Short Thrillers Suspense

An incomparable master storyteller in all forms, in The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares Joyce Carol Oates spins six imaginative tales of suspense. The Corn Maiden is the gut-wrenching story of Marissa, a beautiful and sweet, but somewhat slow, eleven-year-old girl with hair the color of corn silk. Her single mother comes home one night to find her missing and panics, frantically knocking on the doors of her neighbors.

In a darkened corner of the world, America lies bleeding. The Big War has reduced the country’s once-great industrial cities and vast countryside to a war-blackened landscape. But out of these ruins emerges brilliant ace fighter pilot Hawk Hunter, a lone warrior battling to keep the spirit of his country alive... From his secret base in the coastal wilderness of the Pacific Northwest, Hunter hears rumors of a vast army equipped with Russian SAMs hidden deep in the Bad Lands.

Newcomers to Tinker's Cove, Ty and Heather Moon have moved into a dilapidated house reputed to be a haven for ghosts. Now strange noises and flickering lights erupt from the house at all hours and neighborly relations are on edge. And when a local boy goes missing near the house, it's up to Lucy Stone to unravel the mystery of the eccentric couple and their increasingly frightful behavior.

From the creator of Dalziel and Pascoe comes a fantastic collection of crime stories complete with a foreword by Mick Herron.

Philosopher and amateur sleuth Isabel Dalhousie has an unstinting commitment to her principles. Sticking to her promises has always been one of them. Then Isabel runs into an old classmate facing marital and financial troubles, who reveals a secret that becomes more and more difficult for Isabel to keep. Thankfully, Isabel's devoted husband, Jamie, is there to help our heroine navigate her competing moral obligations.

Teaming up with New York Times best-selling author Jeffery Deaver, Suspense Magazine offers up a nail-biting anthology titled Nothing Good Happens After Midnight. This thrilling collection consists of 13 original short stories representing the genres of suspense/thriller, mystery, sci-fi/fantasy, and more.

In this second collection in the Music and Murder Mystery series, nine award-winning, bestselling authors have written their own interpretations of the Thriller song list. With original work from some of the best mystery authors out there, the anthology includes stories from Heather Graham, Jeffery Deaver, William Kent Krueger, Dahlia Rose, and David R. Slayton, among others. With poignant, frightening, and intriguing stories from some of the best writers in the genre, this eerie collection is sure to keep you up at night—and maybe even haunt your dreams.

Clea McAllister returns to the Newport haven of her childhood, a gilded mansion by the sea once owned by her beloved grandmother. Now she is a paying guest at her own ancestral home, and Clea’s vacation hides a darker intention: to confront the estate lawyer who stole her rightful inheritance. But wicked games are still being played at Belle Mer, and Clea uncovers more than she ever intended.

Before he became the UK's most wanted man, he was their deadliest weapon. Hear the story of Sam Pope's career before his one-man crusade against organised crime in this thrilling bundle of prequels.

The best mysteries have one thing in common: a memorable perpetrator. For every Sherlock Holmes or Sam Spade in noble pursuit, there's a Count Dracula, a Lester Leith, or a Jimmy Valentine. These are the rogues and villains who haunt our imaginations - and who often have more in common with their heroic counterparts than we might expect. Now, for the first time ever, Otto Penzler gathers the iconic traitors, thieves, con men, sociopaths, and killers who have crept through the mystery canon over the past 150 years, captivating and horrifying readers in equal measure.

Sam Hunter is a bit of an animal. He's a former Twin Cities cop who lost his badge because of excessive force. Abusive husbands, child molesters, and other lowlifes wound up looking like they'd been mauled by a dog...or a wolf. Now Sam's a low-rent PI in Philadelphia. He takes the kinds of cases no one wants. His clients are usually on the fringes of society. The kind who are prey for all manner of predators - human and otherwise.

When a divorced writer is tailed by a Mexican gang member, he and his twelve-year-old daughter are forced to defend themselves. But when it’s discovered that the young lady is capable of some professional grade bad-assness, Dad realizes he not only has a special child on his hands, but that she’s an absolute killing machine. Twists and turns, surprises and thrills from New York Times bestselling, Thriller and Shamus Award winning mystery author, Vincent Zandri.

Thirty-four years ago, on October 31, poor Hannah Talbott took part in a scavenger hunt gone violently wrong. The mean girls made sure of it. To this day, for a haunted local mother, the most unsettling Halloween costume of all is an urban legend they call Hannah-Beast. It’s a reminder of the past she can’t forget. Especially tonight when it’s come back, so close to home.

This bundle includes Lattes, Ladyfingers, and Lies, Americanos, Apple Pies, and Art Thieves, and Cremas, Christmas Cookies, and Crooks.

A casual glance out his apartment window turns Magician Eli Marks’ life upside down. After spotting a dead body in the projection booth of the movie theater next door, Eli is pulled into the hunt for the killer. As he attempts to puzzle out a solution to this classic locked room mystery, he must deal with a crisis of a more personal nature: the appearance of a rival magician who threatens not only Eli’s faith in himself as a performer, but his relationship with his girlfriend.

Nairobi Noir is an act of excavation, rediscovering the city's ossified past and infusing life to preserve it for future generations. It is also an act of celebration, reminding listeners of the brilliance of the best-known writers to emerge from this part of the world, and heralding the birth of new writers whose gifts, we can safely predict, will shine brightly in the years ahead.

Things are looking up for Millie Thorn. She's finally enjoying life as a witch, and she's even taken a part-time job teaching cookery in a school for paranormal children. She's come to terms with the fact that the local policeman, Sergeant David Spencer, is her father, and she's accepted that it might be better to wait a little longer until she drops that bombshell at his feet. When a trouble-making werewolf is murdered while in police custody, and the magical poison is traced back to cakes that Millie may or may not have helped bake, things begin to go wrong. Quickly.

From the author of the Wayward Pines Trilogy, comes this collection of short stories.

When the Blackout arrives, Dax Harper finds himself alone and fighting for survival on the chaotic streets of New Orleans. He is on the run, desperately searching for his estranged sister as the riots intensify. An unexpected encounter with his ex-girlfriend thrusts Dax into a leadership position—one he's not sure he can accept. As the hours pass, the city floods, pitting Dax in an epic battle against time and a mysterious new enemy threatening the future of humankind.

Matthew, Claire, Ian, and Mason haven’t set foot on the Merle family property since the summer they were sixteen. They tried for years to put their history behind them, to forget the mystery of the girl who vanished so long ago. But a powerful force from their past is still at play. This time, there’s no hiding from it.