“Taylor delivers a revenge tragedy that reads like a dime novel by Sophocles, at once epic and compact. It’s violent, operatic pulp. Badass and bloody good.” —Jedidiah Ayres, author of Peckerwood “If Jim Thompson wrote about Boston’s mean old days, then you’d have an inkling of the sheer quality of writing and gut-clenching darkness that J. M. Taylor provides in Night of the Furies. An outstanding debut.” —Todd Robinson, author of The Big Bounce “[Night of the Furies] is a more than a noir novel. It’s a sizzling epic spanning generations, written by a writer at the top of his game. Scary thing is, you get the sense that Taylor is writing from personal experience.” —Vincent Zandri, bestselling author of Murder by Moonlight In the late 1930s, Rico DiGiacomo ruled all of East Boston until he was brutally murdered by his own lieutenant, Bricks Mancini. That night, Rico’s son Giorgio overheard the details as they were reported to the one who ordered it: Rico’s wife. Giorgio vowed to avenge his father, no matter how long it took. Now, thirty years later, Giorgio has finally fulfilled that promise. As Mancini’s bodyguards pursue him into biker bars and sleazy motels like a pack of vengeful demons, Giorgio recalls a life of humiliation at his mother’s hands and the wisdom his father passed on to him. What he doesn’t know is that Fate has still more in store for him, and one night can be very long indeed.

J.M. Taylor's new thriller, Flash of Emerald, brings Harry Stoner back to the Suncoast long after an abortive operation in Cuba gave him his fill of Tampa and Ybor City. Corporal Harry Stoner began his special operations career with a night jump from the belly of a Strategic Air Command B-47 over Cuba for the CIA. Now retired from the Army and just a glorified clerk in the DIA, Stoner thought he was out of the killing. Summoned from his Washington DIA office, Stoner revisits the seamy side of Tampa's Ybor City and the continuing fight for Cuban freedom. Drawn into a web of international arms dealers, Stoner finds himself in the middle of a drugs-for-arms transaction. The stakes this time are his family - and a nuclear weapon stolen by fanatical terrorists. South Florida, especially the Suncoast centered around Tampa Bay, is ripe for a new series of novels. Personal triumphs and tragedies swirling around the Cuban Freedom Fighters' efforts to free Cuba from Castro and Communism, fueled by the financial implications of the arms and drug trade flow through the Caribbean basin and the international terrorist plans for Tampa's major military commands, all add to the rough and tumble life beneath the shiny veneer of palm trees and mimosas. Flash of Emerald is the first of a series of South Florida's Harry Stoner Suncoast Thrillers that feature the lush settings and diverse cultural backgrounds for action, romance and adventure on Florida's Suncoast.

Are you proud of where you come from, Are you proud of what you’ve done? Do you linger alone, living in your past, Or are you proud of how far you’ve come? (“Proud,” p. 123) For some of us, life is not easy, right from the jump. What seems so natural and easy to others can become hard—hard as ice, stifling as quicksand—when our own minds seem to plague us. Perhaps it’s because of something we haven’t been able to process—some trauma, heartbreak, grief. Or perhaps life has never been easy to metabolize—dealing with the pain we inevitably must face. Striking, forceful, and animated by intense feeling, The Black, the White, and the Grey is a tripartite poetic journey through mental illness—from the black of depression to the white of manic euphoria, through the grey numbness that lies between. The poems speak to difficult feelings many of us encounter, but which are rarely given voice, from the despair of addiction to the suffocating pain of a loved one’s death. For those of us who do identify with mental illness, we may see ourselves especially reflected in first-time author Taylor’s dauntlessly honest poems, which speak to the darkest corners of human experience—heartbreak, grief, substance abuse, self-harm, addiction, suicide—as well as the love and faith that can (sometimes) manage to carry us through. Ultimately, though, no matter the weight we must bear, as the book’s final section, the white, affirms, there is hope and healing at the end of the tunnel we travel.

