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.

Meet J.J. Colton—a bull-fighting clown with Baditude. Not only does she love to clown around, she does so while sharing an arena with a not-so-happy bull. Being a bullfighter is the achievement of a life-long dream. Unfortunately, dreams come with a price tag. In this case, the required payment could cost J.J. her life as well as the lives of her seven-year-old nephew and J.J.’s four-footed partners in comedic crime.

Join J.J. on a rollercoaster ride that turns out to be trickier than braiding live rattlesnakes in a barrel and twice as deadly.

A baby bird…
One Breath...
Starts a dark future.

Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Vacation paradise by day. Gambler’s dream by night. But sometimes the line between day and night blurs, turning both paradise and dream into nightmare. When that happens even addicts can become heroes.

Or not.

When a corpse shows up along the nearby Truckee River, the race is on to figure out whodoneit.

A visitor from a dark past . . .
A gambling addict’s redemption gone horribly wrong . . .
A monster in sheep’s clothing . . .
A father’s misguided love . . .
A young girl’s reckoning . . .
Five tales that dig deep into the human psyche, uncovering skeletons that might be better left buried.

Includes:
BROKEN DREAMS
THE GIRL IN THE VELVET BLACK GOWN
I, MONSTER
SPIRIT LAKE
HUNTING FOR WORMS

A lost soul struggling to find the light . . .
A mother’s retribution . . .
A woman’s misguided faith . . .
A much-needed lesson . . .
A nagging gone wrong . . .
Five tales that peer into lives about to split wide open.

Includes:
EMPTY SHELLS AND BROKEN STONES
AND THEN SHE WAS DEAD
EGGSTREME MEASURES
IN THE ARMS OF THE SEA
SWALLOWING THE SERPENT’S TAIL

When Cal is “sentenced” to spend her summer outside with a bunch of gawky kids and stinky cows, she’s certain there is no worse punishment. Life without her computer is no life at all. All her friends, at least the ones that matter, are online. There’s no one in the real world Cal wants to spend time with. Until she meets Troy. But he’s not in the real world either. Or is he?

Co-dependency tangles with misconceptions in this tale about good intentions gone horribly wrong.

When Faith Morgan’s baby is murdered, Faith loses touch with reality. Grief and depression spin her into an ever-widening black hole from which the only escape is her own destruction. Rescued by a friend who sends Faith to a sanctuary on the west coast, she finally finds a path back to the world of the living, a path that is violently torn asunder by a sudden winter storm and a baby’s fearful cry.