Tales of Suspense

Della Adderly was a 20-something aspiring art director who was anxious to make her mark in the advertising world of the late 1960s. Tired of laboring behind men who took the credit for her work, she took a risk and strode into the office of Miss Veronica Landon—a sharp, no-nonsense creative director for one of the fastest-rising agencies in Manhattan—and demanded an interview.

A terrific train accident momentarily confuses the identities of some of the victims as they are scattered throughout local hospitals. Piecing together bits of information that survived, the nurses determine Birdie Barrington to have lost her newlywed husband in the crash. But is the surviving Bride really his wife or is it an opportunistic woman assuming her identity to inherit the riches and the lifestyle belonging to him.

Lana LeFleur was the epitome of the movie star queens of the Golden Age of Cinema. Fawned over, catered to, adored and pampered she was the center of her own universe and demanded that that was also true of everyone in her orbit—especially her stand-in who lived continually in the shadow of her stardom. And also her beleaguered newlywed husband, who had sacrificed his writing career to give her the spotlight. But for Lana, there would be a reckoning. When Cameron, the shy husband, and Audrey, the unassuming body double, begin to develop a relationship…only the cinema diva is in their way.

When sweet and innocent Evie found herself mired in a wicked storm on a muddy road in the dead of night, her heart was in her throat with every turn. Perhaps that was why she didn’t notice the man walking in the rain along the road—and nearly hit him. Afraid to stop, he later confronts her at a roadside diner. Apologetic, she offers him a ride. It might have been the mistake of her life for Vince was a penitentiary escapee on the run. The next several hours together are ones of terror until they discover they have something in common and begin to plot a solution to both of their problems.

When a woman sees a dead body across the way through the window in her Manhattan apartment, she is desperate for others to believe her. Unfortunately no one else can see what she does and it begins to drive her to desperation. In the spirit of old radio dramas of the 1940s, the heart-pounding mystery unravels delightfully until the surprising conclusion is reached. Carole Carson—a fading movie star—slowly loses her mind while surrounded by a colorful cast of unique characters who either are helping to calm her nerves or are consciously driving her insane.

Set in the wild and unpredictable world of the 1960’s college campus life, a young and quite hip professor falls for a carefree student and they take off for a summer road trip to enjoy nature and explore untouched worlds by following the Appalachian Trail as it winds through several states. Their attempt to “discover themselves," however, takes some wicked turns as they encounter odd and indecipherable strangers along the way—some of which introduce new terrors to their relatively tranquil lives.

Junie and Ethyl had been best friends since they could remember and after one last lingering Kansas blizzard and their graduation from high school, they left the midwest behind to enjoy the sunshine-drenched shores of Southern California.

The author’s novel—embedded into Final Draft—is the story of a hardboiled crime reporter who figures out a plot to seduce and marry a dying heiress in order to gain her fortune. His plan, however, is beset with challenges and he finds himself in an ever darker, ever deepening maze of intrigue...something the author suddenly seems unable to escape himself as the writer’s fiction merges with his own life.

In the spirit of Stephen King, the natural becomes supernatural in Isla Chillido—a true tale of terror. Isla Chillido is a luxury Caribbean island resort that is largely populated during the summer season by the grown children of uber-rich parents who feel entitled, empowered, and carefree to a fault. Their only parameters in life seem to be an abject worry of being ridiculed by their peers or appearing “uncool” at any moment in time. These pretentious young adults fear nothing and no one until…until they are faced with a horror beyond imagination.

When the rich and handsome Gregg and his fiancé the peppy, mysterious Emmie decide to take a drive to meet the parents, they had expected a five-hour journey of sunshine and top-40 tunes on the radio in their convertible. But then came a summer storm. It was indeed the storm of the century, but far from simply a meteorological event it also creates an inner turmoil of epic proportions as they try to solve and survive an impossible situation that was beyond their grasp.

The world’s most famous murder mystery writer has come up with an idea for his latest masterpiece, and it has his heart pounding. Creating a plot outline, he decides to live the story out himself to experience the pure emotions and unfiltered reactions he is craving…and to strike revenge on an old classmate for a perceived past hurt.

When a couple of young, listless losers pull off a Vegas’ slots casino heist and go on a wild run through the Mojave Desert, they find refuge in the cabin of an old man who has weathered many a decade. He tells them of an even greater score—the legend of a Spanish Galleon marooned in the desert sands that is filled with gold and jewelry.

Victoria Halloran was the heir of the great Whitcomb legacy which came with an estate beyond value situated on a private island, called Belle Isle, outside of Detroit. With her kind and attentive husband Herbert at her side, from there she reigned as queen on her throne. Unfortunately her throne was her bed—she was a hypochondriac invalid that had not escaped her world of pillows and linens for more than a dozen years. Imperious, entitled, and bitter, she only found happiness when the world revolved around her.

When two aging sisters—old maids from another era—share a crumbling mansion on a hill, one of them decides that “daddy’s house” is no longer big enough for the two of them. Tired of being the caretaker of her feeble sibling and anxious to find a husband to care for her, Miss Myrna—of the famed Boston Collingsworths—decides that it’s time for her needy sister Vera to be gone and begins to lay the framework for her disappearance. Tired of being told to “Hush!" Vera may not be as slow and trusting as she seems and soon the two enter into a cat-and-mouse game from which only one will emerge.

Twin brothers—polar opposites—are on a collision course and only one of them will survive. As Hurricane Katrina bears down on New Orleans, older brother Mickey—of the cover band "Mickey Finn and the Fireballs”—is drinking his way from gig to gig while younger brother Elliott has become a millionaire through the family business. But then it dawns on Mickey that he could easily assume his brother’s life if only…

Beatrice Richards was 39 years old on her last birthday. That may have been accurate, it might not have been. It mattered not to her friends—of which she had only a few—and it certainly didn’t matter to her husband, in large part because he simply didn’t care. Beatrice was wealthy, entitled, snobbish, unhappy and bored. That is until “it” came.

Before this hour is up, I'm going to kill you, the patient announces to her doctor. It is the last straw for an entitled, socialite, trophy wife who has become enraged with her psychiatrist after she maintains he took advantage of her. He declares it was a mutual, adult relationship. In a story that takes place during the pairs final fifty-minute therapy session, words fly back and forth as the psychiatrist tries to deescalate the situation while his patient becomes increasingly erratic and emotional.

When two strangers find themselves sitting next to each other on a cross-country flight, neither realize that the identities of their seat mate aren’t exactly what they are saying. In a taut and tension-filled thriller, a cat and mouse game ensues with each person trying to stay one step ahead of the other until there comes a final, inevitable showdown and all is revealed. A perfect vacation listen that is a pause-resister from beginning to end. The Audible version is a masterpiece voiced by British actress Poppy Damon.