Come on a mindblowing journey. From a feast in imperial Rome whose ripples will be felt across the ages, to a desperate space mission that hopes to find salvation for a broken human race. From a meeting in bleak 1930s Ireland that plots the plunder of an entire nation, to the first-hand experience of a New Yorker during the horror of September 11, 2001. From a lonely and confused seeker of the Holy Grail, to a detached society that feeds its troubled youngsters to the wolves. This thrilling collection of stunning short fiction will force you to challenge every assumption, to question everything, to conclude that your influence on the development of human civilisation is as critical as anybody else's. Ever. Human society has always been controlled and manipulated by the few, but can the many fight back? Sometimes an idea gets into my head and it just won't go away until I write it down. Sometimes it becomes a novel, sometimes a tweet or a blog post, sometimes a short story. This is my first complete collection of all the short stories I've created since I started writing fiction in 2002. The stories are arranged chronologically by setting, as opposed to by when I wrote them. I want to discover if a thread, however tenuous, unites them over the thousands of years that they span. And what is that thread? You read. You decide. You tell me. In my opinion, humans are easily-led, easily-manipulated, easily-fooled. Religions, dictatorships and con artists have thrived because of this unfortunate reality. But we're smarter than that. Will it require a great event to shake us from our slumber or will it require just one great person? All the stories, including those that have been widely-read as part of 9/11 Trilogy and Ireland Trilogy, have been improved as no story I write is ever truly finished. Most of these stories are published here for the very first time. I hope that they give you as much pleasure in the reading as they gave to me in the writing. Gary J Byrnes, Epic Fiction

Tales From The Bayou is a compilation of six short stories about South Louisiana, dating from 1814, which was when the Battle of New Orleans was fought, to our modern times. The purpose of the book is to introduce Louisiana culture to those who may not be familiar with this part of America, and to enhance the appreciation of our heritage to local citizens of this very unique region. The book is very special in that it tells the stories of life from a variety of views. From little Cajun boys in the 1930's and their mischievous antics, the lifelong story of a man of color along the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, and of course, the personal tale about Jean Lafitte and his fictitious offspring. The book also tells a heartwarming story from the prospective of a 30-something woman who is the proprietor of the Decator Street Guest House in the French Quarter of New Orleans. It is the author's desire that all will be entertained, and will enjoy the stories for what they are, and take an inside look at the hopes, the dreams, the triumphs and the failures of his characters.

This book consists of ten short stories with my own original plots, characters and twists in each short story. "The Exile's Orb" is about an indifferent and bullied boy named, KB. Who soon gets abducted by an evil barbaric alien race from his middle school to be interrogated about a powerful Orb that the boy once had, but KB doesn't know what or where the Orb is. The leader of the alien race Master Odin keeps KB as one of his prisoners, but he escapes from the prison to meet up with a girl named Kristy who introduces him to a man that can help him find the Orb. Does KB find the Exile's Orb in time or does Master Odin conquer the universe? If you like a horror I have one uniquely scary story for you entitled "Curse High." Is a tale about a high school African American boy named Greg who is first being haunted by a demonic spirit that is taking its vengeances out on Greg's friends, family and his high school crush Nina. But first he needs to find out who the demonic spirit is and why this ultra-violent spirit is taking its revenge out on him. Greg soon finds out he must save Nina from the demon. Does Greg save her or does he fail miserably?

Presenting an engaging, suspenseful mix of paranormal stories, Reckoning takes you into the lives of ordinary people who face extraordinary and unexplainable situations for which they are entirely unprepared.

In "Solitario Road," a businessman's drive home on familiar roads takes him through a strange storm and an unexpected journey through the past. His unsettling encounters with people along the way take him farther away from the present-and his own reality.

"Handshake" is the story of a man whose routine medical procedure leads to a side effect that begins as an uncomfortable nuisance but quickly turns into a frightening threat to everyone around him.

In "'74 New Yorker," a man inherits his father's old car and discovers that a strange sense of empowerment comes with it. He soon finds his nostalgic connection to the car spiraling into a pattern of bizarre and risky behavior that has tragic results.

"Flagman" tells of a retired art professor whose spontaneous act of protest against the Iraq War sets off a public reaction that he doesn't expect. When one of his students helps him continue the protest, they are faced with the dangerous consequences of waging peace.

Rich in visual imagery, the stories in Reckoning deliver a powerful commentary on how the supernatural and reality can seamlessly entwine in the human experience.

"In the Moment" presents a gritty series of short stories focusing on characters who are raw, honest, unredeemable, marginal, spiritual, and beautiful. Chronicling scenes from life made vividly authentic, all the players are genuine-people we might be or know, snapshots of everyday life.

Chance a moment with a stranger, and experience unexpected events. Struggle along with a family whose child will never be any better than at that moment; stay with a rape victim through the horrific aftermath of her trauma. Run for safety in a war zone, and smell the Devil's missile. Get tipsy and dance with grannies, or pine for an ex. Grieve for a life wasted behind prison bars.

Does an event define a life, or does the individual define the event? Is it a combination of both, or is it something else entirely? For the short stories of In the Moment, the moment is now-good or bad. That defining moment in a person's life can say volumes about his or her character. We may never know more than we do now; the next step in life's dance is conjecture, a mystery, an uncertainty-but its part in the story is vital nonetheless.

A collection of short stories that form a story cycle of Gulf Coast residents and expatriates engaged in the struggle to maintain a cultural identity in a realm of change. For the author, one of the advantages of "being southern" is luxuriating in complex ambiguity, time shifting at will, nonlinear thought, love of the absurd (which it often seems to be the way of life), nostalgia, and an opposition to manufactured realms of reality found in modernist fiction. This collection is southern, an organic unit, a piece of string. The first story is one end and the last is the other. The bits in the middle reflect the ends and all things are related.

The events in these true tales of the canoe country of northern Minnesota and Ontario were compiled over the author's lifetime of experience in the woods. Working with Boy Scouts and, in his later years, with employees, friends, family, and folks from his church, the author has led perhaps over five hundred people on trips into the Boundary Waters. The experiences on these trips over the past fifty years have provided a wealth of material that the author has crafted into enjoyable stories. Some of the stories are educational, many are hilarious, more than a few are inspirational, all of them are entertaining. Each story stands alone, but the book is best read from the beginning. Words followed by asterisks are defined in a glossary for readers unfamiliar with canoeing or the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. After reading this book, the author hopes you will be better informed about the lake country, you will have a greater appreciation for the wilderness, and you might even be encouraged to take a canoe trip to see Gods' country for yourself. If this happens, then the author has succeeded in his purpose.

This is the second story of the adventures of Captain Charisma and his friends. He has to defend his honor against his enemy Captain Chaos. Not only does Captain Charisma battle Captain Chaos everyone else gets involved in something. Can Captain Charisma defeat his enemy and what will happen to the others. Read Captain Charisma takes on Shagwood Country Club to find out the answer to these and other questions.