Crime happens in a moment and so do the stories in the Fast Crimes collection. These short mysteries start in the moment and build to a climax in a snap. Murders are plotted and carried out. Heists are planned and foiled. Investigators hunt and apprehend criminals. And it all happens in a handful of pages.It’s a smash and grab experience…so strap in.

In this collection of short stories, the workplace is a dangerous place. The unscrupulous are primed and ready to take advantage of the innocent and naïve. A slight indiscretion can cost the employee everything. A new position can turn a person into someone they are not. Those at the top can be toppled and those at the bottom can be crushed.Until now, Vincent’s father has kept one side of the business a secret from his son. Vincent is about to learn the family business. On the most...

When you're down on your luck, life never wants to cut you a break. Todd Collins has failed in every job he's ever undertaken, but that all changes when he backs his jalopy into a shiny, new Porsche belonging to a drug dealer. When the police stop the drug dealer for a broken taillight that Todd has caused and discover a cocaine shipment, a West Coast kingpin holds Todd responsible. On the run from organized crime, Todd discovers his true calling when he fights back.

'The Apprentice Chef' gives a glimpse into life as an apprentice working in a famous London Michelin star restaurant……"…The thing about working in a kitchen is that you have to be an adrenalin junkie and a sucker for punishment. There is just no other reason for working in one. If you want to be a chef because you like to cook, then do so at home because working in a professional kitchen you will soon grow out of it. Working in a professional kitchen is comparable to working on the...

People spend their entire lives staving off the dark—but no matter the measures taken, black paths and shadowy pits lurk in the unlikeliest of places, waiting to pull the unwary into the depths of despair.These eleven tales offer a morbid sampling of the many forms and fashions of terror—from the subtle prickling of neck hairs at the kiss of a ghostly breeze to the raw-throated screams and feverish clawing of a desperate fight for survival.Witness eleven people torn from th...

For years, the serial kidnapper known as the Piper got rich by abducting children from San Francisco’s wealthiest families.When crime reporter Scott Fleetwood gets a call from a man identifying himself as the Piper and offers an exclusive interview, Fleetwood jumps at the chance. But the caller turns out to be a fake, and the rash decision costs the life of the real Piper’s latest victim.For eight long years, Fleetwood has lived with unbearable guilt—and the enduring disdai...

Not every crime is committed with intent, but each has one thing in common: the guilty party was asking for trouble.In “Making Ends Meet,” Richard can’t stand the idea of supporting his deadbeat in-laws anymore, so he decides to remove them from his life—permanently. Matt is ready to reform his brawling ways, but the group he joins doesn’t turn out to be a typical 12-step program, in “The Taskmasters.” “Protecting the Innocent” features Nick, who fails to heed the warnings of his g...

Mark was content to see out his single days with a bachelor party, but his best man, Lance, wasn’t. He insists in sending Mark off in style…in the company of a hooker. It’s supposed to be the last hoorah of a single man before being condemned to a life of marriage, but that all changes when the hooker scams them. Mark’s world unravels and a dark side he never knew he possessed spills out.The Reprehensible Acts series features stories without heroes or happy endings...

James Straley might think his life is cursed, but it doesn’t compare to what lies ahead of him on life’s highway. He’s on the run with the proceeds of a botched bank robbery. It’s all he has. His crew is dead and his getaway car just died on him. He’s on foot with the cash when he comes across a two-car pileup. There’s no saving the drivers, but he can save himself and steals one of the wrecked cars. But he boosts the wrong set of wheels. Within an hour of driving off, he develops a rash t...

Syllabus: CfE (Curriculum for Excellence, from Education Scotland) and SQALevel: BGE S1-3: Second, Third and Fourth LevelsSubject: HistoryDiscover, debate and work like historians in S1 to S3. From Iron Age Scotland, through the Atlantic slave trade, women's suffrage and the World Wars to 1960s America, this source-rich, research-based narrative explores diverse and dynamic historical contexts.Covering CfE Second, Third and Fourth Level Benchm...

His only chance to save a young girl’s life is to put his trust in a headline-hunting kidnapper.Former reporter Scott Fleetwood and his family are still recovering after tangling with a notorious kidnapper, the Piper, when another kidnapper grips the city. The Shepherd has snatched a young girl from a vacationing family. Other than money, he has one demand: he’ll talk only to Scott.Special Agent Tom Sheils is on the case and will watch over Scott every step...

Do you have a cheating spouse? Has counseling failed? Want to get even? Then hire Infidelity Limited…Olivia Shaw grew up poor on the wrong side of the tracks, but with her thriving real estate business and a solid marriage, her life finally feels stable…until she discovers her husband is cheating. Enraged, her sister offers a solution: Infidelity Limited, a firm that promises to rough up her husband and scare him straight.Overnight, Olivia’s life is upended...