Join us on a literary world trip!
Add this book to bookshelf
Grey
Write a new comment Default profile 50px
Grey
Subscribe to read the full book or read the first pages for free!
All characters reduced
Cloud Nine - cover

Cloud Nine

James M Cain

Publisher: Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Summary

A twisted tale of heinous crimes and hidden motives by the legendary author of Double Indemnity. 
 
Graham meets Sonya outside of his real estate office. She is sixteen, beautiful, and drops a bombshell—she’s there because Graham’s half-brother, Burl, raped her, leaving her frightened, pregnant, and very much alone. 
 
All she wants is the $1,111 it will cost to hide out for the next few months in a convalescent home before she gives the baby up for adoption, but Burl won’t give her the money. Sonya’s vengeful father, meanwhile, wants far more from Burl—he is determined to make the scoundrel pay for harming his daughter.  
 
Graham offers Sonya a better choice: He’ll marry her so that she can get a legal abortion. The plan will save the family, and the business, from scandal. But Graham has no idea that, as he asks for Sonya’s hand, he will be risking much more than just local gossip . . .  
 
Praise for James M. Cain’s fiction 
 
“Swift and absorbing.” —The Wall Street Journal 
 
“Lean, racing . . . stripped of inessentials.” —The New York Times 
 
“Nobody has quite pulled it off the way Cain does . . . not even Raymond Chandler.” —Tom Wolfe
Available since: 05/21/2024.
Print length: 187 pages.

Other books that might interest you

  • Blood Heretics - The Vampire Conspiracy Book 1 - cover

    Blood Heretics - The Vampire...

    Martin Wilsey

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    The horrors of the Iraq war led Timothy Beck to become a simple parish priest...until that day when his life changed forever. Now, he's a member of an elite team secretly funded by the United States government to hunt vampires. 
    Maris Hodge was a police detective, and a damn good one, until a vampire seduced and tried to enslave her. Now free, she's the newest recruit for the team...and she's looking for payback. 
    Rhys Valmunin, the vampire who terrifies all the other vampires, is active again after over a century... he always gets his chosen prey. 
    The question is: Who's the hunter, and who's being hunted?
    Show book
  • Just Hide (A Cami Lark FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 6) - cover

    Just Hide (A Cami Lark FBI...

    Blake Pierce

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    With her tattoos and piercings, MIT tech genius Cami Lark is rebellious and anti-authoritarian—and finds herself in deep trouble when she hacks the FBI. Faced with the choice of prison or aiding the BAU hunt down serial killers, Cami reluctantly partners. A new case, though, has Cami stumped: a string of victims are found dead who look startlingly the same, and it seems a new tech is being used to stalk them. But can Cami crack the code before it’s too late?“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery.”—Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐JUST HIDE (A Cami Lark FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 6) is the sixth novel in a new series by #1 bestseller and USA Today bestselling author Blake Pierce, whose bestseller Once Gone (a free download) has received over 7,000 five star ratings and reviews.A page-turning and harrowing crime thriller featuring a brilliant and tortured FBI agent, the CAMI LARK series is a riveting mystery, packed with non-stop action, suspense, twists and turns, revelations, and driven by a breakneck pace that will keep you flipping pages late into the night. Fans of Rachel Caine, Teresa Driscoll and Robert Dugoni are sure to fall in love.Future books in the series are available.“An edge of your seat thriller in a new series that keeps you turning pages! ...So many twists, turns and red herrings… I can't wait to see what happens next.”—Reader review (Her Last Wish)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“A strong, complex story about two FBI agents trying to stop a serial killer. If you want an author to capture your attention and have you guessing, yet trying to put the pieces together, Pierce is your author!”—Reader review (Her Last Wish)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“A typical Blake Pierce twisting, turning, roller coaster ride suspense thriller. Will have you turning the pages to the last sentence of the last chapter!!!”—Reader review (City of Prey)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“Right from the start we have an unusual protagonist that I haven't seen done in this genre before. The action is nonstop… A very atmospheric novel that will keep you turning pages well into the wee hours.”—Reader review (City of Prey)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“Everything that I look for in a book… a great plot, interesting characters, and grabs your interest right away. The book moves along at a breakneck pace and stays that way until the end. Now on go I to book two!”—Reader review (Girl, Alone)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“Exciting, heart pounding, edge of your seat book… a must read for mystery and suspense readers!”—Reader review (Girl, Alone)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
    Show book
  • Detectives - cover

    Detectives

    Allen Upward, Dashiell Hammett

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    "Step into the gritty world of Dashiell Hammett's iconic detective, the 'Op,' with this gripping digital audiobook collection. Immerse yourself in the dark underbelly of crime, deceit, and danger as you follow the Op through five thrilling stories: 'Arson Plus,' 'Crooked Souls,' 'Slippery Fingers,' 'It,' and 'Bodies Piled Up.' Each tale is a masterclass in noir storytelling, narrated with mesmerizing depth and authenticity, bringing Hammett's timeless characters and suspenseful plots to life. Get ready for a pulse-pounding listening experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Discover the Op's world in a way you've never experienced before with this digital audiobook collection." 
     
