Rio Youers

Dark tales inspired by J. M. Barrie's classic stories of Neverland, Captain Hook, Tinkerbell, and of course Peter Pan, from some the masters of science-fiction, horror and fantasy including A. C. Wise, Claire North, Lavie Tidhar and more. The award-winning Marie O’Regan & Paul Kane bring together the masters of fantasy, science-fiction and horror, to spin stories inspired by J. M. Barrie’s classic tale. A murder investigation leads a detective to a strange place called Neverland; pupils attend a school for Peters; a young boy loses his shadow and goes to desperate lengths to retrieve it. These stories take the original tales of Peter & Wendy, the Lost Boys and Tinkerbell, twisting and turning them. From dystopias to the gritty streets of London, these stories will keep you reading all night and straight on ‘til morning. Featuring stories from: Lavie Tidhar Claire North Premee Mohamed Kirsty Logan Edward Cox Anna Smith Spark Alison Littlewood A. C. Wise Rio Youers Gama Ray Martinez Juliet Marillier Robert Shearman A. K. Benedict Laura Mauro Cavan Scott Guy Adams Paul Finch Muriel Gray

A dark, deadly secret between two friends tears them apart, only to reunite them decades later as they are forced to confront what happened that night . . . or lose all they hold dear. She keeps me safe. She keeps me wild. Carly Rivers and Dana Lee were best friends when they were younger. Like fire and water, they always balanced each other out: Dana kept them wild. Carly kept them safe. But then, a split-second decision resulted in an irreversible tragedy. To this day, neither has spoken of what happened; they share a terrible secret that sent them on separate paths, each hoping to leave the darkness behind them. Carly becomes a police officer in Florida with a beautiful house and a beautiful husband and son. For Dana, things go the other way. After a string of failed relationships and broken hearts, she finds herself in Black Ash, Michigan, working for the notorious meth dealer Warner Prince. When Carly’s husband, also a cop, is killed in the line of duty, her son, Anthony, spins out of control. In search of his own fresh start, Anthony heads to Toledo, a stone’s throw from Dana’s home in Black Ash. As Anthony’s friendship with Dana puts him in the crosshairs of some sinister people, Dana’s and Carly’s lives come together again. Twenty-four years have passed, but the secret between them hasn’t died, and the friends soon find themselves in a situation where history is doomed to repeat itself. Brimming with action and suspense, and tempered with a strong emotional core, Rio Youers’s gripping new novel is an intense, edge-of-your-seat story about fierce friendship, the bonds of family, and the extremes we’ll go to, to keep our loved ones safe.

“If you’re looking for a fun, thrilling read, look no further. The Bang-Bang Sisters is a rip-roaring delight of a novel – pulpy, fast-paced, and absolutely unputdownable.” – New York Times bestselling author Roxane GayFrom critically acclaimed author Rio Youers, an action-packed crime novel featuring three kick-ass heroines—bandmates who moonlight as vigilantes. Blood. Bullets. Rock and roll. Meet the Bang-Bang Sisters: Brea, Jessie, and Flo. Together, they’re a killer rock band with an unbreakable bond. But that’s only half the story. Offstage, they’re highly skilled vigilantes, traveling the country in their beaten-up tour van to exact justice on criminals who have slipped through the system. Part rock stars, part assassins, they’re a force to be reckoned with. Drawn by a tantalizing lead, the sisters head to Reedsville, Alabama—a city crawling with destitution and corruption—where they close in on a notorious serial killer known as “the wren.” But they soon discover that they have walked straight into a trap set by Chance Kotter, a ruthless mobster with a personal vendetta. Bruised and beaten, the sisters find themselves at the mercy of Chance and a sadistic game of survival that will pit them against each other: Forty-eight hours. One city. Three sisters. Only one of them can survive. Full of gripping action and shocking twists that come at a breakneck pace, The Bang-Bang Sisters is a relentless, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that will leave you breathless.

