Urban Short Stories

UN forces have retreated to a moon base in the aftermath of early Soviet victories in a nuclear conflict. In response, the UN forces developed special robots, called "Claws", which feature spinning blades and rudimentary artificial intelligence. Six years later, the Soviet leadership asks for negotiations to end the war. A UN officer travels back to earth to discover that not only have the Claws learned to replicate themselves, they have also created a much deadlier cyborg that threatens humanity itself.

Symone Davenport is a 22-year-old college senior who has set herself up for a very secure future, but all her achievements feel more like a duty than a labor of love. It takes the help of Jaylen Richards, the handsome new choir director, to not only unlock her talent and try to bring her into the spotlight but to unlock her heart. Janice was never very thin. With a gorgeous face, personality, and brains, she isn't lacking friends, but her insecurities about her weight gain get in the way of things reaching the next level with men.

In the words of Alexander McCall Smith: "You feel the rocking of the train, you hear the sound of its wheels on the rails; you are in the world rather than suspended somewhere above it. And sometimes there are conversations to be had, which is what the overarching story in this collection is all about. It is a simple device: people brought together entertain one another with tales of what happened to them on trains. It takes place on a journey I frequently make myself and know well, the journey between Edinburgh and London. It is best read on a train, preferably that one."

Werewolves, vampires, witches, voodoo, Elvis - and weddings An "ordinary" wedding can get crazy enough, so can you imagine what happens when otherworldly creatures are involved? Nine of the hottest authors of paranormal fiction answer that question in this delightful collection of supernatural wedding stories.

Charlie Rhodes grew up wondering why she was given up for adoption, convinced it had something to do with the magic she could call upon in an instant. It was that magic that had her delving into the paranormal. Now she’s part of the premiere monster-hunting group in the land. She’s hiding in the one place they’re looking for her…and the family she’s been longing for her entire life is about to resurface. Buckle up and enjoy the ride, because Charlie Rhodes is finally going to discover the truth.

"Dancers in the Dark" is set in the Sookieverse and features Sean and Layla. Dancer Layla Rue Le May's childhood prepared her to handle just about anything, including her aloof partner, Sean McClendon, a 300-year-old, redheaded vampire. Even so, when she somehow acquires a stalker, Layla Rue is surprised to find that Sean is the only one she can trust.

When an innocent boy goes missing on Halloween, Helena vows to do everything in her power to find him. With the help of a few shape-shifting friends, they pick up the scent of the vampire responsible for the child’s disappearance. Helena is no stranger to dangerous villains. She’s fought more than her fair share, thanks to her own strange supernatural heritage.

From Nebula Award winner Gregory Benford comes this ambitious hard SF anthology that collects five original novellas. Each one takes the very long view - all are set at least ten thousand years in the future. The authors take a rigorously scientific view of such grand panoramas, confronting the largest issues of cosmology, astronomy, evolution, and biology.

This collection represents the best of Alcott's adult oeuvre. The stories in this volume display dramatic intensity and thrilling, suspenseful plots that show Alcott to be a complex and passionate writer. Listeners will discover within this maelstrom of murder, deceit, obsessive desire, treachery, duplicity, and betrayal that love and honor can still conquer all.

The three awarded short stories for 2016: a short story full of suspense and thrilling events showing how to murder someone, pinning the kill on someone else; a quasi-biographical short story revealing embarrassing moments in a woman's life and her decision to take her life back (better later than never); the revelation of a quirks in the life of the inhabitants of a building that is about to be sold, the owner not knowing what he'd bring upon himself, had he sold the building.

Dr. Bruce Banner. Emil Blonsky. One a brilliant scientist, the other an agent for the KBG. Both men whose lives were irrevocably altered by gamma radiation - transforming Banner into the incredible Hulk and Blonsky into the deadly Abomination. For years, the two super-strong creatures have clashed. Now they are brought together for their most deadly confrontation yet. The Abomination has allied himself with the URSA, an organization dedicated to restoring the Soviet Union - but he is using the URSA to further his own mad quest for vengeance on all those who wronged him in life.

Akira's plans are simple: write wedding invitations, bake Christmas cookies, and eat red meat. (The last surprises her, too.) But when Rose, the ghost who haunts her house, asks for a favor, Akira can't say no. Although she's faced danger before, even death, a toddler who doesn't like peanut-butter-and-jelly might be her worst nightmare.

As war rumbled through the heavens, the seas also boiled with battle. Poseidon was one of the first to succumb. Now, the alliance of evil gods turn their sights on the Inuit pantheon. Barely surviving the initial strike, the goddess Sedna seeks the sanctuary of the oceans and her old friend Jormungandr. She knows the Norse world serpent isn’t the evil people believe him to be.

A fugitive from the Sprytes, one of the most dangerous supernatural cults on Earth, Betty has refashioned herself as a revealer of dark conspiracies and a killer of misogynous conspirators. On her crusade, she has successfully stayed off the radar for months. When the Sprytes close in, however, Betty may find herself entangled in a conspiracy too dark to escape.

Even though he’s one of the Heartland Security Agency’s Peacemaker agents, a man sworn to help protect and preserve the morality of the United States, Neal can’t give up his habit of patronizing prostitutes. When one of them steals the prototype of a top secret device, however, he has no choice but to come clean in order to rally fellow agents for a recovery mission. His situation goes from bad to worse when he is tricked into a plot to take down one of the Agency’s most powerful secret allies.

Inequality. Influence. Fraud. Sabotage. These are the themes of great fiction and our modern economy. In this collection of short stories by some of today’s most scintillating writers, the rich get poorer and the poor get richer. Yeah, right! From the heartbreaking to the hilarious, here are eight instantly classic battles over currency, class, privilege - and social distance.

New York Times best-selling author Marjorie Liu (Monstress) leads you deep into the heart of the tangled woods. In her dark, romantic, and spellbinding short fiction, you will find dangerous magic and even more dangerous women: a body-stealing sorceress, a bone-collecting apprentice-witch, a princess-turned-actress, and a warrior protecting China from her jealous ex. Concluding with a gorgeous full-length novella, Liu's first short fiction collection is an unflinching sojourn into her thorny tales of love, revenge, and new beginnings.

A young girl is haunted by a Death God. Her only hope is a rum-drinking, bar-fighting paranormal investigator with a bad attitude...After dropping out of Harvard, Kana Cold started a business as a paranormal investigator. Most of her cases were hoaxes, much to Kana’s disappointment, until one case involving a little girl and her powerful demon - a Death God - opened the door to the real Paranormal Underground...changing Kana’s life forever.

Valda Hemmingway, the top-notch agent for The Hunters who save the world from monstrum, is prepared for anything...except for being forced to work a New Year Eve party. Worst yet, The Bringers, the rivals in protecting the world from monsters department, are there as well, including the most annoying thorn in her side: Jeremey Darington.

Alec Bailey knows a thing or two about the supernatural world and its dangers. When the local news crew shows up to do a piece on his hotel, he knows he should send them away…especially with that unchecked demon lurking on the property perimeter. Supernatural protocol dictates he call in Jacquelyn, McCall’s own demon hunter, but he isn’t ready to say goodbye to the beautiful crew member who reminds of a time in his life long past.