Spiral Publishing's September Reads

That Treasure Most Rare

April inherits the sad business of sorting out the ghosts of a loved one's life. 

Digging into family chaos in the middle of a miserable Midwestern summer.

Michele hopes to discover gems tucked into all the clutter. 

To rescue artifacts of past glory from a grand city in decline.

Will they recognize the treasure they find in each other?

An excerpt from The Real Treasure in Cairo:

April pulled her spectacular waves of hair back with both hands, but when she let go it popped right back out into the humidified halo.

"I found a couple of chest-of-drawers full of socks and underwear. I think whoever cleaned out the house just brought them over here without even looking inside. So now it's my…my freaking problem."

Michele laughed and touched April's shoulder.

"Our problem. Like I said over the phone, I'm certain we'll find some wonderful things no matter how it looks right now. And the last thing you need to worry about with me is swearing. If we spend any amount of time together, you'll be surprised when you don't hear me let it fly."

April grinned and laughed for real this time.

"That's a relief. Because I think this is going to be an all-day-swearing kind of job."

Cleaning Crew by Jason A. Adams

Some problems never go away.

Aboard the starship Rocinante, a whiff of trouble sours the air.

With two weeks before docking, the crew faces abject misery.

Fortunately, a recent find holds the key to their survival.

Unless their saviors take matters in their own tentacles.

How will they survive their new cleaning crew?

An excerpt from Cleaning Crew:

“The Captain and I smashed their frozen bodies, so they won’t be able to do anything even if they thaw.”

“Uh, that might be a problem,” Kyle said. “If their bodies are as undifferentiated as I think, they might be like sponges or worms.”

“Meaning?” Carrow asked. Now what? Her hand stole toward her head.

“Meaning they might be able to regenerate whole bodies from smaller sections.” Kyle said.

All four ran back to the latrine.

“We got a problem, Skipper,” Erikson said, backing away from the door.

Even Superheroes Hate Renovations
Jenna accepts a job that takes confidentiality to the extreme: a major remodel on a minor superhero's lair.

The only real secret? How Earth Worm can afford to buy everyone's silence, plus labor, materials, and lodging.

Trouble builds on the horizon before the job gets started.

Will a minor villain trying to break into the big time undermine them all?

An excerpt from Jenna and the Lightning Beast:

Staying Grounded in a Strange Situation 

Kevin laughed. "Nothing usual about being whisked away to a secret location on a secret project, is there? Everyone in the city knows more about what's going on than we do."

The others gathered and introduced themselves, adding a Georgia highway department engineer, a plumber, and a home security expert to go with the inspector and insurance agent.

And between the eight of them, still no real idea what they were there for.

"I know we're not supposed to know," Kim said, "but I'm pretty sure this particular homeowner has to get the whole thing started. I don't see a doorbell we can ring."

Jenna leaned forward, trying to peek inside the tinted passenger window of the van that hadn't moved since the motor stopped.

"Unless she drove us up here."

Everyone jumped at a rich, sultry voice from behind them.

"She didn't drive you. Nobody did."

A Brewing Disaster

Regina Burke never expects trouble on a fine morning in Bountyfield, Virginia. Especially trouble involving her sweet nephew Trevor.

But trouble knows its own schedule, and holds its own secrets.

Now Regina races to keep Trevor from driving into a nightmare neither imagined.

Will she find him in time, before the nightmare wins?

An excerpt from A Race Against Tea Time:

A good kid headed straight into hot water

Pam shook her head sharply, once to the left, then the right.

"You really need to get around here and start making phone calls. I'm guessing the folks Trevor delivers to aren't in the best of health. From what you're telling me about this jimsonweed, we need to make damn sure they don't brew it up thinking they can settle down for their afternoon naps."

Regina held her breath, trying not to imagine Trevor's face if he was part of something like that happening, even with his usual best of intentions.

She could wish all day long for a drone or a helicopter, or a high-tech satellite tracking device that wouldn't work on narrow mountain roads anyway.

Or, she could do her best to help him like she always had.

"Thank you, Pam. Show me where I won't be in your way. We'll find him."