Showing results by publisher "Brilliance Audio" in Anthologies & Short Stories

Crimes happen in a flash. Before you even know it, the shots have rung out, the jewels have been stolen, and the bodies are cooling on the floor. In this anthology, over eighty authors - including veterans such as Chuck Hogan, Ken Bruen, and Tasha Alexander - come together to tell tales of murder and mayhem, all in one thousand words or less. Dare to confront these fearful, furious tales, each offering a glimpse of the darkness lurking in the human heart.

After losing her father to whiskey and her mother to cancer, all Prudence has left is skiing. She hitchhikes to a remote ski area in New Mexico - someplace no one would look for her, if they were looking. She manages to land a job with the ski patrol. Their gruff kindness, and the fact that she has nobody else, strengthens her resolve to prove herself on the mountain. So when a blizzard descends as fierce and blinding as God, she refuses to show her fear or be left behind.

Valentine Welburn has grown accustomed to her freedom in Calcutta. So when she reaches the gray shores of England to debut in her first London Season, she is irked by the conventions of high society. With her irrepressible spirit, unusual beauty, and a large fortune, the stage is set for gossip. Scandal and intrigue ensue when two men - the distinguished Lord Marbeck and the dashing, dangerous Sir Richard Brindley - appear on the scene.

Leo Dershowitz gave up hope of artistic glory long ago. A mediocre painter at best, he relies on the generosity of women to pay the bills. One day, Leo stumbles across a grisly means of inspiration and - in a flash - his fate changes forever. Before long, nothing can stop Leo from creating masterpieces, but at what cost?

Psychiatrist Dr. Renee Conway has taken on a new patient: Kevin Reynolds, the local hero who ran into a burning building to save a young family from certain death. When the rescue goes horrifically wrong, a boy is dead and Kevin suffers excruciating burns. Plagued with nightmares and left with a horribly disfigured face, Kevin finds celebrity its own torture.

Indigo has a troubled past and there’s no denying it. Tired of being scared, she sets sail aboard a private yacht, hopeful that the open waters of the Atlantic will give her and best friend Eric a much-needed respite.

The Idaho Territory gold mines and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom come together for a wilderness-dwelling drifter in this tale of the Weird West.

For as long as she can remember, beautiful Laurel deCourtney has loved Matthew Hughes and has always assumed the handsome landowner and consummate gentleman loves her in turn. But with her coming out now three years behind her, Laurel is starting to get a little anxious. Why hasn't Matthew proposed? What is he waiting for?

USA Today bestselling author of Nine Jan Burke delivers chills, suspense, shockers, and sharp wit in eighteen works of short fiction sure to satisfy longtime fans and newcomers alike. This positively addictive anthology is full of surprises—a patchwork of settings and characters not soon forgotten, and mysterious twists and revelations not quickly shaken!

Haruki is traveling to the vast plains of Hokkaido, Japan, on a lone bus about to enter a three-kilometer-long tunnel. He is grieving for the loss of his wife when the tunnel collapses and traps the bus inside. In the darkness that follows, he manages to fumble out of the bus with the only other survivor, an astute and gentle woman who reminds him of his late wife. Without any light to guide them and with only each other to depend on, they try to escape the stifling darkness and along the way find themselves confronted by their pasts and given their last chance at intimacy, and ultimately, absolution.

"Spore" follows hard-working Rosália, a manicurist who has built herself a solid reputation and is trusted by her wealthy clients; that is, until she unexpectedly discovers her own dark side. Now she will have to go to great lengths to hide her twisted urges.

When Terry and Wayne stumble upon a backwoods bar while camping in the Rockies, they just want a beer and a burger. And maybe a warm bed for the night, if they're lucky. Instead they find themselves in the middle of a strange group of disturbingly scarred locals, served by a one-armed bartender. Even the sexy waitress with the elaborate octopus tattoo has what looks to be...bite marks? They know they should leave.

Live and work together, or lose everything that matters…The ultimatum tilts Dru Hampton’s contented life in Chandlerville, Georgia, on its ear. The man that Vivian, her cantankerous boss and benefactor, wants Dru to partner with -live- with - is Brad Douglas, who’s let Dru down every way a man can. Sheriff’s deputy Brad has come a long way since his rebellious youth. He’s back home to care for Vivian, his ill grandmother. He’s stayed out of her way all these years to make up for the hurt he once caused.

A young man fleeing heartbreak back home meets a mysterious expat at a café in Paris. What begins as a friendly conversation between two outsiders soon transforms into a heart-pounding confession that threatens to shake both men to their cores. In this darkly funny, Sopranos-meets-Sebald page-turner by acclaimed mystery writer David Gordon, people aren’t always what they seem, and digging for the truth could have fatal consequences.

Before there was the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, Los Angeles was a rough place, building its way out to the global city of today. In the late 19th century it was a rapidly growing city filled with pimps and prostitutes, Chinese railwaymen, robbers, smugglers, and corrupt politicians. It was a city where losers and dreamers from all over the world could came to make their fortune.

Tough, cynical, and clever, Nathan Heller has been called "the perfect private eye", the best investigator that Chicago (where "lightning" means gunfire) has to offer. Created by New York Times best-selling novelist and Road to Perdition creator Max Allan Collins, the classic PI comes vibrantly to life in this collection of 13 stories, all based on real cases of the 1930s and '40s.

A ravishing medieval demon slayer arrives in 21st century New York to brave a strange new world – and a man who will be her destiny.

After a year at the Mountain Vista Assisted Living Complex, Joyce Webster has yet to really settle in. Mountain Vista is just like high school with its cliques and gossip, not to mention its mind-numbing activities. Life gets a little more interesting, though, when one of Joyce's least favorite fellow residents - an old windbag with a big ego and a knack for making enemies - dies in a suspicious fall. Joyce and her friends try to puzzle out the whodunit but are at a loss until Benny the dog turns up a telling clue.

When his deep space mission goes awry, Lieutenant Jehrico Stiles crash-lands on an unknown planet. With breathable air, drinkable water, and a friendly native species, the planet seems almost utopian. The only trouble is, Stiles is starving. The planet’s vegetation is toxic, and there’s nothing else to eat. As his hunger grows and his body weakens, his definition of edible starts to change. He discovers that sometimes survival means doing things you would rather not—and eating things that would rather not be eaten.

In this stunning debut, Shawn Vestal transports us to the afterlife, the rugged Northwest, and the early days of Mormonism. From “The First Several Hundred Years Following My Death”, an absurd, profound vision of a hellish heaven, to “Winter Elders”, in which missionaries calmly and relentlessly pursue a man who has left the fold, these nine stories illuminate the articles of faith that make us human.