Maxima Library

Peter James’s first novel-length collection of short stories. These include all the stories in Short Shockers 1 & 2 plus many new ones.

With each twist of the knife, a chilling new journey begins... From a woman intent on bizarre revenge, to a restaurant critic with a morbid fear of the number thirteen; and from a man arranging a life-changing assignation, to a couple heading for a disaster-filled vacation...

In multi-million-copy bestselling author Peter James’ collection of short stories we first come to meet Brighton’s finest detective, Roy Grace, and read the tale that went on to inspire James’ hugely successful novel, Dead Simple. James exposes the Achilles heel of each of his characters, and makes us question how well we can trust ourselves, and one another. Each tale carries a twist that will haunt readers for days after they turn the final page...

Combining every twisted tale from the ebook bestsellers Short Shockers One and Short Shockers Two,with a never-seen-before collection of new material, A Twist of the Knife shows Peter James as the undisputed grand master of storytellers with this sometimes funny, often haunting, but always shocking collection.

Abby entro al elevador y las puertas se cerraron con el sonido de una pala levantando canto rodado. De pronto sintio el perfume de alguien mas y tambien de un limpiador con aroma de limon. El elevador se movio unos cuantos centimetros hacia arriba. Y ahora era demasiado tarde para cambiar de idea y salir: con el metal de las paredes presionandola, comenzo a caer por el vacio. Abby se dio cuenta de que acababa de cometer el peor error de su vida… En medio del caos de la manana del 9/11, el negociante Ronnie Wilson ve la oportunidad de su vida. Para salir de sus deudas, desaparecera y se re-inventara a si mismo en otro pais. / Abby stepped in the lift and the doors closed with a sound like a shovel smoothing gravel. She breathed in the smell of someone else's perfum, and lemon-scented cleaning fluid. The lift jerked upwards a few inches. And now, too late to change her mind and get out, with the metal walls pressing in around her, they lunged sharply downwards. Abby was about to realize she had just made the worst mistake of her life…Amid the tragic unfolding mayhem of the morning of 9/11, failed Brighton businessman and ne'er-do-well Ronnie Wilson sees the chance of a lifetime, to shed his debts, disappear and reinvent himself in another country.Six years later, the discovery of the skeletal remains of a woman's body in a storm drain in Brighton, leads Detective Superintendent Roy Grace on an enquiry spanning the globe, and into a desperate race against time to save the life of a woman being hunted down like an animal in the streets and alleys of Brighton. 'One of the most fiendishly clever crime fiction plotters'

More than twenty New York Times bestselling authors team up to create a first-rate serial novel — a collaboration that combines the skills of America’s greatest storytellers to produce a gripping, spellbinding mystery.

Alexander McCall Smith. Sandra Brown, Faye Kellerman, J.A. Jance, Jeffery Deaver, Kathy Reichs, Lisa Scottoline, Jeff Lindsay. These are only a handful of the names that make up the all-star lineup of authors behind No Rest for the Dead, a tale of vengeance, greed, and love that flows seamlessly,in the words of David Baldacci, “as it passes from one creator's mind to the next.”

When Christopher Thomas, a ruthless curator at San Francisco’s McFall Art Museum, is murdered and his decaying body is found in an iron maiden in a Berlin museum, his wife, Rosemary, is the primary suspect, and she is tried, convicted and executed. Ten years later, Jon Nunn, the detective who cracked the case, is convinced that the wrong person was put to death. In the years since the case was closed, he's discovered a web of deceit and betrayal surrounding the Thomases that could implicate any number of people in the crime. With the help of the dead woman's friend, he plans to gather everyone who was there the night Christopher died and finally uncover the truth, suspect by suspect. Solving this case may be Nunn’s last chance for redemption… but the shadowy forces behind Christopher’s death will stop at nothing to silence the past forever.

In this innovative storytelling approach, each of these twenty-five bestselling writers brings their distinctive voice to a chapter of the narrative, building the tension to a shocking, explosive finale. No Rest for the Dead is a thrilling, page-turning accomplishment that only America’s very best authors could achieve.

Fabián Hightower llega de madrugada a casa después de viajar toda la noche en coche. Saluda a su madre y se retira a su habitación. Por la mañana, Alex, una atractiva y triunfadora mujer de negocios recientemente separada de su marido, acude a su trabajo y le comunican que su hijo ha muerto en Francia a consecuencia de un accidente de coche.

Probablemente se trata de un error o de una confusión de nombres, Fabián está en casa, en su habitación…

Pero efectivamente el joven ha muerto en tales circunstancias. Ahora Alex vive sola, rodeada de recuerdos de su hijo. Y comienza a experimentar una serie de hechos que pronto se convertirán en una pesadilla de espanto y horror: Fabián no se ha ido, su presencia es patente en torno a sus allegados y se manifiesta mediante extraños sucesos sobrenaturales.

Cuando Alex comprende que su seguridad está en peligro, se confía a su amigo Philip Main, científico y escritor cuyo padre había sido un sacerdote exorcista. Y tras la terrible revelación de una médium a la que acude en busca de ayuda, Alex acepta que tiene que liberarse a toda costa del maléfico poder que se cierne sobre ella, estrechando un círculo mortal a su alrededor…

Moving from the heart of Brighton and Hove to the Sussex countryside is a big undertaking for Ollie and Caro Harcourt and their 12-year-old daughter, Jade. But when they view Cold Hill House — a huge, dilapidated Georgian mansion — Ollie is filled with excitement. Despite the financial strain of the move, he has dreamed of living in the country since he was a child, and he sees Cold Hill House as a paradise for his animal-loving daughter, the perfect base for his web-design business and a terrific long-term investment. Caro is less certain, and Jade is grumpy about being separated from her friends.

Within days of moving in, it becomes apparent that the Harcourt family aren't the only residents of the house. A friend of Jade's is the first to see the spectral woman, standing behind her as the girls talk on FaceTime. Then there are more sightings as well as increasingly disturbing occurrences in the house. As the haunting becomes more malevolent and the house itself begins to turn on the Harcourts, the terrified family discover Cold Hill House's dark history and the horrible truth of what it could mean for them...

Victor Smiley and his wife Joan have been married for nearly twenty years, but each barely recognises the person they wake up with every morning. Victor is so fed up with his job at the local egg-box factory -as well as distracted by his visits to his favourite prostitute, Kamila- that he hardly notices his wife's constant ridicule. Joan has resigned herself to the fact that Victor will never see beyond her double-chin to a new hair cut or outfit. She even puts up with his constant snoring which keeps her up night after night. Just. For unbeknownst to Victor, Joan is taking her sweet revenge: spending large amounts of money on his credit card, kitting herself out in a sexy new wardrobe, to impress her secret lover, Don. But then, as the bills mount, Victor loses his job. Soon he realises that the only way he can achieve his dream of setting up home with Kamila is to get Joan out of the p..