Category: Fiction

The Most Dangerous Game, written by Richard Connell

The Most Dangerous Game, written by Richard Connell
What happens when the Hunter becomes the hunted? Grab the weapon of your choice, put on your running shoes, and listen to today’s classic short story “The Most Dangerous Game!”

Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” and published in 1924 in The Saturday Evening Post and was adapted into a film of the same name in 1932, starring Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, and Leslie Banks. He began his writing career when he was 13 years old when he covered a local murder trial for his father’s newspaper in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1906. By the age of 15, he was a seasoned crime and sports reporter. His father became a Congressman and Richard then attended Harvard and went on to serve a year in France during World War One where he edited a camp newspaper called “Gas Attack.” When he came back to America, he got married and moved to Hollywood where he worked on many projects, his most notable being “Meet John Doe” in 1941.    

John Bell is our narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on the award-winning “Bell’s in the Batfry” podcast which can be found at http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/

We are always looking forward to discovering our next writer, so if you are interested in contributing, please send us your short story of fewer than 5,000 words to cathy@widowmakerindustries.com

We are an ad-free podcast, so we would greatly appreciate it if you would take the time to follow, rate, and share our stories with other lovers of short fiction.

Thank you for listening!

C. Mack Lewis

Over Yonder, by C. Mack Lewis

Over Yonder, by C. Mack Lewis
What exactly is Moses willing to sacrifice to keep his promise? Why is Daniel’s wife suddenly so nervous? And since when do God and the Devil hang out?  Will this short story answer those age-old questions about the meaning of life, or will it only leave you with more questions? Either way, I hope it will give you an entertaining respite from banalities. Cheers!  

Listen to The Hidden Gems Podcast today!

Kirkus Reviews — The Angel Wore Black, written by C. Mack Lewis

Kirkus Reviews — The Angel Wore Black, written by C. Mack Lewis

“An engaging detective series finale with a superbly animated cast.” —Kirkus Reviews

Full Review:

THE ANGEL WORE BLACK

BY C. MACK LEWIS ‧ RELEASE DATE: JUNE 6, 2021

An Arizona private eye with a sordid past deals with missing persons and vicious homicides in this last installment of a trilogy.

It seems private investigator Jack Fox’s bed-hopping days are behind him. He’s trying to be a good father to 18-year-old college student Enid, the result of a one-night stand, and baby Katherine. Enid struggles with anger management and trauma from an ordeal in which she was forced to kill in self-defense. She’s on constant, almost paranoid guard, though her unease over Katherine’s mother, Eve Hargrove, makes sense. It hasn’t been that long since Eve escaped from prison, where she had been serving two life sentences for murder. Meanwhile, Jack takes a case for his ex-wife, a dominatrix who’s genuinely worried about her suspiciously absent “best Sub.” This has an unexpected connection to an unsolved murder from a couple of years ago—a homicide that crops up in other detectives’ investigations as well. As these cases clash, there’s a good chance Eve is involved. But whoever it is, someone more than willing to kill has cast Jack, his daughters, and others in a twisted, lethal game. Lewis, as in the earlier series volumes, loads her tale with grim melodrama, which takes precedence over the detective story. Mystery is fleeting; private eyes’ investigations take them either to people who adamantly withhold information or right to a killer’s door. Characters, nevertheless, practically burst with personality; they’re eccentric, flawed, and endlessly intriguing. And though the narrative is dark and sometimes brutally violent, it also flaunts a surprising amount of humor. Jack’s rival, gumshoe Dana Goode, is particularly memorable. She hilariously bickers with her office manager and takes fanatical glee in upsetting Jack. After a bleak but entertainingly over-the-top final act, the novel offers a solid series ending. Still, any of these characters could ignite a worthy spinoff.An engaging detective series finale with a superbly animated cast.

Get your free preview of The Angel Wore Black today!