12 Shots

by Vito Zuppardo, David Beckler, Zoë Sharp

12 short thrillers from master storytellers… 12 exciting series to dive into in one volume

Meet compelling characters in stories that pack a punch and keep you turning the pages. You’ll encounter bodyguards, police officers, private detectives, bounty hunters, coroners, firefighters, vigilantes, hackers and a variety of oddballs. They share a knack for getting into trouble – but have the skills and determination to get themselves out.

Each pulse-pounding story features the author’s main characters. When you find one you love, there’s a series behind it, waiting for you.

Get 12 shots while you can and discover your new favourite crime thriller series.

Genres: Short Stories, Anthologies, Amazon, Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Suspense

426 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 16, 2020

About the author

Vito Zuppardo started collecting pieces of information in 1986 from each trip to Las Vegas, Bahamas, Monte Carlo, and the other many casinos he represented. His main job was keeping his clients happy which was a full-time job while they were vacationing at luxury casino resorts.

Vito is the author of 5 novels and started writing in 1996. His fist novel Alluring Lady Luck was based on true events from his 25 years in the casino business operating high limit gaming customers to various casinos around the world. Nevada Gaming Control said Vito Zuppardo was one of the most successful casino representatives in Nevada producing over 60 million dollars in revenue in three years. It’s his life adventures that make his books fun to read, and characters stand out.

Vito was born and raised in New Orleans and moved to Baton Rouge, after Hurricane Katrina.

Life is truly what you make of it.

Reviews

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

12 Shots: 12 Crimes... 12 Authors... 12 Stories
I received a complimentary electronic copy of this must-read anthology from Amazon, the authors, David Beckler, Zoe Sharp, Vito Zuppardo, Ty Mitchell, Thomas J Eyre, J F Burgess, Rik Stone, Paul Austin Ardoin, Mike Clayton, Max Christian Hansen, David DeLee, Joseph Bendoski, publisher Long Stop Books on April 8, 2024.
This is an excellent compilation of short stories all about crime and criminals and the folks who try to control them - and has introduced me to several authors I was not previously exposed to. Vito Zuppardo and Zoe Sharp are old friends, but I have added Arleigh Jacobs, Paul Austin Ardoin, J F Burgess, and David Beckler to my favorite authors and have-to-read-ALL works lists.
REVIEWED on April 20, 2024, at Goodreads, AmazonSmile,

[David Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

12 short stories from 12 authors, most of whom I wasn’t familiar with but were an excellent introduction to each of their main series. All were very entertaining, action packed with well-developed characters and very good storylines. I’m looking forward to exploring more stories from these authors. I received and Advance Reader Copy and chose to provide this review.

[Cyndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've just finished reading this anthology and have found some new authors that I would like to read some of their full books. You get a real blend of writing styles in this anthology with a thriller novella from each author. I of course would pick David Becker's noveĺla as the best in the bunch as I have read many of his books and have enjoyed them all. I also decided to join up with a couple of the other authors as I enjoyed their writing and all the authors have an address that you can reach out to them to join their newsletter. Some of the authors are also giving away a free book for joining, so you receive more than just this anthology for the price. You don't want to miss out on this chance to find some new authors after being able to try out their writing.
I received a free download of this book from the publisher. This review is totally my own honest opinion.

[Lew Gibb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story collections with a single author can be a bit of a crapshoot. They may not put the same amount of effort into every story in the book. Or, in an effort to reach the promised number of stories or words, the author may include stories that just don’t work. These problems are magnified when you’re dealing with a collection by different authors. Putting aside, the differences in style and skill level among authors trying to get twelve of them who can each come up with a story that fits into a specified genre and length while keeping the quality high becomes, in my opinion, an impossibility. Even two of my favorite collections, Otto Penzler’s Best American Mystery Stories and Noir Stories, and The Mystery Writers of America series of thriller short story compendiums, are a hit or miss proposition. (If you haven’t checked these out, they’re a great way to discover authors you don’t know without buying a whole book.)

Approaching a short story compendium where I was familiar with only two of the authors was done with no small amount of reservation on my part. Although the collection was offered free as a way of getting the word out about some of these authors, the time it takes to read is an investment. I only managed to read all the way through six out of the twelve stories which is actually not bad. Of the collections I mentioned above, I only read sixty to seventy percent of the offerings to the end.

