Mostrando resultados por autor "Brian W. Smith" en Todas las categorías

Detective Lizzy Silverman’s promotion to sergeant should be a triumph. Instead, it’s a trial by fire. Before the ink dries on her new title, she’s handed two homicide cases that couldn’t appear more different. On the decaying grounds of the abandoned Jazzland amusement park in eastern New Orleans, a 27-year-old woman is found dead beneath a rusted carousel and hurricane-torn signage. Across the city, in the stately elegance of the Garden District, a 60-year-old woman is stabbed to death while riding on the historic St. Charles streetcar. Different ages. Different worlds. No obvious ...

After seven years of marriage, Xavier and Rhonda Curry are getting divorced. Like so many divorces, the Curry’s divorce gets messy because Xavier refuses to agree to give Rhonda partial ownership of the multi-million dollar company he built prior to their marriage. Before the presiding judge renders a verdict, he requires the Curry’s to go through a mediation session to see if they can come to an amicable resolution. Accompanied by their feisty attorneys, the Curry’s enter the mediation session ready for war. Once the mediation session starts, and Xavier and Rhonda tell their sides of...

Hell has many doors… and Kevin J. Kennedy just tore them all open. Ten masterfully twisted minds each offer their own chilling vision of damnation, sin, and suffering. These aren’t just stories—they’re warnings. Tales so disturbing, you’ll be praying your soul is clean. So ask yourself: Have you lived a good life? Enter, if you’re brave enough… but don’t expect to come back the same. Contains stories by Edward Lee, Gord Rollo, Bryan W. Alaspa, Bill Davidson, Jeffrey Thomas, Viggy Parr Hampton, Thomas Smith, David-Jack Fletcher, Brian Moreland & Ryan Colley. Edited by Ann Keeran

Monty Okafor is a young hot-shot lawyer who runs into his old high school girlfriend, Summer Tonti. While at dinner, catching up on old times, Monty reminds Summer that the reason they broke up was because her mother forbade her from dating anyone whose skin color was darker than a brown paper bag. Much to Monty's chagrin, it's 15 years later and Summer admits that her mom still doesn't want her to date anyone who is darker than a brown paper bag. So, imagine how awkward things get when Summer's twin brother, Langston, is accused of murder and needs the best Defense Attorney in the city......

Tracy "Tiny" LeBlanc is a former Homicide Detective who decides to leave her stressful job and use her hefty inheritance to become a Travel Influencer. Traveling across the world and posting about the amazing cities and sites that she visits brings her a joy and freedom that she never knew existed. But Tiny's life takes a drastic turn when a Category 4 hurricane strikes her hometown of New Orleans and wipes out her childhood home; leaving her mother, Ida LeBlanc, homeless. Like any good child, Tiny opens her doors to her mother. But what she thought would be a temporary living arrangement ...

In 1995, Clementine Wilson was murdered in her home. The slaying was witnessed by her two sons: Christopher (10) and Omar (8). The boys spent the next seven years in and out of numerous foster homes. When Christopher became too old for the foster care system, he joined the army. Feeling abandoned by the only relative he'd ever known, Omar fled the dysfunctional environment the first chance he got. The brothers didn't see each other again for twenty years. When the brothers reconnect they are both surprised to learn that they have a lot of similarities: they are both aloof, they often ...

When Detective Lizzy Silverman is asked to be one of three judges for the gumbo contest at the 25th Annual Big Eazy Gumbo Festival, she reluctantly accepts. When one of the judges dies after eating a bowl of gumbo, Lizzy finds herself knee deep in a homicide investigation that has her stumped. The identity of the judges was kept a secret. The contestants had no way of knowing which of the three judges would eat the poisoned gumbo. Lastly, several people had access to the gumbo bowls. With no cameras in the prep area, how could she possibly determine who poisoned the gumbo? Luckily for Lizzy...

Josh and Stevie are two eleven year old boys who appear to be different. Josh is white, Stevie is black. Josh is poor, Stevie if from a middle class family. But, these two boys have one thing in common - they both are being molested by their mother's boyfriends. The two boys make a decision to get rid of their abusers once and for all...but will they be able to get away with their revenge?

Nothing can derail a wedding faster than a murder… Eli LaPomeret is a descendant of Pierre LaPomeret—the most notorious slave owner in Louisiana history. The LaPomeret family has benefited for generations from the wealth accumulated by their infamous ancestor, and still has a lot of influence within the city of New Orleans. So, when Eli announced his engagement to Khloe Francois the buzz that ensued within the city’s most exclusive social circles was predictable. But, no one could have predicted that Eli would find himself standing at the altar waiting for his soon-to-be-bride…who ...

