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Dakota Bombay prided himself on his Bond-like image-bad-guy killer by day, lady-killer by night. But his life gets both shaken and stirred by an irate grandmother demanding a marketing plan for the family assassination business, a precocious six-year-old son he never knew he had, and a mysterious redheaded funeral director who's got him intrigued in more ways than one.

Accompanied by Tanuki, his shape-shifting badger sidekick, Tarō embarks on a quest of self-discovery and revenge, falls for Kamehime, the teenage samurai daughter of a powerful warlord, and ultimately becomes embroiled in the political struggle for the imperial throne. Along the way, Tarō and his allies face fearsome yōkai, the ghosts, goblins, and ghouls of Japanese folklore.

All Mapleton Police Chief Gordon Hepler wants is to enjoy a rare quiet moment and have a peaceful lunch. Before he can finish his sandwich, Angie, his wife, calls to say her business partner is going to be arrested at a wedding reception they’re catering. Seems her partner stumbled upon the body of one of the guests - the mother of the groom. Was it a natural death? Suicide? Homicide?

Someone is playing a game with Mapleton’s Chief of Police...and it’s deadly. For Mapleton Police Chief Gordon Hepler, life has become predictably boring - despite being a newlywed. Being a husband is great. Dealing with nothing but parking violations, speeders, and the occasional disorderly complaint is monotonous. Gordon wonders if he’s been so busy dealing with “Chief Stuff” that he’s lost his edge as a street cop. Especially when his biggest challenges are handling the penny-pinching mayor and deciding what goes into the station’s vending machines.

Mapleton police chief Gordon Hepler and the mayor can’t agree about what being a cop means. To Gordon, it’s keeping his citizens safe. To the mayor, it’s generating revenue by issuing speeding and parking tickets. When two runaway dogs waylay Gordon on the way to what he hopes will be an uneventful afternoon at a backyard barbeque, more than his afternoon is interrupted. As dogs will do, these have uncovered a bone.

When Derek Secrest was suddenly pulled out of Naval flight officer school to take part in a top secret government project involving telepathy - because tests showed that he had a strong latent talent for psi powers - he thought things couldn't get weirder. He was wrong. Soon, he was contacted by a mysterious woman who could open portals at will through spacetime. Her powers seemed godlike - and they were. Millennia ago, extra-dimensional beings with great powers had come to Earth and taken on human form, remembered in legends as gods and goddesses.

Take your ticket and enjoy the thrills and chills awaiting those who dare journey into this exciting collection of short fiction and novellas. Savor six twisted tales, which will both delight and surprise listeners as they travel into the dark realms of supernatural and paranormal suspense.

This was not the first-time that rookie cop Michael Chambers had found himself stuck in this broken-down police vehicle while the rain bucketed down outside. In fact, this kind of "bad luck" had happened almost every time he’d been assigned car 291. Usually, he’d get a flat, or the locks would jam, or the damned on-board computer would freeze. 291, though, had a bloody and tragic history, which might explain why this piece of metallic crap seemed so intent on driving him crazy - excuse the pun.

Just months before Hawaii's gubernatorial primary election, a body is found on the floor of the open air capitol, a macabre scene specifically manipulated to draw attention to a sitting governor with waning political support. Frantic, he calls on the Honolulu Chief of Police Walter Tseng, demanding that the perpetrator be brought to justice as swiftly and silently as possible, fearful a scandal might destroy whatever chance he still has at gaining re-election.

Life is a balancing act. When you’re a cop, the choices can be deadly. Ed Solomon, long-time police officer in the small town of Mapleton, Colorado, has been ribbed for thinking there’s a ring of assassins out killing deadbeat dads. However, he’s convinced these killers exist and they’re doing their dirty work from behind an innocuous-looking travel blog. Proving the ring exists has been a sideline investigation for him, but it’s shoved further onto the back burner when Ed is forced to assume the duties of Chief.

