Steven Savile

Sharks - the ultimate predators, masters of their watery domain, a world that is entirely alien and inhospitable to man. So many aspects of the shark are associated with humankind's most primal fears. The tell-tale dorsal fin slicing through the water, the dead eyed-stare, the gaping jaws full to unforgiving teeth, the remorseless drive to kill and feed...Inspired by such classic pulp movies as Jaws and Deep Blue Sea - as well as such ludicrous delights as Sharknado and Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus - the stories contained within are rip-roaring page-turners and slow-build chillers that celebrate all things savage, pulp and selachian. Covering the whole range of speculative fiction genres, from horror and Steampunk, through to SF and WTF, these are stories with bite! Come on in. The water's fine...

There's no good way to prepare yourself to die....Guerro runs a kill team. They're good. Better than good. Or they were, until they walked into an ambush that wiped his team out and left Guerro for dead. All the evidence suggests they were betrayed, but by who, and why? Determined to avenge his team and settle old scores, Guerro embarks upon a one-man war, knowing that whoever put the kill order out on his people is still out there, watching for him to show his face so they can end him.

Cross-border investigators Peter Ash and Frankie Varg team up to solve a case when a bunch of gruesome murders are linked with a bizarre note in this hard-hitting thriller.When a newly-appointed Catholic bishop disappears shortly after receiving a macabre gift in the post - a severed human tongue - the Vatican calls in Peter Ash of the European Crime Division to help. Enclosed with the package was a bizarre note: Memini Bonn. I remember Bonn. At the same time, Ash's Swedish counterpart Frankie Varg is investigating the murder of a prominent politician. When it transpires that the two cases are linked, the pair team up to become enmeshed in a baffling investigation where nothing is as it first appears. What exactly is the significance of Bonn? And who is so determined to unleash those carefully buried memories.?

Peter Ash and Frankie Varg of the Eurocrimes Division are on the hunt for Varg's cousin who's believed to have fled to join a fanatical religious cult.Frankie Varg of the Eurocrimes Division heads to Tallinn, Estonia, in search of her young cousin who's believed to have dropped out of university to join One World, a religion many believe to be nothing more than a fanatical cult.Hot on her heels is her field partner Peter Ash, who's searching for the identity of a woman's charred body found in the woods close to Tallinn. When Peter arrives in the city, he finds Frankie attempting to infiltrate One World by posing as a runaway sleeping rough.Brought into One World's all-encompassing embrace, Frankie is shown the work the organisation does with the homeless around the world. But is it all a cover-up for their more nefarious activities? Who is their leader, the mysterious Shepherd? What clues will the burnt body uncover . . . and is Frankie out of her depth?

When the snow comes it brings more than just the cold. With the country caught in the grip of a blizzard, the residents of an isolated nursing home can only sit and wait. But only one of them knows the horror of Winterlong. "Stories of loss and punishment, but even at his darkest Savile has a flair for finding beauty in the macabre, using usually-subtle horror to deliver a succession of poignant insights into love and humanity....striking and moving..." The Guardian "Steven Savile has the gift of making the unbelievable completely believable, and leading you willingly into an illusory world that you can touch, feel and smell...but can you trust?" GRAHAM MASTERTON "Mesmerizing and brilliant short fiction." Fearzone "Always reliable, Steve Lockley spins tales to delight, disturb and horrify." TIM LEBBON "Good, solid story telling. Steve Lockley is a master craftsman." SIMON CLARK

Winter's Rage, West Virginia: population one more than last month. That one is Byron Tibor, a man running from his past and the government that wants him dead.When Wayne Cardiman's prodigal daughter returns home with dangerous men on her tail, Byron's carefully crafted anonymity crumbles.As a blizzard bears down on the isolated town, Byron must choose between exposing his true identity or watching innocent people die. With his enhanced abilities pushing him to the edge of humanity, Byron becomes Winter's Rage's unlikely guardian.But in a town where everyone has secrets, who can he trust? In this pulse-pounding thriller, one man's quest for redemption collides with a family's desperate bid for survival, igniting a powder keg of violence that will change Winter's Rage forever.

Through death comes power... Forbidden law promises that the soul can be harnessed, the magic of life captured in those final seconds, and used to give strength, power, and life everlasting. For the one who commands the soul of the dead, commands death itself. - Yarrow the Great - The bonds of the Dul'Buhar are eternal... The land is in the grip of a brutal winter when a desperate cry for help from one of his former sword brothers draws Akiri and Kyra up into the mountains beyond Erdogan Pass. But they are too late. Met on the way by his friend's son, they arrive to find the village ablaze and his sword brother, Cammeric, his wife and daughter slain, leaving the boy an orphan. The fell beast that murdered his family is no mere man--it is the rotten husk of a warrior brought back from the grave and will stop at nothing to fulfill its master's bidding. Sworn to protect the boy and avenge his friend, Akiri finds himself hunted across the mountains by the dead. But for each he slays another rises. Now, he must turn his back on this world and all he holds dear and venture into the kingdom of the dead if he is to put an end to the menace posed by a legendary evil. It's dark magic hungers for one thing: The Soul of the First Dragon. And should he find it, the rise of the Necromancer will herald an eternal reign of death and darkness.

