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

From the Amazon #1 Bestselling Author Cocaine, sex, guns and black magic. Russian and Irish mobsters. Imagine everything converging in Limerick. That's when private detective Charlie Doyle is hired to get proof of adultery. What starts off as an typical job leads Charlie into a maelstrom of gang warfare, drug running, dangerous sex, child murder, muti and madness, and forces him to become a vigilante, someone who will stand against the barbarians at the gate. This book is essential reading for all lovers of noir crime thrillers. Also for anyone who wants to experience a real Ireland, one they won't let you see in the tourist brochures. The Author's Cut features restored scenes, a new cover and a stunning twist ending that makes the story rattle and buzz. Pure Mad was nominated for the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger Award.

Finished in 2003, this fictional memoir is written from the point of view of an Al-Qaeda fighter and details his personal involvement in a jihad, holy war, against the western powers. The story is told in 2007, as the narrator remembers his 20 years of conflict. Osama bin Laden is involved throughout the story and, while the period from mid-2003 to 2007 is entirely speculative, chapters detailing the formation and development of Al-Qaeda are accurate and based on extensive research. Quotations from The Qur'an are sourced from 'The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'an', an explanatory translation by Mohammad Marmaduke Pickthall, published by the Islamic Cultural Centre, London NW8 7RG. Proclamations and declarations by Al-Qaeda leaders in quotation marks are real. For clarity, dates are given in the western calendar.

Emily's witch grannies have whisked her away in the night, to the village of Castleconnell in the west of Ireland. The River Shannon is home to a banshee and she's collecting souls, including Emily's witch sister, Edna. The witches must race against time to find the banshee's lair and free the trapped souls. But there is an even bigger threat to the river and all her inhabitants. Can the Salmon of Knowledge guide the witches to the nasty trio who plan to use deadly poison in their search for gold? Can they save the river? WITCH GRANNIES A STORY FOR ALL AGES

Nominated for a Crime Writers' Association award, Pure Mad has been described as the best Irish crime novel ever written. Meet Charlie Doyle. He's a jaded private detective in Limerick, Ireland who assumes that his latest adultery case is just more easy money. But when he learns that his client is one of the city's most-feared gangsters, he senses trouble, figures that things can't get much worse. His journey towards the truth accelerates into madness and terror as he stumbles across the trail of the most cunning killer who's ever stalked the city. How will Charlie react when faced with evil of unspeakable magnitude? Will he handle it? Or will he go Pure Mad? An edgy maelstrom of sex, drugs and murder. Not for the fainthearted. Pure Mad is a complex thriller that works on many levels. If you like a whodunnit, but 21st Century-style, you need to read this book. It's a page-turner that will keep you up all night and leave you breathless. Pure Mad also contains a map of modern Limerick, a glossary of Limerick slang and a bonus short story by Anton Chekhov, which is somehow connected to Pure Mad. Read it, work it out. Find out more at www.scribd.com/garyjbyrnes

A thrilling children's novel, set in Ireland and perfect for anyone aged 8 or older. Meet Emily and Malcolm who've been sent to stay with their Grannies. Bo-ring But their rickety train journey to sleepy Castleconnell in Ireland takes a decidedly nasty turn and they find themselves up to their necks in trouble. See, there's an evil presence on the train, a mysterious character who's been making trouble for the local youngsters. And now he needs another kid for his schemes. Emily and Malcolm are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thankfully, their grannies are on hand to sort things out. Oh, and their grannies are witches... WITCH GRANNIES A PERFECTLY BEWITCHING STORY FOR ALL AGES Easy to read, a genuine page-turner. Highly-descriptive, with characters that jump from the page and a plot that makes your heart go faster with every chapter. Choo-choo