Southern California Fiction

A wealthy family with DARK secrets. A SHOCKING reveal that you guaranteed won't see coming... Avery Collins is an attorney with the tender heart of a warrior for the wrongfully accused, for one simple reason. She was once wrongfully accused, and spent 7 years in prison for a murder she didn't commit. Now sworn to protect the indigent accused, she's persuaded to represent Esme Guitierrez, an El Salvadoran refugee who is accused of killing 21-year-old Aria Whitmore. Aria was the daughter of the prominent billionaire hotelier Jacob Whitmore, and was also an aspiring concert pianist and music ...

Jill Gardner has volunteered her Coffee, Books, and More to host a Christmas adopt-a-pet party. Among the potential forever friends is a male terrier named Baby, whose owner died of a heart attack. With few clues to go on, even finding the name of Baby's human is a daunting task. But there's no challenge too big for Jill this holiday season. Playing Santa's Little Helper, Jill is determined to find out what happened - and to fulfill a long-time coming Christmas wish.

Building on her critically acclaimed novel The Last Days of California and her biting collection Always Happy Hour, Miller slyly transports listeners to her unapologetic corner of the South - this time, Biloxi, Mississippi, home to 63-year-old Louis McDonald, Jr. His wife of 37 years left him, his father has passed - and he has impulsively retired from his job in anticipation of an inheritance check that may not come. One day, he stops at a house advertising free dogs and meets overweight mixed-breed Layla.

NEWLY EDITED AS OF 7/8/19!!!! An unstable beautiful woman is accused of murdering her wealthy husband. She claims she didn't do it. She is not to be trusted. Aidan Collins has his very first large case when his client, Marina Vasiliev, a drop-dead gorgeous mental patient, is accused of killing her wealthy husband. Marina insists that she didn't do it, but Aidan can't trust her. He knows Marina well, too well. After all, he met Marina in the mental hospital - he originally obtained her as a client when she was involuntarily committed, and he assisted her with getting out. Diagnosed with ...

Best friends Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani endure every parent’s nightmare when a tragic accident befalls their teenage boys, leaving one dead, another in a coma, and a third too traumatized to speak. Reeling from the worst night of their lives, the three mothers plunge into a desperate investigation of the bizarre incident. How could something so horrible happen in their wealthy Southern California suburb? They soon discover that the accident was just the beginning, and troubling discoveries lead to chilling questions: Do they really know their children? Do they even know each other?

California is on the edge of disaster. The banks are nearing collapse. Fear rises. The State Government can't cover its pension payments. Talking heads argue, while retirees wonder when their next check is coming. Unrest grows. There's murder in the streets. Gangs terrorize the population in the big cities - Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Sacramento. It's not just gangs, though. Somebody else is stirring things up. Who? Why are they doing it? People flee if they're able. The military tries to shore up its bases in San Diego. Unrest continues to build. Local law enforcement can't...

Carmen Sanchez is a tough Homeland Security agent who plays by the rules. But when her sister is attacked, revealing a connection to a series of murders across Southern California, she realizes a conventional investigation will not be enough to stop the ruthless perpetrator. With nowhere else to turn, Sanchez enlists the aid of Professor Jake Heron, a brilliant and quirky private security expert who, unlike Sanchez, believes rules are merely suggestions. The two have a troubled past, but he owes her a favor and she’s cashing in.

All Rob wanted was a normal life. She almost got it, too: a husband, two kids, a nice house in the suburbs. But Rob fears for her oldest daughter, Callie, who collects tiny bones and whispers to imaginary friends. Rob sees a darkness in Callie, one that reminds her too much of the family she left behind. She decides to take Callie back to her childhood home, to Sundial, deep in the Mojave Desert. And there she will have to make a terrible choice.

On a beautiful October day in the San Fernando Valley, teenager Missy Avila was lured into the woods, beaten, tortured, and drowned. Missy's best friend, Karen Severson, publicly vowed to find the killer and even moved in with Missy's family to help. Three years later, a surprise witness exposed the murderers as Missy's two best friends—one of whom was Karen. New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury delivers a story full of twists, turns, betrayals, and confessions.

In a suburban LA neighborhood, neighbors keep wary distance and at times collide, propelled by desire, fury, and mischief. Precocious Korean-American sisters Mira and Rosemary find their world rocked by a suicide; a charismatic and creepy drama teacher grooms his students; an aging gay horror novelist fights loneliness; and a white mother and her adopted Vietnamese daughter deal with lifelong anger issues.

