When teen vampire Erin's bat mysteriously gains weight, her friends Trug and Nevin investigate. Clues lead them to a graveyard and pizzeria. Then a zombie shows up and the guano hits the fan.A comedy short story by award-winning humorist Norm CowiePreston Cunningham and Arvie were the best of friends. Raised in the quaint New England Town of West Brookfield, Massachusetts, an hours drive from the world famous Tanglewood, the summer home of The Boston Pops Orchestra in the heart of The Berkshires.In a scheduled marathon, they were entered into the appropriate age category and trained for the race. Mr. Silverberg was their scoutmaster, and it was he who instilled the basic values in Preston's life.Life changed for the two young men when Preston was drafted into the Army in 1966, and Arvie entered helicopter flight school at Fort Rucker Alabama.With the possibility of serving two years in Vietnam, Preston opted for the Army's new four year program and within three months was assigned to one of the most prestigious military intelligence units in Europe.Following 16 months of living in a civilian status position in Frankfurt. The benefit of civilian clothes, an apartment in the center of the city and a chauffer, the Army in disregard of Preston's contract pulled him out of Germany and sent him to Vietnam.At about the same time, Arvie was assigned as a new young pilot to a medical unit in Vietnam. In January of 1969, Arvie was killed in a horrific air crash. Years later, at the dedication of The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, D.C., it was by chance that Preston was searching for the names of his fallen comrades when he came upon Arvie's name on The Wall.Angered by the events of the war, ahd now as a civilian and able to put into words what he was prohibited from doing when he was a soldier, Preston wrote a poster poem about the pain and anger he suffered with the loss of his dear friend Arvid Silverberg.The poster poem was presentedto President Ronald Reagan and in a surprise move displayed it in the White House, and from that moment on The Wall - The Poem became a national best seller.UP UNTIL THIS TIME THE STORY IS TRUE BUT HERE ON IT IS FICTIONPreston Cunningham becomes the first Vietnam Veteran President of The United States, and returns to The Wall upon taking the oath of office and searches for Arvie's name...This book is free and it is the desire of this author that you will read the other books abailable in this series. Thank you!

Guido's dead, but he hasn't lived yet. Will he get a second chance? Or will Satan have his evil way?Dull Guido has kept himself out of trouble (and life) for 34 years 5 months and 14 days, only to die on the night before he finally has his first big adventure, a world cruise. Graham Reader, the Grim Reaper, tries to help him navigate the world 'up above', only for Guido to find out that there are worse things than death.

Carmen Walker has spent the last three years of her life focusing on avenging the murder of her husband. Following leads to the man responsible, she finally has a chance to bring closure to the overwhelming pain and grief that is slowly eating away at her. Catching a ride on the business jet her sister is co-piloting, she heads to California to meet with her informant. Plans change when one of the women on board is kidnapped when they land and Carmen is mortally wounded. She wakes to find herself on board an alien warship heading to a distant world. Creon Reykill's skills as a warrior are legendary among the Valdier. He is credited with ending the wars between the Valdier and the Cruizan and Sarafin worlds and building a strong alliance with their former enemies. But, that victory came at a cost. Creon has given up hope of ever finding his true mate, believing his soul is too dark to ever be gifted with one. That all changes when a small, delicate female unlike anything he has ever seen before is brought to his world. The moment he sees her, he knows she belongs to him. His dragon will do anything to claim her, his symbiot will do anything to protect her, and he would do anything to chase the shadows from her eyes. For he knows he has found the light to his darkness. Now, the challenge will be to corner her long enough for her to realize he is the only one in the universe who can heal her shattered heart. She will fight him at every turn to return home to finish what she has started. He will do everything in his power to keep her by his side. It will take every skill he possesses to stay one step ahead of her. Can he convince her to give love a second chance before she risks everything - including her life - for revenge?

New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore channels William Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe in this satiric Venetian gothic that brings back the Pocket of Dog Snogging, the eponymous hero of Fool, along with his sidekick, Drool, and pet monkey, Jeff Venice, a long time ago. Three prominent Venetians await their most loathsome and foul dinner guest, the erstwhile envoy of Britain and France, and widower of the murdered Queen Cordelia: the rascal-Fool Pocket. This trio of cunning plotters-the merchant, Antonio; the senator, Montressor Brabantio; and the naval officer, Iago-have lured Pocket to a dark dungeon, promising an evening of sprits and debauchery with a rare Amontillado sherry and Brabantio's beautiful daughter, Portia. But their invitation is, of course, bogus. The wine is drugged. The girl isn't even in the city limits. Desperate to rid themselves once and for all of the man who has consistently foiled their grand quest for power and wealth, they have lured him to his death. (How can such a small man, be such a huge obstacle?). But this Fool is no fool . . . and he's got more than a few tricks (and hand gestures) up his sleeve.

