Showing results by narrator "Tom Fria" in All Categories

Tens of thousands are flocking to a bustling wind-swept metropolis in the middle of America for the great Exposition of 1893—to see the future and to ride Mr. Ferris' remarkable wheel. A city of hope and hardship has caught the attention of the world—and a maniacal killer has made it his hunting ground. Inspector Alastair Ransom carries the burden of the dead on his shoulders. But a demon far worse than Ransom's own is loose—a bloodthirsty killer who preys on Chicago's most vulnerable citizens.

Hani doesn’t know what to make of it when the king starts honoring him, but he must still find the man who killed a foreign ambassador right under the roof of the Egyptian commissioner in Kumidi—a man whose past intersects bizarrely with Hani’s. And then, the queen of the new coregent has a special task for him which may involve dragging Hani’s 19-year-old daughter into court politics. He must find a way to see justice done and yet protect his family…and his conscience.

The body parts were first discovered in the bellies of sharks. Marine scientists in the Florida Keys insist sharks rarely dine on live humans, so there can be only one explanation: They were dead before they hit the water. Dr. Jessica Coran knows why. They call him the "Night Crawler". And he's out there, riding the tides with his victims, feeding the waves after his own perverse hungers are satisfied. But when similar murders surface in London on the Thames River, Jessica faces double jeopardy. One killer? Or two....

He felt most alive when he watched them die - writing, breathless, gasping for oxygen that wasn't there. But, he could only draw out the pleasure for so long before his victims expired. And, then it was time to choose another. Death by asphyxiation. That's what Chicago medical examiner Dr. Dean Grant was forced to conclude by the gruesome evidence before him. Recognizing the work of a serial killer, Grant knew he'd have to move fast.

Fabian Carlson wants nothing to do with Christmas. Having lost his fiancée two Christmases ago, his only wish is to skip the holidays altogether. Until he wakes up to his black Labrador’s loud, persistent barking. When he lets Felix out, he’s astonished to discover a reindeer on his front lawn, eating his neighbor’s prize-winning yews. Carlson’s Christmas Wish is a light-hearted and entertaining story about a man, a neighborhood, and a town whose lives are touched by the magic of Christmas. A truly heartwarming story about renewal and hope.

In this rousing 1852 romp through the eerie woods surrounding Hannibal, Missouri, and up and down the Mississippi River, 14-year-old Daniel Webster Jackson runs into a counterfeit Underground Railroad when he decides to run away from his foster home. At every turn, he musters courage to survive in a land where the law is at odds with the heart and soul of a people, where the Missouri Compromise forces everyone into a disguise or a secret identity.

When the Louisiana Bayou folks calling themselves members of the Bayou Wulf’s Clan turn out to be real werewolves, it’s a bit late in the day for archeologist Abraham Stroud, whose bayou dig puts him and his people directly in harm’s way. In fact, this wulf coven has created a safe haven for their kind - Oasis, Louisiana, an entire town filled with Bayou Wulves, many fathered by Bayou Wulf itself - their disputable and dubious leader.

When FBI psychic Dr. Aurelia Murphy Hiyakawa is asked in on a case in New Orleans, she soon learns that the missing Gone Girls may as yet be alive and that their abductor is a "collector" rather than a typical serial abductor/killer. With three missing and as yet no clue as to where they may be, the only saving grace is that no bodies have shown up. There is little about this case that resembles anything that "Rae" Hiyakawa has faced before in PSI Blue and DEJA Blue. But the case takes on a new wrinkle that no one could have predicted.

A spy working for religious organizations, Jere Wakely is summoned to Salem Village Parish, where it has become obvious to church authorities that there is serious trouble. He is reluctant to return to his hometown for many reasons, not the least being that his heart is broken, and he's worried about running into his former lover, Serena Nurse. During his investigation, he has no expectation that their love will be rekindled. But their renewed passion parallels a greater fire - one of terror amid the infamous Salem Witch Trials.

