Fiction Literature Short Stories

In these tales of loss and pleasure, lovers and family, a woman learns to conduct an affair, a child of divorce dances with her mother, and a woman with a terminal illness contemplates her exit. Filled with the sharp humor, emotional acuity, and joyful language Moore has become famous for, these nine glittering tales marked the introduction of an extravagantly gifted writer.

Across seven tales, Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who, in their own ways, find themselves alone. Here are lovesick doctors, students, ex-boyfriends, actors, bartenders, and even Kafka’s Gregor Samsa, brought together to tell stories that speak to us all. In Men Without Women, Murakami has crafted another contemporary classic, marked by the same wry humor and pathos that have defined his entire body of work.

A dismembered body in the park.... Grand Rapids Detective Bill DeYoung is an old-timer riding it out until retirement. A ravaged body in the park and a drunken witness are about to change his plans; so is the end of the world. The events happen concurrently with the first novel, End Time, but it can be heard at any point in the series to get exciting additional content on the origin of a main character.

"Kiss of the Vampire" by Hannah Howell Seeking the truth of his tortured heritage at court, Jankyn McNachton finds something he never expected - true desire. Efrica Callan is beautiful, innocent, and possessed of a courageous heart. She spurns the men who court her dowry, but all Jankyn can offer Efrica is life in the darkness - and in his arms.

This compilation of spooky stories features original works and fascinating lore from haunted places all around the world. Professionally produced with cinematic music, rich sound effects, and a cast of talented narrators, "Ghost Stories: Volume 2" is designed to fright and delight.

After 25 years serving as the human Monitor of the Interstellar Ark, Hermes, Orion is scheduled to be placed back into hibernation with the other crewmembers. Knowing he'll die there and be replaced before the ship's voyage is over, he decides that he won’t — can’t — accept that fate. Whatever it takes, Orion will escape Hermes and see what's beyond, even if it means defying the regulations of his only friend — the ship-wide artificial intelligence known as Dan.

This second volume of a must-listen collection contains 15 bibliomysteries by best-selling and award-winning authors.

Guy de Maupassant is widely regarded as the father of the modern short story. As his 13 volumes of short stories attest, he was a prolific writer of this form. He had a simple, efficient style of writing and, like Anton Chekhov, found inspiration for his stories in the day-to-day lives of characters, in which their hidden natures are often revealed. Many of his works also centered on the Franco-Prussian War, in which he served.

As Clayton grows from a wild child to a clever teen who tests his mentor at every turn, he must learn not only to control his animal instincts but to navigate Pack politics - including showing his brutal archnemesis who the real Alpha is.

Keeping up-to-date with the most buzzworthy and cutting-edge science fiction requires sifting through countless magazines, e-zines, websites, blogs, original anthologies, single-author collections, and more - a task accomplishable by only the most determined and voracious readers. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to introduce the latest volume of The Best Science Fiction of the Year, collecting the finest that the genre has to offer, from the biggest names in the field to the most exciting new writers.

In part one of Gone: Sending a half-naked picture to a stranger she met online seems innocent and fun to Lilly Randall. After spending the past four years working toward an honors degree, she needs a distraction, and flirting with a man she doesn't know can't hurt, right? Clive Parker is the one man who holds all of Lilly's dreams in the palm of his hand. He's the CEO of one of the world's largest technology firms. When her picture ends up in his pocket, her future will never be the same again.

A Selection of Short Stories by Leo Tolstoy read by Bart Wolffe.

Set on the outskirts of a small Southern town, The Grass Harp tells the story of three endearing misfits - an orphaned boy and two whimsical old ladies - who one day take up residence in a tree house. As they pass sweet yet hazardous hours in a china tree, The Grass Harp manages to convey all the pleasures and responsibilities of freedom. But most of all it teaches us about the sacredness of love, “that love is a chain of love, as nature is a chain of life.”

This long-awaited third collection of short horror stories brings you a showcase of the best new and previously published tales that Blakey-Novis has to offer. With a wide variety of sub-genres, Short Horror Stories Volume 3 includes tales of possession and demons, unseen beasts lurking in the shadows, ghost stories, killers, and cannibals. Setting stories in the modern day, as well as hundreds of years into both the past and future, the listener is taken on a journey in which each story brings new and unexpected events.

From the author of such classics as Breakfast of Champions and Cat's Cradle comes this collection of unabridged short fiction originally published in some of America's most popular magazines of the 1950s and 60s. Vonnegut himself selected his best early works for this collection, and he reads the preface and afterword to boot!

With The House of Strange Stories, celebrated writer Ruskin Bond brings forth a collection of some of the most blood-curdling tales ever written.

Each year, for 17 years, Mysterious Bookshop proprietor Otto Penzler commissioned an original Christmas story by a leading suspense writer. These stories were then produced as pamphlets, just 1,000 copies, and given to customers of the bookstore as a Christmas present. Now, all 17 tales have been collected in one volume.

Jill Gardner, owner of Coffee, Books, and More is almost out of Mother's Day cards. She has a few more in stock, but she's set them aside because she needs Greg's help choosing one for his mother. It'll be Jill's first time meeting her boyfriend's mother, and she's understandably nervous. Turns out Jill isn't the only one having feelings about mothers. Kyle, who works at the antiques store next door, needs to find the perfect card for a mother he hasn't seen since he was five - when she went away to jail.

Before Baltimore cop Joe Ledger goes up against two competing groups of geneticists looking to continue the master-race program in The Dragon Factory, he must battle another foe using human test subjects for his sinister plans.

Detective fans of all races and creeds, of all tastes and fancies will delight in the exploits of this wise and whimsical padre. You will be enchanted by the scandalously innocent man of the cloth, with his handy umbrella, who exhibits such uncanny insight into ingeniously tricky human problems. This collection includes 12 mysteries solved by Father Brown.