Showing results by narrator "Wehrlen" in All Categories

A gold-digging spouse who is also a serial killer.... The beautiful owner of a women’s dress shop brutally murdered on the floor.... A sexy dame who shows up unannounced at Dick Moonlight PI’s office claiming she’s about to be murdered.... Two numbskulls who decide to rob a home for the aged during bingo night.... These are just a few of the sexy, hard-boiled, and noir tales you’ll find in this first-ever volume of collected short stories by Thriller and PWA Shamus Award-winner Vincent Zandri.

Renaissance man and adventurer Chase Baker rarely visits home in upstate NY. But when his late dad's resting place is about to be dis-interred to make way for a new road, he volunteers to operate the backhoe. It's the least he can do for a father who was always there to help Chase, the young man. But what he doesn't expect is a job offer by the local Albany Police Department to look into a missing elderly couple.

When Tom, the son of a powerful senator, becomes stranded in the Plagued States while searching for his lost sister, his only hope of survival rests in the hands of a few grizzled veteran zombie hunters and a mysterious half-breed zombie woman he thinks may know where to find his sister....

Twenty years of America’s Global War on Terror produced little tangible success while exacting enormous harm. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States sustained tens of thousands of casualties, expended trillions of dollars, and inflicted massive suffering on the very populations that we sought to “liberate.” Now the inclination to forget it all and move on is palpable. But there is much to be learned from the immense debacle. And those who served and fought in these wars are best positioned to teach us.

When PI Steve Jobz is hired by the cops to investigate an elementary school Lunch Room Lady who is said to have extorted hundreds of thousands of dollars from the school cafeteria, he thinks, “Easy peasy. No big deal.” Hey, he might even get some tater tots out of it. But what seems like a simple job checking up on a sweet old lady with sticky fingers soon turns into a storm of bullets, murder, and a twist of an ending that will make your head spin.

The Wastes were just the beginning. I thought the girls and I would be safe once we made it to the caves. I was wrong. Very f--king wrong. Monsters, foul creatures like I could barely imagine, descendants of the alien f--ks that had already killed me the first time around. And to make matters worse, the god-damned caverns themselves seemed to be trying to kill us. Okay, so maybe I was this legendary swordsman with martial arts skills up the wazoo and a powerful chi gift that worked like magic thrown into the bargain. But maybe even that wouldn’t be enough.

When a hotshot literary agent by the name of Suzanne Bonchance lures Richard Moonlight into searching for her missing star client -the boozing, womanizing Roger Walls - the private detective finds himself waist-deep in a whole lot of trouble. But when a sexy, young writing MFA student who claims to know Walls comes to his rescue, Moonlight not only becomes smitten with her charm, he also finds himself falling in love with a girl he barely knows. As the trail for Walls narrows and truths are revealed, Moonlight finds himself wanting to run away as fast as his legs will take him.

After surviving a bloody run-in with ISIS-sympathizing bandits in the middle of Morocco’s Sahara Desert, adventurer and Renaissance man Chase Baker finds himself in the presence of a Vatican priest who desperately needs his help. One of the church’s great relics has been stolen by a surviving member of the Nazi SS. The relic is none other than the Spear of Longinus. If Chase can’t recover the spear, it will be used by Rickman and his neo-Nazi cohorts to create a brand new evil Fourth Reich.

Chase Baker is famous for seeking out ancient antiquities and treasure from some of the most exotic and dangerous locales on earth. But when he runs into Les Edgerton at SuspenseFest, the two get talking about the 1930s notorious gangster, Dutch Schultz, and the legend of his hidden treasure, which is said to be buried in a little town in upstate New York. Feeling fine from a few drinks at the hotel bar, Chase and Les decide to skip the festival in order to seek out some real suspense. That is, the location of the Dutch Schultz Treasure.

Cold and alone, Brad finds himself at the harsh frontier of this terrifying new world. He’s lucky to be taken in by a new community of survivors - a militia enclave - and at first, they seem to have a good thing going. Food, supplies, and leadership. Has Brad found his new safe haven?

Against all odds, Brad is alive, and surviving. Through the snow, the biting winds, the rain of bullets, and the thin ice, he forges onward, and fights to recover everything he’s lost.... Having made powerful and unhinged enemies, moving unnoticed is becoming more and more difficult, but after finding a small, but enthralling clue, he realizes he may be close to Anna and Sammy’s trail. As Brad descends further into the madness of the new world, he clings onto hope of finding his loved ones, but a reunion with someone closer to home might be on the cards.

For Robert Gyles and the Reapers, the fight for survival continues. It’s over. There is nothing left to fight for. Years of training, centuries of building: All gone in just a few weeks. Or is there still Redemption to be found?

After the DZ was destroyed and the Dust mysteriously vanished, the world is eager to forget and rebuild, oblivious to the fact that they remain caught in the middle of an interstellar quest for revenge. Adrian, despite his wavering faith in the Dust Avatar, relentlessly pursues its series of strange and violent directives, all the while haunted by the sound of inhuman cries emanating from the Avatar’s domain.

With the threats brought to their doorstep, the neighbors behind the gates face a dilemma. Do they try to make peace with those who've threatened their very existence if they don't pay a King's ransom in food and supplies? Or, do they stand their ground and fight back in an effort to protect their property and themselves. Old, festering animosity within the neighborhood rises to the surface as two distinct factions are in complete disagreement as to the best course of action. Will the two groups be able to put their differences aside?

The world is at war with the Primal Virus. Military forces across the globe have been recalled to defend the homelands as the virus spreads and decimates populations.

Society is slowly rebuilding since the end of the Vampire Apocalypse. In an effort to prevent another takeover by the undead, the government has requested the aid of the Hunters. Their mission, help the military train to fight and kill the vampires. When the Pentagon discovers Chloe is a dhampir she is taken into custody. After Drew finds out she is being held for testing and observation, the Hunters once again rally together for yet another rescue to bring Chloe home.

In the time it takes to create a single beat of a heart, 75 percent of the population drops dead. Within hours, another 20 percent succumb, leaving only a speck of human life remaining. Believing they are victims of a preliminary act of war and eventual invasion, a group of survivors trek across a barren United States following a radio signal. The simple plan was to band with others to fight and defend their homeland. However, their journey not only brings them together with other survivors but also brings them a chilling truth.

Two years since the world changed forever, humankind has learned to coexist with the infected, claiming the day while the Primals rule the night. Behind fortified walls, survivors have carved out a meager existence, always with one eye towards the shadowy threats beyond their safe havens.

Where did 1930s gangster Dutch Schultz hide his millions in stolen cash and diamonds? Chase Baker is determined to find out.

In an attempt to control and decrease population, a mutated form of the measles is released. As a precaution, an assurance plan is placed in motion. A sampling of mankind is hidden away in a protective bunker, placed in stasis where they will sleep through the entire event. They are set to awaken one year later to a perfectly balanced world. Nora Lane and Jason Rudolph are two of those who survive. When they wake, like the other survivors, neither of them remember how they got there and why.