Across the perilous expanse of the Great Valharoth Desert, Akiri and Kyra have journeyed seeking fortune among the rich and mysterious kingdoms of the East. He has turned his back on the gods and their schemes and is determined to create his own destiny. But the gods will not be so easily ignored. And once again, Akiri finds himself caught in their web. In the kingdom of Yagash, an ancient evil has spread over the land like a plague. The Cult of Hajazar, at the command of its dark leader, are seizing the innocent for their blood sacrifices. Now they have set their sights on a young lord whom Akiri has vowed to protect. But there is more at stake than the life of one child. Should Akiri fail, it will herald the return of the old gods...and the end of the world. With naught but his steel and his wits as his ally - and Kyra, of course - Akiri will face an enemy of such colossal power and cunning that the heart of the fiercest warrior would be tested to the full. But he is Akiri. His will is iron. And his courage will never fade.

One day, we'll all be myths. During a time that man has forgotten, a mighty ship was laid to rest beneath the rolling waves of the Aegean Sea. With her, the secrets and powers of the Gods lay, waiting to be discovered...Orla Nyren is a spy, a mercenary, a stone cold killer. The last thing she will ever do is let her guard down. Forced into time off from the Ogmios Team, she finds herself in unfamiliar territory: vacationing with civilians in the Peloponnese. A late night encounter with a handsome stranger offers her a glimpse into a side of life she has never allowed herself to imagine: normalcy, freedom, love. But old secrets refuse to stay buried and when the ship is exhumed, her vacation takes a drastic turn. With the help of fellow team member, Jude Lethe, Orla embarks on an adventure that will return her to the myths of old in which the unthinkable is made real and the horrors of man's resolve threaten to seal the doom of humanity. It begs the question: how far is one willing to go before they upset the Gods? Will tempting fate simply result in proving that we make our own, or will it anger the Gods beyond any chance of absolution?

Jude Lethe is not a field agent. He's the behind-the-scenes technical whizzkid who makes it possible for the Ogmios Special Ops to operate effectively. Sir Charles Wyndham's covert team relies on Lethe for vital mission data, access to protected systems, real-time surveillance and for covering their tracks. Without him, Ogmios would cease to function. Now an old friend of Wyndham's, Professor Camila Morais, needs help. Her search for a lost Inca city stalls when key members of her team are kidnapped from Lima airport. A reluctant Lethe is dispatched to provide technical help, with Noah Larkin as his bodyguard. But Professor Morais is not the only one eager to find the secret city hidden deep within the Andes. An old terrorist organization is about to reveal it is anything but extinct. The Shining Path have returned, and their plans will have a profound and deadly effect on Peru, the continent, and the world. With Noah missing and no way to call for backup, the only ones who can stop the terrorists are the granddaughter of a Nazi war criminal and a nerdy British hacker, whose skills may provide his enemies with the greatest weapon of all.Jude Lethe is not a field agent, but he'll have to step up fast to prevent the deaths of millions.

A university archaeology team uncovers an ancient box bearing the image of Baphomet. But before they are able to decipher the box's secrets, the entire team meet a grisly end. All indications are that an extremist group, Al Aler'eyh, are behind the slaughter. A second linked murder in the hallowed halls of Cambridge University tips off Control to the threat. Enter Sir Charles Wyndham and his Ogmios Team. Tasked with finding the Lucifer Machine and putting an end to this terror organisation, Noah and Orla find themselves in the adult playground of Dubai, fighting for their lives.

"There is a plague coming...For forty days and forty nights fear shall savage the streets. Those steeped in sin shall burn. The dying begins now" With this chilling message a wave of terror unlike anything the world has ever seen sweeps the streets of Europe. Thirteen martyrs burn themselves alive in thirteen major cities simultaneously. And this is just the beginning. A religious cult calling itself the Disciples of Judas has risen in the Middle East. They twist the words of ancient prophecies to drive home the fear. Everything you believe in will be proved wrong. Everything you hold true will fail. Day by day the West wakes to increasingly harrowing acts of terror. As fear cripples the capitals of Europe, the only question is where will be the next to fall? London? Rome? Berlin? In a race against time - believing the terrorists intend to assassinate the Pope - Sir Charles Wyndham's unique Special Ops team, codename Ogmios, track a labyrinthine course through truth, shades of truth and outright lies that takes them from the backstreets of London to the shadow of Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin and all the way into the heart of the Holy See itself.

It's the middle of the night. Ronan Frost receives a plea for help from his former commanding officer, Tony Denison. Denison is running for his life. An outspoken opponent of globalization and fascinated in Arthurian lore, Frost's old comrade is the target of agents of the New World Order, a shadowy conspiracy trying to prevent him from finding the Crocea Mors, the sword of Caesar, and perhaps the very blade that King Arthur pulled from the stone to win his kingdom. Frost is sceptical, most of what Denison claims strikes him as bullshit, plain and simple, but there's no denying that someone is trying to kill him. So he's going to help. No matter the risk. That's just who he is. Across London, Sir Charles Wyndham, leader of the Ogmios Team, dispatches Konstantin Khavin to learn the truth behind the attempted assassination...only to discover that the British government wants Denison dead at all costs. And because Frost is with him, Sir Charles is forced to make a choice-abandon Frost, or lose Ogmios for good. It's not a choice he ever wanted to make, but he's going to have to cut Frost loose.

With the discovery of the long lost Seal of Solomon Konstantin Khavin and Orla Nyren find themselves in Jerusalem and Palestine fighting for their lives with enemies on all sides. They don't know who they can trust. They don't know which way to turn next. All they know is they have to find the Seal while diverting the detonation of a dirty bomb at one of Jerusalem's most holy sites. Which would be fine, but Orla's been here before, during the worst days of her life when she was a prisoner in Jenin, a refugee camp on the border. She was brutally abused by a sadist she remembers only as The Beast - a man she thought she'd killed during her escape. He isn't dead. He's the man who has the Seal. And Orla is going to have to face The Beast alone.