they manage to find Jeff, or will they fall prey to the same mysterious fate?On a routine business trip to Pennsylvania, Jeff Parker awakens at 2am in the Home Away From Home Suites to a loud knocking at his door... A voice outside claims there is a gas leak. At first angry and suspicious, Jeff makes the fatal mistake of opening the door...Jeff's mother, Sara, worries when she does not hear from him. She recruits old family friend and detective Bill Anderson to help, and they both venture off in search of the missing man. Bill has checked into Room 203 of the same hotel. But will Bill and Sara manage to find Jeff in this eerie place, or will they fall prey to the same mysterious, chilling fate that has befallen him?Following on from his powerful "11th Floor" series, but with less gore and more complex and likeable characters, Charles Culver infuses his latest suspense-packed novelette with a sense of malign yet banal evil. Views: 578
Is the Porcelain Princess a fairy story or does she really exist? Carey searches for the Princess as she tours with the puppet theatre inherited from her parents, hoping to somehow grant life to her disintegrating puppets. But why are real people illustrated in stories about the Princess? And why do they succumb to the Fading, slowly vanishing? Carey finds the Princess – but soon wishes she hadn’tIs the Porcelain Princess simply someone from a fairy story, or does she really exist?Carey has spent all her young life searching for the Princess, touring the kingdoms with the puppet theatre inherited from her parents. A few puppets have a semblance of life thanks to ingenious mechanisms, but they’re rapidly disintegrating and Carey hopes the Princess will reveal the secret of her life. But why are real people illustrated in stories about the Princess? And why do they succumb to the disease-like Fading, turning transparent and gradually completely vanishing?Carey finds the Princess – but she also finds that her own life is far more complicated than she had ever imagined. Views: 578
