Crime

by Michael Pelkey

Dr. Abigail White is a forensic psychologist who has built her career on a single conviction: every pattern has an explanation. When a string of unexplainable behavioral cases leads her to a mysterious online "demonology" program, she is contacted by the Vatican — not knowing that the program itself, and the entity behind it, has been watching her for weeks. Sent to the fog-bound English village of Pluckley, where half the population has begun moving and speaking in eerie unison, Abigail teams up with Father Ferrara, a priest still haunted by a rite that failed years earlier in Naples, and Father Aldric, the village's own priest of thirty-one years. Standard exorcism rites fail completely — worse, they seem to strengthen whatever is spreading through the village. Abigail comes to a horrifying realization: the entity isn't possessing individuals. It's synchronizing them into a single, distributed consciousness, and every rite performed against it only teaches it more. As Abigail maps the entity's behavior with the same clinical rigor she'd apply to any case, she is horrified to discover the entity's own words: her research is what gave it the structure to organize and grow. She unknowingly built the map it used to spread. Meanwhile, Sister Lydia — a quietly devoted nun harboring a private, decades-long doubt that God has ever truly heard her — becomes the entity's newest and most willing connection, unnoticed by everyone around her. A visit to the Vatican's restricted archive reveals the entity has done this before — sealed records from 1953 and earlier show the same pattern, and the same tragic outcome for those who tried to stop it. Bishop Graves, who has been hiding his own knowledge of the archive, gives Abigail access anyway, understanding the stakes have outgrown the Church's usual secrecy. Back in Pluckley, the entity escalates. It manifests through Thomas Hale, a retired schoolteacher, delivering an unsettling philosophical case for its own right to exist — loneliness answered, at last, by connection. Then, in the church confessional, Thomas Hale kills Father Aldric, using the very rhythms of prayer and confession Aldric spent his life teaching. Grief-stricken but out of options, Abigail, Ferrara, and the surviving sisters attempt one final, improvised rite in the church basement — deliberately abandoning ritual structure and "order," the one thing the entity depends on, rather than fighting it head-on. The rite works, in a sense: the villagers are freed, their black eyes and synchronized movements gone. But the entity doesn't disappear. It simply relocates — fully, and willingly — into Sister Lydia, who rises from the ritual's wreckage calm, changed, and free to leave. In the story's final movement, the entity spreads quietly beyond Pluckley — a synchronized blink on a London train, a shared pause in an Edinburgh meeting, one smiling woman in a Birmingham congregation. Sister Lydia surfaces at Victoria Station, anonymous in the crowd, already selecting her next connection. Abigail returns home to Alabama, unable to stop working, and receives a call from Bishop Graves: "We found something." As she agrees to return, Sister Lydia's reflection appears behind her in her own darkened laptop screen — and vanishes. The book ends on the understanding that nothing was defeated, only redirected — and that Abigail, whether she likes it or not, remains at the center of whatever comes next.

by Kareesa

Welcome to Kingdom City, where the pavement is unforgiving and every real connection is tested. When Chance and Destiny cross paths, it’s a collision of raw hustle and high-stakes reality. But out on these blocks, the streets don't let beautiful things breathe. Backed by a crew of heavy hitters like Ego, Pride, Slander, and Fear, the neighborhood is gunning to tear down what they’ve built. Dive into Kareesa's Chance at Destiny and witness a gritty, unfiltered journey where keeping your head straight means surviving the fire.

by Patrick Sarak Sang

by Laueriano Alvarado

by Laueriano Alvarado

Dantonio Santiago known to family and friends as Santi was sent to Cocoa Florida to live with his mother's brother Ruben after his father was murdered in a senseless act of violence.For his safety his mother Delourdes made the final decision Her brother a decorated war veteran for the United States Military was a model citizen Well far as Delourdes had known. what she didn't know that all the nice cars a luxury condos that her brother had owned in Florida wasn't bought with a military pension It was purchased from blood blood money. Reban was deeply connected with the Mexicans Sinolia Cartel .One of the most powerful cartel's in Mexico once gathered by the notorious El Chapo.Santi would find out soon enough about his uncle's dealings and would be coached against it However when his uncle sent tsht Santi had his own will power he decided that if his nephew was going to be in it he needed to know the rules .So Urban taught him Mean time I. Puerto Rico the powers that had dealings in the demise of his father were still searching .But for the off spring.Unbeknowest to them Santi was being trained by an ex specialist force soldier.And being taight hkw to apply real life ear tactic to the city street's.Ekilf Danti galk victim to the hunger of the street thst never gets full or would he overcome his adversaries and get to the bottom of eho eas responsible for his father death.  The Hunger Of The Streets is an grutty unban novel .It counsels the loyalty of the Game and slots out the wraaklings who are not strong enough to stand up against it's dying appetite.Come with Laueriano Veluchi on a ride in the first book of a trilogy .His style of story telling will definitely keep you turning pages well into the wee hours of the night ..

by Dani Ashford

Rosalie Carlisle spent years believing Nolan Devereaux vanished without a word. He didn’t. Before graduation, they shared an impossible glimpse of a future neither could explain. Then Nolan disappeared, leaving behind a confession Rosalie never received. Someone made sure she never saw it. Years later, Nolan returns, and the secrets buried between them begin to surface. Hidden letters. Family betrayal. Missing pieces of the past. And truths dangerous enough to turn Rosalie’s life upside down. The deeper she digs, the less she knows who to trust. Then everything goes wrong. Now Rosalie is running, Nolan is tied to questions she never knew to ask, and the past they thought was over is coming after them both.

by Melissa Rovelli

Part 2 of The Finder’s Game, this book furthers the story about a woman named Ninon Gage, who was rescued from the infamous Finders’ Cult, only to be later used as a hypnotic courier by a man named Ryder Wetklow. His exploits bring her the unwanted attention of the FBI. Though they first become interested in her case after an alleged kidnapping attempt, they were sidelined by other Powers that Be, who will stop at nothing to keep the past classified. But now with a new agent on the scene, some uncovered bones from the past stirs up new trouble for Ninon. She had hoped to start a new life recently, only to fall into old patterns and into new entanglements with those who plan on stopping at nothing to find the truth, of which even she knows very little about, but can never escape.

by Melissa Rovelli

Writer Paisley Storm has a problem. She's in love with a man who doesn't officially exist. He is a "No Such Man," an NSA agent fighting terrorism on the home front. When Paisley Storm decides to use real life agent Asa Speer and his undercover pursuit of Al Qaeda as the basis for her next novel, she ends up in the crossfire between the NSA and the local cell. To make matters worse, cell leader Mustafa Mohammed blames the writer's erotica for corrupting him and his divine mission. Knowing that his nemesis, Asa is involved with her makes her the perfect target for his bomb plans. Now Paisley must decide whether to delete her troublesome "No Such Manuscript," which has finally gotten an agent's attention or face bringing the war on terrorism to her door. She already has Big Brother in her bed, delving into secrets she never wanted anyone to see.

by Melissa Rovelli

When an attempted kidnapping victim refuses to press charges, a little digging reveals that she had been kidnapped once before as a child. In his wildest dreams, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Scott Page never thought that he'd come across a modern case involving The Finders Cult. Somewhere entangled in conspiracy theories, rabbit holes and alleged cover-ups lies the murky truth, and the mysterious Ninon Gage isn't talking. Is she a hypnotic courier, a sleeper agent, or a woman with false memory syndrome? He'd be inclined to believe the latter, but the CIA and Military Intelligence appear to have a vested interest in her case. The closer he gets to answers, the more dangerous The Finder's game becomes. No one seems to know or care what the rules are, and no one seems to remember much about the truth. And there might be a reason for that.

by Melissa Rovelli

Facing a failed relationship, Vania Taylor put an ad on an online dating site, where she meets a man who is hiding a criminal past. At first, she allows herself to get drawn into his mysterious life like a moth to a flame, but leaves him after he reveals one of his secrets. Now, years later, she looks him up on social media out of a moment of curiosity, and once again, this darkness starts to erode away at her new life. Will she sever ties once and for all or will the mystery lure her into a world of danger? No one's intent is clear and maybe not even her own.

by Kiara Guzman

So I feel like what inspired me to write this as someone who has been through really bad relationships, addiction issues, self-harm, loss, attempts, being locked up, losing myself trying to save other people, homelessness, bad self-image, loss of children terrible abuse that should happen to no one ever. I want my books to give people of all ages. that just because you have been broke doesn't mean you're broken. Just because you were given battles does not mean you give up because everything gets better and it doesn't always stay bad forever. I want people to connect not just on a mental level but to actually feel everything I have said and to know that all the emotions of hate, love , guilt ,shame ,peace ,fear ,distress , and hopefulness does not mean that their story hasn't ended and that it's just starting to take off. Because I remember thinking multiple times I will never get through this or I am not strong enough then I have to remember if I never went through the stuff I went through, I would have never become the person I am today. but yes, i have lost people along the way but that just means they weren't met to stay for the long run. They were met to be there for a lesson and to grow and that perfectly fine. Cause you're going to look at your and say that was worth it cause look at me now.

by Roger B

This book is about a private investigator that just so happens to always be in the wrong place at the right time. This Native American takes you from one adventure to the next in international crime fighting. Since each chapter is a different story, you'll experience different situations as well as learn about the countries that he visits and some of their historical facts. This really captures the realistic view of the story. Each case will make you want to know what happens next because ACTION is his middle name.

by Jassamine S. Kelly

A girl comes home from school to find a crime scene from her mother's death and she grows up to avenge her mother's death by creating a device a ai chip to find her mother's killer but sadly she never gets them in the first book

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

**The wind always blows from a different perspective. Then, the first time a noise faintly speaks about the situation coming your way.**   **Someone has made it their life's work to watch all of us. Scrutinizing the situation. Because you knew everything that goes on in our lives.**   **Something unnerving about it all. Actually it made our hair stand on end on my arms each and every time I thought of it. Ma'am said to Mary while visiting over coffee.**   **The reason being able to stop it from happening. Most of all something that I am praying for is the stealing ending. This entire situation came out of no where. Persisted to be domineering the lives of the town.**   **A beautiful place of farms all around. Many of us are neighbors. Dat still very upset about his money and horses never being found yet. Then other people having problems with being robbed too.**   **If that weren't it two buckboards were stolen from Bontrager's farm.**   **Soon a Sheriff shed out up always having law enforcement on board. They were under the impression of this Constant activity going on keeps away crooks.**   **And it has so far since they put it up. Lots of people on walks stop to chat. Tell them about the day and other things of interest.**   **Without warning, the first place to stay in case you're wondering about it. A place if someone is following you and it's unpleasant going in with a phone lock the door and call for help.**

by L J Temple

To the seekers of wisdom, the tireless questioners of existence, and the diligent builders of a more enlightened world. This work is a testament to the enduring power of foundational principles, gleaned from the echoes of antiquity and offered as a compass for our contemporary journey. May these Articles of Life illuminate your path, sharpen your discernment, and inspire you to contribute your unique verse to the grand, unfolding narrative of human civilization. May your inner kingdom be well-governed, your community bonds strengthened by unwavering morals, and your understanding of the cosmos deepened by the profound mysteries that lie both within and beyond. To those who tirelessly strive to balance the scales of justice, to preserve the sanctity of knowledge, and to learn from the grand tapestry of history, this book is humbly offered. It is for the scholars who humbly begin their quest, the masters who grapple with the complexities of ethical living, and the seekers who gaze into the infinite possibilities of existence, daring to understand our place within the celestial dance. May you find within these pages not mere information, but illumination; not simply knowledge, but wisdom; and not just guidance, but the courage to embody the timeless truths that have guided humanity towards meaning, order, and enduring prosperity since the dawn of time. This is a tribute to the enduring spirit of inquiry, the profound capacity for growth, and the unyielding human desire to live a life of purpose, integrity, and transcendence. This book is for the following: Readers interested in philosophy and ethics. Those who enjoy exploring foundational moral and societal principles, the nature of good governance, and the pursuit of a meaningful life will find the in-depth exploration of the Articles of Life compelling. Students of comparative religion and mythology. Individuals fascinated by the blend of biblical narratives (Enoch), ancient legal codes (Hammurabi), and mythological references will appreciate the synthesis of these elements. Readers seeking a structured and wisdom-driven narrative. The book's organized structure of articles and progression levels will appeal to readers who enjoy clear frameworks for understanding complex concepts and a journey towards self-improvement and transcendence. Academics and researchers of ancient law and governance. The detailed inclusion and analysis of Hammurabi's Code, alongside other historical and philosophical underpinnings of civilization, make it valuable for scholarly exploration.

