Showing results for "The Original Story" in Suspense

Paige Barrett was living her dream as a journalist in New York City, racking up bylines as a staff writer at The Razor, a cutting-edge online magazine. But when she’s suddenly fired from her job and dumped by her boyfriend, she finds herself back home in the quaint seaside town of Shoreham, Florida, waiting tables and living in her sister’s guesthouse. Restless and itching for something meaningful to occupy her time, she decides to launch a true-crime podcast about the death of Jessica Cady, a beloved teacher who died mysteriously 20 years earlier.

Every year, Caroline Reed takes a trip with her best friend, Esme Lamont. They’re usually accompanied by their spouses - but this year, everything’s changed. Esme has just gone through a bitter divorce, and Caroline's wondering if her own marriage is reaching its breaking point as she and her husband, John, cope with the discovery that their son has been abusing drugs. Still, the inseparable duo books a weeklong stay at a beach-front home in Shoreham, Florida, inviting Esme’s brother, Nick, and his new husband. After a blissful first night in the vacation home, tragedy strikes.

Against the backdrop of worldwide, unexplainable natural disasters, Dr. Virginia Marilyn Edwards (Emmy Award-winner Kerry Washington) seeks out Agent Scott Thomas (Emmy Award-winner Laurence Fishburne) at a secretive government headquarters. Virginia claims these events are signs, and unless Agent Thomas helps her, she believes things will only get worse. Her desperation is dialed up higher with a shocking proclamation as she stands before him pregnant, weak, and weary: “Agent Thomas,” she says, “I believe I am Mary.”

It starts with a stranger walking into a campsite, seemingly out of nowhere. It ends with that same stranger at the Denver airport. Along the way, he has acquired a prize that will be his salvation. But the road to Easy Street can take unexpected turns. And the only certainty about a sure thing is that nothing is certain at all.

From some of the hottest names in crime fiction today come original stories written expressly for this collection. These four taut tales, loaded with tension and charged with uncertainty, bring each victim - the unsuspecting, the hunted, the fearful - into the deadly sights of a hired killer's gun.

Talia Kemper is on death row for murdering her husband. She had an alibi and no known motive, yet Talia’s unwavering protestations of innocence have always been ignored. Then one day in the visiting area, she sees a recognizable stranger she’s certain is her husband. It turns out the man she’s been convicted of killing may not be dead after all. But as the days tick away toward Talia’s execution, what will it take for her to be believed?

What drives someone to keep reaching for all that glitters, no matter the price? It’s easy to believe that more is better: more acclaim, more control, more wealth. But when dreams are fueled by greed, they can quickly twist into nightmares. These six propulsive short stories explore what happens when the true cost of ambition comes due.

Kara will do anything for her best friend and neighbor, Mindy. Especially when she learns that Mindy’s husband might be having an affair. Kara promises to remain vigilant. Maybe she’ll even catch the rat in the act. Then one night when Kara observes someone sneaking into Mindy’s house, she decides to take a closer look. But what’s happening across the street isn’t what Kara expects. And what she sees could get her killed.

A hit woman’s work doesn’t stop for the holidays. As the advent calendar winds down, Paige slips into a palatial house, ignoring a blizzard of texts from her ex-husband. No surprise—Julian always gets maudlin this time of year. The real shock comes when the target is not alone. His young daughter is there too.

Prepare to meet the most seductively female and the most shockingly fatal of femmes fatales, brought to you by 17 of today's finest authors of mystery and suspense fiction. Award-winning editor Otto Penzler presents a collection of short and sizzling masterpieces of kisses and kiss-offs, gams and gats, published for the first time anywhere.

[Contains explicit content.]

Erin tends bar at the last dive left in gentrified Red Hook, Brooklyn, where old-timers spin tales of the bar’s legacy and the waterfront’s crime-ridden past. Her boss, Jimmy, a real estate magnate responsible for much of the neighborhood’s shiny transformation, also has a story to share. Back when he was a struggling beat cop, two neglected boys introduced him to an ancient creature that made Jimmy’s dreams come true. Nightmares too. Erin doesn’t believe a word. The bar is her life. But this bar at the end of the world is also home to a deadly stowaway. And it’s looking for a new host.

Behind a wall of amnesia, he can’t remember anything. Maybe he can’t bear to. Nameless knows only the mission: Directed by the mysterious Ace of Diamonds, he travels the country, turning predators into prey. But the pain in his past can’t hold him back when dark visions of the future lead him toward his greatest test yet. Nameless is closing in on a revelatory endgame in this collection of short thrillers from #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz.

When vandals destroy beach hut 512 on Brighton’s iconic seafront, they reveal a dead body that has apparently lain undisturbed for two months. But according to the hut’s owner, Sims, its locks rusted shut three months ago and she hasn’t had access to it since. So how could the man have got in, and why is there no evidence of the murderer?

Struggling artist Hannah Brennan finds her muse in a gorgeous unfinished painting of a reclining woman at an amateur artist’s estate sale. It’s exactly the mix of classic and avant-garde that she’s aiming for. But inspiration crosses the line when, with just a few polishing touches, she passes off the dead man’s art as her own. Suddenly, Hannah is the one to watch in the New York art scene. And someone is watching. Someone who knows the truth about Hannah’s mysterious muse.

When CIA officer Craig Norton glimpses an unexplainable object in the sky over Mongolia, he can’t quite believe it. Frankly, he isn’t sure Langley will either. Despite his misgivings, Craig reports the sighting in a cable to headquarters detailing the incident. Fast-forward fifteen years. Craig is still reeling from the report that tanked his career and his personal life. That fleeting moment on the Mongolian steppe made him a pariah at the Agency, and he still hasn’t recovered. At this point, he doubts he ever will.

Three friends go on a foodie road trip to the Scottish Highlands and Islands to celebrate their pending retirement, expecting stunning scenery, great food, fine wines, and a chance to reminisce about the good old days. When they somehow secure a reservation at a remote and extremely exclusive restaurant set on a private island in Loch Broom, they know they’re in for a once-in-a-lifetime dining experience.

Seemingly satisfied with Yuri’s performance, the CIA takes him to Jamaica for a meeting with high-level politicians. But this party has far more in store than rubbing elbows with America’s elite. As his own and others’ secrets are revealed, Yuri must decide once and for all where his loyalty lies and whether it’s worth killing—or dying—for.

Our story begins in 1785 when a young seafarer, Captain Thornhill, disappears while visiting the shop of a barber in London, a certain Sweeney Todd whose shop in Fleet Street is situated by St. Dunstan's church, just round the corner from the famous and popular meat pie shop run by Mrs. Lovett. Thornhill was carrying a string of pearls as a gift for Johanna Oakley, the sweetheart of his friend Mark Ingestrie who is missing, presumed lost at sea.

A bloodthirsty sheriff is terrorizing a small Texas town where justice has been buried with his victims. Until Nameless arrives - a vigilante whose past is a mystery and whose future is written in blood. Anyone who crosses Sheriff Russell Soakes is dead, missing, or warned. One of them is a single mother trying to protect her children but bracing herself for the worst. Nameless fears the outcome. He’s seen it in his visions. Now it’s time to teach the depraved Soakes a lesson in fear. But in turning predators into prey, will Nameless unearth a few secrets of his own?