The Books

Books by Raff and Smith

Michael Raff

The contents of Michael Raff's eighth book, Something Different

Tell Me A Story - to save himself, a successful writer must intrigue Death personified with a true story about himself.

Surviving Saint Michael’s - attending a grammar school reunion, Billy Radek conjures up some dubious memories and solves a fifteen-year-old mystery.

The Second Greatest Escape - three elderly men flee an assisted living facility, hoping to fulfill their destinies, and discover some surprises. An award-winning story.

Ballantine’s Bayou - with a price on his head, mobster Lee Vaughn orders his last meal while waiting to be rubbed out. A tad psychic, he may have a few tricks up his sleeve.

The Surrounding Silence - trying to prevent patient abuse, Matt Robinson discovers doing the right thing can have a devastating effect.

A Life Stolen - Maggie Addison pays with her mind, body, and soul for her former husband’s physical and mental abuse. Based on a true story.

Donny Sharp - Jerry Hardin, in charge of the dayshift on Unit 15 at Letterman State Hospital, makes a new friend his first day: a frail little guy with abundant courage, a squeaky voice, a green helmet and the worse seizures in the entire hospital. Based in truth and an award-winning story.

The Salvation of Edward Wilson - suffering from PTSD for seventy years, Edward Wilson returns to Pearl Harbor and battles his demons. An award-winning story.

Magic Man - Chris Graham dies and returns to life with healing powers he not only doesn’t understand, but ravages him.

Seventeen stories in all.

The contents of Michael Raff’s seventh book, Shadowland, consists of seven tales of the supernatural:

Ship of Pain – a wounded WWI soldier aboard a hospital ship infected with influenza, fights evil forces for survival.

Runaway – Donna Mae Larkin hitchhikes her way across the country to escape her sexually abusive uncle, only to be stalked by a man-eating creature in a condemned southern mansion.

Night Watch – Tony Christopher, a security guard devastated by the disappearance of his girlfriend, finds himself battling forces only he can see―forces such as an entity camouflaged as a cemetery and its soul-seeking groundskeeper.

The Cellar – eighty-year-old Magda can no longer care for her nephew, Kurt, who turns into a werewolf when the moon turns full. It’s up to social worker Stephen Pierce to separate fact from fantasy, myth from reality―if he lives long enough.

Zander’s Box – John Zander, a clairvoyant, must drive from Chicago to Washington D.C. through the destructive path of a rampaging “Doomsday Plague.” His objective: save humanity by reading the mind of his comatose twin brother, a top immunologist who has discovered a cure.

Birds of a Feather – Gabrielle Pasqual a famous movie star along with her lawyer, Marty, murder her husband, and are destined to get away with it. Their sole obstacle: a rare, carnivorous parrot that’s about to inflict a deadly revenge.

Wreck of the Lady Lydia – Alec and Carol Tamrine, along with Vic Wagner, and their divemaster, Moss, discover millions in treasure inside a mysterious wreck. But a demonic presence, once known as the pirate Henry Merrick, will do anything to horde his fortune.

On the night of June, 30, 1995, in Springdale, Georgia, David Conway relaxes on the balcony of his new home. To his delight, the night is alive with thunder and lightning. When he spots four cloaked figures burying something in his neighbor’s backyard, he takes a closer look through his telescope. To his horror he discovers they’re burying the dismembered body of his neighbor. Before he can phone for help, they spot him, and so begins a long, agonizing night of mortal combat. It’s a war between an innocent man and a band of rampaging Satanists, a horrendous, age-old battle of good versus evil.
David Conway, amateur astronomer, chess enthusiast, and family man, finds himself not only fighting for his life, but for the lives of his wife and five-year-old daughter. As the hours crawl by and the carnage continues, no one—not the sheriff, his deputies, or even the FBI—can protect them.