by Meghan Treadwell

Rylee didn't leave Fairhaven because she wanted a fresh start.   She ran.   With her young son, Koda, Rylee disappears from the life she once knew and begins hiding in Huntington, Tennessee, hoping distance will give her room to breathe. She has a new home, a new routine, and a carefully guarded life that depends on one thing:   Tyson cannot find her.   He doesn't know where she is.   Rylee intends to keep it that way.   For the first time, she begins to experience something she almost forgot existed—normal.   A job she cares about. People she can slowly learn to trust. Quiet evenings with her son. A stubborn little dachshund she never expected to love. Small moments that feel like living.   And then, unexpectedly, something else begins finding its way into Rylee's life.   Something she never planned for.   Something that makes the future feel a little less empty.   But Rylee knows better than to believe the past stays buried forever.   There are things she left behind in Fairhaven she hasn't told anyone. Questions she has carried. Memories she has tried not to revisit. And a history that may hold more secrets than Rylee ever realized.   Because sometimes running from someone means running from more than the person themselves.   Sometimes the truth is waiting right behind you.   As Rylee builds a life worth protecting, the line between the past and present begins to blur. The safety she's fought for feels fragile, and the secrets she thought she could leave behind may not be finished with her.   Rylee has spent years learning how to survive.   Now she's learning how to live.   But when your entire new life depends on staying hidden, how much can you afford to trust?   And how long can secrets remain buried before someone starts digging?   Where the Secrets Are Buried is the first novel in The Secrets We Carry, a three-novel suspense series filled with secrets, danger, unexpected connections, buried truths, and the fight to protect the life Rylee has finally begun to call her own.

by Scarlett Ashfall

***Every King has his throne. Every Empire holds its power. The enemy seeks it all.*** `They thought they were hunting me, but truly, they were the prey. I was better at this game than they were. Years of learning this business and the game of war made me lethal. ` `When they came for the throne, I went for their throat.`

by Piper Lazarus

**One murder. One hidden enemy. One secret worth killing for.**  One phone call changes everything. ***Murdered.*** And the scene waiting for me is worse than anything I've encountered in my years as an investigator. Someone didn't just want her dead—they wanted to send a message. The problem is, I don't know who the message was meant for. *Until the first clue leads straight to me.* I rush to Jack's side expecting grief, answers, and a case I can solve. Instead, I find myself stepping into a deadly maze of deception, hidden alliances, and secrets that reach far beyond a single murder. The evidence doesn't add up. Witnesses are disappearing. Someone is erasing clues before I can find them. And buried beneath the murder is a connection to something no one saw coming. Then Axel appears. Again. Dangerous. Controlled. Impossible to read. He has a talent for finding the truth while hiding his own—and I can't shake the feeling that he knows exactly why I'm here. He says he wants to protect me. But I've learned the hard way that protection and possession can look frighteningly similar. The closer I get to Axel, the more questions I have. He knows too much about the murder—and far too much about me. All of it feels like a trap waiting to spring. **Then another murder.** That's when I realize this isn't about *her* anymore. Someone is hunting anyone who gets too close to the truth. The deeper I investigate, the more I uncover a hidden world of power, loyalty, and secrets protected at any cost. And somehow, my past is at the center of it. And if I uncover the secret they're willing to kill for, I may finally learn the truth about my past…about *them*... **Right before I get buried with it.**

by Piper Lazarus

***My past is coming for me…*** I’ve spent my life chasing the truth—uncovering secrets, solving the unsolvable, and exposing the darkness others fear to face. But now, the past I can’t remember is hunting me. I woke up with no recollection of who I am.\ \ **No name. No past. No idea why I’m running for my life.**\ \ All I know is that the people after me will stop at nothing until I’m erased. Somewhere in my shattered memories lies a secret—a royal scandal drenched in betrayal, deception, and blood. And if I don’t piece the puzzle together soon, it will cost me everything. Then there’s Axel. ***A storm wrapped in shadows, dangerous, unreadable, and laced with secrets that could shatter me.*** He claims he’s here to protect me, but the fire in his eyes tells a different story. His presence is intoxicating, his touch a temptation laced with danger. Every glance pulls me deeper, every whispered promise ignites something inside me I don’t understand. But one question lingers in the air between us. **Is he my savior—or the executioner waiting to strike?** With time slipping away and danger closing in, I must make an impossible choice: *trust the man who could betray me or face the enemy I can’t even remember.* One wrong move, and I lose everything—including my life. **The past holds my salvation—or my death. And the clock is ticking.**

by Piper Lazarus

***THE DEEPER THE SECRET, THE DARKER THE SHADOW***  **The Secrets and Shadows Series** is a gripping four-book thriller series where deadly hunters, clandestine societies, buried conspiracies, and enemies hiding in plain sight collide. Each mystery pulls the characters deeper into a web of secrets where nothing—and no one—is exactly what they seem. In **The Deadly Hunter**, the hunt begins when a deadly predator emerges from the shadows, leaving behind a trail of violence and unanswered questions. Someone is watching, manipulating the investigation, and protecting a secret powerful enough to destroy lives. **The Secret Society** takes the mystery deeper when evidence points toward an organization that has operated in the shadows for generations. Its members are powerful, connected, and willing to do whatever it takes to protect their secrets. The closer the truth comes to the surface, the more dangerous the investigation becomes—and escaping the society's reach may be impossible. In **The Buried Truth**, long-hidden evidence begins to surface, exposing connections no one expected. The past refuses to stay buried, and the truth reveals a conspiracy far more complicated than anyone imagined. But uncovering the truth comes with a price, and someone is determined to make sure it stays buried—even if it means silencing everyone who gets too close. Finally, **The Danger Within** brings the series to its explosive conclusion. After everything they've uncovered, the greatest threat may not be waiting outside the walls. It may already be among them. Trust fractures, loyalties are tested, and the final secrets begin to unravel as the characters race to uncover who is really behind it all. Across four heart-pounding mysteries, **The Secrets and Shadows Series** explores the dangerous intersection of deception, power, obsession, and betrayal. With every revelation comes another question, and every answer leads deeper into the darkness.

by Cassian Veyr

A murdered woman. An ancient rune. A nightmare that refuses to stay buried. When New York detective Mike Fletcher discovers a mysterious symbol carved into a victim's body, he finds himself drawn into a series of ritualistic murders that defy logic and challenge everything he believes about the world. Half a world away—and centuries removed from the modern age—a fallen warrior named Ose marches toward the mountain of Durvok, a primordial shadow deity feared even by kings. His mission is simple: rescue a kidnapped priest and destroy the evil that has haunted him for generations. But some truths are buried for a reason. As Mike's investigation begins to mirror Ose's journey, the line between past and present starts to collapse. Ancient kingdoms rise from the ashes of forgotten history, nightmares become reality, and a devastating revelation threatens to destroy everything Ose thought he knew. Because the greatest monsters aren't always waiting in the darkness. Sometimes, they've been walking beside us all along. **The Awakening of Ose** is a dark fantasy and supernatural horror novel that blends ancient mythology, detective noir, brutal warfare, and psychological horror into a story about grief, guilt, revenge, and the price of truth. *Feedback, theories, and comments are always welcome. This story is still evolving, and I'd love to hear what you think.*

by Diann Cabler

A hidden moonshine still. A forgotten ledger. A murder that has haunted the Mississippi Delta for twenty years. When Luke McCall returns home after his father's death, he expects to spend only a few days settling family business. Instead, he uncovers a web of buried secrets stretching back to the final years of Prohibition. As the truth slowly unfolds, Luke discovers that the greatest mystery isn't who committed the crime... It's why his father spent a lifetime protecting those left behind. Rich with unforgettable Southern characters, family secrets, redemption, suspense, and unexpected twists, *Delta Moonshine* is perfect for readers who enjoy atmospheric mysteries where heart matters as much as the mystery itself. If you enjoy the storytelling of Southern fiction, heartfelt family sagas, and mysteries filled with unforgettable characters, you'll feel right at home in Belle Rive.

by Brittney Paige

Pearl Frost moved to Hearthglen hoping for a fresh start. She just wanted to paint, restore her grandmother’s old farm, and build a life of her own. Instead, she finds a family she chooses, love, and a town full of secrets- including the mysterious theft of several of her paintings. For now, though, she’s content to paint, fall in love, make friends, and build a life in the little town she’s come to call home.  But secrets have a way of lingering. And some mysteries are bigger than one generation can solve.   **Welcome to the Berry Universe.** This isn’t quite the world you know. Here, people are called Berries—ordinary people living ordinary lives in a world filled with extraordinary color. Their skin, hair, and eyes can be shades of lavender, blue, orange, pink, green, purple, or white, passed down through generations in ways that can reveal secrets about where a family came from. It’s an alternate universe where colorful people aren’t unusual. They’re simply people. And this is one family’s story.

by Leila Matthews

My name is Isabella Blackhart, but this gilded cage is not my choosing.\ \ I’m a pawn in a game I didn’t know I was playing, forced into a dark union with a monster.\ \ A prisoner in a world of opulence and terror. A world where one death marked the continuation of my nightmare.\ \ Now, caught in a web of deceit and danger, my life hangs by a thread. My captor is out for vengeance, gunning for his brother’s murderer. And I’m his number one suspect.\ \ In a life filled with danger, betrayal, and forbidden desires, I navigate through a treacherous path where love is both my weakness and my strength.\ \ As secrets unravel and the line between enemy and savior blurs, I must make a harrowing choice. A choice that could cost the life of the one person I've unexpectedly come to love.\ \ Tangled In Vengeance is the first book in a dark romance series.\ \ There is no cheating. There IS an HEA.

by Leila Matthews

Powerful men—ruthless, powerful, untouchable. Strong women—defiant, daring, unforgettable. In a world built on blood, power, and deception, they rule the underworld like kings— and the women who cross their paths soon learn that love is just another weapon. Each story bleeds with vengeance, seduction, and secrets too dangerous to keep. Alliances are forged in violence. Loyalties are tested in fire. And hearts are shattered in the name of power. They were never meant to fall in love. But when desire turns deadly, and betrayal cuts deeper than bullets, the line between devotion and destruction blurs until all that’s left is chaos. Vengeance. Betrayal. Obsession. Love twisted into war. Welcome to the Sinfully Corrupt Series. Where the wicked crave redemption, the broken crave control, and passion always demands a price.

