Hard Blows

Description:

“A spine-tingler right to the final sentence.” Dick Stodghill

Sixteen thrilling short stories (15 brand new) from an award-winning author of mystery and suspense:

“Hard Blows”—A prosecutor must deal with an ex-con coming after his family.

“The Killers (Allison’s Version)”—Lawyer Allison Culbertson encounters ruthless killers in a diner.

“Stranger in a Strange Band”— A man with a horrible secret tries to start over under a new name in another city but finds he can’t run from his past.

“Why the Hearse Horse Snickers”—A killer stalks a sleazy divorce lawyer who deserves what’s coming to him.

“The Bullet Fee”—Lawyer Wyatt Blake hopes his beautiful client is innocent of using a deadly butterfly hairpin as a murder weapon.

“Must Be Murder”—A college professor who witnesses a murder while teaching her online class discovers no one believes her.

“The Planted Gun”—A planted gun implicates an innocent (but dead) man. Is it too late for the cop who killed him to clear the man’s name?

“The Spy in the Suitcase”—A “honey trap” leads to a dead spy in a suitcase.

“Inquest for a D.A.”—District Attorney Wyatt Blake faces an inquest into the suspicious death of his wife.

“The Secret Legacy”—A chilling secret hidden in a safe deposit box is worth going to jail over.

“No Such Thing as Free”—No Country For Old Men meets Home Alone.

“Epic Parkour Fail”—A teenage boy practicing parkour in an abandoned shoe factory witnesses something he was never meant to see.

“The Un-Dead”—A detective present for an autopsy watches in horror as a murder victim tears himself out of a body bag.

“The Hanging Tree”—A boy visiting the “hanging tree” at midnight finds his life in peril.

“The Death Warrant”—A new constitutional amendment requires law enforcement in each county to kill one criminal per year without trial or conviction. What could possibly go wrong?

“Son of a Slain Cop”—A boy whose cop dad was gunned down gets a chance years later to solve his father’s cold case.

Praise For Swingle’s stories:

“Morley Swingle’s “Hard Blows” dramatizes the challenges prosecutors encounter, even when the defendants they charge are in fact guilty. Consistently high quality.” Publisher’s Weekly

“Morley Swingle delivers a well-planned twist.” Kirkus Reviews

“Swingle’s ‘Hard Blows’ is a hard gut-punch, where an ex-con takes final, fitting revenge on the man who put him in jail.” Linnea Dodson, Reviewing The Evidence

“Hard Blows” earns Honorable Mention in Best American Mystery Stories of 2010. Otto Penzler

“An ex-con who swears he was innocent but convicted by an overly-zealous prosecutor seeks revenge in ‘Hard Blows’ by Morley Swingle. How he plans to achieve it makes the story a spine-tingler right to the final sentence.” Dick Stodghill, Stodghill Says So

“Hard Blows hinges on its twist end and does it well.” Rod Lott, Bookgasm

“Morley Swingle, I like your work and would like to see more from you, but ‘Why the Hearse Horse Snickers’ is a bit too explicit sexually for our magazine.” Janet Hutchings, Editor, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine

“Morley Swingle proves that some lawyers can actually write entertainingly.” Harry Levins, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Morley Swingle is a rarity among lawyers, and almost unique among prosecutors: a man who loves the books as much as the courtroom, and who writes as well as he dissects witnesses on the stand. ” Robert H. Dierker, Jr., Retired Circuit Court Judge, author of Missouri Criminal Practice Handbook