Hardboiled Stories

They say the truth will set you free. But what if the truth is buried at four thousand feet? For seven years, Elena Vance has lived a ghost of an existence. Ever since her first love was brutally murdered during a romantic weekend getaway in the Cascade Mountains, she has structured her life around a single, paralyzing phobia: never look up. She stayed in the lowlands. She stayed in the valleys. She convinced herself that if she kept her world perfectly flat, the monsters of her past could never climb down to touch her.She was wrong.When the wealthy trustee of her late boyfriend's estate is found slaughtered on a remote alpine ridge, the nightmare she ran from circles back. The weapon is the same. The jagged terrain is the same. And the DNA left on the victim's jacket belongs entirely to Elena. To see how the mystery unfolds, check out the book 👉

They say the streets of Brooklyn are cleaner now. They lied. Nico Moretti is a ghost from a world that no longer exists. After 30 years behind bars, he steps out into a 2026 Brooklyn that smells of plastic and neon instead of coal and sweat. The old rules are dead, replaced by shadows you can't see and enemies you can't touch. But Nico didn't come back to fit in. He came back for what's his. Armed with nothing but his scars and a "high-tech prosthesis" that sees what human eyes miss, Nico begins a one-man war against the new underworld. This isn't just a story about the future. It's about a man who refuses to become a relic. Welcome to the Storm. The wolves are hungry.

This public domain work by mastermind Dashiell Hammett was first published in 1930. After the death of his partner, private investigator, Sam Spade, gets mixed up with a crowd chasing a statue of a golden bird encrusted with jewels, an artifact that is practically priceless, but the only thing Spade wants to know is, who killed his partner."

A hardboiled yarn, served black.

"Love shouldn't be spoiled"

In West Hollywood Alex Harlow, down on his luck, bags a last minute missing person job before Christmas Day. Can he find the individual before the festive season starts? This is an homage to the golden era of detective fiction. The hardboiled man in the mackintosh of this story bears more than a passing resemblance to the hero of The Big Sleep and Farewell My Lovely.

The Case of Mrs. Weldon follows Siren through a case she thought we would be straight forward – follow a man’s wife and prove she is cheating on him. But Siren soon finds out that all is far from simple and straightforward. Nicolette Mace is a private investigator out of necessity, not choice. With her family dead and nowhere else to turn she had to learn to stand on her own two feet and live the only way her father ever taught her to. Life as a private investigator isn't all big cases, excitement and arch enemies. Filling the Afterlife from the Underworld follows the day to day musings and activities of Nicolette Mace: The Raven Siren, taken from her online blog. "My name is Nicolette Mace, but you might know me as the Raven Siren. I'm a Private Investigator living the 1930s romantic dream in this new and exciting modern age. I keep records of everything that happens; everything I have seen and done. Why? There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophies."

GAME OF SPADES Paranormal/ Urban Fiction It's 1996 in the Windy City. Summer time. A few million in counterfeit bills are won by Miguel, a sharp mexican Chicago gangster with a quick fuse, in a spades game in Isla Mujeres while on vacation. He decides to use it to take some territory from Snake, an old spades partner he ran long cons with in his earlier years. His plan stirs up fire. Divine, is a charismatic hustler with abnormally keen perception. He knows what's poppin' in the hood before the hood does, but keeps below the radar. Low key. His ' feelers' catch a preview of the heat coming. He forsees in his mind's eye a rush of drama in the streets. Deaths and tricks. He tries to stay out of it, but becomes helplessly attracted to Tomika, a clever, androgynous gangstress. Lost, on the run, and desperate. She has similar abilities. Rhonda, her lover and a ruthless chick, was collecting a trail of bodies with her clique. It was paying well. Getting them both close to the dream of moving out the city and living good. Rhonda, works for Snake. When Snake sends her to murder three of his own men to steal 80 grand in counterfeit bills from. Miguel, she is killed by him personally. This sets off a storm of murder, lies and deception. Divine loses his best friend to the mess and at the same time, discovers a portion of the bills are in his possession. He has to get out of the city. Tomika and Divine decide to unite forces to outsmart their pursuers and leave to realize their dreams.