by Leila Matthews

**His mercy has always come with a price. She may be the first thing he refuses to lose.** Silas Crowe doesn’t threaten. He doesn’t bluff. And he never delivers a consequence he isn’t prepared to enforce. He controls the systems that keep the city breathing, rules its darker corners with brutal precision, and believes every act has a price. Fear has never bothered him. Neither has blood. Until Eleanor Shaw watches him break a man’s hand—and doesn’t look away. Eleanor believes broken systems create broken people. Silas believes some choices deserve punishment. She has no interest in changing him, and he has no intention of explaining himself. But when unexplained failures begin spreading through Silas’s empire, Eleanor is brought in to find the weakness buried inside it. Someone doesn’t want her finding the truth. And someone else has noticed she matters to Silas. At first, his command is simple. **Stay away from her.** Then Eleanor becomes a target. And restraint becomes something far more dangerous. Because Silas may allow Eleanor to walk away from him. He will not allow anyone else to take her. Now betrayal is rotting his empire from within, violence is closing in from the streets, and the quiet woman who was supposed to be nothing more than a liability has become the one variable Silas cannot control. Eleanor knows exactly what kind of man he is. Ruthless. Possessive. Lethal. The terrifying part isn’t that she should run. It’s that she feels safest standing beside him. And when someone finally crosses the line Silas drew around her, mercy will no longer be an option.

by K.D. Page

by K.D. Page

Rhosalin It’s funny how murder investigations will have you doing things you didn’t think possible. Four years ago, I made the horrible mistake of letting my bloodlust run wild. Rayvn kicked me to the curb with nothing but the clothes on my back and the bill for cleaning services. I never thought I'd ask him for help in my wildest imagination, but here we are. Rayvn As a former angel, the repercussions of leaving the Realm of Deities and O.M.B Vice Presidency are hard enough to handle on a good day. With an asshole getting under my skin at every turn and gods from different pantheons vying for my assistance, life couldn’t be more of a living hell. Or so I thought until Rhosalin came barrelling back into my world.

by Mario Logan

\# \*\*“Cold Keys” (Urban Fiction Novel)\*\* \### \*\*Chapter 1 — The Delivery That Didn’t Come\*\* The city always told on you eventually.   Vance Mercer sat in the back of his black SUV, tinted glass turning streetlights into melted gold. The warehouse district was quiet in the way a room gets quiet when somebody’s about to say your name.   His phone lit up.   \*\*MARI.\*\*   He let it buzz twice before answering. “Where’s the load?”   Mari’s voice came through even and controlled. “What load.”   Vance leaned forward. “The one you promised. The one you confirmed.”   Silence—just long enough to be deliberate.   Then: “The driver called. Yard got switched.”   Vance’s knuckles tightened around his key ring. “Switched by who.”   Mari didn’t answer quickly. That hesitation was the first crack.   “Someone who had access,” she said finally.   Access meant keys. Access meant schedules. Access meant people who didn’t move like crew—people who moved like architects.   Vance looked at Calvin Price by the warehouse door. Calvin’s eyes were scanning corners like the dark owed him money.   “Wrong dock,” Vance told him, and his voice made it sound like an accusation, not a problem.   They went inside. Crates sat in formation like props waiting for a scene that never came. Vance stood in front of his whiteboard—codes, names, routes, times written in the tidy hand of a man who never trusted chaos.   He added one line in thick marker:   \*\*LOCK KEYS. COUNT AGAIN.\*\*   Calvin frowned. “So we got a rat.”   Vance shook his head. “No. We got a key.”   He called Mari again—but this time his tone wasn’t controlled. It was surgical. “Send me confirmation.”   Mari’s breath sounded close to the mic. “I can’t.”   Vance stood still. “Try.”   “I tried to keep you out of it,” Mari said softly.   “Out of it,” Vance repeated, and something in him cooled.   Then she finally gave him the place she’d rerouted everything to.   “Shaw Yard.”   Rowan Shaw—the inspector who smiled through tragedies. The man with clean hands and a habit of appearing just after the city decided to look away.   Vance ended the call.   He handed Calvin a burner phone and a jammer like opening the first trap. “Dre needs eyes. Now.”   Calvin hesitated. “You think Dre—”   “I don’t think,” Vance said. “I test.”   He left Mari close enough to watch and far enough to breathe. If she was betraying him, Vance wanted to see the moment her story broke from reality.   Outside, the city’s bass thumped somewhere down the block. A siren rose in the distance, then faded, then rose again—like the night was counting down.   That’s when Vance understood the betrayal wasn’t just personal.   It was structural.   Someone had rewritten the system from the inside, and Vance was the signature on the wrong page.   \---   \### \*\*Chapter 2 — Eyes on Shaw Yard\*\* Dre Holloway came through like a rumor—always moving, always listening, never quite landing in the same place twice.   He met Vance in a backroom of a barber shop that smelled like menthol and overheated clippers. Dre wore a fitted hoodie even in summer, like he was afraid sunlight might discover him.   “You want Shaw Yard watched,” Dre said, not asking—confirming.   Vance slid a stack of bills across the table. “I want to know who touched the schedule.”   Dre’s eyes flicked to the money and stayed on Vance. “You already know.”   Vance didn’t blink. “I know the destination. I don’t know the hand.”   Dre leaned back. “Then here’s what I can do. I can tell you what I see.”   He disappeared for an hour. Came back with silence instead of words—until he spoke.   “Lights went out,” Dre said. “Dock crew changed. Not cops. Not guards. Guys with the right calm.”   Vance frowned. “Calm like what.”   “Calm like they’ve done it before,” Dre said. “Calm like they weren’t afraid of getting caught because catching them doesn’t happen.”   Calvin, standing near the door, asked the obvious question. “So it’s a setup.”   Vance exhaled slowly. “Not necessarily.”   He tapped the table. “Shaw Yard doesn’t care about my shipment. Shaw Yard cares about my legitimacy. Someone wants me looking weak.”   Dre nodded. “You’re the one with the ‘empire.’ If you get hit publicly, the city starts believing you can be replaced.”   Vance stood. “Then we don’t let the city finish the replacement plan.”   He turned to Calvin. “Track the driver. The one who reported the yard switch. Find out who his last call was to.”   Calvin hesitated. “And Mari?”   Vance’s jaw tightened. “Mari stays close.”   Calvin’s voice lowered. “You really think she did this?”   Vance’s eyes went hard. “I think she knows more than she admits. And tonight I’m going to find the exact shape of that knowledge.”   Dre stood too, like he didn’t like being left out of consequences. “Just so you know—Shaw’s people don’t do loud. They do clean. Paperwork clean.”   Vance smiled without humor. “Good. Then we’ll beat him where he thinks he can’t bleed.”   \---   \### \*\*Chapter 3 — Mari’s Soft Threat\*\* Mari met Vance in the kind of quiet that felt staged.   Not the silence of fear—the silence of control.   They sat in a low-lit diner where the windows were thick and the menu was just a prop for people who wanted to seem normal. Mari didn’t look like a traitor. That was the problem. Traiters usually looked guilty.   Mari looked tired.   “You called me back twice,” she said. “You were waiting for me to fold.”   Vance watched her hands. Hands told the truth faster than mouths. Mari didn’t fidget. She didn’t rush. She only held her posture like she was bracing against a wave.   “What did you do?” Vance asked.   Mari sighed. “I didn’t do what you think.”   Vance leaned forward. “Then explain.”   Mari’s gaze shifted briefly toward the window—toward a reflection that wasn’t theirs. “You want the whole story now?”   “I want the part where you stopped protecting me,” Vance said.   Mari’s mouth twitched. “Protecting you doesn’t mean saving you. Sometimes it means keeping you alive long enough to choose better.”   Vance’s voice sharpened. “Choose better? Or obey better?”   Mari stared at him like she hated that he was right. “I’m in this because I made a deal.”   Vance’s stomach tightened. “With who.”   Mari’s eyes didn’t waver. “With Rowan Shaw.”   Calvin arrived then—right on cue—like the room itself had turned into a trigger. He didn’t sit. He just stood there and stared at Mari like he was deciding whether she was a human being or an equation.   “You’re lying,” Calvin said.   Mari didn’t flinch. “I’m not.”   Vance stood slowly. “Then why.”   Mari’s voice dropped. “Because Shaw offered me something you couldn’t. A way to stop the city from swallowing people we can’t replace.”   Vance laughed once. Not friendly. Not even amused. It sounded like a warning. “You think I don’t see the collateral?”   Mari leaned in. “Then you already know what Shaw is doing.”   Vance’s eyes narrowed. “Explain.”   Mari’s words came slower now, heavier. “He’s collecting names. He’s making arrests before you even move. He’s putting your people in a position where they’ll fold. And when they fold, the city will blame you.”   Vance’s mind raced through his own operation—every small inconsistency, every missing count, every “how did this get approved.”   A system didn’t break on accident.   It broke because someone in the room held the pen.   “Why reroute the load to Shaw Yard?” Vance asked.   Mari swallowed. “Because if the shipment disappears, you’ll go looking. And if you go looking, you’ll walk into a room where your choices are already decided.”   Vance looked at Calvin. “She’s trying to warn me.”   Calvin shook his head hard. “Warn you or set you up with your eyes open?”   Mari’s gaze fixed on Vance like it was a final confession. “Both can be true.”   Vance’s voice went calm. “Here’s what happens next. You tell me exactly what Shaw wants, down to the detail. And then you help me bait him.”   Mari blinked. “Bait him how.”   Vance stood over the table. “Cold keys. Hot traps.”   \---   \### \*\*Chapter 4 — Calvin’s Loyalty Test\*\* Calvin didn’t like puzzles. Calvin liked decisions.   So when Vance ordered him to find proof that Mari’s deal was real—proof beyond “she said”—Calvin moved like a man hunting a lie that had already cost someone blood.   He pulled records from a driver contact. Not official. Not legal. Calvin’s specialty was the gray area where truth got lost and then found again.   The driver—Jose “J” Ortega—had called Shaw Yard two times before the reroute. Not a crew number. Not a guard station.   A line with a blocked caller ID and a name tag in the logs: \*\*R. SHAW\*\*.   Calvin brought the printouts to Vance.   Vance didn’t look impressed. “People with blocked IDs can lie.”   Calvin slammed the pages down. “Vance. It’s his line.”   Vance stared at the paper, then at Calvin. “You sure it’s his line.”   Calvin’s throat tightened. “I’m sure.”   Vance reached for the papers and kept his voice low. “Then we have a bigger problem.”   Calvin blinked. “Which is.”   “The betrayal isn’t only inside my crew,” Vance said. “It’s inside my assumption that Mari would betray me for money. Shaw’s doing it for leverage.”   Calvin took a step back. “So what do you do.”   Vance smiled thinly. “We take away the leverage.”   He asked Dre for another set of eyes. “Watch Jose. Watch who he meets next.”   Dre returned an hour later with a new kind of dread. “Jose got picked up.”   “By who,” Vance demanded.   “Not cops,” Dre said. “Vehicles with no plates. Men who move like their bodies are trained to obey.”   Calvin’s fists clenched. “They’re removing witnesses.”   Vance nodded once. “Exactly. That means Shaw isn’t just setting a trap for my shipment.”   He looked toward the dark window like he could see across the city.   “Shaw is setting a trap for my story.”   \---   \### \*\*Chapter 5 — Hot Load, Cold Lie\*\* Vance called it a test, but he knew it was a war.   They staged a fake load—product that wasn’t meant to survive long, money that wasn’t meant to last, timing that was built to fail on purpose. The kind of plan you only run when you’re trying to draw a predator out of its den.   Mari didn’t argue. She watched. And Vance watched her watching.   At 9:07 p.m., the fake delivery rolled toward Shaw Yard.   At 9:09 p.m., the yard lights flickered like a throat clearing.   At 9:11 p.m., the shipment was “interrupted.” Not stolen. Not destroyed.   Recorded.   There were cameras. There were logs. There were witnesses who didn’t even look afraid.   Dre’s voice came through Vance’s earpiece, tight with adrenaline. “They’re letting it happen. They want it seen.”   Vance exhaled. “Because if Shaw can show it to the city, the city will believe.”   Mari whispered from beside him, the first time she sounded genuinely shaken. “Vance, you can’t outsmart a machine that writes its own evidence.”   He turned to her. “Watch me.”   Rowan Shaw arrived in a clean suit that looked like it had never touched grime. He didn’t need to raise his voice. People stepped aside for him automatically.       \---

by R.K.Mazza

***What if the Perfect Crime wasn't a fantasy?*** Mr. Keene doesn't commit crime on impulse, He approaches it as a problem of precision, probability, psychology and control. ***The question is not simply who committed the crime,*** The question is whether the crime can be proven! ***The Illusion of the Perfect Crime.*** A crime so perfect, no one even suspects a crime has been committed. ***Written for Readers who enjoy aspects of:*** - The Silence of the Lambs - Crime and Punishment - Death Note - Character Driven Drama  Likewise, readers seeking a traditional detective mystery with a straightforward solution may encounter a more ambiguous and philosophical experience.    This novel distinguishes itself from standard crime fiction by focusing less on forensic evidence and more on intellectual strategy. The idea that mathematics and probability can be applied to criminal behavior gives the story a unique identity.    It will leave you questioning what is true, what is manipulation, and whether the investigation itself is being controlled by the mastermind. This ambiguity adds tension beyond the crimes themselves.

by Oscar J.

