Roshina Ratnam

Betty arrives at work slippery with sweat. She has no option but to run to her grind at Propag8 now that the taxi drivers are trying to kill her. She bought an electric car, but they keep trying to booby-trap it. Every time she puts her thumb on the ignition switch, she closes her eyes and waits for the explosion. Every time the car starts without blowing up, she knows it's just a matter of time. That she has bought one more day. That they are watching...

A mother becomes suspicious of her daughter's pre-school teacher.Is Teacher Dalton who she appears to be, or is something more sinister afoot?'Astrid' is part of the 'Sticky Fingers 2' short story collection: diverse, dark-humored, and deliciously bite-sized. Fans of Roald Dahl and Gillian Flynn will love these unsettling stories with a twist in the tale.Click now to start reading.

We pulled into a makeshift parking lot in the middle of a huge herd of sheep. There were two or three cars, but not a cave or another person in sight. We watched the sheep for a while, not sure what to do, when we saw people walk past us, making their way up the hill. That's when we realised that we would be working hard for our little bit of fertility magic: we had to hike to get to the cave. I don't know what I was expecting. Perhaps something...

"Shanti is a heroine that the reader will not easily forget. The story that is told here is worth not only knowing but also remembering." – Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, author, filmmaker and academic Vividly set against the backdrop of 19th century India and the British-owned sugarcane plantations of Natal, written with great tenderness and lyricism, Children of Sugarcane paints an intimate and wrenching picture of indenture told from a woman's perspective. Shanti,...

The priest turned his back on the old man so he wouldn't notice if his fingers shook while pouring. He would have poured himself a drink before the impromptu meeting, to steady his nerves, but he knew he'd be driving that night, so he had reluctantly abstained. When he sat down, a sigh escaped the priest's lips. "I assume you know why I asked to see you," said the bishop, his long wiry eyebrows knitting in an accusing way. His raptorial eyes were...

"There's the drive back home, invariably in the dark. Not safe." "She has plenty of space. We could have just stayed over." Linda shook her head. "No. Not allowed. Against the rules." "What do you mean?" Andrew took off his glasses and frowned at her. "Hodgey was always begging us to stay the night. I've never understood - " Linda drummed her fingers on her knees."It's just a thing, okay? An agreement." Andrew's furrows deepened. "Between you...

A Shirley Jackson-esque tale of a young family who moves to a haunted castle. Perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn and Roald Dahl, these stories are guaranteed to get under your skin. *** "Lawrence makes every word count, telling each story with elegance and emotional punch." - Patsy Hennessey "Each story is masterfully constructed ... Humorous, touching, creepy, but most of all entertaining, this collection is superb." - Tracy Michelle Anderson Get...

A queen seeks to be cursed in this dystopian fairytale written by the (fictional) MillenniarellaBot AI after being fed classic fairytales and American stand-up comedy. This story is from the collection Sticky Fingers 3, available on Amazon in ebook, paperback, and audiobook.

It'll take more than a lie to keep Kirsten safe. *** A creative assassin. A hit list hidden in a Doomsday seed vault. A woman with an unusual gift who has to untangle the conspiracy … before it kills her. Kirsten is desperate for a baby, but when she digs into her mother's past she discovers a shocking betrayal that derails her life. Will she uncover the mystery before the hitman finds her? Why You Were Taken is the first book in the When Tomorrow...

The storm tried to keep her out. She should have listened.