Whether you call them zombies or the infected or creepers, one thing's certain -- the undead changed the world forever for the survivors in these five stories of the zombie apocalypse. The first story in Annie Reed's popular zombie series and the title story in this collection, "Patient Z" centers on a homeless woman who raids the wrong recycle bin late one night, unleashing a future she never imagined. In "Bait," a former party girl faces the toughest decision of her life when she and her traveling companions discover a child tethered to a roadside sign. A young boy wandering the Oregon...

Five stories of a distant -- and not so distant -- future. The title story "The Forever Soldier" features a far-future infantry soldier who can't stop fighting, no matter how many times she dies. A journalist searching for that one big story in "Human Interest" uncovers more than he bargained for on a mining colony at the edge of known space. "The Liar" finds one woman preparing for the end of the world in her own unique way. In "Reboot," a time travel pioneer facing forced retirement sends himself on the most important mission of his life. And in the award-winning, near-future story "One...

Predator or prey? On the Internet, how can you tell? When private investigator Abby Maxon answers a call for help from an old college friend, she never expects to find herself searching for a missing teenage girl. Abby investigates accidents and tracks down reluctant witnesses for a living. The last thing she wants is to get involved in a missing person case, especially when that case leads to murder. Pretty fifteen-year-old Rachel Ellison got in over her head when she played a flirtatious Internet game of "let's pretend" with a married man. Now Rachel's dead, Abby's friend is the prime...

Five stories of crime, criminals, and people who refuse to remain victims. In "Missy and the Man," a little girl gets more than she bargained for when she sneaks into her neighbor's garage to see his new kittens. The baseball-loving pickpocket in "Strike Two" has a sweet gig working The Strip in Las Vegas until he lifts a wallet from a woman who's nobody's victim. When a college student's purse is stolen in "Thief," no one except the student and her new boyfriend seem to care. Two kids with too much time on their hands set fire to an empty house in "Firebug," only the game doesn't go exactly...

The first murder investigation of Sheriff Jill Jordan's career might be her last. Engaged in a hard-fought election against her own chief deputy, Jill finds herself faced with the first murder in rural Cumberland, Nevada, in over a decade. The bludgeoned body of Nora Corbitt dredges up a past that more than one person in town would do anything to keep secret. Like Hal Taylor. Hal's car dealerships put Cumberland on the map. Hal's son had a history with Nora, a history that Hal paid good money to keep under wraps. Like Aaron Sanford. Aaron buddied around with Hal Taylor's son in high school....

Award-winning writer Annie Reed likes to scare us, charm us, haunt us, and make us fall in love. She does all of this and more in this collection of stories set in her home state of Nevada. A lonely desert highway provides the backdrop for a mother and daughter facing an uncertain future in "Night Passage." A simple day at a man-made lake turns out to be anything but in "Lady of the Deep." In "For a Few Lattes More," a barista encounters a hero from her childhood, while a former party girl faces the toughest decision of her life in "Bait." Life in witness protection takes a sudden left turn...

In this five-story collection, award-winning writer Annie Reed takes us on a bone-chilling tour down the mean streets of The Shadows, a place where dark magic and crime rule the night. A man obsessed by his wife's death finds more than he bargained for in "Changeling," as does the budding serial killer in "Famous." A young woman goes on a desperate search for her twin's murderer in "Iris & Ivy." A stripper becomes the latest target of a dangerous man in "Don't Touch." And in "Ties That Bind," a young wizard risks everything to save the company she inherited from her father.

Eight stories celebrating the inner strength and courage of women by award-winning writer Annie Reed. From a little girl orphaned in the war in Afghanistan to a widow learning to cope with life on her own to the woman who discovers an unexpected chance at love in the unlikeliest of places, each of these women face a sudden change in their lives head on and come out stronger on the other side. Sometimes harrowing, sometimes magical, the stories of their lives will touch your heart.