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More Short Fuses
Four short stories from bestselling author Stephen Leather, plus opening chapters of five of his bestselling thrillers.The short stories Rules of Engagement (where Spider Shepherd has to help a friend who is in serious trouble with the police), The Constituency Meeting (where a group of old folks decide to commit a murder), Ghost Kids (where a holidaymaker takes more home from Thailand than he expected) and Massage Therapy (where the massage skills of a Thai masseuse change a man's life forever).There are also tasters of five of his bestselling novels, including Hard Landing, The Stretch and The Tunnel Rats.Stephen Leather is one of the UK’s most successful thriller writers, an eBook and Sunday Times bestseller and author of the critically acclaimed Dan “Spider’ Shepherd series and the Jack Nightingale supernatural detective novels. Before becoming a novelist he was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mirror, the Glasgow Herald, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. He is one of the country’s most successful eBook authors and his eBooks have topped the Amazon Kindle charts in the UK and the US. In 2011 alone he sold more than 500,000 eBooks and was voted by The Bookseller magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the UK publishing world. Born in Manchester, he began writing full time in 1992. His bestsellers have been translated into fifteen languages. He has also written for television shows such as London’s Burning, The Knock and the BBC’s Murder in Mind series and two of his books, The Stretch and The Bombmaker, were filmed for TV. You can find out more from his website www.stephenleather.com and you can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenleather
141 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 17, 2014
74 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Leather
251 books1,540 followersStephen Leather was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. For much of 2011 his self-published eBooks - including The Bestseller, The Basement, Once Bitten and Dreamer's Cat - dominated the UK eBook bestseller lists and sold more than half a million copies. The Basement topped the Kindle charts in the UK and the US, and in total he has sold more than two million eBooks. His bestselling book The Chinaman was filmed as The Foreigner, starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan and grossing more than $100 million.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 18, 2023
This is a 3.5 🌟 read rounded ⬆️ to 4 🌟.
Another very blokey read, but full of thrills. The best of the lot was the dark, but very true, Constituency Meeting.
Another very blokey read, but full of thrills. The best of the lot was the dark, but very true, Constituency Meeting.
August 8, 2021
More Short Fuses by Stephen Leather is a short story collection and an introduction to a few of his books. It's a great way to get a feel for his writing if you are thinking about trying some of his stuff.
August 5, 2022
I'll be honest, I only read the short stories because I don't like reading first chapter samples (which took up half of the book). But here are my reviews for each story:
Rules of Engagement - This was one of the longer stories and had the most plot and characters around it. 3/5
The Constituency Meeting - Short, and it felt a little choppy at points. I very much enjoyed it, though that might be from working in long term care for a few years and relating to the characters. 4/5
Ghost Kids - Short, but not bad. I kind of wish there had been more to the story. 3/5
Massage Therapy - Very short, but not bad. Very much reminded me of the "Spooky Stories" books I read as a kid where the stories are short enough you feel surprised. 2/5
Rules of Engagement - This was one of the longer stories and had the most plot and characters around it. 3/5
The Constituency Meeting - Short, and it felt a little choppy at points. I very much enjoyed it, though that might be from working in long term care for a few years and relating to the characters. 4/5
Ghost Kids - Short, but not bad. I kind of wish there had been more to the story. 3/5
Massage Therapy - Very short, but not bad. Very much reminded me of the "Spooky Stories" books I read as a kid where the stories are short enough you feel surprised. 2/5
June 8, 2017
Loved all of these stories - such a great writer!
April 30, 2023
The first 2 were OK, the second 2 pointless.
July 26, 2015
In all the stories I noticed grammatical errors, but the last two was where I noticed the errors had picked up for whatever reason. The stories started off alright but then went downhill for me.
Rules of Engagement 3/5
This was an interesting story overall. One thing I didn't understand was when they had thought that maybe McIntyre had been the one that phoned the police and the superintendent responded with, "So we're looking at suicide by cop..." I didn't get what he meant?
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The Constituency Meeting 5/5
No questions or comments, good story.
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The Ghost Kids 1/5
This story seemed like it had been written by someone else. Like I said above, there were a lot more errors with this one then the first two. The story was stupid too. I didn't understand how the main character was in love with Jules, a guy (I assumed he was bisexual since he was a guy?) yet, instead of having him, Jules, and Nid all get together, he wanted just him and her...
When he went to the monk who told him that he would have to take care of the ghost kids till they were adults? Huh?
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Massage Therapy 1/5
Another stupid story for me. Lots of errors. I noticed the author referenced 'Nana Plaza', that was also used in 'The Ghost Kids'. I didn't really understand the point of this one either.
Rules of Engagement 3/5
This was an interesting story overall. One thing I didn't understand was when they had thought that maybe McIntyre had been the one that phoned the police and the superintendent responded with, "So we're looking at suicide by cop..." I didn't get what he meant?
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The Constituency Meeting 5/5
No questions or comments, good story.
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The Ghost Kids 1/5
This story seemed like it had been written by someone else. Like I said above, there were a lot more errors with this one then the first two. The story was stupid too. I didn't understand how the main character was in love with Jules, a guy (I assumed he was bisexual since he was a guy?) yet, instead of having him, Jules, and Nid all get together, he wanted just him and her...
When he went to the monk who told him that he would have to take care of the ghost kids till they were adults? Huh?
