Justified Endings to Bad EXes
Horror/Crime/Thriller Short Story Anthology
Available U.S. Distribution Includes:
Ingrams • Baker & Taylor • Blackwell Book Services •
Coutts • Gardners • Holt Jackson
The EX Factor is filled with disturbing tales to leave a touch of satisfaction in the heart of anyone who has ever suffered the pangs of a relationship gone sour. From accidents to intentions…from the supernatural to the physical…from wishes to actions…from breaking laws to upholding them…from revenge to justice…The EX Factor covers it all.
Nine engaging authors bring warmth to cold, bitter hearts, and maybe also to those of us who have a twisted sense of what is truly fair in this world. With twenty-two short stories combined into a single chilling volume, they take matters of the unjustly treated heart into their own hands:
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Stories
from the Hand of Justice serve the readers a plentiful feast that never gets
cold and always satisfies.
Stories
from the Hand of Retribution provide a “fast food” serving for the impatient
reader.
Stories
from the Hand of Fate hold an exotic blend to tantalize the palate of twisted
taste buds.
BJ Bourg's stories include the following:
CAMP KELLER
STORY OPENING:
The man squinted against the pelting rain. His head bobbed violently as the front of the Boston Whaler collided with the rough waves. It jarred him to the bone. He wiped streaming rivulets of rain from his eyes and strained to see through the sheets of water. Thunder rumbled and lightning struck nearby. His head swiveled in all directions. Everything looked the same. The woman sitting beside him gripped his arm, her face ashen.
“Didn’t you check the weather? I knew this was a bad idea!”
He forced a smile. “It did get you back in my arms.”
“We’re gonna die and you’re cracking jokes?”
“I couldn’t sink this boat if I tried. It’s indestructible”
“Newsflash, asshole, this is Lake Pontchartrain. Your little boat is barely longer than Shaq.” The woman’s voice shook when she spoke. “You need to get me back to dry land. You know I can’t swim. Why won’t you give me a lifejacket?”
“I told you—I forgot them.”
“God, you’re irresponsible. I didn’t even want to be here in the first place.”
“Calm down. Everything’s going to be—”
Suddenly, the front of the boat dipped. Water sprayed the couple and the woman screamed. Her nails dug into the man’s bicep. When he felt the sharp burn, he jerked his arm away. His heart raced. Before he could stop himself, he blurted, “Get off me! Can’t you see I’m trying to steer this thing?”
DEATH NOTICE
STORY OPENING:
I kicked the door open and warm air gushed from the house, carrying with it a smell worse than overdone road-kill in mid-summer. I cupped my hand over my face and jumped off the wooden porch, swallowing a mouthful of vomit in the process. I spat in the grass and wiped my hand on the dry siding that cloaked my grandpa’s ancient home.
A splinter shot into my palm. “Shit!” I pulled it with my teeth and blew it out my mouth. I leaned against the house. There could be only one explanation for that smell. My heart beat faster. Tears welled up in my eyes. I wiped them away and shook my head. “No, that’s not what it is. There’s some other explanation.”
I took a deep breath and held it. I set out on legs that shook, my face buried in the front of my shirt, where the smell of Obsession was still present from the morning’s spray. I peered over my collar and strained to penetrate the shadows of the dimly lit interior, first checking one room and then another, while the floor creaked beneath my hundred-ninety pounds.
VICTIM NOTIFICATION
STORY OPENING:
Brock Ruth rubbed the back of his pale, smooth hands. He thought back to a time when they were dark and hard, calloused from handling rough lumber and power tools, and tanned from hours of putting nails to boards in the Louisiana heat. He sighed. Those days were long gone—never to return—and he had but one person to blame.
“Excuse me, sir.”
Brock looked up at the woman who stood in the aisle. Her eyes were the color of deep, blue water. Her skin felt soft on his eyes, and he longed to touch it with his fingers. The brown skirt clung to her legs; the tan shirt rode low on her chest.
“Well?” The woman’s eyebrows curled up.
“Well, what?”
“I asked if that seat was taken.”
Brock jerked his head from side to side. “No, not at all. Here.” He twisted sideways to get his legs out of the space between his seat and the seat in front of him.
The woman inched past, her legs rubbing his in the process. Although he hadn’t felt the brush of a woman in many years, it excited him more than he’d thought possible. When the woman was firmly in the seat beside him, she turned and extended a slender hand. “My name’s Molly.”
Meet the other authors:
Michy Anderson: Author of In A Perfect World; Sidewalk Chalk
Colin Conway: His short stories have appeared at several e-zines including Crime Scene Scotland; Shred of Evidence; and The Green Muse.
Katt Dunsmore: Her stories and essays appear in Crime and Suspense Magazine; Silver Moon Magazine; and Mouth Full of Bullets.
Patricia Harrington: Author of Death Stalks the Khmer; Death Comes Too Soon; Contributing Author to: Mystery In Mind; When I Was A Child; Murder by Six; and Teacher Miracles Anthologies.
Jill Maser: Author of The White Horse Pike Pctorial History.
Sandra Seamans: Her short stories have been published in Crime and Suspense; A Cruel World; and Apollo’s Lyre.
Earl Staggs: 2002 Derringer Award Winner; Author of Memoy Of A Murder; President of the Short Mystery Fiction Society.
Frank Zafiro: Author of Under A Raging Moon; and Heroes Often Fail (Koboca Publishing 2007); Contributing Author to: By The Chimney With Care; Map of Murder; and Seven by Seven Anthologies.
Publisher:
26345 Dayflower Boulevard
Wesley Chapel, FL 33544-4043