    Before Sam Spade chased the black bird in The Maltese Falcon and Nick and Nora Charles stirred their first martinis in The Thin Man, the Continental Op walked early twentieth century San Francisco’s mean streets for the Continental Detective Agency. Dashiell Hammett used his own experiences as a Pinkerton operative to lend realistic detail to this creation. These first five stories were published in Black Mask magazine in 1923. - Summary by Winston Tharp 
     
    Get ready for a captivating journey through "The Ghost Hunters" by Allen Upward in our digital audiobook. This haunting story follows Mr. Hargreaves, a seasoned real estate agent, and his trusty secretary, Miss Alwyne Sargent, as they venture into a realm of mystery, where haunted properties conceal chilling secrets. 
     
    Within these pages, you'll discover the enigma of properties plagued by apparitions. Why do these buildings remain haunted? Who are these ethereal figures that refuse to move on? Can Mr. Hargreaves and Miss Sargent navigate these supernatural enigmas, solve the mysteries, and successfully close deals without stirring the restless spirits?
    Show book
  • Shattered - A Psychic Visions Novel - cover

    Shattered - A Psychic Visions Novel

    Dale Mayer

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Book 9: Psychic Visions 
     
    When something happens that shatters a life beyond recognition, what becomes of the soul?  
     
    Trapped in a gilded cage for as long as she can remember, Hannah has tried to escape numerous times, in countless ways. She's been told all along that there's something wrong with her, something that her doctors can't diagnose. But what is life without freedom? Hannah would rather die than stay imprisoned forever. 
      
    Another escape, once more the door slams shut with her locked behind it. Then Trevor offers her a way out, one that might actually mean permanent liberation for her. But at what cost? Trevor doesn't know the truth about her. Despite her fear that he'll be like all the others and turn away from her in horror, she longs to share her secret with him. 
      
    Trevor has worked hard to make up for all the mistakes he's made in his life. Helping Hannah feels like the right thing to do – more than anything else he's ever done. But, to free her, the risks he takes asks more of him than he thought possible. 
      
    After all, enemies aren't only outside in the world. Some are inside us, we just don't know it.
    Show book
  • The Perfect Wife - A Memoir of Gaslighting Manipulation and Reclaiming Yourself After a Toxic Marriage - cover

    The Perfect Wife - A Memoir of...

    EMAD HUSSEIN

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Behind the perfect marriage was a perfect trap. 
    From the outside, her life looked complete — a charming husband, a beautiful home, all the markers of a life other people envied. But underneath the surface, something was quietly unraveling. In The Perfect Wife, the author takes readers inside a marriage where love slowly curdled into control, where affection became a tool of manipulation, and where she began to question her own perception of reality. 
    This is a raw, deeply personal account of psychological manipulation and gaslighting — how it creeps in unnoticed, how it isolates and erodes a person's sense of self, and how it can hide behind devotion and charm. Chapter by chapter, the author traces her journey from the illusion of a perfect beginning, through the slow cracks in the facade, to the breaking point that finally forced her to see clearly — and to leave. 
    But this book is not only about surviving. It's about what comes after: rebuilding trust in yourself, setting boundaries, and reconstructing an identity that manipulation tried to erase. Woven throughout are insights drawn from research and real stories of others who have walked a similar path, offering language and understanding for an experience that so often hides behind closed doors. 
    Whether you're currently questioning a relationship, healing from one, or supporting someone who is, The Perfect Wife offers both a mirror and a map — validation for what you've lived through, and a path toward reclaiming your voice.
    Show book
  • Bells Tails & Murder - cover

    Bells Tails & Murder

    Kathy Manos Penn

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    She crossed an ocean to start her life over. Can she nab a killer before her quaint village becomes a graveyard? 
     
     
     
    Recently widowed Leta Parker desperately needs a change of scenery. Pursuing her lifelong dream of retiring to the Cotswolds, she leaves her soulless corporate hustle in Atlanta and moves to England with her talking dog and cat companions—Dickens and Christie. But she's barely begun making new friends when she stumbles across her housekeeper's body . . . 
     
     
     
    With several villagers pegged for the crime, Leta teams up with a retired English teacher and her sharp-as-a-tack octogenarian mother to track the killer before the trail goes cold. As the not-so-friendly local policewoman elbows them out and scandalous rumors plague the tight-knit community, it's left to the ladies and their pets to sleuth for the truth. 
     
     
     
    Can Leta, Dickens, and Christie sniff out the culprit before the cute little town loses more than its charm? 
     
     
     
    Bells, Tails & Murder is the delightful first book in the Dickens & Christie Mystery series. If you like spunky literary women, amusing animal sidekicks, and inviting cultural backdrops, then you'll love Kathy Manos Penn's engaging cozy mysteries.
    Show book