Rifton Girls' High School is the most elite all-girls school in the city. With a strict scholarship-only admission, a grand school campus and plentiful funding from its wealthy alumni, it is no doubt that the already-talented young ladies within its halls will develop further into future leaders. Unfortunately for some of them, one outcast concealed in the shadows will soon ruin their plans when she tears apart the facades of select students in the name of revenge. From the perspective of a troubled teenage mind, a story of merciless revenge unfolds - and all MASKED GIRLS will be exposed. ❝DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE PAWN.❞ © 2018 maskedst. All Rights Reserved. ACHIEVEMENTS | #2 in #thriller, zodiac awards honorable mention, the teen fiction awards 2018 finalist, added to 'bright young minds' reading list on @mystery.

Sara Gaspard swore she'd do anything to find those responsible for her sister's death, but teaming up with the Sin of Pride is more than she bargained for. ***** Desperate and dying, Sara Gaspard promises her soul to the Sin of Pride if he'll find the madmen responsible for ruining her life, but they soon discover her wish is more complicated than expected. Together, Sara and Pride delve into a twisted world of insidious plots, occult fanaticism, and paranormal disaster as they search for answers and struggle to survive. As the danger in the city of Verweald rises, Sara and Pride must find the cult before the newest threat haunting the city's bloody streets claims them both. [[Book 1, the Bereft Series]] [[Writer's Debut Watty Award Winner]] [[Readers Choice Award]] [[Original Draft]]

[ORIGINAL DRAFT SAMPLE] She is twenty-nine when the FBI comes for her, but Catherine Themis was only seventeen, grieving and naive and angry, the first time she wiped someone else's blood from her fingers and felt the snake rise in her chest. She was seventeen when she stepped into the dark and never looked back. ***** By day, Catherine Themis is an unassuming civilian administrator for the Dedwich Police Department, but by night, she is a notorious vigilante known as The Hangman. Struggling with her violent urges and the psychological cost of her actions, Catherine becomes the target of an obsessive serial killer and a relentless FBI agent, and as the hunt for the Hangman intensifies, Catherine must decide which life she wishes to live and what she values more: vengeance or her fading humanity? A psychological thriller in the vein of MINDHUNTER and HANNIBAL, SERPENT HEART is a deep-dive into the life and history of a conflicted vigilante forced to confront her inner demons and evade a national manhunt. Catherine questions the efficacy of her own convictions as the FBI closes in and a vindictive murderer puts her family, love, and identity in jeopardy. With everything on the line and time running out, who will Catherine Themis become? --- [[AVAILABLE ON AMAZON]] [[REMOVED 24 DEC 2021]] [[2019 Watty Winner - Mystery & Thriller]]

Ambrose. The name is not only feared, but shunned and reviled. He's a monster sentenced to a life of desolation and loneliness, and no one but his tormentor knows his whereabouts - at the bottom of the ocean. A creature of the sea cursed because of one simple mistake... Mari. Her life was a small happy bubble until it's popped by the finding out that her boyfriend has been cheating on her - just as the cruise ship she's on starts to sink! She's sure that death is near until she drowns upon an underwater cave...and a hulking man with swirling eyes. Seeing a chance to escape, Ambrose forces the terrified Mari to help them both, but not before ultimately changing her life...and her legs. Their worlds turning upside in the matter of minutes, Ambrose is on a mission to clear his name and Mari's on a mission to return to land. But how can she do that when she slowly starts to fall for the dangerous, damaged man who only wants to be free...and heal her own heart in the process? THIS IS A FREE SAMPLE

The Iliad (sometimes referred to as the Song of Ilion or Song of Ilium) is an ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy (Ilium) by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. The Iliad is paired with something of a sequel, the Odyssey, also attributed to Homer. Along with the Odyssey, the Iliad is among the oldest extant works of Western literature, and its written version is usually dated to around the 8th century BC. Recent statistical modelling based on language evolution gives a date of 760-710 BC.

The Odyssey (Greek: Ὀδύσσεια Odýsseia] in Classical Attic) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The Odyssey is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second-oldest extant work of Western literature; the Iliad is the oldest. Scholars believe the Odyssey was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the Greek coastal region of Anatolia. The poem mainly focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus (known as Ulysses in Roman myths), king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed Odysseus has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors, the Mnesteres (Greek: Μνηστῆρες) or Proci, who compete for Penelope's hand in marriage.

As the first Lady Knight of Monrique, Juliette Van Helsing regularly deals with criminals who threaten the peace and security of her country. When a string of brutal murders among the nobility take place in quick succession, leaving behind one puzzle after another, she begins a race against time to find the murderer. Along the way, webs of lies, betrayals and greed are unravelled, and at each turn, she finds herself questioning her beliefs and assumptions. In the midst of all of this chaos, will she be able to fulfil her duty, and mayhap, find love?

For years, the faceless terror known as the Hand of Fate has been secretly manipulating the port city of Reyza for her shadowy ends. Those she favors rise in status while those who betray her are never heard from again. When the opportunity to eliminate a powerful dynasty presents itself, the Hand of Fate conspires with a sadistic diplomat who shares the king's bed. Together, they hatch a plan to assassinate their rivals. The plan is flawless-every variable calculated-except for one. On the night the Hand of Fate's hired assassin makes his move, a notorious thief is also making his. Jarle Jadien has had it with the gray-haired harpy whom he serves and succumbs to the greatest temptation of all: The Ensther estate is home to the king's betrothed and a fortune in jewels. When the risky heist takes a disastrous turn, Jarle finds himself in possession of a treasure he has no intention of keeping. Avaren Ensther is beauty and intrigue in one, and a keeper of secrets that reach far beyond Jarle's world of whiskey and disrepute. Reyza's infamous thief has had his heart stolen from under his nose, but time will tell if his sirenic temptress proves worthy. Within the city walls, a retired war-hero investigates the conspiracy and attempts to uphold justice, but his efforts may not suffice to prevent an all-out war. Too many vengeful plots have festered; too much blood spilled. As the moons reach a cataclysmic alignment, unleashing the terrible force of the tides, neither hero, criminal, nor all-powerful monarch; can escape the tendrils of fate.

*Sequel to The Lady Knight* As the heiress presumptive of Monrique's largest duchy and a Lady Justice in training, Lady Therese De Beauharnais of Roche has her hands full with her duties, studies, and of course - fending off all her suitors who seem to be only after her money and her body. However, as her father, the Duke of Roche, inches towards his death, and it becomes increasingly likely that she would succeed him without a husband by her side, she faces trouble from someone who does not want a woman to govern Roche in her own right. One of the Monriquan Armed Forces' best archers, Lady Katherine Harrington of Johanne is at the lowest point in her life. Desperate for a diversion, she is quick to accept a foreign Emperor's invitation to teach archery at his newly founded women's military academy. However, someone who does not want the initiative to succeed is determined to cause harm to the Emperor, and the students of the academy. Both women are no strangers to injustice. As they struggle with their circumstances, only one question remains on their mind - do truth and justice always prevail in the end?

Aeons once ruled the world. Now, their empire lies in ruin, and the survivors hide on the fringes of society. Nahlia is a librarian's apprentice who's obsessed with Aeon lore, scavenging for hints of their legendary power. But others are searching too, including the Templars who seek to hunt down the Aeon survivors. When the Templars attack her family, Nahlia is forced to infiltrate a secret academy and rise beyond everything she's ever known. https://davidmusk.com/books/aeonica-the-lost-redeemer