Psychological Thriller Box Set: Short Fiction Books 1-4

By Krissy Baccaro

A new box set from mystery thriller author Krissy Baccaro. Includes short thriller fiction stories Luca, Monster, In The Shadows, and Out of Darkness. 

 

Luca

What could possibly happen among the cypress trees along the river's path, when three girls decide to walk home from school together? 

 

Gianna, Sienna, and Maria thought it was a perfect day to walk home from school. But what they didn't know was that someone was hiding behind the trees, watching them. Waiting. Until they were just close enough. 

 

When Luca Perri surprised those three sisters on that day, he said he didn't mean for one of them to get hurt. But the youngest sister isn't convinced and wonders what's going on inside the mind of this boy who she's protected and grown up with her entire life. Surely he couldn't have meant them harm. Could he?

 

Monster

He's after her and there's nothing she can do about it. They warned her not to let him into her life. Now she's running for her life. 

 

Leah's father watches her sneak into his garage and discovers the locked closet at the back. Leah quickly learns about the sinister secret life he's kept hidden for years. And it's clear he doesn't believe her when she says she won't tell.  Leah's life spirals out of control and she's soon making decisions she never thought she would.

 

One night, Leah decides she's had enough but her firey actions have devastating consequences, and not only is her sister missing but Leah's being chased by the monster she let into her life. As she runs for help through the darkening forest, she has a chance encounter with an unlikely presence and finds herself in an enchanting old house with another secret. But will she make it out alive?

 

In The Shadows

Ava awakens one morning stiff and sore and covered in blood. And she has no idea who the dead man is next to her. And no memory of anything that had happened to her or how she ended up in that old house. The last thing she remembers is turning off the light on her nightstand and going to sleep. Was she responsible for what happened?

 

Days later, her memory slowly returns in bits and pieces. She recalls many things from her life. A dream she had of a woman trying to kill her. She remembers that she is an elementary teacher. There are fragments of a broken engagement and vague memories of her best friend, Kara. She calls a driver to take her to the little town of Bentley where she is supposed to meet with someone in hopes of finding out more about the missing pieces of her life.

 

Ava's conversation with the driver reveals more than expected and she soon learns that the person she is meeting in Bentley may be hiding the deadliest secret yet.

 

Out of Darkness

It comes in dreams at first. Small pieces over time. A lovely evening. A summer night. A dance. A kiss. Too many drinks...I'll drive. And then the rain, unrelenting. Unforgiving. 

 

Ella's mind awakens before her eyes open and she is guided by two distinct voices who never leave her side. In the dark crevices of her mind, she denies a truth she cannot accept of a loss she cannot bear. What happened to Ella on that rainy night? Will she find refuge in the voices who guide her or will she sink into the sadness that threatens to take her away?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Krissy Baccaro
• Release date: Jan 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781734621761

Krissy Baccaro

Krissy Baccaro writes mystery and suspense. She recently published her debut novel Buried Secrets (Ella Perri Mysteries Book 1) as well as her short psychological thriller, LUCA. She also collaborated with authors from around the world to publish two anthologies, Once Upon a Story: A Short Fiction Anthology and The Rearview Mirror: An Anthology which features her short thrillers “Luca”, “Monster”, and “In the Shadows”. As a child, she picked up the book, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg and became enthralled in mysteries forever. She writes every chance she gets and is currently working on a prequel to her Ella Perri Mystery series. When she’s not writing mysteries, Krissy teaches writing and reading to 5th-grade students and loves to share with them all she knows about writing. The author resides in upstate New York not far from Skaneateles, where the Ella Perri Mysterious puzzle begins.

Book preview

Luca

Luca Nicholas Perri seemed like a normal kid from a normal family. At least that’s what he’d like you to believe. He went to school, had a lot of friends, and lived in a modest house. No one really knew what happened to him or why. 

As he grew into adulthood, something else grew within him. And he took that thing growing inside him everywhere he went, keeping it hidden for a while, even years later, from his wife, and his children, and his closest friends.  Eventually, though, it would rear its ugly head, crushing those who adored him most. Some say, his moral character began to decay just before his brother Franco went to war.

He wasn’t always bad. It happened slowly, almost unnoticeably. Subtle red flags popped up in unusual places throughout his childhood, but not enough to think it could be harmful.  Fathers loved his roughness and mothers loved his dimpled smile. But it was his dark eyes that attracted the girls. All the girls. Except for one. And she was the one he wanted. 

Luca grew up in a humble home with his mother, father, and brother in a small Italian neighborhood in Southern Italy, close to the Tyrrhenian Sea. He could see parts of the sea from his bedroom window and imagined what it might be like to sail away on a ship one day and never come back. What was the use of coming back anyway? 

Luca’s family walked on eggshells, daily treading an uncertain mood that came from an angry father. No one dared speak up, though there were many times they’d each imagined it. Luca’s father was hard to please and his love had strict conditions. As children, Luca and Franco played a game of hide and seek, daring each other to be the spy on Papa’. What was Papa’ like today? Did he smile? Or go straight to his workroom without acknowledgment. Better to come in silently than to unleash his fury on them or worse, Mama’. 

Luca knew that when people said he was just like his father that they were right, even though he hated to hear it. But he felt it within himself, feelings of paranoia slithering through his body. Everyone was against him. He trusted no one. Perhaps the anger bubbling within was his father’s fault.

On a hot, summer day, shortly after his sixteenth birthday, Luca walked home from work along the river’s path, instead of his usual route behind the farm. The path along the river was long and scenic and Luca could pretend that he was miles away from home. Other than a few voices from students who walked along the path on their way to and from