Showing results by author "H E Joyce" in All Categories

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. Human beings are, in the main, social animals, they like to gather, to herd together, to share experiences. But some do not. Either through choice or exclusion their way forward is difficult. In this volume our authors and their characters share their stories.

Orphaned following a car accident, struggling with her grief, and a burden on her aunt, Miranda Fisher is sent to a boarding school on the Welsh border, miles from her native London. When she returns after the Christmas holiday, she learns that her favorite teacher has left the school, suddenly, and with no apparent reason.

The Manor Psychiatric Hospital in the Lake District is where Doctor Helen Ross decides to move her career. She soon realizes, however, that all is not as it should be at the hospital. Patients being removed from their beds in the dead of night and the odd behavior of the staff prompts her to investigate. What secrets does the hospital hold? And why are the staff so obedient to Professor Kirkby and his strange rules?

Richard Douglas feels unfulfilled and unappreciated in his job at The Boston Globe, a role created for him by his wealthy wife, Lindsay Nelson, CEO and owner of the media corporation. He calls on the assistance of ex-cop, now private investigator, Frank Doyle, when he receives a call telling him his wife has been kidnapped and a ransom of 15 million dollars demanded, but the exchange goes wrong and takes them on a perilous journey.

Located in an undisclosed location, somewhere in the southwestern desert, is an old, run down warehouse. This warehouse is not your typical industrial building but is the central hub for an international human trafficking ring. Known as "The Hole", prostitutes and sex-slaves, including children, are brought to this location for various purposes. Some come for their indoctrination to their new life, others to be disciplined or sold, however, all leave broken.

Jack Preston, a former army Captain, now a hunter of rare artifacts, is engaged to acquire a rare book by an anonymous buyer. Once the book is in Jack's possession, he has serious doubts about passing it to his buyer, as he is warned of the dangers of exploiting the book for personal gain. Events are soon out of his control when his American girlfriend, Abigail, is kidnapped. Jack finds her London flat ransacked and the book gone. Her kidnapping is linked to the book and a legendary lost temple in Peru.

"The Reaping": A gripping tale of terror in the style of M. R. James. A young village vicar listens to a tale of terror and dark secrets from a parishioner's childhood. The man is certain he is soon to die. Can the vicar convince him it is only his imagination getting the better of him? "The Cuckoo Club": A young man's promising career abruptly comes to an end. He takes unusual and radical steps to find work and soon finds himself embroiled in a web of intrigue that may change his life.

Sandra Gray was looking forward to the future with David Ryan. But tragedy strikes. Ryan is attacked and left for dead in a Boston side street on the waterfront. A passing stranger comes to his aid, yet this was no ordinary passerby; it was Frank Doyle, a private investigator. Doyle wants to know who carried out the attack and why, and when the police seem uninterested, he sets out to find the perpetrator. He is quick to identify a suspect, however, proving guilt takes him on a journey of deceit, corruption, and greed.

Following a horrific trauma in her life, Laura, along with her young son, escape to the small coastal town of Brooksville in Maine. Her quest for a peaceful life, removed of sorrow and loss, proves to be fruitful when she meets and falls in love with a local attorney.