July, 1958. A Different Time and Place. Kevin Dresner, a twelve-year-old with psychic abilities he doesn't understand, is spending two weeks at his grandparents' farm in rural Wisconsin. Across the highway looms Strauss Woods, an endless maze that houses deadly secrets, murder victims, and an avenging phantom known as the Skeleton Man. In an effort to save his grandfather's life and perhaps his own, Kevin and his new found friend, Natalie, embark on a supernatural journey of twists, turns, and terror, to unlock a horrifying thirty-year-old mystery. The author, Michael Raff, utilizes a maximum amount of suspense, tension, mystery, and romance in telling this unusual blend of supernatural, horror, coming of age and fish out of water story. Told mostly from a naive, twelve-year-old boy's point of view, it is also told from the point of view of five adult murderers, who are being hunted down one at a time by the title character. The story is further enhanced by Kevin's friend, Natalie Miller, a precious, chatty, intellectual, who through all the thrills and chills in the story, manages to steal our hearts.

Nine tales of suspense and terror by veteran horror author Michael Raff. In "Winter's Fog," Ronald wakes up and finds his wife missing. Before long, everything he values and has ever known, will be lost in a mysterious fog. The story "The Spider and the Fly," takes a grim look into a schizophrenic's mind, as he struggles in the never-ending web of insanity. Ever since he was nine-years-old, Andy McGrath has been stalked by hideous creatures known as "Gargoyles." Savage beings that only come out of the shadows during the most traumatic of times. In the sometimes funny, sometimes terrifying story "Had She Lived," Feisty Gallagher is about to conduct an interview that will put a new spin on the term - blood-curdling. In "Macabre Inc." Richie's Uncle Marlin is in for the shock of a lifetime when he orders a very realistic looking zombie. After a strange old man tells Mitch Curtis that he had just died in a car accident, an outraged Mitch races off in his SUV. In a matter of minutes, he takes a sudden "Detour" into a haunted, terrifying world where anything can happen. That's just six stories in Michael Raff's horror anthology. A collection of work that's guaranteed to keep you up at night.

Two boys discover an unholy presence hidden behind a concealed door. Lester Farnsworth battles to the death with an unknown deity that possesses an Indian doll. A modern day witch seduces and entraps men with the help of her army of cats. And a vampire confesses his grisly deeds to a young priest. That's just four horrifying tales within the pages of Seven.

8 Short Stories.
Take an ordinary situation, such as a morning jog, a horse ride, working at a pizza parlor, or interviewing for a promotion, crank up the tension, add all types of terror and mayhem, and when the dust clears - that's what Scare Tactics is all about.

In the summer of 1970 Michael Raff met Jill, a shy, young girl from Utah, who was vacationing in California. Michael made a favorable impression upon her but because she was so young and awkward, he kept her at a distance. Once she left, he never expected to see her again. Yet when he saw her a year later, she had blossomed into a stunning, young woman whom he fell hopelessly in love with.

This is the factual story of how Jill and Michael struggled with the miles between them, with their conflicting lifestyles, hopes, dreams, and with her unshakable belief that she would die at an early age.

Roberta Smith

Fifteen-year-old Simone is not your typical California teenage girl-although she'd like to be. She believes her secret abilities make her weird. While it might be cool to move things with your mind, see ghosts, and sometimes read other people's thoughts, it isn't when those things get you into trouble because you can't control them. Starting sophomore year at a new high school where she knows no one, Simone tries to keep to herself. Those efforts go awry when a couple of ghosts (Kim and Jimmy) befriend her. And, a popular boy in her English class (Dalton) asks to study together. Dalton's ex-girlfriend (Jenna) isn't happy about that. She and her friends do everything they can to make Simone's life miserable. On top of that, Simone learns some troubling information about Kim that turns the dean of girls against her. As Simone grows closer to Dalton, she worries about what will happen when he finds out about the things she can do. Ultimately she must learn to accept herself, as well as trust him, if she's to shut down Jenna and solve a mystery that will put a stop to the dean's efforts to ruin her life.