Black Cat Weekly continues to present a mix of original, modern, and classic science fiction, fantasy, and mystery fiction. #71 includes 6 short stories, 3 novels, and a solve-it-yourself mystery. Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure: “Friday, February 30th,” by Mark Thielman [Michael Bracken Presents short story] “X Marks the Spot” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery] “Secrets in the Snow” by J. M. Taylor [Barb Goffman Presents short story] Ring-a-Ding-Ding, by Frank Kane [novel] The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle [collection] Science Fiction & Fantasy: “The Giftie Gien,” by Malcolm Jameson [short story] “Space-Can,” by Murray Leinster [short story] “The Knowledge Machine,” by Edmond Hamilton [short story] “The Timeless Tomorrow,” by Manly Wade Wellman [novel] Secret of the Earth Star, by Henry Kuttner [novel]

I know what it feels like to be unwanted and what it is like to be hunted. My name is Violet, and my mother's former coven wants me dead. What better sacrifice than the daughter of a witch who broke one of their most sacred laws? My mother doesn't plan to let them take either of us, so we have spent the first eighteen years of my life on the run, with no friends and nowhere to call home. I am tired of it and ready to stay in one place. Fighting is not an option, or so I am told. But what is the purpose of having power if I am not allowed to wield it?The Wolf Moon will rise in the winter sky soon, and just like every year, we will be on the move again. The coven's leader will be stronger, her ability to hunt us even greater. I am afraid, as I should be, but when two mysterious strangers find us, I realize my mother has been keeping secrets. I am not what or who the coven believes me to be. I am even stronger than I thought, and I soon learn that I'm ready for more than I ever imagined.I will take what I want and fight when needed.*******A sneak peek at the first chapter of Ravenwood, the next book in the Violet of Ravenwood series, is included.

From his early days in the 1970s playing piano for Bette Midler in the bathhouses of New York City to his 2025 lifetime residency in Las Vegas, Barry Manilow has put his stamp on the music industry. With legendary hits such as "Weekend in New England," "Mandy," and "I Write the Songs," Manilow has created a catalog of instantly recognizable songs that have lasted decades and continue to be in rotation on radio stations, elevators and Spotify playlists to this day. Manilow also created a legendary musical crime in his song "Copacabana," telling the story of feather-wearing dancer Lola who is caught between bartender Tony and patron Rico as the two men vie for her affections...and ultimately meet untimely ends. Now, 13 crime author fans of Barry (affectionately known as "Fanilows") take on other songs from his collection of hits to tell all new stories of love, life, relationships and other situations gone horribly wrong. All the hits are here, as well as a few lesser-known tracks. As Manilow sings, "there was blood and a single gunshot. But just who shot who?" This collection features all new stories from Karen Keeley, Linda Kay Hardie, Adam Gorgoni, Maya St. Clair, Matt McGee, Laurie Stevens, Caleb Weinhardt, Kurtis Rupé, Recita Clemons, J. M. Taylor, John M. Floyd, T. Fox Dunham, Christine Verstraete and Shari Held.

Hitting the charts only once isn't just unfortunate...it's a crime. Over the decades, tons of musical artists and groups have had a hit song that has lived on long after the tune topped the charts and is often looked upon fondly for decades to come. For some musicians, this may be the only the song they're ever known for and they fade into obscurity soon thereafter. These are affectionately known as "one-hit wonders," and are much celebrated by fans and music publications, particularly on September 25th each year on One-Hit Wonder Day. 12 of today's best short story authors have taken their favorite one-hit wonders and reimagined them as the influence for some pretty heinous crimes. (I Just) Died in Your Arms features a decades-spanning collection of immediately recognizable hit songs turned into stories from the amazing talents of Vinnie Hansen, Jeanne DuBois, Josh Pachter, J.M. Taylor, Christine Verstraete, Sandra Murphy, Joseph S. Walker, Wendy Harrison, Bev Vincent, Leone Ciporin, Adam Gorgoni and Barb Goffman.