Showing results by narrator "Jodie Harris" in All Categories

My life has never been better. I have a beautiful little girl, and I am engaged to be married to the man I’ve had a crush on since I can remember. So when Nick, my handsome fiancé, announces that his sister Carla is finally coming home, it’s truly the icing on the cake. That was twelve years ago, and no one has seen her since. Everyone is ecstatic about Carla’s return. But as I spend more time with her, I can't shake the feeling that something isn't right. Her behavior is a little off, her childhood memories don't align with mine, and she's oddly evasive about her lost years.

London, 1923. Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh is the first woman to hold the position at University College of London. When she attends a dinner party for the school, she expects to engage in conversations about the university's large expedition to the Amazon. What she doesn’t expect is for Mrs. Henry, one of the professors’ wives, to drop to the floor, poisoned by an unknown toxin. Dr. Maxwell, Saffron’s mentor, is the main suspect, and evidence quickly mounts.

Respected high school teacher Austin Yates is a devoted family man. But when a cruel online attack leaves his teenage daughter traumatized, Austin’s carefully controlled life begins to unravel. Family means everything to him—and he’ll do whatever it takes to protect them. Even if it means removing the threat. For Kate, Austin is the man who saved her. She’s a good wife and doting mother. But when whispers of scandal and accusations against Austin ripple through their small town, Kate faces an impossible choice.

Lucy’s husband has been missing for days while she tries to pretend to those around her, including her distracted teenagers, that everything is normal. In desperation, she uses a phone app to track him—and discovers he’s with another woman. As her life falls apart, Lucy realizes nothing is as it seems. There's another woman in her husband’s life, but it’s someone she has known—and hated—for twenty years. As the story unfolds, including in the national press, her family must pull together before lives are destroyed.

1920s London isn’t the ideal place for a brilliant woman with lofty ambitions, but research assistant Saffron Everleigh is determined to beat the odds in a male-dominated field at the University College of London. She embarks on her first research study alongside the insufferably charming Dr. Michael Lee, traveling the countryside with him in response to reports of poisonings. But when Detective Inspector Green is given a case with a set of unusual clues, he asks for her assistance.

A Russian scientist working for the English government has been poisoned and expired in Adrian’s train compartment. Alexander asks Saffron to put in a good word for Adrian with Inspector Green. Despite her unresolved feelings for Alexander, Saffron begins to unravel mysteries surrounding the dead scientist. As if a murder case weren’t enough, her best friend Elizabeth’s war-hero brother, Nick, arrives in town and takes an immediate interest in Saffron. Saffron learns Alexander has been keeping secrets from her, including a connection to Nick.

Welcome to a very special issue of Weird Tales. This issue celebrates the Bram Stoker Awards, the “Oscars” of the horror trade. They are presented every year by the Horror Writers Association (horror.org), a group founded in 1985 (and incorporated in 1987) by a collective of masters of that genre, including Joe R. Lansdale, Karen Lansdale, Robert McCammon, and Dean Koontz. This issue is packed with short stories, flash fiction, poems, and an essay—all written by past winners of the Bram Stoker Award.

Mia's grief counseling practice, The Pleiades, is named for the seven sisters from Greek mythology who were the companions of the Goddess of the Hunt—and who, in some stories, die of grief or are killed to be saved from attackers. Mia has been gathering broken women together for a radical form of group therapy. Amy. Gabrielle. Katy. Brooke. Olivia. Five women crippled with grief by the murders of their sisters—and seething with rage that the partners who killed them all walk free. She just needs one more.

Tamsin recently married renowned composer Robin Featherstone. Robin is much older, but Tamsin doesn’t care—she’s in love. And she knows Robin loves her too, even if he is very close to another young woman—his assistant, Mia. Meanwhile, Robin’s ex-wife and grown children aren’t happy—they’re sure Tamsin is a gold-digger and Mia is an opportunist. Then, when Robin suddenly dies, the family’s worst fears are realized: Tamsin stands to inherit everything. But when the will is read, its contents are beyond shocking.

