Short Heist

An IT whiz at the Babylon Casino is enlisted to upgrade security for the game of keno and its random-number generator. The new quantum computer system is foolproof. But someone on the inside is no fool. For once the odds may not favor the house - unless human ingenuity isn’t entirely a thing of the past.

Essence® best-selling authors Kiki Swinson and De’nesha Diamond are two rising stars in the world of urban fiction. Heist presents two novellas starring young women hustling their way to the top of the game through daring robbery schemes. In Swinson’s The Ultimate Heist, pampered Shannon Marshall is accustomed to a big-money lifestyle. Her world is shattered, however, when her man is thrown into prison for gun running.

FBI Special Agent Kate O’Hare is known for her fierce dedication and discipline on the job, chasing down the world’s most wanted criminals and putting them behind bars. Her boss thinks she is tenacious and ambitious; her friends think she is tough, stubborn, and maybe even a bit obsessed. And while Kate has made quite a name for herself for the past five years the only name she’s cared about is Nicolas Fox - an international crook she wants in more ways than one.

Master novelist Daniel Silva has thrilled listeners with 16 thoughtful and gripping spy novels featuring a diverse cast of compelling characters and ingenious plots that have taken them around the globe and back - from the United States to Europe, Russia to the Middle East. His brilliant creation, Gabriel Allon - art restorer, assassin, spy - has joined the pantheon of great fictional secret agents, including George Smiley, Jack Ryan, Jason Bourne, and Simon Templar.

I'll do anything to escape the controlling monster who's tormented me for years, even if it means putting my life at the mercy of a criminal. When Kane Daniels breaks into my gilded cage, he doesn't realize his loot will include more than gold and diamonds—it'll include me.

When an armored car heist turns into a bloody and grisly crime scene, Federal agent Blake Wilder is sent to Philadelphia to track down the culprits. But there’s more to this militantly precise and violent crew than meets the eye....

In 2021, the Panama Papers exposed a web of corruption, revealing how the global elite dodged taxes and hoarded wealth. Among the lush and secretive havens of the Cayman Islands, Eloise Deen emerges, on a relentless hunt for stolen fortunes. Known for her unyielding resolve and a knack for persuasion that borders on the lethal, Eloise is a force to be reckoned with. She's well aware that stealing the money is the easy part... getting away with it is a killer. Dive into this short tale where the stakes are as dangerous as the secrets uncovered, and where getting what you want might just cost...

Every four years, the criminal underworld engages in a game. The Game. The challenges range from the impossible to the deadly to the truly insane. Things that only a crazy person would tackle. I’ve won the game five times. This time will be no different. I’m at the top of my field now, the best of the world’s thieves. There’s nothing I can’t steal, and this time, the game is all about theft, subterfuge, and sleight of hand. Starting with a legendary painting of poppy flowers.

It’s just another morning on the fifth of July. The country is another year older; Gus is a touch hungover, the coffee in his office is stale, and all Gus wants to do is go home and start over again on July sixth. Unfortunately Father Xavier visits the sheriff’s office and he’s brought along a gift. He has a green jacket that should have been put in the church’s lost and found. The father suspects it belongs to a missing girl named Erica Torres which is odd given the jacket is marked as belonging to E. Rossi. Erica went to school one day and never came home. She was picked up by a ...

Spring is in the air. Gus is feeling pretty good about the change in seasons until an unknown man decides he would rather change from being alive to being dead. He clearly drank something toxic, and it didn’t agree with him. The question is, did he really decide to do that, or did someone make that decision for him. Only that question is buried under a lot of other layers of questions. Why did the man visit Gus a few days before his death proclaiming the end times were near? Why didn’t he take enough poison to kill him near instantly instead of lingering around for days slowly dying? ...

All Mel and Dana wanted was a weekend break... Mel and Dana take a long weekend break with the family on a Lake Erie island, or so they planned. Things just never seem to work out as they plan because crime follows them everywhere. Will they ever get a break? Probably not, but maybe Mel will find the career spark that's been missing for a while. This is a short story featuring Mel and Dana that takes place sometime after Book 12 of the Morelville Mysteries series. You don't need to have read the series to enjoy this story, but it will certainly help you understand Mel and her motivations. ...