The Club is a book club that consists of 7 women and 1 man who all have a passion for reading novels. Their love for books has created an unbreakable bond between them. But things take a dark turn when Amber, the baby of the group, reveals that her husband, Police Chief, Anthony Dunwoody, is a monster who has done horrible things to her and their daughter, Sophie. The members of The Club become enraged by Amber's confession, and once the alcohol starts flowing at the meeting, it isn't long before suggestions on how to kill the badge wearing abuser get tossed around. Those suggestions might ...

Sonya Lucas is the model wife. Her husband Eric is not the model husband. The couple's marriage is in jeopardy because Sonya can't have kids and Eric desperately wants a son. Tired of waiting for his wife to give him a child, Eric has a "love child" with his mistress Ann. Will Sonya accept the baby to save her marriage? Or will she take matters into her own hands. Deceit has consequences...serious consequences.

Saxophone Bo has been playing jazz tunes on the same Bourbon Street corner for over fifty years. He's always been a crowd favorite because of his skills, personality, and the thing that makes him stand apart from the other musician's roaming the French Quarter...he's blind. When Saxophone Bo is found dead at the spot that he stood at for decades, the locals and police are baffled. Why would anyone murder such a kind man? And why did the murderer leave Bo's money and his most prized possession, his saxophone, untouched? Trying to catch the killer seems impossible since there were no ...

Evelyn Quick is a feisty, smart, attractive young entrepreneur. But her troubled past has left her fractured emotionally and is the genesis for a deep dark secret she has struggled to keep from her friends and co-workers...she's a hoarder. Hoarding is a way for her to emotionally bury the secrets of her past...as well as some other things.

Robert Sumina, a successful entrepreneur, husband, and father, hates his own father, Enis, so much that he told his ten-year-old daughters their grandfather died. Why? Because Enis was so verbally and physically abusive that Robert's mother committed suicide to escape his wrath. When Hurricane Katrina demolishes New Orleans and sends thousands of residents fleeing from the city, Enis, now sixty-five years old, hobbled, and destitute because of the hurricane, lands—unannounced—on the doorstep of Robert’s suburban Dallas home. Robert’s lie is exposed. To make matters worse, Enis is ...

Quincy Washington is an alcoholic and drug addict. He abandons his wife (Carmen) and their five year old son (QJ). Carmen tells QJ his father died. Ten years later, QJ and a few of his rowdy friends are beating up a homeless man. Just as QJ was about to hit the man, the man tells him he's his father.

Is voodoo real? Detective Lizzy Silverman is about to find herself face-to-face with that question. When Corey Simon, a delivery truck driver, is found dead with his throat slit near the tomb of Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, police are shocked by the gruesome crime scene. Guinevere Laveau, a woman who claims to be the descendant of Marie Laveau, confesses to placing a voodoo spell on the victim; a spell that assured his death. With no other suspects, Detective Lizzy Silverman feels compelled to arrest Laveau, but that would also mean Lizzy would have to believe that voodoo ...

A beautiful college student is killed in Audubon Park - just a few feet away from St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. There were no witnesses. The case is handed to newly minted detective, Elizabeth Silverman. It isn't long before Elizabeth realizes there are multiple people who had a motive to murder the young woman. Elizabeth is in over her head on this one, but she has a secret weapon - legendary detective Donald "Sleepy" Carter. But, there is one catch, everyone at the New Orleans Police Department believes Sleepy Carter is dead - and that's exactly the way Elizabeth and Sleepy like it.

Treena Carter is about to marry the love of her life, Cedric Calderone, in one week. But, she has one problem - her ex-husband and thirteen year old daughter are determined to stop the wedding. And they come up with the "perfect lie" to make sure the wedding doesn't happen.

Wood Mercer, a single father, works two jobs so that his only child, Ryan, can grow up in the suburbs of Dallas, TX. Wood has a lot of financial stress on him, but he has an everyday challenge that trumps the pile of bills in his mailbox...living in his predominantly all white neighborhood. Wood has been racially profiled numerous times by the police and insulted by neighbors who question why he's living in their community. The incidents - along with emotional baggage from his childhood - has left a bad taste in his mouth. Nevertheless, he deals with it all because he feels the suburban ...

On a sunny day in Big Sur, California, five people wander into a coffee shop intending to get their daily caffeine fix. Instead, they witness a disturbing verbal altercation between two customers. Slurs and innuendos are exchanged between the two adversaries and the normally quaint coffee shop fills with a tension that's thicker than the scent of java swirling in the air. The scene becomes combustible when one of the combatants pulls out a cellphone to film the incident. When police officers arrive on the scene and interview the five witnesses: Kim - an African-American nurse; Amy - a ...