The stories I finished in Twelve Shots were well done. “Truth and Lies”, by Zoe Sharp was the best of the bunch, and features one of my favorite crime fiction characters, Charlie Fox. This was a complete story with suspense and action that allowed Charlie to show her skills, and a twist I didn’t see coming.

RA McGee’s “Broken Trust” was an excellent introduction to the protagonist of his Porter series of novels and felt just like one of the full length stories, although, with most of the middle removed. “The Coroner and the Body In The Bath” by Paul Austin Ardoin introduced his reluctant coroner, Fenway Stevenson, who was an intriguing and likeable enough character for me to subscribe to the author’s mailing list and go looking for a full length book by this author. Although I felt the story was a little predictable, it was a complete and an enjoyable read. Finally, “No Good Deed” By David Beckler and “Operation Caterpillar” by Mike Clayton were decent reads, although they felt more like deleted chapters, or introductions to the author’s characters, the writing was good and I was intrigued enough by the characters to check out more work by their creators.

As for the rest of the stories, save yourself some time you won’t get back and skip them. My biggest problem with the rest is their lack of even minimal editing. Each was rife with logical errors, unclear imagery and dialogue, and generally sloppy writing. So, it’s well worth the investment in time,to read only half of this book, it will keep you entertained for a couple hours. Maybe you’ll discover a new author or two in the bargain, I did. Pretty good for a free book.

[Alex Mellor · Rating 5 out of 5]

12 authors; 12 different type of crimes; 12 thrilling short stories, all with compelling characters.

Truth & Lies - Zoe Sharp
A female close-protection body guard on a crazy suicidal rescue scheme in a war zone. ....There are always consequences.

Criminal Instinct - Vito Zuppardo
An undercover New Orleans drug enforcement officer becomes involved with domestic issues.

Jake Penny Dies Today - Ty Mitchell
An ex-military guy wants to work for a top security company. He undergoes the interview of all interviews.

Basra - Thomas J. Eyre
A British Army rescue mission in ISIS held Iraq; always going to be interesting.

Broken Trust - R.A. McGee
A disappearing girl challenges Phil Porter; once he starts looking, he’ll follow the trail wherever it takes him.

Arms to Africa - Rik Stone
Starts dramatically. Russian Special Forces Sergeant Jez Kornfeld, has been assigned a low key task to track down a possible defector. Then something unexpected is revealed; yet more twists follow.

The Coroner & the Body in the Bath - Paul Austin Ardoin
A young coroner is busy trying to piece together what happened from conflicting stories. Grief is a funny thing but something just seems off.

Operation Caterpillar - Mike Clayton
Private Investigator, Kyle Dunn, has a turbulent past. He’s now investigating a series of hate-crime burglaries but his life is far more complex than that.

Backstory - Max Christian Hansen
There’s a monster loose in town. Kate wants to give people a chance but it’s not always as straightforward as that. Getting to the real story is a challenge.

The Corollary Protocol - Joseph Bendoski
Change is hard, but necessary. The power of politics - and a particular situation. US senators are being bribed & blackmailed, aided by a confidence scam, in order to change the world.

Futile Effort - David DeLee
Bounty hunter


Loads of twists & turns to keep me guessing in a chunky holiday combined read of great authors.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi, Zoe, I’m a member of the ARC team and was invited in by R A McGee, I throughly enjoyed this book and Charlie Fox 12 Shots was just one of those people you would love to meet ( not in a dark alley) but over a cup of coffee. Totally switched on professional, would not mind having her as a friend. I enjoyed your twist and turns throughout the book, your are a very good author and I will definitely add you to my reading list


I’m a invited member of ARC and have just read Criminal Instinct by Vito Zuppardo, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, Mario is the of Kick your ass if you don’t do as I say, great character, well written, congratulations on writing this interesting book.


Thomas J Eyre - Basrah what a great book book with such a very sad turn to it, I was rather dumbfound at the end and I wondered how many great hero storys’s like this one is still to be told. Thomas filled you with hope only to be brought down to earth as you realize the sacrifices the armed forces have made.

