Anthologies and Collections

Featured Book: TREACHEROUS: Grifters, Ruffians and Killers by Gary Phillips

TREACHEROUS: Grifters, Ruffians and Killers by Gary Phillips

Twenty-one short stories written by Gary Phillips are included in the eBook edition of TREACHEROUS: GRIFTERS, RUFFIANS AND KILLERS. The eBook edition includes three stories (“Masai’s Back in Town,” “Black Caesar’s Gold” and “The Calling”) not included in the TP edition and two stories (“The Thrill is Gone” and “What Shall We Call You?”) were removed.

Alan Cranis on bookgasm.com said, “Phillips obviously loves his anti-heroes, as the stories’ major characters are all, as the subtitle promises, grifters, ruffians and killers. You may not be on their side, but you can’t help but be fascinated by their escapades…Phillips unfaltering ear for contemporary urban dialogue and patois, relentless pacing that grabs you from the opening sentence—oh, and plenty of sex and violence, too.”

Publishers Weekly said of the trade paperback, “Most of the 20 highly entertaining selections in this new collection also spotlight the hip urban scene Phillips has made his own.”

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A Deal on a Handshake by Vickie Britton and Loretta Jackson

By Vickie Britton Leave a Comment

What a deal! This short story book introduces Sheriff Jeff McQuede, the hero of the High County Mystery Series. In these seven mysteries Sheriff Jeff McQuede finds himself square in the middle of a deal made on a handshake—where the result is murder. Set in modern-day Wyoming, the stories take place at an old-time mountain man rendezvous, in a pawn shop where traders vie over rare Native American pottery, and after an engagement ceremony where two family patriarchs pretend to bridge a lifetime of feuding by the gift of a rare peace pipe. McQuede’s arch-enemy Ruger, is a suspect in many of these tales, and just manages to evade his traps. In each of these stories McQuede= relentlessly seeks out the dangerous men who have broken trust.

Full-length novels in the High Country Mystery Series include Murder in Black and White, Whispers of the Stones, Stealer of Horses, and The Executioner’s Hood.

Targeted Age Group:: General Readership

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
The inspiration to write this book and all the books in the High Country Mystery Series arose from the Wyoming setting and the many stories we’ve heard, both past and present. Our background in antique dealing also led to the creation of many stories that deal with rare finds and artifacts discovered in unusual place such as swap meets. The High Country of Wyoming seemed a perfect place to tell our tales.

A Deeper Cut by Sheri Wren Haymore @sheriwrenauthor

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When Hunter Kittrell and his beautiful friend Miki arrive in Beaufort, NC, for their summer stay, they decide to liven up the small town by pulling a harmless prank. That prank, however, quickly finds them deeply entangled in a blood bath face-off with a knife-wielding serial killer. As the usually peaceful town is plunged into chaos, Hunter and Miki find themselves drawn more deeply into the investigation, and it turns out their connection to the murders might not be as tenuous as it seemed at first. As the investigation continues, burning questions bubble: Why is Hunter being framed for at least one of the murders? And why does his missing father’s name keep popping up all over town? Everything crashes to a startling conclusion on Hunter’s 21st birthday, when Hunter is forced to face the truths he’s been running from his whole life.

Targeted Age Group:: 16+

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
In the summer of 2013, with huge help from Wisdom House Books, I self-published a novel titled A Higher Voice. My reasons for taking that publishing route were many, but at the top of the list was the simple fact that A Higher Voice, described by one reviewer as “a sprawling novel,” refused to fit neatly into a single genre slot. Despite not being a work that most traditional publishers would consider, the story resonates with readers, and sales have continued to exceed my expectations. Encouraged, and on a bit of a roll, I decided to pull out the manuscript for a suspense novel I had written In the late nineties, which now is titled A Deeper Cut. Again, with help from Wisdom House Books, I published this novel in February 2014.

So why did I write these two novels? First of all, the story begins with the characters, for me. These characters walk around in my head a while, and they begin to tell me their stories. As the story progresses, I more and more hear the way they would speak, understand the way they would think. Even as I seek to craft a well-constructed story, the heart of what I do is to make the characters live and breathe for the reader. Beyond the characters and my desire to tell a good story, however, I want to tell a story that has meaning. And not in the “shove-it-down-your-neck, you have to believe what I believe” kind of way.

In A Deeper Cut, the events surrounding Hunter Kittrell, a college kid, require him to peel back the layers of long-hidden family secrets in order to discover the things that make life worthwhile. Hunter is forced to choose between forgiveness and justifiable anger. As in A Higher Voice, the spiritual implications within A Deeper Cut are subtle, and the reader can view the story through their own spiritual lens and find the conclusion satisfying.

Renatus by John Saunders

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The double murder of a young man and woman, with a message in blood at both scenes reawakens the memory of an identical case fifteen years earlier.
Detective Superintendent Eddie Kilminster, a junior detective in the earlier case, now leads the present investigation. He enlists the help of Sean Moses, an ex colleague from the first case, and now an investigative profiler operating outside of the force. Eddie and Sean find themselves on a journey and a race against time before the killer strikes again. Will Eddie’s mind be opened to the forces of nature that lie beneath the killings, and will Sean discover a new path in his life before events push him beyond the edge of his sanity?

Targeted Age Group:: 16+

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
The idea to write had been kicking around for a few years. I read a detective mystery by a very successful author and although I liked the story, it was one that I felt I could have written myself. It got me thinking as to what interests me and the nucleus of my own story started.