Blueblood Page 22

  The name conjured up a memory and not the best one at that. I looked up again at the face on the billboard. Given time, I would've recognized it, I think, but he hadn't had a beard when I knew him and the crows feet hadn't been so deep that they gave him a permanent squint. I pulled out my phone and stared at it, thinking.

  I was a retired homicide cop with some time on my hands. I had no job to return to, no pressing deadlines, no family expecting me home. The journey to the heartland of south-central Virginia to visit a friend was one of the few trips I'd taken in the last year or so, but I was on my way back, not down. And I didn't owe JD Hope or the people that cared about him anything. I could, in good conscience, put the car in drive and head home to Arlington and easily forget I'd ever seen the billboard.

  I looked up at the face on the sign. JD Hope looked back down at me. I sighed. After another minute I said, "Shit," and punched in the number. The phone on the other end of the line picked up and a young woman's voice answered.

  "Mrs. Hope?" I asked.

  "No, this is Mary Beth Able," she said. "I am—I…was JD's sister. Are you calling about the sign?"

  I took a deep breath and said, "Yes, ma'am. My name is Marty Singer. Ten years ago, I arrested your brother for murder."

  A Reason to Live

  "The story is filled with twists and turns, just when you expect it to move one way, it turns in another, and only at the very end do you see the full picture..."

  — Roberta Karchner, Amazon Top 50 Reviewer, 5 Star review

  In the late nineties, a bad cop killed a good woman and DC Homicide detective Marty Singer got to watch as the murderer walked out of the courtroom a free man.

  Twelve years later, the victim's daughter comes to Marty begging for help: the killer is stalking her now.

  There's just one problem: Marty's retired...and he's retired because he's battling cancer. But with a second shot at the killer—and a first chance at redemption—Marty's just found A Reason to Live.

  Available on Amazon for the Kindle and in paperback from CreateSpace and Amazon.

  one bad twelve

  A group of Mafia wiseguys sweat it out as they wait to hear who's snitched on them in "Up a Rung"; a disturbed woman loses more than her mind in "Possession"; and a postman's larcenous streak gets him in a terrible mess just a few days before Christmas in "Special Delivery."

  There are just a few of the thirteen tales that had to be bribed, shoved, and bullied into one bad twelve. Read them, buy them, or ignore them...just don't turn your back on them.

  one bad twelve is available on Amazon as well as other fine retailers. The stories are also available in four micro-anthologies: Three Shorts, Three the Hard Way, Three on a Match, and Three of a Kind, available on all ereaders. Please check matthew-iden.com for links and excerpts.

  Finding Emma

  No one likes Jack. His wife is gone and his neighbors avoid him. He's a recluse and a creep and that's just the way he wants it.

  But when ten-year old Emma goes missing in the nearby woods, the eyes of his neighbors turn on him in fear and accusation, escalating as the days pass. The answers they--and the reader--get, however, are the last that anyone would suspect...

  Finding Emma is a novella of literary horror totaling 17,500 words or about 70 paperback pages.

  Available on Amazon and Kobo; coming to all digital ereaders soon.

  Sword of Kings

  "...[Sword of Kings] has brought back to me the pleasure of the short story done well."

  — Amanda Reznick, 5 star review

  King Andreas was confident, bold, courageous...until his sword--the living symbol of his power--began to crumble in his hands.

  With his brother Jon by his side, Andreas has little time to find out why the sword, passed down through a hundred generations, is failing now. The answer he finds may save his kingdom, but at a terrible price.

  Sword of Kings is a 4,100 word short story of high fantasy. Included in this volume is a Story Notes essay detailing the thought process and background behind the writing of the work. Available on Amazon and soon to be had at all major digital publishers.

  Assassin

  "... the stories and the mind behind them are first rate"

  — Janis Ian, 4 star review

  For almost twenty years, war has raged between the mountain kingdom of Thrace and the sea-faring land of Andal, exhausting both nations. Prince Lowan, the educated and debonair second son of the King of Thrace, has arrived to make peace with his father's enemies. But the price Andal requires for peace is high--too high--and Lowan knows there are many ways to influence a nation at war.

  Assassin is an original fantasy short story of 4,200 word, or about 17 paperback pages. It includes a Story Notes section, outlining the background and thought process behind the writing as well as an excerpt from Matthew Iden's fantasy short story Sword of Kings.

  Assassin is available on Amazon and will soon be available for all major ereaders.

  Seven Into the Bleak

  "...A truly terrifying short fantasy/horror adventure... of the highest quality."

  — Ray, Top 1000 Amazon reviewr, 5 star review

  A band of companions—each with his or her own reasons—delves deep into the heart of the Bleak, the infamous and horrifying cavern world miles beneath their own. But their dreams of a quick journey fade into black when their way home is cut off.

  Seven Into the Bleak is an original fantasy short story of 8,100 words or about 30 paperback pages. Find it on Amazon and on all major digital publishing sites.

  About the Author

  Matthew Iden writes fantasy, science fiction, horror, thrillers, crime fiction, and contemporary literary fiction with a psychological twist.

  An eclectic resume—he's held jobs with the US Postal Service, international non-profit groups, a short stint with the Forest Service in Sitka, Alaska and time with the globe-spanning Semester at Sea program—has given him inspiration for short stories and novel ideas, while trips to Iceland, Patagonia, and Antarctica haven't hurt in the creative juices department, either. A post-graduate education in English Literature wasn't necessary, but it helped define what he didn't want to do with his life and let him read a great deal of good books.

  Please visit him on the web at matthew-iden.com, Tweet @CrimeRighter, or find him on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/matthew.iden.

  Matthew lives in Alexandria, Virginia.