Showing results by narrator "Helen Laser" in All Categories

On a brisk fall night in a New York apartment, 35-year-old Billie West hears terrified screams. It's her lifelong best friend Cassie Barnwell, one floor above, and she's just realized her infant daughter has gone missing. Billie is shaken as she looks down into her own arms to see the baby, remembering—with a jolt of fear—that she is responsible for the kidnapping that has instantly shattered Cassie’s world.

Every nosy neighbor, gossipy friend, and meddling relative is just one good mystery away from becoming a detective. From behind locked doors or out in broad daylight, driven by chance or curiosity, amateur sleuths get in over their heads in these six hair-raising, hilarious stories.

Gemma Turner once dreamed of stardom. Now the actress is on the cusp of obscurity. When she’s offered the lead in a radical new horror film, Gemma believes her luck has changed—but her dream is about to turn into a nightmare. One night, between the shadows of an alleyway, Gemma disappears on set and is never seen again. Yet, Gemma is alive. She’s been pulled into the film. And the script—and the monsters within it—are coming to life. Gemma must play her role perfectly if she hopes to survive.

I catch them together at 6:52 in the morning, lying in bed like newlyweds. His face was buried in her mass of dark hair. For a moment, I think I must be dreaming. "I've never seen her before in my life," he says, looking at me. But before I even know how to respond, two men break down the front door. Pound up the stairs. I run, but I can't hide. They take us to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. I'm trapped with a man who I thought I was going to marry, but who swears he doesn't even know me. And then he looks me right in the eye and whispers: "I'm sorry."

In 1820s Venice, world-renowned magician Oscar Van Hoff confounds sold-out crowds with his astounding manifestations. Even his beautiful wife and assistant, Olivia, is mystified. Her job is to smile and recite her lines—onstage and in society. But the thankless routine is bringing out her rebellious side. Then, on the eve of what promises to be Oscar’s greatest performance yet, Olivia uncovers a secret with the power to shatter all her husband’s illusions. Now the finale belongs to her.

Annae, a brilliant graduate student in psychiatric magic and survivor of academic abuse, can't stop reading people's minds. This is how she protects herself—using her abilities to know exactly how her colleagues view her—how she escapes the torturous experience of her own existence. When Annae moves to England to rebuild her life and finish her studies under the seminal magician Marec Gorski—infamous for bringing to life a homunculus made from his unwanted better self—she sees, inside his head, a man who is both a destructive force to everyone around him, and her mirror image.

All Kat wants to do is run her own life. But it seems as though everyone else has competing plans for her. Her commander of the Bosch Pirate Force wants her to lead. Her husband wants her to abandon her pirating ways. Her mother-in-law wouldn’t mind seeing her dead. And her past enslaver, Rob Abernathy, wants her back. As listeners of A Merry Life know, Kat is fearless, principled, and determined to settle old scores. When a face from her past spurs a dangerous mission, she jumps at the opportunity, unaware that it will have explosive results.

It takes some gumption to claim to be the best tea shop in the city of Kansar, where five ancient roads meet and everyone is selling something. But Yala’s shop has been in her family for three generations and is famed for its brews among warriors and wizards alike. When the Imperial Spell Company claims a monopoly on all magic in Kansar, Yala tries to convince a company henchman that her teas are nothing but ordinary leaves and water.

Reporter Lee Ellerin’s investigation into a young woman’s unsolved murder gained national attention—only for her to lose everything due to a tragic mistake. After being publicly ridiculed for causing a suspect’s death, Lee is forced to leave her career behind. Five years later, pregnant college student Amanda Hartley lies in a coma. The police say she attempted suicide, but the details don’t add up. Where is the father? Who was paying for Amanda’s Manhattan penthouse? Why did Amanda have a note with Lee’s name in her backpack?

My name is Charlotte Locke, and I’m an analyst for Section 47, a secret government agency that tracks terrorists, criminals, and other paramortal bad guys who want to unleash their abilities on an unsuspecting mortal world. I have a magical form of synesthesia that senses danger and uncovers lies - making me a stealthy operative. I’m trudging through another day when one of Section’s cleaners - assassins - takes an interest in me. I don’t need my synesthesia to realize that he is extremely dangerous.

