Uncommon Assassins

by F. Paul Wilson

  JAMES S. DORR

  James Dorr has two collections from Dark Regions Press, Strange Mistresses: Tales of Wonder and Romance and Darker Loves: Tales of Mystery and Regret, while his all-poetry Vamps (A Retrospective) came out last August (2011) from Sam’s Dot Publishing. An active member of SFWA and HWA with nearly four hundred appearances in venues from Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine to Xenophilia, Dorr invites readers to visit his site at http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com for the latest information.

  STEPHEN ENGLAND

  A resident of rural Maryland, Stephen England is the author of the bestselling political/spy thriller Pandora’s Grave. As a lifelong connoisseur of the written word, the transition from reading into writing was a natural one, and England’s first novel, Sword of Neamha, was published in 2009. Set in pre-Roman Britain and told through the eyes of a young Celtic warrior, this coming-of-age adventure enjoyed moderate success and was heralded by reviewers as “epic” and “visceral.” Released in the summer of 2011, Pandora’s Grave represented the culmination of nearly a decade of writing and research into the Middle East, Islam, and covert operations. As the first volume of the Shadow Warriors series, the novel quickly won acclaim from reviewers as “a cross between Clancy and 24.” New York Times bestselling novelist Brad Thor called it “A terrific read from a great new author.” The book was selected by GuysCanRead.com as the winner of their 2011 Independent Novel Contest. England blogs on current events and takes on the state of the publishing world on his Web site, www.stephenwrites.com. His story in this anthology, “Nightshade,” forms a prequel to the Shadow Warriors series, and work is underway on the second book of the series, Day of Reckoning, with a release expected later this year.

  KEN GOLDMAN

  Ken Goldman, an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association, has homes on the Main Line in Pennsylvania and at the Jersey shore, depending upon his mood and his need for a tan. His stories appear in over 645 independent press publications in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Australia. More than thirty of Ken’s tales are due for publication in 2012, and he is currently putting the finishing touches on his novel, …Of A Feather. Since 1993, his tales have received seven honorable mentions in The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror. His book of short stories, You Had Me At ARRGH!! : Five Uneasy Pieces (Sam’s Dot Publishers), had been an all-time top-ten best seller at the former Genre Mall, and his novella, Desiree, is available in eBook downloadable format on the Damnation Books Web site and on Amazon.com in Kindle and print format. Ken isn’t famous yet; he expects that to happen posthumously.

  MATT HILTON

  Matt Hilton quit his career as a police officer with Cumbria Constabulary to pursue his love of writing tight, cinematic American-style thrillers. He is the author of the high-octane Joe Hunter thriller series, including his most recent novel No Going Back, published in February 2012 by Hodder and Stoughton. His first book, Dead Men’s Dust, was shortlisted for the International Thriller Writers’ Debut Book of 2009 award, and was a Sunday Times bestseller. Matt is a high-ranking martial artist and has been a detective and private security specialist, all of which lend an authenticity to the action scenes in his books. Check out his Web site at www.matthiltonbooks.com.

  LYNN MANN

  Lynn Mann lives in Maryland with two rescue cats and a supportive husband. Her writing reflects her eclectic reading, unusual education. and far-flung travels. Several of Lynn’s stories have been published online and in small magazines, and her short story collection, Mr. Smith’s Errand, available on Amazon. Her awards include 1st Prize in the 2011 Maryland Writers Association New Novel Contest (Do You Do Murders) and 3rd Prize in the Windmill Women’s Writers annual Short Story Contest. Along with her full-time job, she writes, raises orchids, and sails on the Chesapeake Bay whenever possible. For further information or to contact her, visit lynnmannauthor.com.

  LISA MANNETTI

  Lisa Mannetti’s debut novel, The Gentling Box, garnered a Bram Stoker Award and she was nominated in 2010 both for her novella, “Dissolution,” and a short story, “1925: A Fall River Halloween.” She has also authored The New Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn (2011); Deathwatch, a compilation of novellas—including “Dissolution” ; a macabre gag book, 51 Fiendish Ways to Leave Your Lover (2010); two nonfiction books; and numerous articles and short stories in newspapers, magazines, and anthologies. Her story in this anthology, “Everybody Wins,” was made into a short film by director Paul Leyden, starring Malin Akerman and released under the title Bye-Bye Sally; the film has been posted on YouTube. Lisa lives in New York. Visit her author Web site at www.lisamannetti.com, as well as her virtual haunted house at www.thechanceryhouse.com.

  ROB M. MILLER

  Born and raised in the hood of Portland, Oregon, over the years, Rob M. Miller has been victimized by violent attackers; thrashed violent attackers; enlisted in and honorably mustered out from the U.S. Army; taught martial arts; and worked in security, video store clerking, window washing, tire retreading, and store stocking. After two years of freelance stringer work and a number of publishing credits, he tired of nonfiction and turned to use his love of the dark, his personal terrors, and talent to do something more beneficial for his fellow man—scare the hell out of him! His work can be found online at the TheHarrow.com, as well as in American and British horror anthologies. He moderates a writer’s site at www.writers-in-action-spruz.com, and his own Web site is at www.robthepen.pigboatrecording.com.

