Almost Midnight

Short stories. Eddie Poe (that's Edgar Allan Poe to you; he's in my wife's family tree so I have permission to be familiar) claimed repeatedly that the most effective form of writing is one that can be finished in one sitting. Maybe. Maybe not. I've read many, many pretty darn good novels in my day - but the literary market is chock full of them. Thousands of writers try to break through with the Great American Novel each year, only to be frustrated, disappointed and finally discouraged.
There are just too many of them - and too little time. Many good novels end up on wholesale bookshelves, their creators having abandoned the dream of literary notoriety. And then there's the matter of time. "I only want something I can read in its entirety before turning out the light at night. It usually takes me several pages to remind myself who is who and what is happening, if I don't actually have to retreat a few pages to gather some momentum before it all comes back to me." It's usually worth it.
Usually. After copyrighting twelve (great American) novels, all of which are gathering "dust" on eBook sites, I've abandoned the long read and returned to the short one. So here it is, my most recent - and what may be my last- creative writing endeavor, a collection of short stories that I originally envisioned as novels, movies or TV mini-series'. None should take longer than forty-five minutes to read, just long enough to entertain before sleep claims you, or you decide to take a dip in the sea.
While very different, they all have a thread of similarity. They're all thrillers and/or adventures, enjoyable escapist entertainment, if I do say so myself. You think I'm a fraud or a little too sure of myself? Maybe so, but there's only one way to find out. Here's what they're about: an explosion of violence spreads like a virus through a country seething with rage in Worst Case; five men encounter a UAP on a lonely country road and are infused with visions in Too Close for Comfort; a southern gentleman inherits a plantation just prior to the Civil War and ponders a way to help his slaves - is it real or is it Whimsy? A disgusted preacher abandons his call and becomes a Scourge as he seeks to mete out justice to abusers of the Gospel; when a young man takes The Exit Ramp he finds himself on the way to an eternal destination; murders and fires plague a small town and the young narrator believes he's the supernatural cause, his town's Favorite Sin; a new, horrifying weather phenomenon called blastorms rampages over land and sea, forcing a terrifying Escape From the Keys; she's beautiful, brilliant - and a target - leading to a dangerous confrontation between Dr.
Lissie and the Psychopaths; a hastily assembled team of gifted adventurers race to Greenland to recover two obsolete nuclear missiles before dangerous company arrives (Operation Grabenbolt); a German hero of WWII shares his nightmarish ordeal, volunteering for service in a concentration camp to save his Jewish wife, The Once-Told Story; a shattered young clergyman faces his darkest fears in a sinister retreat house that will serve as a Field of Battle; a ragtag gang of ne'er-do-wells and con-artists plots an impossible caper, The Vatican Job.
Thrills and laughs await. Your move.