When the nouveau riche Parker family moves to an exclusive community in the heart of Southern California, they believe it’s their chance at a fresh start. Heather Parker is determined to give her daughters the life she never had—starting with horses. She signs them up for riding lessons at Rancho Santa Fe Equestrian, where horses are a lifestyle. Heather becomes a “Barn Mom,” part of a group of wealthy women who hang at the stables, drink wine, and prepare their daughters for competition.

In this tale inspired by Cinderella (and for fans of The Last Airbender), Ellie is a firemage in a kingdom of water and windmages. Her worried stepmother warns her against showing off her powers, but when everyone at the king’s ball is in danger from a dragon, Ellie can no longer keep them secret. She works together with another firemage to save the entire kingdom.

Kate Kendrick is having an epically bad day when a glowing Blockbuster catches her eye on the commute home. She could have sworn there was an abandoned building there just yesterday, and didn't Blockbuster go out of business years ago? Curiosity piqued, she steps inside the bustling store and whoosh! She's transported back to the year 1999 with no idea how to get back to her old life. Jordan Dale works at the One Hour Photo Processing Shop next to Blockbuster, and he can't believe it when their paths cross. A time traveler himself, he's been living in the '90s for a while now.

Jennifer Worth lives to escape into the world of her favorite romantasy series Elytheum Courts, where the romance is swoony and the men are brave, chivalrous…and winged. Newly single and craving connection, she travels to an immersive fan experience celebrating all things Elytheum, only to see the last face she expected—Scott Daniels, her work nemesis. Except, the Scott she encounters there, in his secondhand cosplay outfit, is…different.

A sportscaster and a kindergarten teacher vie for the last copy of a bestselling dessert cookbook. To prove how badly they want it, each tries to outdo the other with meme-like, dessert-inspired lines.

Robin Lindstrom spent her first year as a young widow cocooned in the safe haven of the Minnesota farmhouse she’d once shared with Gabe, the love of her life—the man she thought she’d be with ’til the end. But her world is turned upside down when she receives an email informing her that her late husband has enrolled her in a dating app. The subscription lasts 12 months; use it!, Gabe’s message-from-the-grave reads. I don’t like the thought of you being alone. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it as a favor to me. Please.

The streets of New York in 1920 are most certainly not paved with gold, as Minnie Soffer learns when she arrives at Ellis Island. Her father, who left Ukraine when Minnie was a toddler, feels like a stranger. She sleeps on a mattress on the kitchen floor. She understands nothing at school. They came to America for this? As her family adjusts to this new life, Minnie and her brother work hard to learn English and make friends. When her father, Ike, opens his own soda shop, stability and citizenship seem within reach.

That someone might end up dead at the Palms School’s annual glamping trip in Santa Barbara wasn’t far-fetched. Taking city people into the woods was begging for murder. What was surprising was how far these mothers would go to cover it up.

By day, punk-rock runaway Charity Blake struggles through a stream of dead-end jobs and the haunting memories of her past. But at night she is the Harpy, sprouting wings with black feathers, and claws made for tearing the flesh of her prey. Having survived a lifetime of abuse and torment from a sadistic man who broke her spirit, Charity's physical manifestation of her grief and anger allows her to hunt down those like her abuser. Only this time, Charity isn't a helpless little girl praying for things to end. Now she is the monster, and hell hath no fury like a harpy scorned.

I wish I could say that the tragedy of little Jack disappearing brought me and Nate closer together. But my husband is more distant from me now than he’s ever been. Perhaps that’s why I don’t ask him exactly where he’s going when he sets off on another business trip. Or perhaps I was too distracted by the woman moving in across the street with bouncing blonde hair and a cherubic toddler boy. He reminds me so much of the child I lost. But his mother doesn’t seem to properly watch him. And I can’t be sure, but I think Nate and this woman share a look of recognition before he leaves.