Broken Trust - R A McGee, I am a huge fan of the Porter Series of books R.A. has created alongside Lee Child’s’ Jack Reacher, what got me stone cold in this book you saw a soft side to Porter who is normally kick arse bad, but here he shows a more human gentle side of him. Fabulous book written by a very good author, who has been added to my list of must read authors

Arms to Africa - Rick Stone - Jesus Kronfeld the main character in the book showed dedication to his task and undertook his assignment full on determined to reach a successful conclusion. A well written book I really enjoyed it, hope to read more of Rik Stone’s books soon.

[Cath · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a set of short stories, by twelve authors, all thrillers and short, sharp and sweet reads. The stories cover all sorts of situations and crimes. Some are a bit unusual and others are straight forward, until the author adds in a little twist. Some of them are really shocking and all have characters that get into trouble, whether they are on the side of right or wrong, and all have different types of skills to get out of these problems.

There are tales of vigilantes, a brand new coroners, detectives, a bounty hunter and deputy sheriff, hackers, bodyguards and any sort of characters you could imagine. One tale is of an ex-FBI agent who now goes out on his own to find people when asked and has a motto of never giving up, no matter what. When he is asked to find a man’s missing daughter, the story doesn’t exactly end where you might have expected. A bounty hunter after a young man who has skipped out on his bail, but then the tale turns more complex and adds in another individual in danger, with prostitution and extensive drug use thrown in for more complexity.

A great set of stories, something for everyone and certainly will lead to some new authors to follow and even some new books or series to read. Some of the stories are part of established series or prequels to books out there already, but they all read as complete short stories and are definitely worth reading. I received an ARC copy of this book from one of the authors and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.

[Robin Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since, I got inspired by engrossed in reading/reviewing non-fiction Christian books [read my reviews] to publish my first two Christian books. This was followed by writing my Christian blog, "Trying to Be a Good Christian Woman," just two years ago. I've neglected reading/reviewing True Crime books during these past two years. I happen to be a TOP CONTRIBUTOR of Amazon for this genre; check my Amazon profile.]

Why would an individual like myself these days ever want to read such a shockingly disturbing book like this? The answer is simple; I'm now more fascinated than ever by how any person, such as the 12 subjects of this book, could ever become such heinous, cruel, vile, murderous individuals capable of going against almost every tenet of the Lord.

I loved having the idea of having a smorgasbord of stories, each written by a different author, with their individualistic style of writing. While my reviewing of crime books had been ones that told true stories, I found these 12 crime fiction stories emulating true ones to be quite adequate, with as much horrific, depraved, gory details. Having a smorgasbord like this lets readers discover new authors they've never encountered before, authors whose other endeavors they might want to read now.

Even though I'm the Christian woman I am these days, I'm still an aficionado of True Crime books and now of crime fiction. I found this book to be a very captivating, engaging, page-turning reading experience, which is why I've given the 12 authors and their endeavors here 5 STARS.

[Christie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed most of these stories. Some I'd only give 2 stars, others 3 but the majority I'd give 4or 5 stars.
Truth and Lies- great description. I felt like I was right there with them.
Criminal instinct- an ok story. Things just seem to fall into place to easily. No conflict really.
Jake Penny Dies Today - great short story. I liked the flow of the story. Would like to read more stories about Jake
Basrah- made my heart race.
Broken Trust- liked the main character. Ending wasn't what I expected.
Arms to Africa- an ok story. I didn't really connect with the main character.
The Coroner and the Body In The Bath- Loved this story. Could not stop reading it. One of my favourites. Look forward to reading more from this author.
Operation Caterpillar- thoroughly enjoyed this story. I have read another book by Michael Clayton and enjoyed that one too. I love his characters in the G.E.E.K. series
Backstory- an interested read. I like how it switched from Kate's view to Frank's view.
The Corollary Protocol- not my kind of story.
Futile Effort- I loved this story and the characters in it. I look forward to reading more about Grace's adventures.
No Good Deed- Great story. I liked the flow of the story and the characters.

[Brad Audiobibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very entertaining collection of stories from 12 different authors, most of whom I wasn't familiar with. I was introduced to some excellent characters although a few stories might have made a little more sense if I'd already read other books in the series so I knew what was going on and why certain people act the way they do.