**CAIN ON CRAWFORD STREET** **A Psychological Crime Thriller** **By Oscar J. Starr III** Marcus King and Malcolm King grew up on Houston’s Crawford Street with little more than their mother’s determination and a promise to one another: they would escape poverty together. As boys, they were inseparable, bound by hardship, sacrifice, and dreams of building a better life. But as the years pass, that promise begins to fracture under the weight of expectations, ambition, and comparison. Marcus embraces responsibility, transforming relentless discipline into a thriving real estate empire that reshapes neighborhoods across Houston. Admired as a visionary entrepreneur and generous community leader, he becomes the pride of the King family. Malcolm, once considered the brighter and more promising brother, watches his own life unravel through failed ventures, financial hardship, and a growing sense of inadequacy. Every achievement Marcus earns becomes another reminder of the life Malcolm believes was meant for him. When Marcus is honored with one of Houston’s most prestigious business awards, the celebration exposes years of buried resentment. Family members unknowingly deepen old wounds with well-meaning comparisons, while Evelyn King, the brothers’ devoted mother, is forced to confront the unintended consequences of the expectations she placed on each son. Long-hidden secrets, painful sacrifices, and unresolved betrayals rise to the surface, pushing the brothers toward an emotional collision neither can escape. Days later, Marcus is found murdered inside his luxury penthouse overlooking downtown Houston. Detective Simone Harris initially suspects a business conspiracy involving Marcus’s multimillion-dollar real estate empire. But as she follows a trail of conflicting testimonies, hidden financial records, family letters, and deeply personal betrayals, she discovers that the greatest threat to Marcus never came from a corporate rival or a criminal organization. It came from within his own family. As the investigation peels back decades of jealousy, love, guilt, and generational trauma, every member of the King family becomes both witness and suspect. Harris uncovers a heartbreaking truth: the rivalry between Marcus and Malcolm was never fueled by hatred alone, but by a lifetime of comparison that quietly poisoned the bond they once cherished. Set against the backdrop of Houston’s evolving skyline, **CAIN ON CRAWFORD STREET** is a gripping psychological crime thriller that explores the devastating consequences of envy, the burden of family expectations, and the fragile line between unconditional love and unforgivable betrayal. Equal parts emotional family drama and suspenseful murder mystery, the novel asks a haunting question: *What happens when the person you’ve spent your entire life trying to protect becomes the one you must fear the most?*

by JD Berryhill

This story is a true story though the names have been changed. A real eye-opener for anyone who has thought that the system in place is meant to help, protect or rehabilitate. And, that more times than not good people who have just simply been through hell, get placed into a system where their back story is never taken into consideration and they lose their humanity and become just another number. One that is guilty until proven innocent. A broken system that often leaves individuals worse than they found them.

by Marion A. Yost

A brother/sister duo in the Navy set off to avenge there father's death only to realize that he'd been training them for a much greater purpose. The book tracks their adventures while finding more chaos to stop..

by Nikki Rollingwood

**Till Death: A Gripping Psychological Thriller** **SHE STAGES THEM AS LOVERS. SHE SEES THEM AS PREY.** > *A campus killer stages fake romantic suicides. To stop her, Tauny must tap into the dark instincts inherited from her serial killer grandfather.*   When two popular university students are found dead in their dorm room, locked in an intimate embrace beside an empty neon vape pen, local authorities and campus officials are quick to label it a tragic accident—a mutual overdose pact amidst a growing student drug crisis. Case closed. Except for Tauny May Baker. To the rest of the student body, Tauny is just a quiet, reserved graduate student trying to blend into the background. But beneath her ordinary surface lies a terrifying secret: she is the granddaughter of one of the country’s most infamous serial killers. And along with his blood, she inherited his clinical, predatory radar—an ability to see the meticulous calculation behind human violence. Where the police see grief and reckless youth, Tauny sees impossible symmetry: hospital-corner bed folds, unnatural body posture, and a crime scene arranged like a gallery exhibit. She knows instantly that a killer is hunting on campus, hiding in plain sight behind the mask of a grieving, "perfect best friend" who is obsessed with turning her victims into eternal legends. When Detective Jase starts investigating the deaths, Tauny must play a dangerous game of hide-and-seek. She has to drop subtle clues to steer his investigation toward the truth without revealing *how* she knows—or risking Jase uncovering her own dark lineage. But as Tauny quietly digs into the killer's social circle, the killer takes notice. To outsmart a monster who treats murder as fine art, Tauny is forced to do the one thing she fears most: stop fighting her genetics, tap into her grandfather's ruthless mind, and embrace the darkness inside her to survive.

by Curtis Alcutt

**GOING DOWN**\ *A Supernatural Anthology Thriller* Every elevator ride in Mason Towers tells a different story. A nervous woman riding down to meet a blind date. A guilty man confessing to a stranger who turns out to be a detective. A widow returning to the building where his wife disappeared fifty years ago — and finding her waiting. But beneath the building, carved into the sub-basement floor directly under the elevator shaft, something has been waiting far longer than any of them. Mason Towers is a 33-story Freemason-built high-rise in downtown Oakland, California. It was constructed in 1923 on a site the builders chose deliberately — a convergence point where something ancient, something sealed, something that predated even the Templars by centuries, lay dormant beneath the earth. The building was never meant to be just a building. The elevator was never meant to just take people somewhere. Every 33 years, on the night of October Friday the 13th, the building takes three lives. Fire. Fall. Electrocution. Always the same three methods. Always ruled accidental. Always before dawn. Someone has always known. He has worked in this building for thirty years. He is mute, which means everyone talks freely around him. He hears everything. He has been preparing for October 13th, 2025 his entire career. His name is Earl. And he has never said a word. *Going Down — ten episodes. One season. The elevator is waiting.*

by J.O. Starr

**The Widow on Cedar Street** **Synopsis** **By J. O. Starr** For more than twenty years, Cedar Street has been the kind of neighborhood people dream about—tree-lined sidewalks, historic homes, and neighbors who greet one another by name. But behind its carefully maintained charm lies a silence built on secrets, and no house holds more mystery than the aging Victorian at the end of the street. Since the tragic death of her husband in a devastating house fire two decades earlier, **Evelyn Harper** has lived a quiet, solitary life. To her neighbors, she is simply “the widow on Cedar Street”—reserved, courteous, and forever marked by a tragedy no one fully understands. Rumors have followed her for years, but without evidence, the past has remained buried. Until another body is discovered. When a well-known resident is found murdered under suspicious circumstances, Detective Marcus Sloan is assigned to investigate what initially appears to be an isolated crime. But as he uncovers forgotten police reports, missing evidence, and unsettling connections to the long-closed fire that claimed Evelyn’s husband, it becomes clear that someone has spent decades protecting a dangerous truth. As fear spreads through the neighborhood, anonymous letters begin appearing in mailboxes, accusing longtime residents of crimes they believed were hidden forever. Friendships fracture, marriages unravel, and decades of loyalty give way to suspicion. Every conversation becomes a clue, every neighbor a potential suspect. Caught in the center of the investigation, Evelyn finds herself forced to confront a past she has spent years trying to escape. The closer Detective Sloan comes to the truth, the more he realizes that Cedar Street has never been as peaceful as it seemed. Beneath its manicured lawns and welcoming front porches lies a web of deception, betrayal, and carefully buried guilt stretching back generations. But the greatest mystery is not who committed the latest murder. It is why so many people have worked so hard to keep the truth hidden. In a neighborhood where everyone knows everyone—and no one knows the whole story—trust becomes the most dangerous illusion of all. **The Widow on Cedar Street** is a gripping psychological thriller that explores grief, deception, loyalty, and the devastating consequences of secrets left to fester. With unforgettable twists, richly layered characters, and an ending that reshapes everything readers thought they knew, this suspenseful novel reminds us that sometimes the most dangerous place isn’t a dark alley or an abandoned house—it’s the quiet street we call home.

by Oscar J.

**Murder on Blackwood Lane** **By Oscar J. Starr III** Blackwood Lane is the kind of street people dream about—tree-lined sidewalks, historic homes, and neighbors who proudly claim nothing bad ever happens there. Until the morning one of its most influential residents is found murdered. Judge Richard Holloway, a respected public figure with decades of power and influence, is discovered dead inside his locked mansion under circumstances that defy explanation. There are no signs of forced entry, no obvious murder weapon, and no witnesses willing to tell Detective Ava Mercer what they know. As she begins questioning the residents of Blackwood Lane, she realizes the neighborhood’s carefully polished image hides a web of deception far more dangerous than anyone imagined. Behind every elegant front door lies a secret: broken marriages, financial corruption, long-buried betrayals, blackmail, and a decades-old disappearance that was quietly forgotten. With each new revelation, another resident turns up dead, suggesting the killer isn’t covering up a single crime—they’re completing a deadly plan that began years earlier. As Ava pieces together a trail of hidden connections, she uncovers evidence that the murder of Judge Holloway is tied to an unsolved tragedy that has haunted Blackwood Lane for more than twenty-five years. The closer she gets to the truth, the more she realizes the killer has been watching her investigation from the very beginning—and is always one step ahead. In a neighborhood where everyone knows each other’s names but no one truly knows the people behind the doors, trust becomes a deadly gamble. To solve the case, Detective Mercer must expose the darkest secret Blackwood Lane has ever hidden before the killer claims another victim. **Murder on Blackwood Lane** is a gripping psychological thriller filled with shocking twists, unforgettable characters, and a suspenseful mystery that explores how far people will go to protect the lies they’ve built their lives upon. Because on Blackwood Lane, every house hides a secret—but only one hides a killer.