I can't believe I have to go home to Nebraska for my sister's wedding. I'm gonna need a wingman and a whole lot of vodka for this level of family interaction. At least my bestie agreed he'd man up and help. Too bad he had to catch a different flight than me. Then, his plane got delayed. And finally—because bad things always happen in threes—instead of my best friend, his evil twin walks out of the airport. If you looked up doesn't-deserve-to-be-that-confident, way-too-hot-for-his-own-good billionaire in the dictionary, you'd find a picture of Grady Holt. He's awful. Horrible. The worst—even if his butt looks phenomenal in those jeans. Ten times worse? I told my family I was bringing my boyfriend with me...Now I have to spend the week pretending to be madly in love with the big jerk. Ugh, and share a bedroom. It's only gonna be a week. I can last that long without killing him or blowing my cover. Maybe. A whisper of a prayer. Oh God, this...

Something is killing all living things on Cloudfyre.Will Gargaron the giant have enough time to uncover the mystery before his world is lost?Cloudfyre holds a secretOne that is killing millions.The warning signs have been there for centuries. In ancient cave paintings. On stone tablets.But they have gone unheeded.Now it’s too late—mysterious shockwaves sweep across the world killing everything in their path. Strange monsters tear up anything left alive.There is one survivor.Gargaron the giant.His village has been annihilated. Everyone he knows has perished.With little more than the sword on his back and a pack of provisions, he sets off on a mission to unravel the mystery behind Cloudfyre’s demise.What he doesn’t know is that time is already running out.And to get the answers he seeks, he must travel to the end of the world to find them.

After her neighbor is shot and killed in his hunting blind, 66-year-old Gertie Johnson will do whatever it takes to solve the case in book 1 of this award-winning mystery series.“Laugh-out-loud funny” Crimespree Magazine-“Fans of Janet Evanovich, imagine Grandma Mazur with a shotgun.” Green Bay Press Gazette-“One of the most memorable heroes in crime fiction." Lansing State JournalMurder Passes the Buck (book 1 in the Gertie Johnson mystery series) is approximately 60,000 words.When her neighbor is shot and killed in his hunting blind, sixty-six-year-old widow Gertie Johnson seizes the opportunity to move on with her life by investigating his death. Gertie is abetted (and hindered) by her grandson Little Donny, man-hungry best friend Cora Mae, and word-of-the-day challenger, Kitty. It doesn’t help that Chester’s death has been ruled an accident by the sheriff of this backwoods community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Or that Sheriff Blaze Johnson happens to be Gertie’s son.Whether it’s interrogating neighbors, spying, or impersonating the FBI—not to mention staying one step ahead of Blaze—Gertie will do whatever it takes to solve the case, even when the killer takes aim at her.Praise for the series:“Laugh-out-loud funny” Crimespree Magazine“Fans of Janet Evanovich, imagine Grandma Mazur with a shotgun.” Green Bay Press Gazette“One of the most memorable heroines in recent crime fiction.” Lansing State Journal

An old, dying woman makes one last visit to her favorite restaurant, a place once used as a refuge for a painful period in her life. Awash with memories of a time long past, she gets the surprise of a lifetime when she catches a glimpse of a familiar face that, unlike her own image, had not been marred by time.Apollo is an orphan in the walled farming community of Alcazar. Everyone else his age is eagerly awaiting their apprenticeships that proceed the ritual that will determine their place in society, the Ceremony of Ascension. Without a heritage, Apollo knows it's something he can never have. But then the last week of school is canceled and Apollo's dread is turned into surprise when he's summoned by the leader of their community. The boy soon learns of the unique bond they both share, that's also littered with a long trail of deceit and genetic manipulations.

When Derek Doyle wakes up next to a ripped-apart body, he's terrified he's about to lose everything he holds dear—Ever, his job, and his family. Dealing with his past has never come easy to Derek, especially since he's too afraid of what people would think if they knew exactly what kind of monster he really is. But finding out who's setting him up could be harder than the team thinks. As long as Derek has lived, there's bound to be a long list of enemies.Ever Chace has a lot on her plate. Confronted with the possibility that she is indeed losing her mind, Ever tries to push it aside as they deal with the ramifications of Derek's past. Every new relationship has teething problems, but learning to deal with a mate who's used to being a lone wolf has its own set of issues.Can the team figure out how to save Derek from a swift execution? And just how much strain will the revelations put on Derek and Ever's shiny new relationship?Collateral Damage is the exciting sequel to Skin and...

