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Heart Stopper And Other Stories Kindle Edition

4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

Heart Stopper: The disappearance of random household items baffles Dallas Radner and his eleven-year-old daughter, Tessa. Ten plastic bags, nine ballpoint pens . . . what's next? This odd countdown should end on November 1, The Day of the Dead. That's also Tessa's birthday and the one-year anniversary of her surgery, the day her heart stopped on the operating table. Dallas almost lost Tessa then. On this November 1, one thing will vanish forever. Will it be his daughter?

Detour: Two weeks from college graduation, Chloe Langley’s dreams morph into a sinkhole of despair. With no job prospects and a volatile boyfriend’s control issues dragging her down, she takes off in a borrowed car for the safety of home. She’ll never make it.

One Step Away: Acrophobia ruined Darryl James’s marriage and stole his son. To get Andrew back, Darryl must undergo desensitization therapy. Just as success is within his grasp, a relapse strikes with shocking consequences.

Monitor: Perched on a mountain with a view to die for, Laura and Paul Alderson have it all: new home, new baby, and new challenges. It’s the American dream, but when the baby monitor whispers urgent warnings to Laura about the garage and the safety of her infant son, her new life takes a nightmarish turn.

Want to know a bit more? Enjoy this blurb in verse:

Four tales I present to tingle your spine
Four seasons of suspense to let you unwind.
Lives at a crossroad, a breakdown of order
Between life and death, it’s a tenuous border.

Halloween comes, and the Day of the Dead
For one man this custom brings heartache and dread.
As belongings disappear, a child makes her shrine
Is it a ghost? Perhaps. Or a shattered mind?

A couple spars, and fear invades
An abused coed flees on a spring escapade.
Across Florida’s searing and pocked landscape
Sinkholes will assume many a shape.

Another dreams of feathers, wings of might
Yet experiences terror at a meager height.
This phobia takes every dear thing away
Then, in a brutal twist, saves a dark summer’s day.

Peppermint, mice, and a cold-as-winter voice
A mother must make a desperate choice.
Heeding her instincts to save the child
What’s lost instead, the pain won’t be mild.

Four tales I present to tingle your spine
Four stories of suspense to let you unwind.
Read the reviews before you order
Between art and madness, it’s a tenuous border.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01GVKZBJW
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Twitching Whiskers Press (June 9, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 9, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 531 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 170 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

About the author

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Tamara Narayan
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Tamara Narayan modeled her career trajectory after the title of the Monty Python film, And Now For Something Completely Different. She began with one the best minimum wage jobs a person could hope for: doling out overpriced popcorn to moviegoers. The perks included unlimited popcorn, sodas, and movies all for free.

After getting a B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she decided working with animals would be a hoot, especially in the birdhouse of the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC. There she hand raised half a dozen African penguins, had her car keys munched by a scarlet macaw, and was vomited upon by a black vulture.

Next came a return to school, this time the University of South Carolina, where she graduated in 2001 with a Ph.D. in Mathematics. After spending three years as an assistant professor, one at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, GA and the other two at the Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate NY, she turned in her dry erase markers for diapers.

Shorty after baby number two turned one, Tamara decided to write. Besides the Heart Stopper collection, she has another called Ursa Major and Other Stories. The IWSG anthology, Parallels, Felix Was Here contains her story Scrying the Plane. Her blog can be found at www.tamaranarayan.com.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
9 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the short stories in the collection intriguing and entertaining. They praise the writing quality and characterization, calling it an enjoyable read in the tradition of Stephen King.

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4 customers mention "Suspense"4 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the suspenseful stories. They find the opening intriguing and the collection entertaining. Readers appreciate the chilling ending with an unexpected twist.

"...I'm not exactly sure what to make of the end, but it was an entertaining read. 3 stars One Step Away- I appreciated this story so much...." Read more

"...chilling, thrilling, and highly imaginative with an unexpected twist at the end. The writing is very good, but could have used a tad more editing...." Read more

"...Each story has that eerie feeling, combined with amazing writing that has you turning each page...." Read more

"If you like to read interesting short stories you will enjoy this book. I enjoyed all of the short stories ." Read more

3 customers mention "Writing quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the writing quality and find it an enjoyable read.

"...Heart Stopper- Great opening that promises an intriguing story. Excellent writing and characterization...." Read more

"...Like me. All in all, it was a very enjoyable... and fast... read. I'd give it four and a half stars." Read more

"...Each story has that eerie feeling, combined with amazing writing that has you turning each page...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2016
    Heart Stopper and Other Ststars contains four stories: Heart Stopper, Detour, One Step Away, and Monitor.

