With her father’s death, mercenary thief Beaks returns to the place she hates most—her childhood home, to both pay her respects and make certain he’s gone.

She finds only lies.

Determined to rip the truth out of the shadows, Beaks ricochets around the world, defying killers and government agents alike. With the man she loves and the secretive hacker Sister Silence, she targets a nightmare that turns suffering into profit and slaughter into joy.

Family. It’s worse than murder.

Murder, mayhem, and all manner of crimes set during the holiday season give this anthology a bite that serves as a delightful change from the sweetness that often dominates this time of the year.

This volume contains an abundance of thieves, a few murderers, a wannabe murderer, and one or two stories in which the crime lurks on the periphery. With a host of unreliable narrators, a few psychopaths, and one acrobat, who could resist?

From a search for the perfect Christmas tree that turns deadly to a reformed thief who wrestles with the better angels of his nature when temptation arises during the holidays, these marvelous mysteries prove the perfect distraction for even the stormiest winter evening.

Includes:

“Christmas Chase” by Tonya D. Price

“For The Win” by Stephannie Tallent

“Into the Good Night” by Rob Vagle

“A Different, Better Red” by Michael Warren Lucas

“The Art of Waiting” by Kelly Washington

“Christmas in the Ruins” by Mary Jo Rabe

“The Magi of St. Michael’s” by Annie Reed

“Pungent Justice” by Kari Kilgore

“Targets of Opportunity” by Stefon Mears

“All The Bells and Whistles” by B.A. Paul

“Not A Cozy” by Steven Mohan, Jr.

Change it. Then watch it try to kill you.

Solve a murder in a universe without ground to stand on. Investigate inexplicable deaths a few million years after the Big Bang. Take too many breaths and never go home again. Let the antimatter trickle between your fingers, and visit five alien universes in this first Montague Portal omnibus.

Contains:

Shaman Azok-Snaka defends his orcish tenement against the subtler dangers of 1927 Detroit. He teaches the Sagas and battles the grasping landlord, hoping to speak no language but Orcish all the rest of his days.

But when a human shaman invades the tenement, Azok must use his every trick to repel the incursion.

Even if it means invoking the fiercest of his own gods…

Take stories detailing all the nastiest parts of human behavior, from theft to murder to mayhem, throw in some of the “lesser” darkness that humans can provide during the holidays, and assemble them into one volume—welcome to Bloody Christmas.

These stories, dark and vicious, form the perfect antidote to the holiday season’s sugary sweetness. So, consider this the savory part of the holidays for those whose reading tastes get darker in the darkest part of the year.

As Alfred Hitchcock used to say, read these stories with the lights on—and the doors locked, curtains drawn, and protective gear at hand. One never knows what lurks in the darkness.

Includes:

“Asking For It” by C.H. Hung

“Some Folks Just Need Killin’” by Lauryn Christopher

“A Crafty Affair” by Bonnie Elizabeth

“A Hidden Gift” by Meyari McFarland

“The Perfect Gift” by Robert Cutchin

“Why Don’t You Make Gingerbread?” by Dayle A. Dermatis

“A Killer Party” by Annie Reed

“Wild Nights and New Roads” by Lisa Silverthorne

“Sister Silence Night” by Michael Warren Lucas

“Bobo” by Ron Collins

“Christmas Dessert” by Juliet Nordeen