Mickey McCoy Paranormal Mystery Series

(The Prequel)
In 1944 Denver, twenty-six year-old Franklin Powell is doing what he does best, helping clients with his psychic gift. Then his brother causes the past to come crashing into the present and a memory Frank has kept buried since the age of six surfaces. He must prove that what he remembers is true or his mother may spend the rest of her life in prison. But even if he succeeds, it appears there is a powerful someone behind the scenes who could care less if she is innocent. Why? Because of a seething hatred for Frank. To make matters worse, the woman he loves needs his help with a serious problem of her own—a problem that could get him killed. Frank can’t let that stop him. He dives right in and while his psychic gift doesn’t seem to be doing him any favors, it’s a good thing that a couple of newly-acquired ghosts appear to be on his side.

(Book 1)
Veteran newsman, Mickey McCoy, is racked with guilt and bitter because of an event in his past. But all that may change when he’s sent to Virginia City, Nevada and crosses paths with the spirit of Lucianne Dove, a young prostitute hanged in 1881 for a murder she didn't commit. The two of them share a connection like no other he’s ever felt and Mickey is certain she needs his help. What sort of help is a mystery. Determined to find out, Mickey begins a journey that surfaces psychic abilities he didn’t know he had. Mickey must figure out Lucianne’s secret if the legacy of his life and her life is to change. This is the tale of two souls who transcend time to help each other find forgiveness.

(Book 2)
Mickey McCoy is drawn to the University of Brookdale where he must unravel the mysteries surrounding an abandoned haunted theater if he’s to save the life of nineteen-year-old coed, Casia Winfred. Using every psychic gift in his arsenal, Mickey races against the clock to sort rumor from truth. Is the ghost that haunts the theater really a threat or is Casia’s predator the human variety? One by one, answers come to light, putting Mickey in as much danger as the girl he’s trying to save.

(Book 3)
She's beautiful. She's deadly. She's dead. Well, sort off.

Eternity isn't exactly going as planned for Renaissance artist Lavinia Rossi Zanetti and that means all bets are off. If she can't have what she wants, then why shouldn't people die? Haunting Gallery 17 of an L.A. art museum, she has plenty of victims to choose from. Psychic Medium Mickey McCoy may be over his head dealing with this case, but with so much at stake he must give it all he's got. There is just too much to lose.

Combined for your reading pleasure are the three books in the Mickey McCoy Paranormal Mystery Series: The Secret of Lucianne Dove, Chapel Playhouse, and The Accordo. Mickey is a gifted psychic, something he learned only later in life. When the spirit of Lucianne Dove makes contact with him on the streets of Virginia City, his life is completely changed. Suddenly his sixth sense abilities cause him to help others whether of this earthly plane or not. From the streets of an old west mining town, to a college campus, to a Los Angeles art museum (his most challenging and life threatening case), Mickey uses all of his paranormal abilities to learn the truth of a situation and right what is wrong even if it puts his life on the line. Available only on Kindle.

Five strange tales to make you think, cringe or maybe even smile.

Bed of Thorns - She's rich. She's bored. Time for some excitement. Little does she know where her latest relationship with someone a tad too young and handsome will lead.

In His Shoes - How do you get even when justice isn't served? And if you succeed, what then? In the end life seems to have a way of working these things out for all concerned.

R.I.P. Katherine Colton - A screen siren who committed suicide in 1970 is celebrated even today. But the question lingers. Did she kill herself? This movie star's greatest fan just has to know.

The Miracle - If you want something bad enough -- like being the person you've always admired -- can your wish come true? Maybe so. But not necessarily in the way you think.

Skyglow Undercover - He's sent undercover in what used to be one of New York City's grandest hotels. Problem is, he knows nothing more than that. He'll find out why, all in good time.

Inspired by Georgie the ghost, Brinkley is a little ghost who loves to take care of the family he lives with. But when other ghosts in the neighborhood talk about what a respectable ghost should do, Brinkley begins to think he doesn't do things the right way and grows ashamed. It takes the realization of how much the family appreciates him to let him know it is okay to be Brinkley and do things his way.