The small town of Surfside Beach isn’t known for its high-profile murders, but there’s always a first time for everything. Marine scientist Sophie Caldwell is found dead in her home. Her husband? Missing. Art Robinson, Surfside Chief of Police, quickly realizes this isn’t a run-of-the-mill...

In 2002, in Arizona, a school boy killed two girls out in the forest, carved a cross and a spiral into the body of one of them with a knife, and with a Sharpie drew a spiral on her left wrist. In Colorado, also in...

Searching for John Smith by Joan Glase is the story of Julia, a twenty-six-year-old woman struggling with grief and a growing sense that her life has gone nowhere. After her aunt’s death, Julia leaves Ohio and travels alone to Baja, Mexico, hoping the distance will...

The Aspirants by J. Loretta takes a look at a near-future where politics and reality TV have merged with the concept of assisted dying. The story starts right in the middle of a livestream called “That’s EnterAttainment!”, where terminally ill people—dubbed "Aspirants"—turn their final moments...

Chats with a Charlatan by Chris Wilkensen follows Kevin Davis, a therapist in Chicago whose life, both at work and at home, is falling apart. Kevin uses unorthodox methods in his sessions, sometimes giving his patients alcohol and marijuana in an attempt to break down...

One Fall by Joe Maldonado tells the story of Cabeza Loco, a famous luchador who dies during a big championship match, something everyone at first believes was just a tragic accident in the ring. Mercedes Perez, a wrestling journalist, witnesses the match and notices details...

After a bloody raid on Golacia by an alliance of the three houses of Daar—Morura, Requuan, and Cafreyn—Tuenor, the high ruler of Morura, wins Pilaer, a beautiful Golacian warrior. Over seventeen years, Pilaer bears Tuenor two children, Mikal and Mirriae. At twelve, Mirriae wishes to...

Poison Pill by Anthony Lee is a shocking medical thriller. Dr. Mark Lin hates anything that harms, but he's about to face two of his biggest nemeses: bad herbal supplements and greedy drug companies. A herbal supplement causes a young man's kidneys to fail. Another...

Mr. Gobscheit: It's All Gobscheit by Avery Mann follows Mark Jamison, who expects his retirement in Angel Landing to be permanent until an urgent request sends him to Dublin on a covert naval assignment. He is placed inside the Irish Defense Ministry to observe suspected...

Elco Parks by Sandro Laudadio is one of the most unusual stories I have read in a while, and it resonates with its themes and atmosphere. The setting is Vancouver in 2008, where a new religion has taken hold in the belief that glacial striations...