ORGINALLY A 'PAID' STORY. NOW PUBLISHED ON AMAZON/KU *** 4 CHAPTER SAMPLE HERE *** Jake Bryant, a disgraced Chicago detective, inserts himself into the police investigation of his murdered best friend to protect the woman he loves - his friend's widow. ***** Jake Bryant, a former Chicago PD detective, rushes home after his best friend is killed. Determined to find the murderer, he starts his own investigation into Tom's death. However, the case is complicated by the involvement of a motorcycle gang, drugs, and Jake's feelings for Tom's widow. But Jake has bigger problems when the police set the killer free- who then decides to silence Tom's family as well. Now Jake is faced with the ultimate dilema. Does he trust a broken system to protect Tom's family? Or does he seek his own brand of justice? [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]

Headless bodies start appearing in the streets, so cunning Detective Rashida Heyes and her partner have to stop the killer to prevent the apocalypse ***** After bodies start appearing in the middle of the streets, hollowed and headless, Detective Rashida Heyes and her partner, Travis Virgil, are given the case. However, once they dig deeper, meeting the emotionally broken Victor Eccelstone, and realize how heavily the church is involved, Rashida has to acknowledge that this case might be bigger than she had ever imagined. These crimes aren't the act of one man - they're the beginning of the end of the world [[Winner of the 2017 Wattys Storysmith Award]] [[word count: 150,000-200,000 words]]

When Jane Madarang's neighbor Natalie kills herself and leaves behind cryptic instructions, it's up to Jane and her classmates to unearth deadly secrets. ***** Natalie Driscoll is dead. She threw herself out a window and left her neighbor Jane to unravel their town's darkest secrets. Following Natalie's instructions leads Jane to three other high school students who all have something to hide. The four of them must carry out Natalie's final errand while solving the mysteries written in her diary. But the secrets they unearth may be far more dangerous than what they ever imagined. Content and/or trigger warning: This story contains scenes of suicide, violence and murder that may be triggering for some readers. [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]

The year is 1955, and the death of beloved high school junior Sarah Benadine has left the town of Clearwater, Wisconsin reeling. It seems everyone in town has their own suspicions on what happened to the girl. But when Sarah's eleven-year-old neighbor, Shannon, is attacked by an unknown creature in the night, it becomes evident that things are not quite what they seem. Shannon is invited to attend the prestigious school on the outskirts of town and is suddenly swept into a whole new world she is only beginning to understand. As more bad things begin to plague the town of Clearwater, the question everyone wants answered is: What really happened to Sarah Benadine? ***The Fall of Clearwater Book One*** ***Cover by the wonderful @olga_godim***

A peaceful village torn apart by murder. In the small, close-knit village of Oakhurst, residents aren't willing to believe that one of their own might be a brutal killer. So when young women begin to die - their bodies found with accusatory words carved onto their skin - suspicion falls on the newcomer to the village. Charming Zack Wild, author of violent crime novels and possessor of a dark history, seems like a perfect suspect. As they investigate, Sergeant Mitchell and Constable Turner are increasingly unwilling to believe that someone they know could be responsible for such heinous crimes. But will this affect their judgement, allowing the real killer to escape?

"A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page." --Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone) Women are being murdered in upstate New York, their bodies found mysteriously hanging in chains. With the FBI called in, given the bizarre nature of the murders-and the lack of any clues-there is only one agent they can turn to: Special Agent Riley Paige. Riley, reeling from her last case, is reluctant to take on a new one, since she is still convinced a former serial killer is out there, stalking her. She knows, though, that her ability to enter a serial killer's mind and her obsessive nature is what will be needed to crack this case, and she just can't refuse-even if it will push her over the edge. Riley's search takes her deep into a killer's deluded mind as it leads her to orphanages, mental hospitals, prisons, all in an effort to understand the depth of his psychosis. Realizing she is up against a true psychopath, she knows time is short before he strikes again. But with her own job on the line and her own family a target, and with her fragile psyche collapsing, it may all be too much for her-and too late. A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, ONCE TAKEN is book #2 in a riveting new series-with a beloved new character-that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #3 in the Riley Paige series is also now available!