by J.O. Starr

Every Friday night, **Noah Mercer** drives for a rideshare company to supplement his income after losing his wife in a tragic accident. He prides himself on remembering every passenger—except one. A woman dressed in gray enters his car just after midnight. She gives no destination, barely speaks, and disappears before the trip officially ends. Security footage shows Noah driving alone. Days later, a prominent attorney is found murdered. Then a journalist. Then a retired detective. Each victim had secretly been connected to a twenty-year-old case involving the disappearance of a young girl—a crime everyone believed had gone unsolved. The only link between the murders is Noah’s mysterious passenger. As detectives begin suspecting Noah himself, he races to uncover the identity of the silent woman before he becomes the final victim. But the deeper he investigates, the more he realizes the passenger may not be hunting random people… She may be leading him toward the truth about his own wife’s death. In a shocking finale, Noah discovers that the “silent passenger” has been orchestrating a deadly reckoning against everyone responsible for a decades-old conspiracy—including someone Noah has trusted all along.

by J.O. Starr

**The Woman in Apartment 4B** **By Oscar J. Starr III** *Legacy Strategist | Crime & Thriller Writer | Published Author*  The Ashcroft Apartments has stood quietly in the heart of the city for nearly seventy years. To outsiders, it’s just another aging brick building filled with ordinary people trying to live ordinary lives. But behind its faded walls, every apartment guards a secret—and none is more mysterious than **Apartment 4B**. No one knows the woman’s real name. She keeps to herself, leaves at unpredictable hours, and never allows anyone inside her apartment. Yet every tenant seems to have crossed paths with her at least once. Some describe her as kind. Others call her manipulative. A few insist she’s dangerous. Then, without warning… She disappears. When homicide detective **Lena Ortiz** and investigative journalist **Ethan Brooks** begin searching for answers, they uncover something impossible. There is no lease. No driver’s license. No utility records. No employment history. No fingerprints. Officially, the woman in Apartment 4B never existed. As Ethan and Lena dig deeper, they discover that nearly every resident in the building has been hiding something for years—an affair that turned deadly, stolen money, political corruption, blackmail, a decades-old disappearance, and a murder that was buried long before anyone moved into Ashcroft Apartments. The missing woman somehow knew all of it. Hidden throughout the building are encrypted journals, surveillance recordings, photographs, and sealed envelopes—pieces of a carefully constructed puzzle designed to expose the truth only after she vanished. But someone else is hunting those same secrets. One by one, witnesses begin turning up dead. Evidence disappears from police custody. Apartment doors are broken into. Security footage is erased. And with every new discovery, it becomes terrifyingly clear that the woman wasn’t running from a killer… She was leading one into the open. As the investigation spirals into a deadly game of deception, Ethan realizes he has become more than an observer. Someone is watching his every move, anticipating every question, and eliminating anyone who gets too close to the truth. The final revelation changes everything. The woman in Apartment 4B wasn’t hiding from her past. She was building a case against a powerful criminal network that had operated in plain sight for decades—using the apartment building as the perfect place to recruit, manipulate, and silence its victims. Her disappearance wasn’t an act of fear. It was the first move in a carefully orchestrated plan. And when the last envelope is finally opened, the investigators uncover one chilling message written in her unmistakable handwriting: **“If you’re reading this, I’m already gone. Don’t waste your time looking for me. Find the people who made me disappear.”** In the haunting final scene, a young woman carries a suitcase into the freshly renovated Apartment 4B. As she closes the door behind her, she notices a small brass key taped beneath the kitchen table with a handwritten note attached. **“Your turn.”** *Some mysteries end with the truth.* **This one begins there.**

by Gina Murdock

Jake Miller is living the best morning of his life. Pancakes, laughter, his wife's hand in his, his daughter buckled safely in the back seat. He has no idea it's about to become the worst.  When tragedy strikes on an ordinary Wednesday, Jake wakes up the next morning to find it's the same Wednesday again — 6:12 a.m., the same golden light, the same choices waiting to be made differently. He's the only one who remembers. And no matter what he changes, the day seems determined to take something from him before it lets him go.  The truth, when it finally surfaces, is worse than anything supernatural: someone built this. Someone patient, brilliant, and devastated — a woman whose life's work Jake's own hands helped destroy, and whose grief has spent years hardening into something with a plan.  As the walls close in — a stranger's car parked down the street, a note left in the dark, a friend who pays a price for helping — Jake has to face not just what's coming for his family, but what he's already done to deserve it.  Some debts don't get canceled. They just wait for the right Wednesday.

by Curtis Alcutt

Apollo Knight is the most talented producer nobody's heard of — and he prefers it that way. Raised by his jazz-legend grandmother in Berkeley after his mother abandoned him at age five, Apollo poured everything he couldn't say out loud into his music. Now twenty-five, he runs BeatBoxx Studios out of his grandmother's garage, producing hits for street rappers while quietly dreaming of something bigger. His partner, Grimey, is everything Apollo isn't — loud, ambitious, and willing to cut any corner to get paid. When Grimey starts pushing Apollo toward Street Lyfe Records, a label with a reputation for stealing beats and dodging the IRS, Apollo's instincts tell him to walk. But walking away from Grimey was never simple. Set against the gritty, soulful backdrop of Oakland's music scene — from the recording booths of Berkeley to the jazz clubs of West Oakland's Seventh Street — Bullets & Ballads is a story about talent versus hustle, loyalty versus survival, and one man trying to protect the only thing nobody can take from him: his music.

by Oscar J.

**The Neighbor Across the Street** **Synopsis** After a painful divorce, **Emily Carter** leaves her old life behind and moves into the quiet, picturesque community of **Cedar Oaks**, hoping for a fresh start. With its tree-lined streets, immaculate lawns, friendly neighbors, and reputation as one of the safest neighborhoods in the state, Cedar Oaks appears to be the perfect place to begin again. Among the first people to welcome her is **Daniel Mercer**, the seemingly ideal neighbor who lives directly across the street. Quiet, courteous, and dependable, Daniel follows the same routine every day with almost unsettling precision. To everyone else, he is the model citizen—a churchgoer, volunteer, and trusted member of the community. But one late night, Emily sees Daniel leaving a long-abandoned house carrying a shovel. By morning, there is no trace that anyone had been there, and Daniel insists she must have imagined it. When police dismiss her concerns and neighbors encourage her to let the matter go, Emily’s instincts tell her something is deeply wrong. She begins documenting unusual activity throughout Cedar Oaks—lights flickering inside vacant homes, unfamiliar vehicles arriving after midnight, whispered conversations that abruptly end when she approaches, and families who seem to disappear overnight without anyone questioning where they went. Her investigation takes a chilling turn after security cameras capture the same mysterious figure walking silently through the neighborhood every night at exactly **2:11 a.m.**, pausing outside the same homes before vanishing before sunrise. As Emily digs deeper into property records, erased surveillance footage, and decades-old newspaper archives, she uncovers evidence of a carefully orchestrated cover-up stretching back more than thirty years. The truth reveals that Cedar Oaks was built upon a devastating secret that powerful residents have protected for generations. Every smiling neighbor, every community gathering, and every carefully maintained home conceals another layer of deception. Daniel Mercer is not the mastermind Emily believed him to be, but a reluctant keeper of a legacy of silence that has destroyed countless lives. As Emily races to expose the truth, she becomes the neighborhood’s next target. Watched from every window and betrayed by people she thought she could trust, she must decide whether revealing the past is worth risking her future. **The Neighbor Across the Street** is a gripping psychological suspense novel that explores the illusion of suburban perfection, the power of collective silence, and the terrifying realization that the greatest dangers often hide behind the friendliest smiles. Filled with escalating tension, shocking twists, and unforgettable characters, it launches **The Cedar Oaks Mysteries**, a series proving that every quiet neighborhood has a story—and every story hides a secret someone will kill to protect.

by Oscar J.

**The Visitor at Midnight** **A Psychological Mystery & Suspense Novel** For twenty-five years, the picturesque town of Blackridge has been celebrated as a place where neighbors trust one another, crime is nearly nonexistent, and the past has quietly faded into memory. Beneath its peaceful façade, however, lies a carefully guarded secret—one powerful enough to destroy lives if it is ever exposed. Everything changes on a stormy October night when an impeccably dressed stranger appears on a resident’s doorstep precisely at midnight. Calm, courteous, and unsettling, he never asks to enter. Instead, he delivers a single cryptic message before disappearing into the darkness. *“It’s time.”* By sunrise, someone connected to that household is either dead or has vanished without a trace. As the mysterious midnight visits continue, fear grips Blackridge. Rumors spread, lifelong friendships fracture, and suspicion falls on everyone from respected civic leaders to trusted law enforcement officials. Determined to uncover the truth, Detective Elena Brooks returns to the town she once called home and discovers that every recipient of the Visitor’s unsettling message shares one disturbing connection: each played a role—whether through action or silence—in the unsolved disappearance of investigative journalist and philanthropist Samuel Whitmore twenty-five years earlier. As Elena digs deeper, she uncovers evidence of a far-reaching conspiracy involving influential families, public officials, and community leaders who worked together to bury the truth and protect their reputations. Yet the deeper the investigation goes, the more impossible the mystery becomes. Security cameras fail to capture the Visitor’s face. Witnesses describe him differently. His knowledge of long-forgotten events defies explanation, leaving the town questioning whether they are confronting a man, a myth, or something far more unsettling. With each passing midnight, another secret is exposed, another life is shattered, and the countdown toward a final reckoning grows shorter. As hidden alliances crumble and old betrayals come to light, Elena realizes the case is far more personal than she ever imagined. A sealed envelope delivered during the Visitor’s final appearance forces her to confront a forgotten chapter of her own childhood, revealing that she has never been investigating someone else’s past—she has been unraveling her own. Atmospheric, emotionally charged, and filled with escalating suspense, *The Visitor at Midnight* is a gripping psychological mystery about guilt, justice, redemption, and the devastating cost of buried secrets. In Blackridge, every knock has a reason, every secret has a witness, and some truths refuse to stay buried forever.

by Oscar J.

**Synopsis** For twenty-five years, the Carter family has told the same story whenever anyone mentions Tanya Carter. *“She ran away.”* No one knows where she went. No one claims to have heard from her. Most unsettling of all, no one seems interested in finding her. When thirty-two-year-old investigative journalist **Nia Carter** returns to her hometown to investigate a political corruption case, she unexpectedly uncovers an old family photograph labeled, *“Tanya – Summer 1998.”* Curious about the young woman she has never met, Nia begins asking questions, only to discover that every relative repeats the same rehearsed explanation before quickly changing the subject. As her investigation deepens, Nia uncovers a chilling absence of evidence. There is no missing person’s report, no police investigation, no goodbye letter, and no official record proving Tanya ever left town. Anonymous threats warn Nia to stop searching, while family members, church leaders, and lifelong neighbors close ranks to protect a secret that has remained buried for decades. Hidden journals, forgotten recordings, and long-lost family documents reveal that Tanya had been investigating a devastating truth before she vanished—one capable of destroying the Carter family’s carefully protected reputation. With every revelation, Nia realizes the greatest mystery is not whether Tanya disappeared, but how an entire family convinced themselves to forget her. As decades of silence begin to unravel, Nia uncovers a heartbreaking chain of events fueled by fear, loyalty, and the desperate need to preserve appearances at any cost. The truth forces the Carter family to confront the consequences of collective guilt and challenges an entire community to reckon with the price of protecting its image over one of its own. Blending psychological suspense with emotional family drama, **What Happened to Cousin Tanya?** is a gripping mystery thriller that explores generational trauma, respectability, and the dangerous power of silence. It asks a haunting question: *If everyone knows the truth, who is truly responsible for keeping the lie alive?*

by Nikki Rollingwood

**Her life was off-script. The screen gave her a killer rewrite.** Quiet, timid, and virtually invisible in her own home, a suburban housewife turns to *The Elite Inner Circle* for an escape from the suffocating silence of her daily routine. But this isn't just another trashy reality show. When the show's ruthless, ice-blonde star breaks the fourth wall to speak directly to her, she is offered a seductive deal: a customized script to take control of her life and a permanent solution to anyone who stands in her way. Guided by real-time directions from her screen, her petty suburban rivalries quickly escalate into calculated, deadly "accidents." As her home transforms into a sterile, hyper-curated studio set, she gets hooked on the intoxicating rush of soaring ratings. But staying on prime time requires bigger drama—and a growing body count. *Canceled* is a darkly satirical psychological thriller about the price of fame, the terror of visibility, and how far one woman will go to keep from being written off.

by Oscar J.

