Showing results by narrator "Tom Fria" in All Categories

Inspector Alastair Ransom, Chicago PD is back, pulled from a poker game when his snitch is found murdered in a back alley. The seemingly unimportant victim comes to full-blown life and recognition as Alastair uncovers the clues to his murder. With each new revelation, Henry Bosch, aka Dot'n'Carry (due to the sound of his wooden leg) becomes more real to Ransom than when he was alive. The old veteran of the Civil War, town drunk, gambler, hobo and storyteller, who'd become a staple of life on Chicago's streets, in death, becomes Inspector Ransom's latest obsession.

Dr. Abraham Stroud, who has faced down monsters and supernatural beings from vampires and werewolves to man-sized spiders from space, as well as Satanipedes in Texas, a hero who has astrally traveled through time in search of the origin of evil, now faces a new kind of horrid threat. He's asked on/begged to come on a dig in a faraway ancient and foreign land near Malta...a dig that has uncovered a children's graveyard from ancient times; a cemetery of suspected vampire babies.

The secret to their past lies in a tale written by the author as a 10-year-old girl. Fan fiction, 80s nostalgia, and the imagination of a child combine to form a story that’s equal parts baffling and brilliant – and dangerous for anyone living through it firsthand. But as the world evolves and the story matures, author and villain grow closer to solving the mystery of how their lives have always been connected. The lines between fantasy and reality, past and future, villain and heroine, blur in a spectacular journey through a fantasy world.

After the Gone Gorilla case, wherein a 450 lb. gorilla spirit rampages through the Museum of Natural History in Chicago, the Old Fart Squad of retired Chi-town detectives are charged with learning just what was going on at the curious, huge SPIRE Hole. This hole, a mile wide, was opened up in downtown, within the rich confines of the most expensive real estate in the city.

Being a detective in the city of Boston is no easy task, and with the crime rate sky high, law enforcement is the only hope of getting things back in order. One of the best detectives in the state is Thomas Kent - a hard-nosed, by-the-book type who doesn’t bend the rules for anyone. With the help of his department, he has taken down some of the biggest criminals in the city and has also made a lot of enemies, as well.

A small collection of six short stories, each with its own darkness, born of a desire of one kind or another. For some, it is the desire of the unknown; for others, it is desire through obsession. Each short story is its own volume in the twisted library of desire. Each story a gateway to their new reality.

In the American West, as the nation heals from the Civil War that nearly destroyed it, new battle lines are being drawn. Caleb Justin, orphaned and grieving, and his comrade Joshua Hart, a tough, worldly runaway, leave their home along the Ohio River bound for Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, intent to join Sheridan’s troops in their pursuit of Indian lands.

Aberthol Nauile doesn't know that he beheld the creation of the world, ravaged by a war of the gods, and began anew; or that he led legions in a war that had raged since the dawn of time; or that he once rode on a dragon with his father. All he knows is that he awoke in a coffin deep within a tomb, hearing voices in his head, and now the whole world thinks he is their savior.

An alien machine culture is sent to find another home for their Creators, an advanced species with superior intellect. After decades of travel, they stumble upon Earth, a suitable replacement for the decaying planet in Andromeda. Attempts to take Earth are met with stiff resistance until an alternative solution arises.

Carrie and Donna were up and coming interior designers of London. The two were working on building a reputation for their skills and creative designs. When the girls receive an offer to remodel a hotel in Shropshire, they jump at the chance to show what they can do. Upon arriving at the Scarlet Mansion, they are caught up in a whirlwind of unusual phenomena, and soon learn that the mansion had a big secret. Can the girls uncover the sordid past of the hotel? Or will it get the better of them first?

Four years into Akhenaten’s new regime, the dissatisfaction of those who practiced the old religion of Amen-Ra is growing. Hani, a diplomat already under the king’s surveillance because of the disappearance of his firebrand Amen priest brother-in-law, gets drawn into an investigation for the beloved royal wife, who is being blackmailed over an infidelity. Meanwhile, the new vassal king of A’amu, lodged at Hani’s house until the king grants him an audience, is showing himself to be none too loyal. Hani must walk the line between his oath to the king and his conscience.

During the Great Jubilee of the Aten, a mysterious series of tomb robberies takes place, and witnesses begin to die. With plague ravaging the palace, where Hani’s daughter is a physician, and Egypt’s ally, Naharin, collapsing into the hands of a usurper, Hani must make sense of what is happening - and who in high places is his real enemy.

If you thought the suburbs were boring, think again. Kelly Fordon’s I Have the Answer artfully mixes the fabulist with the workaday, illuminating relationships and characters with crisp, elegant prose, and dark wit. The stories in Fordon’s latest collection are disquieting, humorous, and thought-provoking. They might catch you off guard, but are always infused with deep humanity and tenderness.

Tens of thousands are flocking to a bustling wind-swept metropolis in the middle of America for the great Exposition of 1893—to see the future and to ride Mr. Ferris' remarkable wheel. A city of hope and hardship has caught the attention of the world—and a maniacal killer has made it his hunting ground. Inspector Alastair Ransom carries the burden of the dead on his shoulders. But a demon far worse than Ransom's own is loose—a bloodthirsty killer who preys on Chicago's most vulnerable citizens.

One day seven-year-old Ruby was walking in the woods and saw a glow. The glow was three eggs. After one of the eggs hatched, Ruby found himself with a pet Christmas dragon, which he named Reindeer. Can Ruby, his sister, and their five cousins take care of Reindeer and entertain him? What kind of magic does a Christmas dragon have during the holidays?

Hani doesn’t know what to make of it when the king starts honoring him, but he must still find the man who killed a foreign ambassador right under the roof of the Egyptian commissioner in Kumidi—a man whose past intersects bizarrely with Hani’s. And then, the queen of the new coregent has a special task for him which may involve dragging Hani’s 19-year-old daughter into court politics. He must find a way to see justice done and yet protect his family…and his conscience.

The body parts were first discovered in the bellies of sharks. Marine scientists in the Florida Keys insist sharks rarely dine on live humans, so there can be only one explanation: They were dead before they hit the water. Dr. Jessica Coran knows why. They call him the "Night Crawler". And he's out there, riding the tides with his victims, feeding the waves after his own perverse hungers are satisfied. But when similar murders surface in London on the Thames River, Jessica faces double jeopardy. One killer? Or two....

He felt most alive when he watched them die - writing, breathless, gasping for oxygen that wasn't there. But, he could only draw out the pleasure for so long before his victims expired. And, then it was time to choose another. Death by asphyxiation. That's what Chicago medical examiner Dr. Dean Grant was forced to conclude by the gruesome evidence before him. Recognizing the work of a serial killer, Grant knew he'd have to move fast.

Fabian Carlson wants nothing to do with Christmas. Having lost his fiancée two Christmases ago, his only wish is to skip the holidays altogether. Until he wakes up to his black Labrador’s loud, persistent barking. When he lets Felix out, he’s astonished to discover a reindeer on his front lawn, eating his neighbor’s prize-winning yews. Carlson’s Christmas Wish is a light-hearted and entertaining story about a man, a neighborhood, and a town whose lives are touched by the magic of Christmas. A truly heartwarming story about renewal and hope.

In this rousing 1852 romp through the eerie woods surrounding Hannibal, Missouri, and up and down the Mississippi River, 14-year-old Daniel Webster Jackson runs into a counterfeit Underground Railroad when he decides to run away from his foster home. At every turn, he musters courage to survive in a land where the law is at odds with the heart and soul of a people, where the Missouri Compromise forces everyone into a disguise or a secret identity.