  CHRISTINE MORGAN

  Christine Morgan divides her writing time among many genres, from horror to historical, from superheroes to smut, anything in between and combinations thereof. She’s a wife, a mom, a future crazy-cat-lady and a longtime gamer, who enjoys British television, cheesy action/disaster movies, cooking and crafts. Her stories have appeared in maby publications, including The Book of All Flesh, The Book of Final Flesh, The Best of All Flesh, History is Dead, The World is Dead, Strange Stories of Sand and Sea, Fear of the Unknown, Hell Hath No Fury, Dreaded Pall, Path of the Bold, Cthulhu Sex Magazine and its best-of volume Horror Between the Sheets, Closet Desire IV, and Leather, Lace and Lust. She’s also a contributor to The Horror Fiction Review, a former member of the HWA, a regular at local conventions, and an ambitious self-publisher (six fantasy novels, four horror novels, six children’s fantasy books, and two role-playing supplements). Her work has appeared in Pyramid Magazine, GURPS Villains, been nominated for Origins Awards, and given Honorable Mention in two volumes of Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. Her romantic suspense novel, The Widows Walk, was recently released from Lachesis Publishing; her horror novel, The Horned Ones, is due out from Belfire in 2012; and her thriller Murder Girls was just accepted by Skullvines. She’s currently delving into steampunk, making progress on an urban paranormal series, and greatly enjoying her bloodthirsty Viking stories.

  BILLIE SUE MOSIMAN

  Billie Sue Mosiman’s Night Cruise was nominated for the Edgar Award and her novel, Widow, was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Novel. She’s the author of fourteen novels and has published more than 160 short stories in various magazines and anthologies. A suspense thriller novelist, she often writes horror short stories. Her latest works include Frankenstein: Return From the Wastelands, continuing the saga of Robert Morton from Mary Shelley’s classic, and Prison Planet, a near-future dystopian novella. She’s been a columnist, reviewer, and writing instructor. She lives in Texas where the sun is too hot for humankind. All of her available works are at Amazon.com. Check out her blog, “The Life of a Peculiar Writer,” at www.peculiarwriter.blogspot.com.

  MONICA O’ROURKE

  Monica J. O’Rourke has published more than seventy-five short stories in magazines such as Postscripts, Nasty Piece of Work, Fangoria, Flesh & Blood, Nemonymous, and Brutarian and anthologies such as Horror for Good (for charity), The Mammoth Book of the Kama Sutra, The Best of Horrorfind, and Darkness Rising. She is the author of Poisoning Eros, written with Wrath James White, Suffer the Flesh, and th
e collection Experiments in Human Nature. Watch for her new novel later this year from Sinister Grin Press! She works as a freelance editor, proofreader, and book coach. Her Web site is an ongoing and seemingly endless work in progress, so in the meantime find her on www.facebook.com/MonicaJORourke.

  J. GREGORY SMITH

  Prior to writing fiction full-time, Greg Smith worked in public relations in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Wilmington, Delaware. He has an MBA from the College of William & Mary and a BA in English from Skidmore College. His first published novel, Final Price, was originally self-published, before being signed by AmazonEncore, and released in November 2010. He is also the author of the psychological thriller A Noble Cause, published by Thomas & Mercer, January 2012.

  JONATHAN TEMPLAR

  Jonathan Templar has written a large body of acclaimed dark and speculative fiction, much of which has been published in anthologies and compilations from a range of publishers. Jonathan’s recent work includes the story “The Meat Man” in the charity collection Horror for Good and “Basher” for the shared world anthology World’s Collider. His novella The Angel of Shadwell, the first in a series of stories for steam-punk detective Inspector Noridel, is to be published by Nightscape Press in September 2012 and his first collection of stories, The Geometry of Hell, is due later in the year. Jonathan has an author Web site with a full bibliography at www.jonathantemplar.com.

  F. PAUL WILSON

  F. Paul Wilson is the author of forty-plus books and numerous short stories spanning science fiction, horror, adventure, medical thrillers, and virtually everything between. His novels regularly appear on the New York Times Bestsellers List. He has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writers of America, the Stoker Award, the Porgie Award, the Prometheus and Prometheus Hall of Fame Awards, the Pioneer Award from the RT Booklovers Convention, the Inkpot Award from ComiCon, and was voted Grand Master by the World Horror Convention. He is listed in the 50th anniversary edition of Who’s Who in America. Millions of his books are in print in twenty-four languages. He also has written for the stage, screen, and interactive media. His latest thrillers, Nightworld and Cold City feature his urban mercenary, Repairman Jack. Paul resides at the Jersey Shore and can be found on the Web at www.repairmanjack.com.

  THE ILLUSTRATOR

  Nanette O’Neill

  From Dublin, Ireland, Nanette O’Neill was born in 1984. She has a slight obsession with finding as many different ways to express herself visually as possible, and she adores painting ladies in particular. Nanette has a Higher National Diploma in Graphic Design and Media from BCFE Dublin and has worked on various projects from sculpting set props for TV to designing fascinators for professional dancing troops. Her other hobbies include smoking excessively (while trying to quit in particular), being snobby about (as well as drinking) whiskey, and going to gigs with friends (or moaning about not going to enough gigs with friends). To see more of her excellent work, visit www.the-nanette-o.deviantart.com.

  “Hardcore studies of shocking monstrosities that will enthrall and entice even the most hardened horror fan.” — FANGORIA

  ZIPPERED FLESH:

  Tales of Body Enhancements Gone Bad!

  Michael Bailey * Michael Laimo * Adrienne Jones * Charles Colyott * Christopher Nadeau * Scott Nicholson * J. Gregory Smith * John Shirley * L.L. Soares * Aaron J. French * Graham Masterton * Michael Louis Calvillo * Jezzy Wolfe * Elliott Capon * Armand Rosamilia * Lisa Mannetti * P.I. Barrington * Jonathan Templar * Rob M. Miller * Weldon Burge

  Available in paperback and Kindle eBook from Amazon.com.

  Visit smartrhino.com for the latest from Smart Rhino Publications.