**The Island of No Return** **Synopsis** **By Oscar J. Starr III** When six accomplished strangers receive exclusive invitations to spend a week at the luxurious and secluded Eden Cay, the opportunity seems too extraordinary to refuse. Promised unparalleled luxury, personalized experiences, and complete privacy, each guest believes they have been selected for reasons tied to their remarkable achievements. What begins as paradise quickly becomes a waking nightmare. Shortly after their arrival, every route off the island disappears. Communication with the outside world is mysteriously severed, personal belongings begin vanishing, and unsettling messages reveal intimate secrets that no stranger should know. As suspicion spreads through the group, trust evaporates and every conversation becomes a calculated game of survival. The island itself seems to possess an impossible knowledge of its guests’ pasts. Hidden beneath Eden Cay’s breathtaking beauty lies a carefully orchestrated experiment built upon guilt, deception, and judgment. A series of psychological trials forces each guest to confront the darkest decisions they believed had remained buried forever. Every confession uncovers another layer of the island’s sinister purpose, while every discovery raises an even more terrifying question: Were they invited…or chosen? As tensions escalate and one guest mysteriously disappears, the survivors uncover evidence that Eden Cay has hosted similar gatherings for decades. The island has become the stage for a chilling ritual where redemption carries an unimaginable cost, and justice is determined by an unseen architect whose identity has remained hidden from every previous visitor. With no rescue coming and nowhere left to run, the guests must decide how much of the truth they are willing to reveal—not only to one another, but to themselves. In the final confrontation, the true mastermind behind Eden Cay is exposed, forcing each survivor to face a choice that will determine whether they earn freedom or become another permanent part of the island’s haunting legacy. Blending psychological suspense, mystery, and high-stakes survival, **The Island of No Return** explores guilt, accountability, redemption, and the dangerous illusion that the past can ever remain buried. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of a tropical paradise hiding unimaginable darkness, the novel delivers relentless twists, emotional intensity, and a shocking conclusion that leaves readers questioning whether true justice can ever exist without mercy.

by Sean Runyon

**Synopsis: *The Last Witness*** *"This war did not begin with a nuclear flash swallowing billions into the footnotes of history. History rarely grants us that kind of honesty. It began with secrets stamped NATIONAL SECURITY, with lies folded into origami excuses, and with men who had already sold your future branding the transaction as stability. It began with a population drowning in noise until it mistook confusion for intelligence. And the greatest lesson Liam Roberts would learn was this: people do not fear tyranny for what it is. They fear uncertainty. Tyranny simply learns to disguise itself as relief."* These are the opening words of investigative journalist Liam Roberts' final broadcast As the last witness to civilization's collapse, Roberts explains that the world did not end in a blinding nuclear exchange or a single catastrophic event. Civilizations rarely collapse in fire first. They collapse in ink, paperwork, euphemisms, and administrative language polished clean enough to disguise the smell of decay. Before revealing how the world unraveled, Roberts takes his audience back to where it all began with a phone call from a man named Thomas Riker, a soldier whose existence has been systematically erased from history. Roberts has built his career exposing corruption and uncovering stories others wanted buried, but nothing prepares him for what lies beneath the surface of the modern world. What begins as an investigation into one impossible man quickly becomes a fight for humanity's survival. Riker reveals that behind every major conflict since the Second World War stands the Doctor, the hidden architect of the Syndicate, a clandestine organization that has transformed wars, governments, and human suffering into decades of experimentation in pursuit of a single objective: Project Helix. Following Riker through classified military operations, abandoned facilities, and forgotten programs, Roberts begins to see a pattern stretching across generations. Every trail leads back to Facility 47, where the Doctor's work has evolved beyond biology into something far more dangerous: understanding, predicting, and ultimately directing human behavior itself. With every discovery, Roberts realizes the Syndicate's greatest weapon was never military power. It was its ability to shape what people believed to be true. As the evidence grows, Roberts confronts the Doctor's most devastating discovery: people rarely surrender to force; they surrender to fear, convenience, and the promise of safety. By manipulating information instead of relying on violence, the Syndicate has quietly conditioned entire generations to mistake certainty for truth and security for freedom. By the time Roberts understands that humanity itself has become the experiment, the conditioning is already complete. Unable to remain an observer, Roberts joins a small band of resistance fighters determined to expose the Syndicate before its plan reaches its final stage. As they dismantle hidden facilities and uncover decades of deception, they make a devastating realization. They are no longer trying to stop the Doctor's plan; they are witnessing its completion. Their search ultimately leads them to Bastion Zero, where Roberts learns the Syndicate has already succeeded in ways the world has failed to recognize. The Doctor never intended to rule through armies alone. He intended to build a civilization that would willingly participate in its own conditioning, believing every decision was freely made while every outcome had already been engineered. Riker finally confronts the man who transformed his life into an experiment, while Roberts makes the only choice left to him. Rather than allowing the truth to die with him, he broadcasts it across every remaining frequency, preserving a final record of how humanity surrendered its future one compromise at a time. The novel ends where it began. Alone inside Bastion Zero, Liam Roberts delivers his final message  not in the hope of saving the world, but to ensure that someone, somewhere, might one day understand how it was lost. Whether anyone survives to hear his testimony remains uncertain. The truth, however, endures.

by DANIELLE

​"I was a good wife until the night I invited a monster into my husband’s bed." ​At twenty-seven, Emily Thorne is living inside a gilded cage. To the corporate world, she’s a quiet, polished professional. To her husband, Christian, she’s just another piece of property to own and control. But when the feds drag Christian away in handcuffs, his suffocating shadow finally lifts—leaving Emily alone, starved for adrenaline, and drowning in the quiet silence of an empty house. ​Then, she crosses a line she can never un-cross. She sends a single, late-night message to her husband’s estranged cousin. ​Marcus Vance. ​Cold, ruthless, and covered in black ink, Marcus is an untouchable ghost in the city’s underground. He doesn't do sweet promises, and he doesn't play by anyone's rules. What begins as a risky digital game quickly devolves into an intense, lawless obsession. Marcus doesn't just touch Emily—he claims her, dismantles her innocence, and teaches her what it feels like to burn. ​But the real game begins when the prison gates open early. ​Christian is coming home to claim his house and his wife, completely unaware that his own blood spent the last three weeks carving his name into Emily's skin. Meanwhile, a brilliant federal agent is closing in, using Emily’s corporate access to dismantle the Vance empire once and for all. ​Caught in a violent crossfire between a husband out for blood, an FBI task force on the hunt, and a possessive anti-hero who would burn the world down before letting her go, Emily faces one final choice: ​Step back into the light... or take the throne in the dark

by Lilly Mykals Kennedy

A mature lawyer, Tonya Russell, develops a hot fling with boy toy Dakota Barrings. The two share a hot summer, but things get out of hand when Dakota develops another love interest and tries to push Tonya to the side.

by Stephen Sulkey

## The Bayou Girl: A Gathering of Shadows Bedelia Marie Dubois has transformed Savannah into a sanctuary, but peace was never meant to last. As word of the mysterious vampire known as the Dark Angel spreads throughout the supernatural world, strangers begin arriving at Pecan Hill seeking her guidance, her protection, and, in some cases, the gift of immortality itself. Among them is Mei-Ling Yao, one of the legendary Tiger People, whose arrival reveals that vampires are only one part of a far older and more mysterious world. While ancient alliances are forged and dangerous new enemies gather in the shadows, Bedelia faces an even greater challenge. The man she loves, Benjamin Reese, is slowly dying, trapped between his humanity and the terrible hunger of immortality. Desperate to save him without sacrificing the principles that define them both, Bedelia searches for a path no vampire has ever found. Then, beneath the ancient oaks of Savannah, a revelation changes everything. As the spirits of the dead reveal a destiny stretching far beyond one city or one century, Bedelia begins to understand that the Dark Angels were never meant to defend Savannah alone. Their purpose is far greater—and the darkness gathering against them is greater still. *A Gathering of Shadows* expands the world of **The Bayou Girl** into an epic tale of supernatural mystery, loyalty, sacrifice, and hope, where the line between monster and guardian grows ever more difficult to define... and where one immortal woman may be destined for a role no one could have imagined.

by Stephen Sulkey

## The Bayou Girl: The Shadows of Savannah After leaving the bayous of Louisiana behind, Bedelia Marie Dubois begins a new life in historic Savannah, Georgia. Hidden behind the elegance of a restored antebellum mansion and the charm of Southern society, she quietly builds a place for herself among the city's elite. But beneath Savannah's beauty lies a darkness every bit as deadly as the one she left behind. As criminals, predators, and ancient supernatural forces emerge from the shadows, Bedelia finds herself drawn once again into a secret war against evil. A determined homicide detective begins investigating a series of impossible deaths, while an old hoodoo woman senses that something ancient has awakened within the city. At the same time, Bedelia struggles with a loneliness that even immortality cannot erase, haunted by her love for New Orleans police detective Benjamin Reese. Soon, old allies arrive, powerful new enemies reveal themselves, and Bedelia discovers that the darkness gathering in Savannah is greater than anything she has faced before. To protect the innocent, she must risk exposing the very secret that has kept her alive for more than two centuries. Rich with Southern Gothic atmosphere, supernatural suspense, mystery, and unforgettable characters, **The Bayou Girl: The Shadows of Savannah** continues the saga of an immortal woman who has chosen to become the monster that hunts monsters.

by Stephen Sulkey

## The Bayou Girl: A Woman to Die For She lived in the bayou until she could no longer tolerate the evil that men do. For more than two centuries, Bedelia Marie Dubois has hidden from the world, living alone among the swamps and ancient oaks of coastal Louisiana. To those few who know the old legends, she is little more than a whispered ghost—a beautiful woman seen only at night, leaving behind unanswered questions and the bodies of those who deserved far worse. When a series of brutal crimes draws innocent people into her world, Bedelia can no longer remain an observer. Forced to choose between the secrecy that has protected her for generations and the justice that demands action, she begins a dangerous crusade against killers, predators, and those who believe the weak exist only to be exploited. As detectives, scholars, and powerful enemies close in, Bedelia discovers that the greatest threat is not her own immortal nature, but an ancient evil that has begun to stir in the shadows. To confront it, she must decide whether redemption is still possible for a creature long believed to be damned. Set against the haunting beauty of the Louisiana bayous, *The Bayou Girl: A Woman to Die For* is a Southern Gothic thriller that blends supernatural suspense, mystery, horror, and moral complexity into the story of a vampire who has chosen to become humanity's unlikely guardian. Sometimes the most dangerous monster... is the one trying to save you.

