child abuse - Stories

This is a much delayed spin-off from the two-part Clinton Boys series. We’re reacquainted with Ed Lamont and Claude Moreau, two boys whose paths meet and over the span of almost a decade, culminate in disaster.

Reading or being familiar with the Clinton Boys series isn’t necessary. In fact, if you haven’t read it, you won’t be exposed to a number of spoilers should you decide to skip it. But feel free to go back and read it afterward. Heehee.

Killian Kendall’s life is in flux — graduating high school, starting a new job with a private investigator, and reeling from a breakup. He barely has time to settle in when his ex-boyfriend calls with a desperate plea: prove his new boyfriend didn’t brutally murder his father with an axe. The victim was abusive, the evidence damning, and the accused is evasive, but something doesn’t add up. As Killian digs deeper, he finds himself caught in a web of lies, manipulation, and violence. Solving the case may clear a name...or cost Killian his life.

Before he ever met Killian Kendall in Bleeding Hearts, Seth Connelly was a smart, guarded teen trying to make sense of a world that rarely made sense to him. In Bright Things Come to Confusion, Seth shares how he came to terms with his identity—from the painful clarity of coming out to the bittersweet sting of a first crush. At its heart is a search for belonging, truth, and the father who vanished from his life. As Seth unearths long-buried secrets, he begins to see family—and himself—more clearly. Honest, sharp-witted, and deeply human, this coming-of-age story shines new light on a beloved character.

Killian Kendall is used to being overlooked, even at home. That's about to change with the arrival of a new kid at school. Seth is openly gay and, for reasons he can't really understand, Killian finds himself drawn to him. When the boy is killed in a brutal attack, and Killian is injured in the process, he begins to questions everything. The police are eager to label the attack as a random mugging, but Killian was there. He knows better. With the help of the murdered boy's father and his friends, Killian starts his own investigation, but his search turns up hatred in small town America.

Stuck in the-middle-of-nowhere Arkansas with his mom and his sister, Frank Seaberg wishes that he could return to his old life. When he meets his neighbors, Oliver and David Martin, he’s just happy to have found some friends. But, when Frank begins to suspect that not all is well in the Martin house and begins to search for answers...