Olivia Barkley knows how to take care of herself. Growing up in an orphanage, she’s learned that good things don’t come easily and certainly don’t last forever. While escaping the unwanted advances of her employer, her path crosses with a man who made a promise he didn't keep. Caleb Walker has lived a life of freedom among the spectacular Tetons, surrounded by the love of his family and friends. When he joins an expedition into the wilderness, he is shocked to come face-to-face with a woman from his long-forgotten past.

Lucas Walker's life couldn't be more different from a few years ago. Now married and expecting his first child, he wants nothing more than to provide a good home for his family. With Christmas coming, he sets off to find the perfect surprise for his wife. As Tori Walker approaches the time for her baby to be born, she is comforted by the expert care that surrounds her. However, winter in the mountains can turn deadly at the blink of an eye. When her prankster husband fails to return from a short hunting trip, she doesn't know whether to be angry or worried.

Jacob Alexander has spent more than a decade perfecting his off-the-grid lifestyle in remote northwestern Wisconsin. But nothing prepares him for the Sovereign Resistance, a white nationalist paramilitary group. The Resistance's activities include kidnapping, torture, and murder. And Jacob's about to battle them face to face to rescue their victims. Jacob knows the terrain. The Resistance doesn't. But he's outgunned and outmanned. And his deer rifle might not be enough to make it out of this standoff alive.

From best-selling author Nathan Goodman: A nuclear device, a ruthless terrorist, and only one asset that can stop him. Special Agent Jana Baker's worst fears are about to be realized. A terrorist has a nuclear device and intends to detonate it deep within the San Andreas Fault line. The resulting explosion would kill millions. When terrifying post-traumatic stress episodes threaten to pull her from active duty, Jana struggles to maintain her grip on reality. Compelled to follow the terrorist's bizarre trail of clues, she finds herself in a death trap with no escape.

When a member of the film crew is found dead, everything goes sideways. The mayor pushes Gordon to adopt a business as usual mentality, and let the film company handle the investigation. But a murder on Mapleton soil makes it Gordon's jurisdiction, and nothing the mayor says can make him halt his investigation. When other members of the cast and crew haven't reported in, Gordon wonders if he's looking for more suspects or more victims. Will Gordon listen to the mayor, or risk his job to find the truth?

Matt Kile, ex-cop and ex-con, current smart-aleck, and a neighbor of Mr. and Mrs. Talmadge has built himself a comfortable career writing mysteries. Garson Talmadge sold weapons to Saddam Hussein, then moved out of France, came to America, and married Clarice, a woman half his age. When Clarice is arrested for murdering her husband, Matt becomes the investigator for her defense attorney, and quickly learns there is a line of suspects stretching from the US into Europe and the Middle East.

Jaxon Jennings. Cop. Homicide detective. Partner. He always had your back and rarely made mistakes. Until the death of his son. Until the night he couldn't save him. Until everything he held dear was taken away from him. Now, a shell of a man, his reckless actions mark him as a burn-out. A Loner. A dangerous man whom many in the Fairfax County Police Department cannot trust.

Solving a crime is like piecing together a puzzle. But what happens if the pieces don't fit? When police chief Gordon Hepler's doctor orders him to cut down on the stress in his life or risk losing his vision, Gordon books a winter retreat at a remote bed and breakfast. Hours away from Mapleton, where nobody knows he's a cop, he plans to relax and try to forget about his eyes.

Sensei Parker finds himself in Key West with his childhood friends, Willy and Sandra. They called for help and, of course, Parker came. Something is wrong in paradise, and they need their friend's help before it's too late. Synchronicity rears its quirky head as Opie Taylor hunts down their long-time nemesis, Luiz Crusado, and wants Parker to come help capture him. It just so happens that he's also in Key West.

Aikido Au Revoir is the fifth novel of the Aikido Mystery Series with Sensei Parker. He is in France on the Cote d'Azur teaching a pair of aikido seminars. It's tough work, but someone has to do it, right? Why not Parker? He is a master of the art, after all, and although he has his own school back in Orlando, Florida, it isn't doing as well as it was before the economy tanked. He is taking a break from his day job with this trip to France. He has had to resort to being a Private Detective to make ends meet, and this is going to be a vacation as well as a teaching job. Or is it?