Lowlifes

A serial kidnapper known as the Piper spent years snatching children from San Francisco’s wealthiest families. When crime reporter Scott Fleetwood got himself involved in one of the cases, the Piper went from kidnapper to murderer…and vanished. Now, after Fleetwood has languished under crippling guilt and public scorn for eight years, the Piper emerges from hiding to kidnap Fleetwood’s son. He’s demanding $2 million, but it’s not really about the money: the Piper wants blood - and he’ll use Fleetwood to get it.

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 as she, like all of Infidelity Limited's clients, is drawn into a dark web of blackmail and murder.

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 11 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.

In this sci-fi-fantasy, short story, Martin Warwick is a down on his luck racecar driver. His only accolade is to make the other drivers look good with his mediocre performances. It's not that Martin is a bad driver. He's just not had the breaks. He needs a better sponsor which would get him a better car and a little luck to put him ahead of the pack. The break comes in the form of the mysterious Mallory. He doesn't have money or connections. He has a device to make Martin and any car he drives better.

Still haunted by his wife's murder - and stained by the blood of avenging it - FBI special agent Hatcher McGee can't believe he's being teamed up with rookie agent Korine Davenport. She is his most guilty secret - the one-night stand who almost cost him everything. Korine has her own demons. As a child, she witnessed her father's murder, and she's spent her life waiting for the killer's return. She and Hatcher are both looking for closure, but the disturbing case that draws them together could be their last.