“If you’re looking for a fun, thrilling read, look no further. The Bang-Bang Sisters is a rip-roaring delight of a novel – pulpy, fast-paced, and absolutely unputdownable.” – New York Times bestselling author Roxane GayFrom critically acclaimed author Rio Youers, an action-packed crime novel featuring three kick-ass heroines—bandmates who moonlight as vigilantes. Blood. Bullets. Rock and roll. Meet the Bang-Bang Sisters: Brea, Jessie, and Flo. Together, they’re a killer rock band with an unbreakable bond. But that’s only half the story. Offstage, they’re highly skilled vigilantes, traveling the country in their beaten-up tour van to exact justice on criminals who have slipped through the system. Part rock stars, part assassins, they’re a force to be reckoned with. Drawn by a tantalizing lead, the sisters head to Reedsville, Alabama—a city crawling with destitution and corruption—where they close in on a notorious serial killer known as “the wren.” But they soon discover that they have walked straight into a trap set by Chance Kotter, a ruthless mobster with a personal vendetta. Bruised and beaten, the sisters find themselves at the mercy of Chance and a sadistic game of survival that will pit them against each other: Forty-eight hours. One city. Three sisters. Only one of them can survive. Full of gripping action and shocking twists that come at a breakneck pace, The Bang-Bang Sisters is a relentless, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that will leave you breathless.

For a year now, the mysterious axe that unleashed pandemonium during the hurricane of '83 has waited at the bottom of the bay but nothing that powerful stays buried. Brody Island has new visitors, and a new sheriff in town, too-not to mention a dangerous great white shark spotted in its waters-and when vacationing couple Calvin Beringer and Arlene Fields find themselves on the wrong side of Brody's unsavory elements, their beachcombing will turn up something a lot sharper than sea glass... After only one day on Brody Island, Cal and Arlene manage to piss off a homicidal biker gang-and to find the magical axe so memorably wielded by June Branch one year ago. But what else have Cal and Arlene come to Brody to do? And now that you mention it...where is June Branch? Crime novelist Rio Youers joins forces with artist Tom Fowler to unleash a gonzo grindhouse expansion on the lore of the original Basketful of Heads! This volume collects Refrigerator Full of Heads #1-6.

From Rio Youers, the acclaimed author of Lola on Fire, comes a blistering high-octane thriller about desperate love, vengeance, and the precarious pursuit of fame." A rip-roaring Hollywood noir that smashes the pedal to the metal and keeps it there. The best villain since Ian Fleming's James Bond novels . . . This one is hot." --Stephen KingLuke Kingsley's glory days are behind him. A star on the rise, his life and career imploded after his soul singer wife, Lisa Hayes, disappeared without a trace, silencing a very public and tumultuous marriage. Most people, especially an avenging PI, think Luke got away with murder. The last thing he expects is to be pulled back from the brink by a starstruck stranger. Wannabe actress Kitty Rae has chased her dreams all the way from Kentucky to Hollywood. Saving a washed-up actor's life wasn't one of them, but she believes in Luke--as much as she believes her own career is just one lucky break away. For now, she works for Johan Fly, a charismatic, wealthy, and seriously unbalanced drug dealer to the rich and famous. When Johan discovers that Kitty has been skimming the product, he vows to make her pay. As Luke steps up to help Kitty, he uncovers a web of violence and corruption, as well as a single, enticing clue about his wife's disappearance. Barreling across the Mojave Desert, Luke and Kitty set off to find the long-lost Lisa. But Johan, hungry for vengeance, is hot on their trail. There's no limit to what he will do to find them. And in a world where fortune favors the ruthless, there's also no limit to what Luke and Kitty will have to do to survive.

From Rio Youers, the acclaimed author of Lola on Fire, comes a blistering high-octane thriller about desperate love, vengeance, and the precarious pursuit of fame." A rip-roaring Hollywood noir that smashes the pedal to the metal and keeps it there. The best villain since Ian Fleming's James Bond novels . . . This one is hot." -Stephen KingLuke Kingsley's glory days are behind him. A star on the rise, his life and career imploded after his soul singer wife, Lisa Hayes, disappeared without a trace, silencing a very public and tumultuous marriage. Most people, especially an avenging PI, think Luke got away with murder. The last thing he expects is to be pulled back from the brink by a starstruck stranger. Wannabe actress Kitty Rae has chased her dreams all the way from Kentucky to Hollywood. Saving a washed-up actor's life wasn't one of them, but she believes in Luke--as much as she believes her own career is just one lucky break away. For now, she works for Johan Fly, a charismatic, wealthy, and seriously unbalanced drug dealer to the rich and famous. When Johan discovers that Kitty has been skimming the product, he vows to make her pay. As Luke steps up to help Kitty, he uncovers a web of violence and corruption, as well as a single, enticing clue about his wife's disappearance. Barreling across the Mojave Desert, Luke and Kitty set off to find the long-lost Lisa. But Johan, hungry for vengeance, is hot on their trail. There's no limit to what he will do to find them. And in a world where fortune favors the ruthless, there's also no limit to what Luke and Kitty will have to do to survive.