This is a short story dealing with an injustice, a town without patience or pity in 1912 for the last living slave woman in this town. Each of six scenes builds to a crescendo of action. It is an old story of injustice brought about by those in power toward the poorest and least powerful in the community. It is also a story of rage when the last straw is put on old, dear Aunt Tilley who has changed the diapers of those who want to remove her. Told in the best tradition of Mark Twain's more serious tales.

Off a near-death experience in chasing down one serial killer in Upstate, New York. Dr. Jessica Coran is back at her Quantico forensic labs, in safe confines. That is until she gets a call from Andover, Massachusetts Police Chief, Shamus Hale. Hale, a descendant of Rev. William Hale of Salem Witchcraft infamy, has a horrid, inconceivable, and huge problem on his hands - a serial killer murdering abducted children, infants in fact.

Step inside a dream which becomes reality. Venture off with Gary, a high school art teacher suffering from insomnia. For 10 years, he’s been keeping the struggle alive for his missing sister Kelly, who disappeared without a trace. When he attempts to get his life back with the help of an experimental pill, he soon finds a dangerous connection between the living and the dead. Now, caught in the clutches of his drug-induced dreams, corrupting him with visions of what really happened to Kelly.

The sequel to Vampire Babies, book number nine in Bloodscreams Series, this is book number 10 Mindbreach. The return of Dr. Abe Stroud, vampire slayer and archaelogist.

Bacardi and Coke. Neat. Not the usual drink of choice for a mountain dwarf. Then again, Detective Sirgrus Blackmane is no ordinary dwarf - at least not since the Great War. Being a gumshoe during Prohibition might appear glamorous, with secret speakeasies, all-night cocktail parties, and scantily clad women displaying their knees, but crime and conspiracy lurk beneath the city’s shining illusion.

Dr. Abraham Stroud, who has faced down monsters and supernatural beings from vampires and werewolves to man-sized spiders from space, as well as Satanipedes in Texas, a hero who has astrally traveled through time in search of the origin of evil, now faces a new kind of horrid threat. He's asked on/begged to come on a dig in a faraway ancient and foreign land near Malta...a dig that has uncovered a children's graveyard from ancient times; a cemetery of suspected vampire babies.

A second helping of romance, murder, and mystery is served. Add chills and thrills for seasoning, and you have a very good second episode. A second young girl is found murdered on the east side of Bay City. What clue did one of the young murdered girls leave behind? My God! Sammy, Paula small with short blonde hair!

This novel begins with an allegorical tale depicting the origin of humanlike animals that evolve from purely instinctual and reactive creatures toward becoming individuals who receive the gift of sentience. These animals also absorb an inherent consciousness of individuality that includes using free will when making everyday decisions. This evolutionary advancement is instigated by superior spiritual beings call Zenithians, who are responsible for the creation and evolution of all aspects of living beings within the Earthly realm.

The secret to their past lies in a tale written by the author as a 10-year-old girl. Fan fiction, 80s nostalgia, and the imagination of a child combine to form a story that’s equal parts baffling and brilliant – and dangerous for anyone living through it firsthand. But as the world evolves and the story matures, author and villain grow closer to solving the mystery of how their lives have always been connected. The lines between fantasy and reality, past and future, villain and heroine, blur in a spectacular journey through a fantasy world.

A recipe for murder, romance, lies, and mystery is on the menu. In the first episode in the series, in the upscaled suburbs of Bay City, a wealthy man is found murdered in his own bedroom. His wife is missing, and he is the prime suspect. Enter private investigator Johnny Blake, a former homicide detective for the BCPD. Leads become more entangled, and not everything is as it seems. John enlists aid from street-smart kid Jimmy McNeil to help solve the case.

Donald Ray “Hokey” Busby has a bit of the devil in him, but nobody thought he’d kill his best friend, Harry “Fats” Shell. Yet, one night on the Walker family farm, Hokey brutally shoots Fats down. Hours later, Hokey is found dying in a pool of blood from a single shotgun blast.