Terror has come to California. What started out as local violence has morphed into world war, with nuclear attacks happening in several parts of the USA. The violence is getting worse in California, provoking a response from the state government. Martial law is declared in all the larger cities. Grids and checkpoints are laid out, and the population is forced to obey. The Governor brings in UN Peacekeepers to run checkpoints and police the population, pushing local law enforcement out of the way. Resistance begins almost immediately. Patriots rise from all walks of life, no longer trusting ...

What would you do if the government took your liberty?California citizens wage war against the UN, brought in to enforce martial law as their Islamist henchmen terrorize the countryside. Some citizens feel safer under martial law, free of the street violence and looting. Other citizens see this for what it is. Globalist tyranny. Their only choice is to fight the invaders, to the death if necessary. They’re making progress, but the cost is high.In Bug Out! California Book 10, the various groups of patriots merge, getting ready to stop a massive invasion of Islamist Fighters from south of ...

Southern California is where dreams come true—or so Scarlett Gardner thought. When she moved there and opened the Palm Trees and Page Turners bookshop, she thought her boyfriend and business partner would be part of the story. When he leaves her for a better job, Scarlett finds herself struggling to keep her new business afloat. And that’s not the only thing she has to worry about—she discovers something underneath the pier by her bookshop that she didn’t outline for her life’s story: the dead body of a book-buying customer.

After a few months of living with her boyfriend, Greg, Jill Gardner is still getting used to sharing such close quarters, but she's got no hesitation about joining him for a weekend at South Cove's most luxurious resort. While Greg and his college pals celebrate their buddy's upcoming wedding, Jill intends to pamper herself in style. But when the groom is found floating facedown in the pool, Jill must find the killer fast, or she might not have a boyfriend to come home to anymore....

In this moving collection of short stories and essays, Gordon Lee Johnson (Cupeño/Cahuilla) cements his voice not only as a wry commentator on American Indian reservation life but also as a master of fiction writing. In Johnson’s stories, all of which are set on the fictional San Ignacio reservation in Southern California, we meet unforgettable characters like Plato Pena, the Stanford-bound geek who reads Kahlil Gibran during intertribal softball games; hardboiled investigator Roddy Foo; and Etta, whose motto is “early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise”.

The era is the 1970s; the setting is Southern California. Lew Archer has been hired to retrieve a stolen canvas reputed to be the work of the celebrated Richard Chantry, who vanished in 1950 from his home in Santa Teresa. It is the portrait of an unknown woman.

Terror has come to California.In Bug Out! California Book 2, the forces of evil descend on the Golden State, bringing terror and murder. The resistance starts.In the opening of Bug Out! California Book 3, the subjugation of the population in Southern California is underway. Martial Law is in place. The counties are laid out in grids, with checkpoints between them. The population is put under tight control, and forced back to their jobs to keep the people busy and the cash flowing.UN Peacekeepers are brought in the man the checkpoints and control the population. Local police departments and ...

What would you do if the government took your liberty? California citizens labored under the cruel hand of the UN, brought in to enforce martial law as their Islamist henchmen terrorized the countryside. Some citizens in the cities felt safer, free of the street violence and looting. Other citizens saw this for what it was. Globalist tyranny. In Bug Out! California Book 6, new alliances are formed, and patriots are on the move Ivan the Butcher supplies the partisans with intelligence and firepower as the battles ramp up. The focus is changing. Recruitment of citizens is the key objective. ...

What would you do if the government took your liberty?California citizens wage war against the UN, brought in to enforce martial law as their Islamist henchmen terrorize the countryside. Some citizens feel safer under martial law, free of the street violence and looting. Other citizens see this for what it is. Globalist tyranny. Their only choice is to fight the invaders, to the death if necessary. In Bug Out! California Book 14, the Globalists pulled themselves back together, and prepared to attack the resistance. Their attempts were unsuccessful, and they were running out of Mercs.In Bug ...

What would you do if the government destroyed your liberty?California citizens labored under the cruel hand of the UN, brought in to enforce martial law. Some citizens felt safer, free of the street violence and looting. Other citizens saw this for what it was. Globalist tyranny.In Bug Out! California Book 5, the battle is ramping up. Citizens won early battles, kicking the UN and their Islamist allies out of LA and Orange Counties, but the battle didn’t end there. The enemy has regrouped, and they’re coming at the citizens full force. Who will prevail?Ivan the Butcher is using his vast...