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Massage Therapy 1/5
Another stupid story for me. Lots of errors. I noticed the author referenced 'Nana Plaza', that was also used in 'The Ghost Kids'. I didn't really understand the point of this one either.
July 15, 2014
Shepherd is an ex SAS man who now works for MI5. He is working undercover to catch some big drug smugglers but whilst sat waiting he gets a fone call from one of his old comrades in the SAS, telling him to switch on the tv. What he sees in another ex comrade in an armed siege.
Shepherd and Billy meet at the house and eventually get permission to enter the house to try and talk their unstable mate down.
McIntyre doesn’t want to end up in prison so a ruse is set up to get him out alive and well.
Jules and his mate travelled to Thailand to enjoy themselves.
Whilst visiting a bar they both had their eye on a go go dancer but he knew he was going to pay her barfine and leave Jules to his own devices.
They ended back at the dancer’s apartment. Nid went to get breakfast the next morning and he found out that she had 2 ghost children living with her.
Ricky was told that he had terminal cancer and the treatment hadn’t worked and he was given 6 months to live.
He’s fed up so sells his business and home and moves to Thailand. He’s persuaded to try and have massage. He meets Cherry who gives him a massage with added trimmings, over time after having several massages a week he starts to feel better and his cancer eventually goes.
Shepherd and Billy meet at the house and eventually get permission to enter the house to try and talk their unstable mate down.
McIntyre doesn’t want to end up in prison so a ruse is set up to get him out alive and well.
Jules and his mate travelled to Thailand to enjoy themselves.
Whilst visiting a bar they both had their eye on a go go dancer but he knew he was going to pay her barfine and leave Jules to his own devices.
They ended back at the dancer’s apartment. Nid went to get breakfast the next morning and he found out that she had 2 ghost children living with her.
Ricky was told that he had terminal cancer and the treatment hadn’t worked and he was given 6 months to live.
He’s fed up so sells his business and home and moves to Thailand. He’s persuaded to try and have massage. He meets Cherry who gives him a massage with added trimmings, over time after having several massages a week he starts to feel better and his cancer eventually goes.
July 14, 2014
Shepherd is an ex SAS man who now works for MI5. He is working undercover to catch some big drug smugglers but whilst sat waiting he gets a fone call from one of his old comrades in the SAS, telling him to switch on the tv. What he sees in another ex comrade in an armed siege.
Shepherd and Billy meet at the house and eventually get permission to enter the house to try and talk their unstable mate down.
McIntyre doesn’t want to end up in prison so a ruse is set up to get him out alive and well.
Jules and his mate travelled to Thailand to enjoy themselves.
Whilst visiting a bar they both had their eye on a go go dancer but he knew he was going to pay her barfine and leave Jules to his own devices.
They ended back at the dancer’s apartment. Nid went to get breakfast the next morning and he found out that she had 2 ghost children living with her.
Ricky was told that he had terminal cancer and the treatment hadn’t worked and he was given 6 months to live.
He’s fed up so sells his business and home and moves to Thailand. He’s persuaded to try and have massage. He meets Cherry who gives him a massage with added trimmings, over time after having several massages a week he starts to feel better and his cancer eventually goes.
Shepherd and Billy meet at the house and eventually get permission to enter the house to try and talk their unstable mate down.
McIntyre doesn’t want to end up in prison so a ruse is set up to get him out alive and well.
Jules and his mate travelled to Thailand to enjoy themselves.
Whilst visiting a bar they both had their eye on a go go dancer but he knew he was going to pay her barfine and leave Jules to his own devices.
They ended back at the dancer’s apartment. Nid went to get breakfast the next morning and he found out that she had 2 ghost children living with her.
Ricky was told that he had terminal cancer and the treatment hadn’t worked and he was given 6 months to live.
He’s fed up so sells his business and home and moves to Thailand. He’s persuaded to try and have massage. He meets Cherry who gives him a massage with added trimmings, over time after having several massages a week he starts to feel better and his cancer eventually goes.
October 29, 2016
I'm saying exactly the same as I said for the first of these, 'Short Fuses'.
Four short stories all by Stephen Leather plus generous opening chapters of other books he has written & all for free download. What's to complain about?
The short stories were good & varied, each giving a taster into other characters Leather has created through his various books.
The free chapters are a useful intro into the style & characters in his very successful novels for those that are unfamiliar with his writing. They also give the opportunity to decide whether you want to buy the whole book or if it's not for you.
Personally, I don't read the tasters as I find they confuse me into wondering if I've read the book in the past if they seem familiar but nevertheless, each to their own & it's good to have the choice.
Four short stories all by Stephen Leather plus generous opening chapters of other books he has written & all for free download. What's to complain about?
The short stories were good & varied, each giving a taster into other characters Leather has created through his various books.
The free chapters are a useful intro into the style & characters in his very successful novels for those that are unfamiliar with his writing. They also give the opportunity to decide whether you want to buy the whole book or if it's not for you.
Personally, I don't read the tasters as I find they confuse me into wondering if I've read the book in the past if they seem familiar but nevertheless, each to their own & it's good to have the choice.
November 11, 2016
This is great for people who like crime related books. Some strong language and mild violence. A man is set on a mission to do what's right...
October 14, 2014
4 great short stories. Only problem is I was left wanting more as the stories were so good.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews