Norm Wheeler’s luck at the racetrack runs out, leaving him deep in debt to a ruthless bookie. When he tries to hire a rival thug to kill the man, the negotiation takes a dangerous turn, doubling Norm’s...

Yantriel lives on a small pig farm, grieving the loss of his wife, trying to make a good life for his two daughters.Then, on a midsummer day, an endless mass of frogs begins to ooze out of Yantriel’s...

Curtis Poole's estranged daughter dies, leaving him with fading memories of her and vivid memories of his actions that carved the decade-long rift in their relationship.With all hope of reconciliation...

On a busy street corner in the searing heat of a Sacramento July afternoon, homeless veteran Gene Garron makes a seemingly simple promise in exchange for a donation beyond his wildest dreams.But a large...

Alone on an empty, eerie road in the middle of the Sacramento Delta, Carla fumes at the boyfriend who abandoned her. The sun sets. A car appears. A pleasant looking couple offers wary Carla a ride.The...

Trapped in a funhouse in the sweltering Sacramento heat, Mark and his little brother Davy watch in horror as a zombie eats their friend. Now they must work together, one supplying the wits, the other...

“What does a girl have to do around here to prove she is a virgin?”A tattered wedding dress. An enraged bride. And Clarke Whiteley is all out of virgins’ tears.He brought the problem on himself, of course....

When Geoff Palmenter demands a refund from a master negotiator, he expects an impossible negotiation. Instead, he wins far more than he bargained for:A second chance at love. But with second chances,...

Five Short Fantasies from Right next DoorFive worlds very like our own. Five kinds of magic winding tighter and tighter. Five extraordinary people struggling to keep their lives from unwinding.A magical...

Fresh out of Folsom State Prison, Jake Abbot craves one thing: A thick, hot, juicy whiskey bacon cheddar burger from Saint Florian’s Abbey.But traffic and a greedy cabbie conspire to keep Jake from satisfying...

As California’s Department of Thaumaturgy battles a deepening drought, a mysterious force limits the flow of magic in downtown Sacramento.Tasked to find an answer, Purvis Klemp—Senior Advisor to the Chief...

In this second Fiction River Special Edition, award-winning editor Kristine Kathryn Rusch performs editing magic in assembling this anthology of stories saved by not one but six different Fiction River...

Humans prove great fodder for fiction. But what about the universe of possibilities offered by the nonhuman protagonist? The eighteen daring humans of Fiction River’s latest volume explore just that....

Forget the old adage that cautions against wishing. The sixteen stories in this latest Fiction River contain just the right amount of heart, magic, pathos, and even hope. From a daughter hoping to save...

In this latest volume of Fiction River, editor Dean Wesley Smith pulls together an eclectic but cohesive group of stories filled with difficult decisions. From a man who must question the line between...