Their Last Dying Acts captures the true essence of the horror genre displaying the breadth and depth of an author's imagination. Riley does not hold back on the horror as he leads the readers through tales that feature monsters, both the imaginary and human kind, and horrific circumstances that can occur either in the darkest corners of the night or the brightest sunny day. From splatterpunk to psychological, from a snapshot of real life horror to a "Twilight Zone" unreality, these stories show the genius of a writer who can adapt his writing to wherever the story takes him. With stories like, Surveillance, a gritty police story, featuring a robot who would be man--a thoughtful allegory about racism in our society, very well-disguised and Heal Thyself, a story about the use of religion as a means of deception and the old motto of "What goes around, comes around," to No Strings Attached, a weird and thought-provoking story worthy of an episode of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone. Nowhere is safe in the imagination of R. Thomas Riley. ..".Captures the true essence of the horror genre." Horrorworld "If you like your short fiction bleak, dark and wonderful, Riley will take good care of you." John Sunseri, author of SILENCE IN HEAVEN and others "Riley's style is gritty and realistic and works perfectly..." John Grover, author of CREATURES AND CRYPTS and FEMININE WILES "A writer that has studied his Rod Serling, channels just the right amount of Edgar Allen Poe's ghost, and taps that same Southern gothic vein that Joe R. Lansdale has been so blissfully strung out on all these years." Matt Wallace, Author of THE NEXT FIX

They seemed to have the perfect family until Mitch disappeared. The police think he abandoned his family, Loretta and Mitch's brother, Ted, think something terrible happened to him. Ted begins to dig into his brother's disappearance and the deeper he goes, the more sinister the mystery becomes. What they discover is something even beyond their wildest imagination...We are being colonized. "Inspiring and touching in many ways, DIAPHANOUS is a wonderful introduction to how the screws can get turned to a normal family in an every day world..." - Steven L. Shrewsbury, Author of Stronger than Death, Hawg, and Thrall "A tale full of creeping dread and suspense, Diaphanous is a cool retro throwback to 50's and 60's creature horror. But don't let that fool you, Roy C. Booth and R. Thomas Riley have crafted a tale that is the future of horror." -- John Grover, Author of Feminine Wiles, A Beckoning Of Shadows and Angels, Ashes and Alchemy.

The monsters lurk in everyone: monsters of greed, of guilt, of the pleasure found in pain, of the pain found when pleasure dies. Carefully disguised, the monsters can sit down beside you or take up residence within you at the slightest twist of fate. Will you try to stop them? Will you want to? This collection of 19 stories from R. Thomas Riley deftly explores the monsters born of the human mind. "Attrition" offers a future prison system that frees only those who repent sincerely-but what can an inmate do if he finds that sincerity is not really the key? "Twin Thieves" and "Tautology" throw a devilish spin on relationships gone wrong, while "The Lesser Evil" twists the abuses of race and power into a gritty, noirish nightmare of the choices a man must make to protect a lesser man and a greater good. In "Touching God," a young man's past catches up to him when worlds bleed into each other and the past crosses into present, bringing back the abuse he once escaped and the brother who wasn't so lucky. Sacrifice, selfishness, and the worst of good intentions: all combine in The Monster Within Idea. From vampires and aliens to hit women and Wild Bill Hickock, Riley gives a subtle psychological turn to dark science fiction and horror. Let the monsters walk the paths of your mind. The idea is already within. "With the eponymous story R. Thomas Riley ] manages to create, in just four short pages, what Stephen King tried to hard (and ultimately failed) to do with The Colorado Kid, an utterly captivating yet completely unsolvable mystery that doesn't resort to any cheap cop-outs. Concise, confident and bewildering as all holy f@#%, this is how to do it. A pure experience of paranoia and horror of the truest Lovecraftian sense, this bastard kicked my ass all the way to next Tuesday." - Anton Cancre (www.horrornews.net) "Creepy, visceral and evocative stories than make you grin while your skin puckers in goose bumps. They lead you to the edge of the precipice and then drop you over to a satisfying conclusion-be it a sudden crash at the end or the revelation of wings." -Jennifer Brozek-editor of The Edge of Propinquity ..".You'll find yourself tearing through this book as if your life depended on it..." - K.D. Payne (www.monsterlibrarian.com) "Riley is dark and disturbing. The Monster Within Idea pulled me into his horrific world and I loved every minute of it." -John Grover, author of Space Stations and Graveyards, A Beckoning of Shadows and the upcoming Angels, Ashes and Alchemy "The Monster Within Idea is a fun ride, dark, disturbing and well written. Riley started off strong and is only getting stronger. Highly recommended " -James A. Moore, author of Deeper and Cherry Hill "A natural storyteller with a concise voice, R. Thomas Riley truly entertains in this collection. Unsettling at times, truly compelling, Riley's moody & wild tales kick hard and crank the appetite for more." -Steven L. Shrewsbury, author of Hawg, Tormentor and Godforsaken "R. Thomas Riley is a rising star. When you see those zombie and vampires digging their way up from the grave, and you see that hand break the surface of the earth, the backdrop a tombstone, you see one on his way up--that's a guy named R. Thomas Riley." - Robert W. Walker, Kindle Bestselling author of more than 40 novels, including the Instinct series and Edge series