"John Wick meets Jane Hawk in Lola on Fire, a wild, relentless read. The action is terrific, the writing crisp, the characters unforgettable." -- New York Times bestselling author Michael KorytaBrody Ellis is short on luck and even shorter on cash to buy the medication his sister Molly needs. Desperate, he robs a convenience store, but on the way out, he bumps into a young woman and loses his wallet. Just when he expects the cops to arrive, the phone rings. It's Blair Mayo--the woman he bumped into--and she's got the missing billfold. Brody will get it back, but only if he does her a favor: steal her late mother's diamonds from her wicked stepmom. Cornered with no way out, Brody agrees. But when he gets to the house, he finds a gruesome crime scene--and a security camera. Brody knows he's been framed. Back home, the terrified young man gets another call. The police won't get the incriminating video footage, Blair says. Instead, her daddy, the notorious mobster Jimmy Latzo, will exact his own kind of revenge. Brody and Molly realize that they've become pawns in a mysterious game--one that involves a notorious enforcer named Lola Bear who brutally crossed paths with Jimmy Latzo twenty-six years before. . . a ghost from the past who is intimately connected to their lives.

Arthur Ellis Award finalist Rio Youers combines vengeance and deceit, love and bullets, secrets, and twists in this high-octane action thriller with a vibrant emotional core. Brody Ellis is short on luck and even shorter on cash to buy the medication his sister Molly needs. Desperate, he robs a convenience store, but on the way out, he bumps into a young woman and loses his wallet. Just when he expects the cops to arrive, the phone rings. It's Blair Mayo--the woman he bumped into--and she's got the missing billfold. Brody will get it back, but only if he does her a favor: steal her late mother's diamonds from her wicked stepmom. But when he gets to the house, he finds a gruesome crime scene--and a security camera. Brody knows he's been framed. Back home, the terrified young man gets another call. The police won't get the incriminating video footage, Blair says. Instead, her daddy, the notorious mobster Jimmy Latzo, will exact his own kind of revenge. Brody and Molly realize that they've become pawns in a mysterious game--one that involves a notorious enforcer named Lola Bear who brutally crossed paths with Jimmy Latzo twenty-six years before. . . a ghost from the past who is intimately connected to their lives.

Arthur Ellis Award finalist Rio Youers combines vengeance and deceit, love and bullets, secrets, and twists in this high-octane action thriller with a vibrant emotional core. Brody Ellis is short on luck and even shorter on cash to buy the medication his sister Molly needs. Desperate, he robs a convenience store, but on the way out, he bumps into a young woman and loses his wallet. Just when he expects the cops to arrive, the phone rings. It's Blair Mayo--the woman he bumped into--and she's got the missing billfold. Brody will get it back, but only if he does her a favor: steal her late mother's diamonds from her wicked stepmom. But when he gets to the house, he finds a gruesome crime scene--and a security camera. Brody knows he's been framed. Back home, the terrified young man gets another call. The police won't get the incriminating video footage, Blair says. Instead, her daddy, the notorious mobster Jimmy Latzo, will exact his own kind of revenge. Brody and Molly realize that they've become pawns in a mysterious game--one that involves a notorious enforcer named Lola Bear who brutally crossed paths with Jimmy Latzo twenty-six years before. . . a ghost from the past who is intimately connected to their lives.

Arthur Ellis Award finalist Rio Youers combines vengeance and deceit, love and bullets, secrets, and twists in this high-octane action thriller with a vibrant emotional core. Brody Ellis is short on luck and even shorter on cash to buy the medication his sister Molly needs. Desperate, he robs a convenience store, but on the way out, he bumps into a young woman and loses his wallet. Just when he expects the cops to arrive, the phone rings. It's Blair Mayo--the woman he bumped into--and she's got the missing billfold. Brody will get it back, but only if he does her a favor: steal her late mother's diamonds from her wicked stepmom. But when he gets to the house, he finds a gruesome crime scene--and a security camera. Brody knows he's been framed. Back home, the terrified young man gets another call. The police won't get the incriminating video footage, Blair says. Instead, her daddy, the notorious mobster Jimmy Latzo, will exact his own kind of revenge. Brody and Molly realize that they've become pawns in a mysterious game--one that involves a notorious enforcer named Lola Bear who brutally crossed paths with Jimmy Latzo twenty-six years before. . . a ghost from the past who is intimately connected to their lives.