With a murderous secret and a dark history few but Helen Eriksson know, an uncertain path lies ahead of her. Helen's past, present and future are on a collision course with a sense of morality she wonders if she ever possessed. Her husband's corpse is barely cold, laid to rest under a shroud of suspicion directed at her by former peers at the FBI. Revenge boils in her veins against the one who shattered her perfect life, or the carefully constructed illusion of such. One thing Helen does not believe is that coincidences happen. So when an opportunity falls into her lap to slip through the web of the FBI investigation into her ex-husband's murder and darken the doorstep of the man she holds responsible for her professional ruin, Helen is hard pressed to resist the lure. Rather than arriving in Darkwater Bay anonymously, Helen walks with full knowledge into what she understands could be a trap sprung by her nemesis, Danny Datello. But the shield of a police detective's badge can't protect her from what she fears she has become by genetic birthright - a hardened murderer just like the father who shaped her into the woman she has become. What Helen doesn't count on is investment in anything but her own plot of revenge. To her surprise, the discovery of a body mere hours before her arrival in Darkwater Bay draws her into more than her own conflicted desires, but a corrupt city with its own secrets. Even more shocking is the realization that Helen craves more than Datello's punishment; justice for a dead victim.

While investigating the chilling deaths of three teenage girls in the remote town of Briarwood, Detective Evan O'Riley is drawn into the unsolved mysteries of a notorious 1960s serial killer. Three sixteen-year-old girls have plunged from the roof of their school. The question lingers: did they jump, or were they pushed? Tasked with uncovering the truth, Evan O'Riley---seasoned by years of crime-solving in Riverton---arrives in Briarwood, determined to discover whether he's facing triple homicide or a heartbreaking suicide. As he delves into the case, Evan uncovers unsettling whispers about the town's infamous SAD Killer, whose string of brutal murders left Briarwood haunted---and whose identity was never discovered. Fifty years later, the ghosts of the past resurface as Evan combs through long-buried evidence, tracks down survivors, and seeks out old investigators tied to the original crimes. Driven to find answers for both the present and the past, Evan is relentless in his pursuit of justice. But as old secrets come to light and the investigation intensifies, Evan realizes the SAD Killer's legacy isn't as distant as he believed---the danger may be closer than anyone imagines.

Psychopath (noun): saɪkəpæθ / SAI-ko-path a person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior. "Never before in my life had I ever felt more vulnerable. More...hunted." Because of a fatal blow to the head that caused amnesia, Katelyn Winters had to start her life all over again. Everybody around her is a stranger, even the ones that claim to be her family. Soon, however, things start to emerge which lead Katelyn to believe that someone around her is spinning an intricate web of lies. Add that to a serial killer on the loose who seems hauntingly obsessed with Katelyn. As she runs around in circles through the labyrinth, trying to find her way to the truth, there can only be two outcomes: either she'll find a truth that will shatter everything she's ever known OR she will fall prey to the predator that had always been just around the corner... BEST RANKING: #8 IN MYSTERY/THRILLER

Homicide Detective Avery Black has been through hell. Once a top criminal defense attorney, she fell from grace when she managed to get a brilliant Harvard professor off-only to watch him kill again. She lost her husband and her daughter, and her life fell apart around her. Trying to redeem herself, Avery has turned to the other side of the law. Working her way up the ranks, she has reached Homicide Detective, to the scorn of her fellow officers, who still remember what she did, and who will always hate her. Yet even they cannot deny Avery's brilliant mind, and when a disturbing serial killer strikes fear into the heart of Boston, killing girls from elite colleges, it is Avery that they turn to. It is Avery's chance to prove herself, to finally find the redemption she craves. And yet, as she is soon to find out, Avery has come up against a killer as brilliant and daring as she. In this game of psychological cat and mouse, women are dying with mysterious clues, and the stakes could not be higher. A frantic race against time leads Avery through a series of shocking and unexpected twists-culminating in climax that even Avery could not imagine. A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, CAUSE TO KILL marks the debut of a riveting new series-and a beloved new character-that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #2 in the Avery Black series will be available soon.