The Red Chronicles Trilogy #2 Gritty, relentless, and razor-sharp, Crimson Ties is a masterclass in deception, ambition, and the price of playing for keeps. Fresh out of the penitentiary, Red knows the rules have changed. He went in as a reckless thief—now, thanks to a ruthless prison mentor named Gauge, he’s walking out as something sharper, deadlier, and with a mission: take down Miami crime boss Luis Alvarez. But first, Red needs money—serious money. His hidden stash is gone, burned through by his deadbeat uncle, leaving Red with one option: con his way back to power. The score? A ...

A heist gone wrong. A city soaked in rain and blood. A tactical team pushed to the edge. In the neon-lit, monsoon-drenched streets of Karachi, Firebird leads a covert crew of elite operatives on a high-stakes mission: infiltrate a secure port, steal a fortune in GPU chips, and vanish before dawn. But in this city of shadows, danger lurks at every turn-and the Oracle’s cryptic warning about “odd lightning” echoes in Firebird’s mind. As loyalties blur and the line between fate and free will unravels, every move could be their last. In a world where every ally could be a traitor, ...

After ageing hippy Bill Hogan is taken hostage during a bank heist in Brooklyn, his captors demand a million-dollar ransom for his safe return. The problem is no-one knows who the hell Bill Hogan is. Does he even exist? All is not what it seems in this fast-paced, short story.

Welcome to Christmas Creek, where Santa reigns all year and crime is as rare as a snowflake in July—or so Sheriff Brad Wing thought. With Christmas just around the corner, the cozy town is thrown into a festive frenzy by a string of mysterious package thefts. As Sheriff Wing dives deep into the investigation, his orderly world is upended by the mischievous Ivy Jolly, a woman who’s as sweet as she is unpredictable. Caught between his duty to uphold the law and his heart’s yearning for Ivy, Brad must navigate a whirlwind of holiday hijinks, stolen gifts, and a magical Christmas surprise...

Hiding is no longer enough…she needed answers… What did Jackson see on the video…and how does he tell Simon… Daman and Niall are asking all the right questions...will they survive to find the answers... Mick Johnson might be dead but his killer is unknown and the clues leading to them are non-existent. Completely non-existent…which according to Jackson never ever happens… Elijah Sullivan, the father she adored all her life left clues…Ava just has to unravel them even as she comes to terms with her feelings about Harper…and his for her. It’s the middle of the twenty-third ...

Gus has traveled out of state and up to the city of Seattle to visit his daughter. She’s sharing an apartment with two criminology majors. Naturally their thoughts turn toward talking about crime and they ask Gus to talk about one of his cases. Since he doesn’t want to discuss anything too recent or else his daughter might know the people involved, he digs down deep into his memory banks for the perfect case from his first year as a sheriff. It also just so happens to be the first case he crossed path with Father Xavier. As he remembers it, Gus was called in to investigate an apparent ...

Lieutenant Ethan Hendricks’ greatest nightmare just also happened to be his grandfather’s newest business venture. Logan Hendricks is thrilled about his brand new detective agency’s first case, but things weren’t turning out the way they were supposed to, including the attempted murder of one of his brand new employees. But he figures their next case, which involves finding a missing sister, should go a lot smoother. How dangerous could it be? Ethan Hendricks wasn’t quite as confident about his grandfather’s new hobby, or that the supposedly straight-forward case of a missing ...

Hiding is no longer enough…she needed answers. What did Jackson see…and how does he tell Simon… Mick Johnson might be dead but his killer is unknown and the clues leading to them are non-existent. Completely non-existent…which according to Jackson never ever happens…then he finds one but how does he tell Simon… But Elijah Sullivan, the father she adored all her life left clues…she just has to unravel them even as she comes to terms with her feelings about Harper…and his for her. It’s the middle of the twenty-third century and while there have been staggering technological ...

Question: What does a bestselling author’s stolen manuscript, a string of intentionally set fires, and prize winning apple strudel have in common? Answer: Tabitha Clive! The year is 1995 and Tabitha Clive is content to spend her days quietly running the family farm in Kornville, Nebraska, baking prize winning apple strudel and working on her long-awaited novel. The quiet routine of tending to the animals, helping in the cornfields, baking sweet treats, and spending a few hours a day at her typewriter is fine with Tabitha. The quietness is shattered when renowned mystery writer Theodore ...