Showing results by author "A. J. Payler" in All Categories

Quarantined. Isolated. Paranoid. Trapped. Stuck at home with nowhere to run, Kevin Tamura isn't holding up well under quarantine. Exhausted from overwork and lack of sleep, his sanity slips as society crumbles. But what will he do to protect himself when the greatest terror of all might be hiding right next door? From the mind of A. J. Payler, author of Lost In the Red and The Killing Song, comes a story of a man pushed to the edge in a world that's ready to break.

A mysterious figure stalks the murky backwoods of the Midwest on an unrelenting mission for revenge, with nothing but a Bowie knife to protect him against the monsters that haunt the forest. And even if he’s able to find what he needs… it’s already too late.

Kenji Sanada has always been more comfortable with classic fictional monsters than with other people, even his family—Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the mummy—all safely immortalized on his wall of fame. But what will he do when the all-too-real horrors of modern reality threaten to break right through those selfsame walls?

Shane and Jewel have been hanging onto the edges of life by their fingernails for so long they can’t remember any other way of living. When enough money to solve all their problems drops out of the sky, it seems like a windfall from heaven—but it might be the worst thing that could ever have happened. Can love survive when money comes between lovers? Caught between the criminal underground and the law, Shane and Jewel race toward freedom despite a parade of bizarre characters, secret plans, and hidden agendas standing between them and the life they so desperately need.

Carson Adkins had no doubt he was born unlucky, especially after his college folded one semester before graduation - but he never expected to find himself caught deep in the heart of an uncharted land sheltered against the passage of time for decades! Compelled to struggle against terrifying odds and unfamiliar threats for survival, Carson finds himself in a world he never expected, where every encounter forces him to confront deadly opponents and difficult truths.

Would you risk everything for one shot at immortality? 1996, the American Midwest: Zach Coleman is beginning to suspect the nineties aren't all they're cracked up to be. His fledgling private investigation career is sinking fast, his band just broke up, and even his boring day job isn't paying off. But when a chance audition with a long-lost, legendary rock star leads to the opportunity of a lifetime, will Zach turn his back on everything he's known and pray both his worlds don't burn down around his ears?

Everyone—everyone said that getting the Artery Boys back together was impossible…and for once, high-powered music manager Alec Rodenbaugh might even have agreed.

1996, the American Midwest: Zach Coleman is beginning to suspect the nineties aren't all they're cracked up to be. His fledgling private investigation career is sinking fast, his band just broke up, and even his boring day job isn't paying off. But when a chance audition with a long-lost, legendary rock star leads to the opportunity of a lifetime, will Zach turn his back on everything he's known and pray both his worlds don't burn down around his ears?

From A. J. Payler, master of modern fiction behind The Killing Song, Bank Error in Your Favor, and Terror Next Door comes Stop All Interference—seven stories of struggle against overwhelming odds and unstoppable fear, people pushed beyond betrayal and forgiveness, of the world we live in and what people will let themselves do just to survive in it.

Labor Day Weekend, an empty office building down in sleepy Point Loma: basically a sitting-duck target for any second-story man worth a nickel. Especially one with a lifetime of skills to draw upon—not to mention all the magic passcodes tucked comfortably away in his back pocket. Nothing could go wrong, or that was how it seemed… but in the end, he couldn’t honestly blame anyone but himself for not seeing it coming.

Carson Adkins had no doubt he was born unlucky, especially after his college folded one semester before graduation but he never expected to find himself caught deep in the heart of an uncharted land sheltered against the passage of time for decades! Compelled to struggle for survival against terrifying odds and unfamiliar threats, Carson finds himself in a world he never expected, where every encounter forces him to confront deadly opponents and difficult truths.

From A. J. Payler, master of modern fiction behind Bank Error in Your Favor, The Killing Song, and Terror Next Door comes Should the World Fail to Fall Apart—6 stories of people pushed beyond forgiveness in a world without pity, personal struggle against overwhelming odds and unstoppable fear, & the resilience that resides at the center of the human heart.

The only thing that made those seemingly unending days in prison bearable was knowing what was waiting for him on the outside, buried deep in the frozen ground where she’d sworn to leave his share of the loot. And after years of isolation, all he has to do is dig it up, rejoin her, and get back to the life that’s rightfully his.

Years of research… decades of study… and it’s all led up to this. The greatest moment of researcher Roland Ohtani's professional career is at hand... but even with the eyes of the world upon him and the backing of the world’s most powerful billionaire, he never could have predicted the horrific truth that lies at the heart of everything.

Mick MacFinn makes bad choices and blames bad luck when his life goes wrong. A failure as a mob enforcer and petty criminal, Finn’s ended up on the run, burdened with cold-manipulation powers that might give him an edge—or it would, if he really knew how to use them. Virginia Ann Davenport is a captain of industry, an icon of success, and the highly-trained wielder of heat-manipulation powers that give her a leg up on her competitors.

Midland City's resident superhero Quickness can fight off his nemesis Doctor Oto all day and night... but his ultimate vulnerability might finally prove to be his all too human human heart.

Unemployment can make a person desperate… so desperate in their quest for the perfect position they might blow past all the red flags in the world. But when the most promising job opportunity that’s come Jamie Okuda’s way in months may be far more sinister than it seems, will he be able to make the grade—or will the spoilers on the next page ruin it for him?