Arthur Ellis Award finalist Rio Youers combines vengeance and deceit, love and bullets, secrets, and twists in this high-octane action thriller with a vibrant emotional core. Brody Ellis is short on luck and even shorter on cash to buy the medication his sister Molly needs. Desperate, he robs a convenience store, but on the way out, he bumps into a young woman and loses his wallet. Just when he expects the cops to arrive, the phone rings. It's Blair Mayo--the woman he bumped into--and she's got the missing billfold. Brody will get it back, but only if he does her a favor: steal her late mother's diamonds from her wicked stepmom. But when he gets to the house, he finds a gruesome crime scene--and a security camera. Brody knows he's been framed. Back home, the terrified young man gets another call. The police won't get the incriminating video footage, Blair says. Instead, her daddy, the notorious mobster Jimmy Latzo, will exact his own kind of revenge. Brody and Molly realize that they've become pawns in a mysterious game--one that involves a notorious enforcer named Lola Bear who brutally crossed paths with Jimmy Latzo twenty-six years before. . . a ghost from the past who is intimately connected to their lives.

A dark mystery unfolds in Rio Youers's riveting tale, for fans of Paul Tremblay and Joe Hill. “She possesses a unique and powerful ability. Just like we can erase data from a computer hard drive, Sally can erase memories from a person’s mind.” Abducted and brutally beaten by a group of thugs, street performer Harvey Anderson is convinced he’s a victim of mistaken identity when they demand to know the location of his girlfriend, Sally Starling. Harvey Anderson has been single for years. She dominated my dreams. Sometimes as a lover, more often as a scared, lonely girl running from something that slathered and swooped. I woke with her name on my lips, clutching the empty half of the bed, knowing beyond all doubt that she should have been next to me. Aided by his thugs, a sinister man known as “the spider” has tracked Sally to Harvey. He has pursued her for nine years, desperate to possess her remarkable talents. Yet emotion runs deeper than memory, and so Harvey goes looking for a woman he loves but can’t remember, and encounters a danger beyond anything he could ever imagine.

Halcyon is the answer for anyone who wants to escape, but paradise isn't what it seems. A self-sustaining community on a breathtakingly beautiful island, Halcyon is run for people who want to live without fear, crime or greed. Its leader has dedicated her life to the pursuit of Glam Moon, a place of eternal beauty and healing, and believes the pathway there can only be found at the end of pleasure. On the heels of tragedy, Martin Lovegrove moves his family to Halcyon. A couple of months, he tells himself, to retreat from the chaos and grind. Yet he soon begins to suspect there is something beneath Halcyon’s perfect veneer. As the founder captivates his young family, Martin sets out to discover the truth of the island, however terrible it might be, where something so perfect hides unimaginable darkness beneath…

It's dangerous out there...on the road. The highways, byways and backroads of America are teeming day and night with regular folks. Moms and dads making long commutes. Teenagers headed to the beach. Bands on their way to the next gig. Truckers pulling long hauls. Families driving cross country to visit their kin. But there are others, too. The desperate and the lost. The cruel and the criminal. Theirs is a world of roadside honky-tonks, truck stops, motels, and the empty miles between destinations. The unseen spaces. And there are even stranger things. Places that aren't on any map. Wayfaring terrors and haunted legends about which seasoned and road-weary travelers only whisper. But those are just stories. Aren't they? Find out for yourself as you get behind the wheel with some of today's finest authors of the dark and horrific as they bring you these harrowing tales from the road. Tales that could only be spawned by the endless miles of America's lost highways. So go ahead and hop in. Let's take a ride. Line-up: Introduction by Brian Keene doungjai gam & Ed Kurtz -- "Crossroads of Opportunity" Matt Hayward -- "Where the Wild Winds Blow" Joe R. Lansdale -- "Not from Detroit" Kristi DeMeester -- "A Life That is Not Mine" Robert Ford -- "Mr. Hugsy" Lisa Kr ger -- "Swamp Dog" Orrin Grey -- "No Exit" Michael Bailey -- "The Long White Line" Kelli Owen -- "Jim's Meats" Bracken MacLeod -- "Back Seat" Jess Landry -- "The Heart Stops at the End of Laurel Lane" Jonathan Janz -- "Titan, Tyger" Nick Kolakowski -- "Your Pound of Flesh" Richard Thomas -- "Requital" Damien Angelica Walters -- "That Pilgrims' Hands Do Touch" Cullen Bunn -- "Outrunning the End" Christopher Buehlman -- "Motel Nine" Rachel Autumn Deering -- "Dew Upon the Wing" Josh Malerman -- "Room 4 at the Haymaker" Rio Youers -- "The Widow" Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing--Tales from the Darkest Depths.