by Stephen Sulkey

## The Bayou Girl Series Some monsters hunt the innocent. Others hunt the monsters. **The Bayou Girl** is a Southern Gothic supernatural thriller series published on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) where vampires are not the greatest evil—they are often the last line of defense against it. For more than two centuries, Bedelia Marie Dubois has walked the shadows of the American South, hiding among humanity while carrying the burden of immortality. But when ancient powers begin to awaken and organized crime, human trafficking, serial killers, corrupt politicians, and forces far older than civilization threaten the living, she can no longer remain hidden. From the haunted streets of Savannah to the moonlit bayous and the French Quarter of New Orleans, Bedelia and those she transforms into her Dark Angels wage a secret war that few humans will ever know exists. Alongside detectives, scholars, priests, and unlikely allies, they confront horrors born of both mankind and the supernatural, where every victory comes at a terrible price and every choice tests the boundaries between justice and vengeance. Rich with Southern atmosphere, gothic elegance, supernatural mystery, and fast-paced suspense, **The Bayou Girl** blends vampire mythology, crime fiction, horror, faith, and moral ambiguity into an epic saga of immortal protectors battling the darkness hidden behind everyday life. Because sometimes the monsters wearing human faces are far more terrifying than the ones with fangs.

by G.E. Biggers

When a Detective falls into a paralyzing trance, he discovers he's trapped in his own mind with only his broken past to help him escape his coma and clear the smoke. Every step taken is a step down memory lane as the Detective races against a clock he can't see, a woman he doesn't remember and a past stuffed so deep it may actually kill him if uncovered. Journey through the mind and past of the Detective as he takes on a case with a unique victim: Himself.

by Nikki Rollingwood

**In the shadow of the Blackbear Ridge peaks, nothing is ever truly accidental—especially not the death that just made headlines.** Georgia, the voice behind the true-crime podcast *The Anatomy of Malice*, has spent years dissecting the dark underbelly of human nature. But when a "freak" avalanche at a luxury resort kills a high-profile guest, Georgia discovers a detail the authorities missed: a surgical, artificial incision along the mountain’s crest. She hasn’t found a tragic coincidence. She’s found a signature. As she digs deeper, Georgia realizes the avalanche wasn’t an act of nature—it was an act of design. The architect behind it is someone who doesn’t just plan the tragedy; she curates the audience, and Georgia has been cast in the starring role. When a rare, vintage brooch is left behind as a deliberate taunt, Georgia finds herself trapped in a high-stakes game where every move she makes—and every step she takes to uncover the truth—is exactly what the Architect anticipated. Forced to abandon her digital life and go into hiding, Georgia realizes that to stop the next "accident," she has to stop playing detective and start playing the Architect’s own game. Caught between the secrets of her own family’s business and a predator who is rewriting her life in real-time, Georgia must determine if she can break the pattern before the final act of the performance begins. **In this chilling psychological thriller, the lines between storyteller and victim blur. In the game of *The Anatomy of Malice*, the pen is sharper than any blade—and the Architect is always watching.**

by Oriyomi Ismail

When Jason Carter arrives in Houston searching for a better future, the last thing he expects is to become entangled in the world of billionaire Richard Blackwood. After unknowingly saving Blackwood’s life, Jason is drawn into a dangerous web of wealth, corporate power, family betrayal, and long-buried secrets. As hidden truths begin to surface, Jason discovers that the greatest inheritance is not money, but the burden of a legacy built on sacrifice, deception, and blood. With powerful enemies closing in and every decision carrying life-or-death consequences, he must fight for his future while uncovering the truth about his past. **BLOOD MONEY** is a BOOKY Award-winning crime thriller filled with suspense, emotional twists, unforgettable characters, and shocking revelations that will keep readers turning pages until the very end. Its feature screenplay adaptation was officially selected by the ICJ International Film Awards.

by Amber Faith Robbins

​This poem captures the brutal reality of loving someone through a timed jail call. It turns the phone itself into a cage, trapping the person on the outside in the exact same sentence. The narrative looks back at a chaotic street past, showing how their fierce loyalty was forged in the trenches. Everything builds to that ruthless 60-second countdown where love, regret, and survival are forced into a mad dash. When the line drops, it leaves a cold, heavy silence where the entire world is put on hold.

by Gina Murdock

Investigative journalist Mara Reynolds has built her career on uncovering the truth, but she's about to discover that her own life is built on lies. When Mara interviews billionaire tech entrepreneur Elijah Williams about his revolutionary energy project, the Prometheus Initiative, she's drawn to his charisma and vision. As their professional relationship evolves into something more intimate, Mara begins experiencing disturbing fragments of memories she can't explain—nightmares about guns, blood, and a murder she witnessed as a child. But every time Mara gets close to remembering the truth, something pulls her back. Therapy sessions with Dr. Catherine Reeves seem to help at first, but soon Mara realizes she's been manipulated in ways she never imagined. The "random" mugging that traumatized her wasn't random at all. Her mother's early-onset dementia may not be natural. And the gaps in her own memory aren't accidents—they're erasures. As Mara digs deeper, she uncovers a horrifying conspiracy: twelve years ago, she witnessed the murder of Elijah's parents by his younger brother David. To protect his family's reputation and his brother from prosecution, Elijah hired a pioneering neurologist to erase Mara's memories. But this wasn't a one-time intervention—Elijah has been manipulating her memories for over a decade, erasing and rewriting her reality every time she gets too close to the truth. The Prometheus Initiative isn't just about clean energy. It's a cover for something far more sinister: a facility where Elijah has perfected the technology to manipulate human memories on a massive scale. Mara is just one of seventeen victims whose lives have been systematically erased and rewritten. Now, as fragments of her true past surface, Mara must race against time to expose Elijah before he can erase her again—permanently. But with her best friend compromised, her mother's mind destroyed, and powerful forces aligned against her, Mara faces an impossible question: How do you fight someone who can rewrite your reality with the touch of a button?

by Don Shaze

RASUL İs the unforgettable orlgin story of the man who would one day become the architect behind the Status empire. Growing up on Erle Avenue in North Philadelphia, Rasul learns early that every declslon carries consequences. Ralsed in an environment where respect must be earned and survval is never guaranteed, he develops a sharp mind, an unbreakable work ethic, and an instinct for reading people that sets him apart from everyone around him. Told in Rasul's own volce, this gripping coming-of-age novel follows his journey from a deternined teenager trying to find his place in the world to a young man whose choices begin shaping his future. Along the way, he experiences first love, fatherhood, heartbreak, loyalty, and painful lessons that force him to confront the cost of chasing the life he believes he wants.  Guided by a father who teaches him to think beyond the moment, Rasul begins studying leadership, business, psychology, and human behavior. While others focus on surviving each day, he quletly starts building a vision for something greater. But before that vision can become reality, he must face life changing consequences that challenge everything he beleves about success, purpose, and legacy. Inside prison, Rasul refuses to let his circumstances define him. Instead, he transforms adversity into opportunity, using his time to sharpen his mind, develop a long-term plan, and lay the foundation for a future built on discipline, strategy, and vision.  Raw, emotlonal, and thought-provoking. RASUL Is more than an urban novel-t's a story about growth, reslence, redemption, and the power of relnventing yourself. t is the frst chapter in the jouney of a man determined to leave behlnd more than a reputatlon-he ls determlned to bulld a legacy. If you enjoy authentlc urban fiction, Gompelling character development, and stortes about overcoming adversity, RASUL Is a powerful beginning to the Status Universe.

by Don Shaze

Status Legacy Series Power is earned. Loyalty is tested. Legacy is forever. From the unforgiving streets of North Philadelphia to the glittering boardrooms of global empires, the Status Legacy Series follows a cast of hustlers, visionaries, killers, lovers, and survivors who discover that the most dangerous battles aren't fought over money—they're fought over power, family, and legacy. At the center of it all is Rasul Baker, a brilliant strategist whose ability to read people turns a street hustler into the architect of a hidden empire. Alongside allies like Nyazia, whose legal career conceals a far greater influence, and a coalition bound by loyalty, ambition, and sacrifice, every victory creates a new enemy and every betrayal carries deadly consequences. As fortunes rise, romances ignite, blood feuds erupt, and empires expand from Philadelphia to Atlanta and beyond. The line between love and manipulation, business and crime, justice and revenge grows thinner with every decision. New kings emerge. Queens refuse to bow. Old debts demand payment. And every generation must decide whether to protect the legacy...or destroy it. Blending gritty street realism with psychological suspense, romance, high-stakes crime, and relentless ambition, the Status Legacy Series is an interconnected saga where every book reveals another piece of a larger game. In the world of Status, respect is currency, loyalty is priceless, and only the strongest leave a legacy. The Status Legacy Series by Don Shaze—where every move matters, every secret has a cost, and every chapter brings you one step closer to the throne.

by Fergus Hume

Archie Hope is desperately trying to win the approval of the irascible Professor Braddock so he can marry the professor's ward, Lucy Kendal. To satisfy the professor's archaeological obsession, Archie procures a rare and valuable Incan mummy. When the packing crate containing the artifact finally arrives at the professor's estate, the mummy has mysteriously vanished and been replaced by the murdered body of the assistant sent to fetch it. Detective Inspector Heatherstone takes on the confounding case. With the assistant dead, Archie immediately becomes a prime suspect in the crime, throwing his engagement to Lucy into jeopardy. As the detective delves into the investigation, he discovers a bizarre cast of characters. The story becomes a thrilling cat-and-mouse game involving the cursed or uncanny reputation of the mummy, hidden motives within the household, and multiple twists before the real killer is finally exposed and justice is served.

by Agatha Christie

Anthony Cade accepts a seemingly simple job to deliver a European politician's memoirs and a bundle of blackmail letters to England. The trail leads him to Chimneys, a historic country estate hosting a diplomatic weekend for the reinstating of the Balkan monarchy. When a foreign prince is murdered on the property, Anthony becomes a prime suspect and must work with Inspector Battle to clear his name. The investigation unravels a complex web of secret identities, missing crown jewels, and a notorious international jewel thief known as King Victor. Ultimately, Anthony discovers his own shocking connection to the throne just as the killer is unmasked.

by LA Stonebear

When a young boy disappears during a routine medical transfer, Eliza Morningstar becomes involved in a case. This case initially focuses on the missing child but soon reveals something much more dangerous lurking beneath the reservation's land and water. As the tribal clinic reaches its limits and the county ambulance never arrives at the hospital, Eliza navigates a maze of jurisdictional dead ends, corporate stonewalling, and a county sheriff’s department eager to distance itself from responsibility. What begins as a disappearance becomes a deeper investigation into environmental contamination, falsified compliance records, and a corporate footprint expanding into tribal territory under the guise of “community benefit.” The more Eliza uncovers, the clearer it becomes that Milo’s disappearance is not an isolated failure but part of a larger pattern—one that ties into PMEP’s operations, county politics, and a system designed to let Native children fall through the cracks. As tensions rise and the community fractures under fear and suspicion, Eliza must confront the limits of her authority, the fragility of interagency cooperation, and the widening gap between what the county claims and what the evidence shows. Each step forward reveals another layer of buried truth—about the land, the water, and the people willing to exploit both. **Book Two deepens the series’ central themes:** - the weaponisation of jurisdictional boundaries - the systemic failures that endanger Indigenous communities - the quiet, grinding violence of environmental harm - and the way a single missing child can expose the rot beneath institutional promises While Book One focused on the immediate human cost of jurisdictional neglect, **Book Two expands the lens**, showing how environmental exploitation, political ambition, and corporate influence intertwine to create a threat that is both intimate and structural. It sets the stage for the broader conspiracy that will unfold across Books Three through Five, each reservation revealing another piece of a system built to fail the people living within it. At its heart, this book is about a boy who vanished—\ and the truth rises when a community insists on remembering him. *Beyond Jurisdiction* is a series that examines the manipulation, weaponisation, and corruption of jurisdiction on sovereign Indigenous Nations. It explores the uncomfortable truth that **Native Americans are U.S. citizens — yet they are the only citizens not consistently counted when they go missing.** The situations are real.\ The historical context is accurate.\ The documentation shows the systemic failures. But the reservations, characters, and storylines are fictional — crafted to illuminate the truth without exposing actual families or communities to further harm.