After innocently describing herself as a princess to the band of merchants who discovered her, Gwyn has been brought into high society. Under the protection of elves, she enrolls in the Royal Academy, to be educated in etiquette and politics while her guardians create House Reinhart. A ten-year-old twenty-first century girl, Gwyn has no patience for the pomp and circumstance forced upon her by the ducal court. And as an emotional child who just wants her mom, her uncontrollable pyromancy makes her a considerable threat to the nobility.

Jennifer A. Nielsen, award-winning author of A Night Divided and Rescue, artfully weaves together the stories of five kids living through World War I, each of whom holds the key to the others' futures... if they are lucky -- and brave -- enough to find each other. World War I stretches its cruel fingers across Europe, where five young people, each from different backgrounds and nations, face the terror of battle, the deprivations of hunger, and all the awful challenges of war.

Grief has settled in at Hart House. For nine months, Alfie has been caring for his twin seven-year-old daughters after the sudden death of their mother, Pippa. One night, Alfie wakes to find Sylvie and Cassia at the foot of his bed, claiming there’s a man in their room. Alfie finds no sign of a man, but it isn’t long before the girls start talking about an imaginary friend. What seemingly begins as a harmless coping mechanism for the two grieving girls quickly develops into something more insidious.

For much of the twentieth century, a series of terrible events—abuse, both physical and psychological, and even deaths—took places inside orphanages. The survivors have been trying to tell their astonishing stories for a long time, but disbelief, secrecy, and trauma have kept them from breaking through. For ten years, Christine Kenneally has been on a quest to uncover the harrowing truth.

Tech designer Sloane Reinhart and her ten-year-old daughter, Gwyneth, were living ordinary lives outside of Milan, Italy, when an extraordinary event occurred. The sky turned to swirling hues of purplish red and blue, and a thunderclap shook the land. Then there was a blinding flash and a gale force of wind that separated Sloane and Gwyn from each other—and Earth.

Detectives Cara Elliott and Noah Deakin are on the case of a series of seemingly unconnected murders, each different in method but shocking and brutal. As the body count increases, they can’t ignore the details that echo famous cases of the past. As Elliott and Deakin get closer to unmasking the killer, the murders are moving closer to home. Meanwhile, Jessica Ambrose is on the run, implicated as the arsonist who killed her husband and injured her daughter. With the help of disgraced detective Nate Griffin, Jess discovers a link between her case and the ultimate copycat killer.

The old gods have fled, and the monsters they had kept at bay for centuries now threaten to drown the city of Valentine, hunting mankind as in ancient times. In the midst of the chaos, a serial killer has begun ritually sacrificing victims, their bodies strewn throughout the city. Lilac Antonis wants to stop the impending destruction of her city by summoning her mother, a blood god—even if she has to slit a few throats to do it. But evading her lover Arcadia and her friends means sneaking, lying, and even spilling the blood of people she loves.

Emily and Aaron are dating, and she's finally figured out which direction to take her life. She's studying at university for the first time, and she's moved out of Joanna's house and into a dorm room. But independence is harder than she imagined it would be. Joanna learns that an empty house can be lonely. But a friendly neighbor might be just what the doctor ordered, to help fight off the blues. And a new project will give her the boost she needs to keep moving forward. Then she welcomes an unexpected guest into her life who will shake everything up in the most delightful way.

The Ophelia is your typical billionaire yacht: ridiculously luxurious, owned by a ruthless money man, and staffed by a crew whose only job is to indulge the guests’ every wish. Model-gorgeous Sasha is a last-minute hire for a weeklong Atlantic crossing. She joins fellow stewardesses Jade, Imogen, Euphemia, and Lola. The Ophelia’s stewardesses are almost identical—blonde and model-gorgeous—and all were lured to the Ophelia by high wages and a chance to leave their problems behind when they set sail.

That summer with Damien was the best of her life. Now, she's back in Sunshine, fifteen years later, and the New Year is fast approaching. After a breakup and a job loss, Beth moves home to stay with her newly divorced mother and take stock of her life. She can't help wondering if Damien will come to the New Year's Eve festival on Sunshine Beach again.

Megan Ward goes missing, and suspicion falls on the stalker seen outside her house. Detective Jeff Rickman is brought in to investigate—it should be a simple missing person case. But the closer he looks the more mysterious Megan herself becomes. There are no photos, no passport, no family or friends from an earlier life.