Overall it was a enjoyable read. The stories were mostly well written though a couple of them could really do with a proof reader to clear up the numerous typos and errors that, for me at least, stood out like a sore thumb and spoiled the flow of the story.

[Will Decker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those great collections put together by several authors, some of which I never had the privilege of experiencing before. That was my loss. A special thank you to R. A. McGee for making the introductions, and especially for letting me read another of my favorite character's exploits. An awesome endeavor by 12 very talented writers. I received this book as part of an ARC promotion and I truly enjoyed every story in it.

[Jenny Coyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐

Out of 12 action packed stories, there were only 2 I wasn't fond of. The other 10 introduced me to authors and characters in their various series that I am now excited to get started on.

While each story is from an existing series, they all read very well as standalones. You don't need any preexisting knowledge to follow along. In fact, the authors give you enough background and just enough of a taste for their characters to leave you wanting more.

[LaDonna W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This anthology of crime fiction covers various crime writing styles but doesn’t disappoint in any one of them. I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading crime fiction. Some of the authors were already known to me, but some of them were fresh finds and I’ll enjoy delving into more of their books and short stories.

[Jeff Cochrane · Rating 4 out of 5]

12 Shots, 12 Stories

Basically a good anthology. I didn’t know many of the writers so it was a gamble with the book. A winning one. As with any anthology there were stories I liked more than others. Really didn’t care for only one of them. I now have several more writers to follow. Recommended.

[Lori Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received as an ARC, this is an honest review. From twelve authors we get a variety of stories filled with characters that have questionable morality; eerie mysteries with shocking twists. Quick reads giving a sample of each writer's ability to tell a gripping tale of suspenseful adventure.

[Asiaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

12 shots is a collection of really nice books compiled into one. With similar themes you will have fun reading different writers styles and you have to keep track of who is who. If your attention span is like mine (not too long) then this collection will fit you well. Have fun, I did.

[J Cowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Great tase of 12 authors and 12 short stories.....some authors I have never read in the past, but now I will. With so many trillers, mysteries and books available what a wonderful opportunity to try some new authors. Strongly recommend you read this book and make up your own mind.

[Aparna J]

Wow.

All the stories are absolutely thrilling. I enjoyed reading each one of them. The book kept me glued until the very end. It's a must read for those who love thrillers with action.

[Thelma Dameron]

Unstoppable

I read this in one day. It was hard to stop even when needed. I couldn't wait until I got to start the next story. I will definitely be looking for more books from the authors.

[Marj Cinqualbres · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title says it all

12 short standalone stories featuring characters from each authors series.
There were only a couple I could not finish because I could not get into the premise but the rest were entertaining.

[Liza · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit that it's a mixed bag.

I've previously read and enjoyed Paul Austin Ardoin and Vito Zuppardo. I haven't read some of the others. A couple of the stories really annoyed me - lots of typos or male writing as female.

It's still a decent collection

[Armand Rosamilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some interesting stories in this anthology. As usual, a couple that fell flat to me but were still decent. It was definitely a good selection of authors and plotlines, and I found a couple of new characters I want to read further, which is always a bonus.

[Sandra Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stories

Loves them all! There should be more complications like this. As personally, dealing with some personal family issues, these are the right length.
Can't concentrate on novels or other books right now.

[Cynthia Gould · Rating 5 out of 5]

12 times excellence

Having read 10 of these authors previously, my expectations were high. I was not disappointed. 12 excellent writers x 12 varied topics = a gross of top quality entertainment!

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of 12 crime thriller stories from 12 different authors.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has 12 short stories about a dozen different crime committed and how they were solved. Not really long enough to make a good book. But they were okay.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Selection

My first experience of this kind of anthology. Hopefully not the last! Have really appreciated this format and the chance to sample multiple authors.

[Laurie Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed all of these books.
12 books by 12 authors and all engaging.
Recommended for anyone who like a bit of mystery.

[Mike Copen · Rating 5 out of 5]

in my opinion all the stories were great -- well written with good character development --
recommend for all you short story fans --

[Mailmanr5 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dozen short stories. All of them are enjoyable.