Heartbeat: a short story

by Katia Lief

A dangerous secret, a broken heart

Effie Miller has been a loyal assistant to Ted Stollit for many years. But when she receives a diagnosis of terminal cancer, she decides she will no longer keep the secret that has made her boss rich. Their confrontation on Christmas eve will prove deadly for one of them.

Audible Audio

First published December 7, 2012

About the author

The first thing I ever wrote that received any notice was a one page story for my third grade English teacher. I don't recall what the assignment was, but I somehow found myself writing about a woman at a dinner party who suddenly realizes her teeth are invisible. She sits there, wedged between two chattering guests, wondering how she will eat, how she will talk, and generally how she will get out of the situation without having to open her mouth and reveal her dilemma. My teacher showed the story to my parents with a note to this effect: Katia could be a writer.

What if her note had instead encouraged me to be a dentist?

But it didn't. And so here I am.

So far I've published two literary novels (as Katia Spiegelman, the name I was born with), and seven suspense novels--five as Kate Pepper (a pseudonym) and two as Katia Lief (the name I live by). And to complicated things even more, I'm adding a new pen name to my arsenal-Karen Ellis-with my new novel A MAP OF THE DARK, coming January 2, 2018.

I have loved writing every one of my novels, and hope you will enjoy reading them.