As open minded as she is, private investigator Sasha Jackson feels out of place when her latest case plunges her into the world of commercial sex. A classy madame has hired Sasha to find a missing Mexican hooker, which seems easy enough at first. Sasha figures out why the hooker ran away but has no idea where she is running to. Besides, how fast can anyone run in stiletto heels? It isn’t until the next body turns up that Sasha realizes why the hooker must choose between fight and flight, and why the choice is so difficult. Sasha tests her moral compass as she tries to understand the sex trade and what someone will do in a moment of desperation. She is even willing to look the other way, but then Sasha realizes her ass is incredibly hot and the killer is incredibly cold.

A call follows his breakup. Mara Reddington has suffered a kidnapping. The Thin Man, her stalker, had threatened to steal her baby from her. Threatened to make her thin. Now she was alone. A call follows his breakup and he clings to it. With thoughts of another fighting in his mind, he goes to her. He goes to hear the wild tale of anguish that the police rejected. To investigate the stolen baby that may already be dead. To feel something other than the pain of lost love. He goes to find the Thin Man.

In the dystopian year 2075, down-and-out private investigator Adam Twist ekes out a living inside the walled city of Wichita. Tornadoes stalk the ravaged landscape and lost children haunt his nightmares. When the rebellious daughter of the most powerful man in the city runs away, Twist must follow into the hell outside the Wall to find her.

When you're powerful and you want something done, you call Charlie Talbott. He will ask only the basic questions and give you the best results. There isn't a better fixer in town, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have an agenda of his own. In this collection of short stories you'll see the inner workings of a broken, unequal system, the privileged few who fully depend on the status quo and the people who profit from it all.

Taepyung Son was kidnapped by alien dictator, Bask, in Kentalololo and got a medical experiment when he was a boy. New democratic government in the planet invaded the earth to compensate him for that brutality which changed a genius into a simpleton. The compensation was to realize his one wish. And he said that he wanted to be the most powerful man in the world. * All characters and organizations in this fiction are fictional even if the name was same as real one.

Dawson City, Canada As the town is poisoned by rumors of a "haunted Factory" much to Josiah's annoyance. Lt. Detective Josiah Jordan decides to investigate in hopes to finally put this silly urban legend to rest. Little does he know the true horror he may uncover at that place... a horror that could change everything...

Sonic x Tails romance amidst a film noir-inspired murder mystery.

In 1940's Brooklyn, Samantha Deveraux, daughter of wealthy mob tycoon Big Louie seeks the aid of Sid Spadesworth when her twin sister Pam goes missing, who is the suspect in her disappearance; could it be Johnny Roxbourough, Samantha Deveraux's obsessive ex-fiancé, or her uncle Shanks-a-lot Tony? Find out if they'll find Samantha's sister Six Feet...Underwater

Moon Potato and Yancey face a most unexpected situation as The Server succumbs to a breakout of zombies.

Commissioner Ajay Singh Guha is the intelligent, power-hungry head of the Grayham City Police Department. He rules the city with an iron fist and does not hesitate to kill anyone who may slip through the cracks of the justice system. His main weapon is a secret organization of police officers, who, like him, are frustrated at the sheer amount of criminals that do not receive justice. Commissioner Guha feels his steel grip soften when he starts pursuing Veteran, a rising drug dealer tied to the escape of two hundred patients from various asylums across the city. Guha's panic rises as the bodies of these patients are uncovered in remote parts of the city. Each of these patients is killed in a different manner, and Guha finds himself scrambling to put the pieces of the puzzle together. While Guha begins to confront Veteran, Jason Gravano, son of notorious drug lord Favio Gravano, starts to tire with his life of endless partying. His friend Jack tries in vain to help Jason regain his spirits, only to find out that Jason craves danger. The two begin to slowly put themselves in increasing danger until Jason finds himself in the middle of a drug deal gone wrong. He kills the three gangbangers who cross him and marvels at the incredible power that he feels from fighting people. In pursuit of this ecstatic feeling, he uses the enormous funds from his father to form a biker gang dedicated to killing the scum of the city. Soon, Jason, Guha, and Veteran find themselves fighting each other for control of Grayham. In the relentless effort to win this game of wits, the three men lay waste to the city of Grayham. At the end of the day, the ruins can give birth to only one victor.

Vincitore del concorso "Racconti Noir", un esercizio di scrittura con personaggi scelti in precedenza e alcuni elementi obbligatori.

A man walks into a bar, his hands smelling of bleach. All he wants is a drink and an alibi, but what he gets is an encounter with a loud, old man. As they talk he realizes they share a very personal and very dangerous link.