    Heart Stopper- Great opening that promises an intriguing story. Excellent writing and characterization. Dallas has a daughter with a heart problem, and he's worried he'll slip and she'll die. The mystery of this story revolves around the disappearance of seemingly random items. And the missing items are counting down from ten. What will go missing for one? I was hooked by this story from the first sentence. I never lost interest once. So good! 5 stars

    Detour- was about a young woman running away from an abusive boyfriend and finding herself in a "town" with a sinister plot for visitors. I'm not exactly sure what to make of the end, but it was an entertaining read. 3 stars

    One Step Away- I appreciated this story so much. I'm a little afraid of heights, but my real phobia had to do with driving. What the man does to over come his acrophobia reminded me of what I did to drive...baby steps. It's an honest look into someone's life who suffers from acrophobia. And it has a chilling end. 4 stars

    Monitor- This is an interesting story about a ghost warning a sleep-deprived mother through a baby monitor. I'm still curious about what happened at the end. I would've liked just a little more. 4 stars

    Note: I did notice spelling and other errors, but that didn't impact my review or my appreciation of the stories.
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2016
    This book contains four stories, all good. They didn't exactly make my heart stop, (Not that I'm complaining!) but they are all somewhat chilling, thrilling, and highly imaginative with an unexpected twist at the end. The writing is very good, but could have used a tad more editing. There are some spelling and grammatical errors, but they're only likely to be distracting to someone who's cursed with a mouthy inner editor. Like me.

    All in all, it was a very enjoyable... and fast... read. I'd give it four and a half stars.
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2016
    As you probably guessed, Heart Stopper and Other Stories is a book of short stories. If, like me, you loved Stephen King's earlier short story collections, you'll love this book. Each story has that eerie feeling, combined with amazing writing that has you turning each page. My favorite is Detour, with an ending that kept the story on my mind long after I finished it, but I also loved the surprise ending of One Step Away. Be careful reading this book late at night, when you're home alone!
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2018
    If you like to read interesting short stories you will enjoy this book. I enjoyed all of the short stories .
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2016
    Wow. I didn’t expect such well-written intensity from Ms. Narayan’s first book, a collection of short stories. Each character is so meticulously crafted, realistic, and full of unique quirks that you’d swear these were true stories written about your neighbors.

    In the first story called “Heart Stopper,” Dallas has a bucket load of guilt from his little sister’s childhood death, and he’s determined not to let anything happen to her namesake, his young daughter, Tessa. Because of a heart operation, Tessa is harder to take care of than most kids, especially when very weird things start happening. The premise reminded me of a Twilight Zone episode, and the story had a riveting ending.

    The second story, “Detour,” is even more Twilight Zone-ish with a bit of Wrong Turn thrown in for good measure. The story takes place in a small mid-western town with a little gas station, few streets, and a Dairy Queen. It was so close to my home town that it creeped me out more the other stories. Chloe really picked the wrong town to stop in for gas…

    The third story, “One Step Away,” was my favorite. While I couldn’t really identify with the acrophobic (fear of heights) suffered by Darryl, I certainly identified with his determination to overcome it no matter what. The strong character goal, Darryl’s willingness to try anything to succeed, and the shocking twist at the end set this story apart for me. I loved it!

    “Monitor” is the final story and has to do with a new home, new baby, and a baby monitor. I think this story might be even scarier for parents than the first one. There’s a sub plot about the death of the former home-owner that I had no idea why it was there until I got to the very end. Then it all made perfect sense, and I love it when an author ties up the plot threads so well. I really enjoyed all four stories and would definitely read anything more by this author! Highly recommended!
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2017
    This is a great, and varied, collection of stories, each of which succeeded in drawing me in. Death is a constant theme throughout the book, and there is an eerie, otherworldly vibe throughout, particularly in Detour, a chilling example of what can happen if you break down in the wrong place. All the stories are long enough for a palpable sense of place to be established, while Heart Stopper would strike an alarming chord with any parent. I really enjoyed this book, which has whet my appetite to check out more of the author's work.
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2016
    I love short stories and this book kept me tapping my Kindle into the night. Because it touches on one of my fears from childhood, I think Detour was my favorite story. They were all good reads--but don't read it late at night, if you are home alone!

Top reviews from other countries

  • Nick Wilford
    4.0 out of 5 stars Varied collection of gripping stories
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 16, 2017
    This is a great, and varied, collection of stories, each of which succeeded in drawing me in. Death is a constant theme throughout the book, and there is an eerie, otherworldly vibe throughout, particularly in Detour, a chilling example of what can happen if you break down in the wrong place. All the stories are long enough for a palpable sense of place to be established, while Heart Stopper would strike an alarming chord with any parent. I really enjoyed this book, which has whet my appetite to check out more of the author's work.

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