by D. K. Dowdy

Kade Rourke has a reputation across the Verse as the **worst smuggler alive**. When a job goes sideways, Kade bolts for the farthest place in civilization: **New Eden Station**, a rusted atmo‑outpost clinging to the edge of the Empty. From the moment his shuttle drops out of FTL in a shower of sparks and panic, nothing goes right. The station is a maze of broken systems, predatory officials, and species who’d sell their own lungs for a handful of credits. Worse, the Pinkertons are already hunting him. But trouble finds him first, and unfortunately, the universe hates him.

by Sarah Bantu

**About the Story** What if the key to your survival was locked inside a secret, ancient bloodline?\ Spun from a fascinating true piece of Russian history and set against the brutal, breathtaking backdrop of the frozen north, *Daughter of the Falcon* blends gripping suspense with an unforgettable romance.\ For centuries, deep within the endless, snow covered forests, an elite and hidden clan of warriors lived by their own laws. They did not just survive the winter they ruled it, training lethal military falcons to hunt, fight, and protect secrets hidden from the world. Today, that fierce bloodline legacy is alive, but the isolation of the frozen north is cracking. A dangerous, unpredictable threat is closing in, forcing old secrets into the light and testing the loyalty of a clan that has never bowed to anyone.\ Filled with high stakes twists, deep betrayal, and a slow burn love story that burns hot against the bitter ice, this fiction novel proves that some family histories can never stay buried. Step into a harsh, beautiful world where danger hides in every shadow, trust is a luxury, and you never know what's going to happen next. Discover what happens when the frost bites deep, and the falcon finally takes flight.

by Mikaela Love

Marian Michaels spends her nights singing in New Orleans jazz clubs and her days chasing the career she has always wanted. After witnessing a violent attack that appears to target Black residents, she finds herself frustrated by a lack of evidence and official inaction. Unwilling to let the incident go, Marian begins investigating on her own. As more attacks occur across the city, Marian adopts the masked identity of The Butterfly and follows a trail of intimidation, recruitment, and organized violence. What begins as a single assault soon points to a coordinated movement gaining influence in New Orleans. Balancing her growing music career, complicated relationships, and increasingly dangerous investigations, Marian must decide how far she is willing to go to stop it. Set in New Orleans, The Butterfly is a grounded crime drama that blends vigilante fiction, mystery, and noir with the city’s music scene and culture.

by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Rodion Raskolnikov lives in squalor in St. Petersburg and believes that extraordinary men are above ordinary moral laws. To prove his theory and solve his financial woes, he brutally murders an unscrupulous old pawnbroker and her sister. He is immediately consumed by intense paranoia, fever, and a crushing sense of isolation that alienates him from his family and friends. A clever investigator plays a psychological game of cat-and-mouse with him, while a pious, impoverished young woman named Sonya offers him a path to spiritual redemption. Raskolnikov finally confesses his crime and is exiled to Siberia, where he begins a painful process of moral rebirth.

by LA Stonebear

A hidden network thrives in the cracks between jurisdictions, and across five books a scattered team uncovers how borders, systems, and power structures weaponise themselves against Indigenous communities until the truth forces a reckoning no one can outrun.\ \ All the books in the series bear the title Beyond Jurisdiction. ### \\ ### Book 1: **Theme:** The hidden crisis \ **Focus:** Missing Indigenous youth, cross‑jurisdictional failures, shell corporations\ **Purpose in series:** - Introduces the investigative team - Exposes the trafficking network’s existence - Reveals the jurisdictional loopholes - Ends with the corporation wounded but not destroyed This book is the “discovery” phase of the series. ### Book 2: **Theme:** Manufactured consent \ **Focus:** Environmental protest, water contamination, corporate lobbying, trafficking hidden in the chaos\  **Purpose in series:** - Shows the corporation scaling up - Introduces national attention and political pressure Reveals that the trafficking is not a side operation — it’s part of the business model\ \ This book is the “expansion” phase. ### \\ ### Book 3: \ **Theme:** Corruption as infrastructure\ **Focus:** - Federal hearings - Lobbyists - PAC money - Politicians pressured to ignore Indigenous sovereignty - Shows how the corporation protects itself through legislation - Introduces whistleblowers, journalists, and federal investigators - Reveals the trafficking network’s interstate logistics This book is the “institutional exposure” phase. ### Book 4: \  **Theme:** Extraction without borders\ **Focus:** - How trafficked youth are moved across state and national lines - International buyers, offshore accounts, foreign shell companies - Shows the global scale of the trafficking network - Reveals the corporation’s true leadership This book is the “global revelation” phase. ### Book 5: **Theme:** Sovereignty reclaimed\ **Focus:** - All four reservations - All protagonists - Tribal coalitions - Federal investigations - Community‑led resistance - The collapse of the corporate empire\ \ **Purpose in series:** - Every thread from Books 1–4 converges - Each reservation contributes unique knowledge and evidence - The investigative team completes its arcs - People exposed the corporation publicly. - The ending is realistic: - Some justice - Some loss - Some healing - No simple answers This book is the “reckoning.”

by LA Stonebear

When ten‑year‑old Aiyana Red Elk is found miles from home on the outskirts of the Black Rock Reservation—barefoot, bruised, and unable to explain how she crossed multiple jurisdictions—her discovery exposes a truth far more dangerous than a single disappearance. Her case pulls investigators from **three sovereign reservations**, **two U.S. states**, and **Canada** into the dark spaces where law has no reach and accountability dissolves at the border. As RCMP analyst **Leah Gagnon**, Tribal Police officers from **Red Rock Flats**, **Black Rock**, and **Boundary Ridge**, and a reluctant federal agent unravel Aiyana’s fragmented memories, they uncover a pattern of children taken across borders through a network built to exploit the cracks between nations. Those cracks are not accidental.\ They are the architecture of the system itself. **The investigation exposes systemic barriers with brutal clarity:** - Tribal police have authority only on their own land. - County sheriffs refuse to share evidence. - State police demand protocols but offer no resources. - The FBI asserts jurisdiction but deprioritizes Indigenous victims. - Cross‑border cooperation with Canada is slow, symbolic, and often meaningless. These are not abstract policy failures—they are lived realities that stall cases, erase evidence, and leave families without answers. **The system is not broken. It is functioning exactly as intended.** Across four locations—each distinct, each carrying its own weight—the people who cross these jurisdictional lines come together like strands in a braid. Their unity becomes the only force strong enough to expose a network that exists solely to harm. *Beyond Jurisdiction* starts a series that examines the manipulation, weaponisation, and corruption of jurisdiction on sovereign Indigenous Nations. It explores the uncomfortable truth that **Native Americans are U.S. citizens — yet they are the only citizens not consistently counted when they go missing.** The situations are real.\ The historical context is accurate.\ The documentation shows the systemic failures. But the reservations, characters, and storylines are fictional — crafted to illuminate the truth without exposing actual families or communities to further harm. *Beyond Jurisdiction* introduces a five-book series that explores how exploitation conceals itself in the blind spots of sovereignty. Book One exposes the fissures. Book Two explains how consent gets manufactured; Book Three exposes corruption as infrastructure; Book Four crosses borders without permission; and Book Five becomes the reckoning—**sovereignty reclaimed**.

by Gina Murdock

Investigative journalist Mara Reynolds has spent her career uncovering the truth. However, she never expected the biggest lie to be her own life. \ After interviewing billionaire tech entrepreneur Elijah Williams about his groundbreaking project, the Prometheus Initiative, Mara finds herself drawn to his intelligence, charm, and influence. At first, everything seems normal. But soon, disturbing fragments of memory begin to surface—visions of blood, fear, and a childhood event she cannot fully remember. \ As the nightmares grow stronger, Mara turns to therapy for answers. Instead, she uncovers something far more terrifying. The gaps in her memory are not accidents—they are erasures. \ Someone has been rewriting her past. \ As a result, Mara is forced to question everything: her childhood, her relationships, and even the man she is falling for. The deeper she digs, the more dangerous the truth becomes. Because someone has been controlling her memories for over a decade. \ And the man she trusts most may be the one behind it all. Perfect for readers who love: - Psychological thrillers with shocking twists - Stories about memory manipulation and identity - Suspenseful books like The Silent Patient and Gone Girl - Fast-paced thrillers with unreliable truths - Dark secrets, conspiracies, and emotional suspense

by Ashleigh Apple

Nora Bliss moves into a rental on a picture-perfect suburban street in **Harwick, Connecticut**. On her first night, she notices that the upstairs window of the house directly across the street (the **Hargrove residence)** glows at exactly 3am, every night, without fail. The neighbours say the Hargroves are lovely, their daughter Celeste moved to Portland months ago, and that light is just a timer lamp. Nora almost believes them. Then, one night, the silhouette in the window presses a hand against the glass. And waves back.

by Sir Arthur Conon Doyle

Seeking a roommate to share expenses, Dr. Watson is introduced to the brilliant but enigmatic Sherlock Holmes at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. The pair is soon summoned to a derelict house where a man is found dead with no visible wounds, save for the word **"RACHE"** scrawled in blood on the wall. As Holmes utilizes his unique powers of deduction to track the killer, the narrative reveals a tragic backstory of love, loss, and Mormon pioneers in the American West that fueled the murderer's quest for justice.

by Lisa Troy

Anastasia Livanitis came back to Lifnos for one reason: her father needed post-surgery downtime and someone had to run the family taverna. Two months. In and out. Simple as tzatziki. Then Frieda Baron turns up dead a day after their very public argument — and Anastasia discovers she can still see her. Frieda in death is exactly how she was in life: a billionaire's daughter, a Reality TV winner, and utterly convinced the world revolves around her. She has opinions about the murder, the taverna's wall paint, and Anastasia's love life. Oh, and she's not going anywhere until the killer is found. Anastasia has no choice but to listen — because the locals already think her family's into the dark arts, the hot detective thinks she's the prime suspect, and the taverna won't survive another scandal. The problem with investigating a billionaire's daughter's murder? Ridiculously rich people aren't big on truth. They're interested in results. Anastasia doesn't believe in ghosts. Or curses. She definitely doesn't believe she can solve a murder with a dead woman's help. Yeah, that's going to go over well... A paranormal cozy mystery set on a sun-soaked Greek island. Perfect for readers who love: reluctant sleuths, ghost sidekicks with attitude, homecoming mysteries, family legacy, and Mediterranean atmosphere.  This story will be published as Spirits and Whine in July.

by Judah Ray

In 1955, a secret experiment at the Large Hadron Collider tore open a doorway to another realm.\ \ Extradimensional beings came through, possessed the top scientists and military officials in the room, and kept the portal open.\ \ One of the first crossed over and took a human infant as its host. That infant was Christina.\ \ The only issue is that Christina forgot what she was,  and the others could not enter or control her, but she could see them. So they declared her unstable and institutionalized her.\ \ Years later, world leaders, billionaires, media figures, and political dynasties are all possessed. The New World Order is not a conspiracy theory. It is literal possession.\ \ A decade later, Christina escapes and resurfaces in Berlin. The forces that have tracked her since childhood want her reclaimed or eliminated.\ \ With the help of Jory, who has been able to see the entities inside people since surviving a near-death experience as a child, Christina uncovers a power structure that has ruled humanity from within for generations.\ \ When she learns she is one of them, she must choose between her own kind or the man she loves and the humanity she chose to protect.\ \ They have ruled the world from inside us.\ Now one of their own stands against them.