It's the weather for shorts in the UK at the moment, so this weekend you can help yourself to a free pair. Wired contains two short stories, each including scenes of violence, brutality and human frailty.
'Barbed Wire' — How far would you go to protect your family? Pushed to the brink, Jimmy Mitchell does what he feels is necessary; then, when he finally dares to believe it’s all over, the police knock on his door. Have Jimmy’s past misdeeds caught up with him?
'Razor Wire' — As Jemma struggles to change her image from thieving tomboy to elegant sophisticate, she is driven to do desperate things to feed her new obsession. What we covet can make us reckless; but is it really worth dying for?
Free from all Amazon stores, including UK and US.
'Barbed Wire' — How far would you go to protect your family? Pushed to the brink, Jimmy Mitchell does what he feels is necessary; then, when he finally dares to believe it’s all over, the police knock on his door. Have Jimmy’s past misdeeds caught up with him?
'Razor Wire' — As Jemma struggles to change her image from thieving tomboy to elegant sophisticate, she is driven to do desperate things to feed her new obsession. What we covet can make us reckless; but is it really worth dying for?
Free from all Amazon stores, including UK and US.
If Wired is your sort of thing, you might also enjoy Cutter's Deal, a novella published by Byker Books.
Mac is an old school crime boss, and getting on in years. Cutter is newer to the game, a sociopath with big ambitions. While Mac has an underlying sense of right and wrong, Cutter cares about no one but himself. People are his to use, and when they’re no use anymore — or when he’s broken them — he casually discards them with no thought for the damage done.
When his world collides with that of a decent, hard-working – but financially struggling – working-class family, it’s only a matter of time before somebody gets hurt.
Meanwhile, Mac is looking increasingly fragile and there’s no clear successor to take over his firm …
Available from all Amazon stores, including UK and US.
Mac is an old school crime boss, and getting on in years. Cutter is newer to the game, a sociopath with big ambitions. While Mac has an underlying sense of right and wrong, Cutter cares about no one but himself. People are his to use, and when they’re no use anymore — or when he’s broken them — he casually discards them with no thought for the damage done.
When his world collides with that of a decent, hard-working – but financially struggling – working-class family, it’s only a matter of time before somebody gets hurt.
Meanwhile, Mac is looking increasingly fragile and there’s no clear successor to take over his firm …
Available from all Amazon stores, including UK and US.
If you prefer your thrills with a supernatural edge, you might enjoy latest novel Darke: The Devil, The Magician and The Fool, which is also free this weekend.
World-renowned illusionist Thaddeus Darke is up against the clock: he has just three months to deliver a soul to settle the debt he owes Old Harry … the Devil himself. Not just any soul, either: it has to be the soul of someone who owes him a debt from the past. And if Thaddeus fails to deliver, the soul of his eight-year-old niece will be taken instead.
When Joe Fox’s life is turned upside-down, forcing him to return to the UK, he’s keen to catch up with his old school friend Thaddeus Darke. But it soon becomes clear to him that something is amiss. Why has Thaddeus stopped performing magic? Why has he shut himself away in his cliff-top mansion? And what is his true relationship with his manager, Harry?
As the story unfolds and the danger increases, Thaddeus realises that he has no choice but to go back to the crossroads to strike another deal with Harry. The stakes are high, there's everything to play for, and there'll be the Devil to pay if the game is lost.
Free from all Amazon stores, including UK and US.
World-renowned illusionist Thaddeus Darke is up against the clock: he has just three months to deliver a soul to settle the debt he owes Old Harry … the Devil himself. Not just any soul, either: it has to be the soul of someone who owes him a debt from the past. And if Thaddeus fails to deliver, the soul of his eight-year-old niece will be taken instead.
When Joe Fox’s life is turned upside-down, forcing him to return to the UK, he’s keen to catch up with his old school friend Thaddeus Darke. But it soon becomes clear to him that something is amiss. Why has Thaddeus stopped performing magic? Why has he shut himself away in his cliff-top mansion? And what is his true relationship with his manager, Harry?
As the story unfolds and the danger increases, Thaddeus realises that he has no choice but to go back to the crossroads to strike another deal with Harry. The stakes are high, there's everything to play for, and there'll be the Devil to pay if the game is lost.
Free from all Amazon stores, including UK and US.