Life manifests as an ovegrown, petulant baby, whilst melancholy flirts dangerously with an identity crisis.Michael Tomatoes, artist, sculptor and manic-depressive, is a man at pains to discover the nature of self, even if that means being someone else. A tool of fate, he sticks his fingers in the electric socket of life and wonders about suffering and loss. Is his obsession with numbers the result of a robotic condition, metal under the skin, or a paranoic attempt to decipher the intricacies of a more mundane and human predicament? That is: breathing, sucking in and blowing out all those other selves that compose a reality at once familiar and strange.

It’s just over a week until Sam will be Binding with Jared, and the only thing she wants is to spend that time relaxing and preparing for the ceremony. Unfortunately, she seems to be asking too much of fate, because suddenly she’s lumbered with a number of distractions that have the potential to postpone, or even cancel, the Binding. There’s a guarded fiancé to crack, a complicated assignment to deal with, Jared’s ex to alienate, and a bunch of snobbish Master Vampires to win over – or offend, whichever. On the upside, things couldn’t possibly be any worse, could they? Actually, yes they could. Due to a cruel twist of fate, something strange is happening to Sam –something that is changing her in ways she doesn’t like or understand. With the help of Jared and those closest to her, she has to not only handle the threats to the Binding Ceremony, but find a way to fix what has been done to her – and fast. Warning: This book contains a stubborn and occasionally homicidal female vampire, a powerful and overprotective male vampire who refuses to lose her, and scenes of a sexual, explicit nature.

After a slow summer of chasing low-level skips for her cousin Vinnie's bail bonds agency, Stephanie Plum finally lands an assignment that could put her bank balance back in the black. Geoffrey Cubbin, facing trial for embezzling millions from Trenton's premier assisted-living facility, has mysteriously vanished from the hospital after an emergency appendectomy. Now it's on Stephanie to track down the con man. The problem is, Cubbin has disappeared without a trace, a witness, or his money-hungry wife. Rumours are stirring that he must have had help with the daring escape...or that maybe he never made it out of his room alive. Since the hospital staff's lips seem to be tighter that the security, and it's hard for Stephanie to blend in to assisted living, Stephanie's Grandma Mazur goes in undercover. But when a second felon goes missing from the same hospital, Plum is forced into working side by side with Trenton's hottest cop, Joe Morelli, in order to crack the case. The real problem is, no Cubbin means no way to pay the rent. Desperate for money - or maybe just desperate - Plum accepts a secondary job guarding her secretive and mouthwatering mentor Ranger from a deadly special-forces adversary. While Stephanie is notorious for finding trouble, she may have found a little more than she bargained for this time around. Then again - a little food poisoning, some threatening notes, and a bridesmaid's dress with an excess of taffeta never killed anyone...or did it? If Stephanie Plum wants to bring in a paycheck, she'll have to remember: no guts, no glory...

Her tall, dark, and deliciously dangerous boss . . .When the delightful, daffy Dog Lady of station WZZZ offered to take on the temporary job of traffic reporter, Steve Crow tried to think of reasons to turn Daisy Adams down. Perhaps he knew that sharing the close quarters of a car with her for hours would give the handsome program director no room to resist her quirky charms. He'd always favored low-slung sportscars and high-heeled women, but that was before he fell for a free spirit who caught crooks by accident, loved old people and pets, and had just too many jobs! Loving Daisy turned Steve's life upside down, especially once he adopted Bob, a huge dog masquerading as a couch potato. But was Daisy finally ready to play for keeps?

The Intruders is in the rich tradition of science fiction movie classics such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Thing and The Day The Earth Stood Still, with a nod to contemporary series like Stranger Things, The X-Files and Supernatural.The Intruders have arrived. Something strange is taking place in the small town of Engles, Indiana. Greg Garrett returns home from a business trip to discover his wife and children have disappeared. More people begin to vanish without a trace. The skies produce a substance that doesn't look like natural rain. Aggressive swarms of insects attack without warning. And late at night, residents are haunted by ghosts desperate to reveal the secrets of their existence but unable to speak.Engles is undergoing a terrifying transformation that could threaten all of civilization Who is this unseen enemy? What is their mission? Discover the terrifying secrets of The Intruders.FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of...