17-year-old Abigail Crumb finds herself regretting her decision to abandon a somewhat normal life in London and sail halfway around the world—simply because Mother called. She finds herself in a mysterious mining camp in the wild, wild west with Once Dead miners that keep falling apart and two sisters Abby must somehow protect. The Peculiar Adventures of Abigail Crumb continue!

Wild, Wild West with mini demons and turbulent magic tempered with a dash of Victorian sensibility. And of course, a clockwork dragon.

Stars in the Darkness is a collection of stories about why being just matters, and what the ramifications are for individuals, groups, towns, countries, or even worlds if justice is not expected, encouraged, or enforced. The stories cover a wide range, from historical fiction to fantasy to alternate realities. Every tale, whether set in ancient Egypt, in a future where only the rich can afford to increase their children’s intelligence through genetic engineering, or about a man turned into a zombie by accident, sends a message about what matters. These stories show bravery, compassion, courage—and consequences.

And the wide variety of stories presented in this latest volume of Fiction River make that case. Of the fifteen powerful stories in this volume, some will twist your heart, others will pound you in the gut, and still others will make you feel like the world has meaning. From a man avenging a wrongful conviction, to heroic women fighting to reclaim their homeland, to kids trying to find justice in the chaotic world of adults, this volume will prove one you won’t soon forget.

Early 1850. Something hungry moves among the hulls of the abandoned ships blanketing San Francisco bay like an abandoned graveyard. The whispers spread, “There be dragons here.”

Why does Abby Crumb get the feeling she might be the dragon’s main course?

When Abby Crumb finally meets up with her mother, her situation goes from disturbingly violent to utterly rotten. Stuck in a mining camp in the middle of nowhere with a family tree that keeps sprouting unexpected branches, Abby sinks deeper and deeper into the bottomless muck of her mother’s treachery. Now Abby must finally confront her dark past before that dark past devours them all.

From the eternal sea she rose – a tattered, lifeless husk – with but one solitary purpose: to take the soul of the one who condemned her.