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Hidden Keys #4
False Cipher
Disappearing wasn’t going to be enough…they needed a plan…some answers…and a safe place so they could stop running in circles trying to stay one step ahead of the guys nipping at their heels.
Simon Sullivan might not be who Ava always believed him to be, but along with his brother, he’d spent his life trying to protect her. That wasn’t going to change especially now when everything they’d planned for, hoping against hope it would never be needed, was playing out exactly as they’d feared.
But he’s not alone. Harper Riley isn’t about to let anything happen to Ava. He’s already killed to protect her…and will again.
It’s the middle of the twenty-third century and while there have been staggering technological and environmental advances, human nature is still very much the same as it has always been. One woman unexpectedly finds herself thrust into the middle of a long simmering struggle between power, greed, and an overwhelming effort to keep long hidden secrets buried.
Hidden Keys is a series of short stories, each revealing key pieces of information that are not always obvious to Ava Sullivan and Harper Riley as they do everything they can to identify her pursuers, find the answers about why they are after Ava, and somehow stay alive after surviving the first attempt on her life only days after her father’s death.
Luckily, Ava Sullivan isn’t on her own. A childhood friend that she hasn’t seen in years is proving once again that he can be trusted even as they just barely avoid one near miss after another. But this isn’t the first time that Harper Riley has had to dodge bullets or protect himself from oncoming fire. Now though, the gun in his hand is to protect Ava.
And is grateful to find that he’s not alone in keeping her safe.
The Hidden Keys Short Story series is filled with long hidden secrets, strong characters, and a growing quest for justice. If you enjoy Short Reads…quick to read short stories, slightly entangled and complicated relationships, and a puzzling mystery that needs to be unraveled…Hidden Keys may be the series for you.
This is part four of the Hidden Keys short story series that is best read in sequence.
Hidden Keys Legacy
Surviving the Night - Book 1
First Clues - Book 2
Cryptic Truths - Book 3
False Cipher - Book 4
Simon Sullivan might not be who Ava always believed him to be, but along with his brother, he’d spent his life trying to protect her. That wasn’t going to change especially now when everything they’d planned for, hoping against hope it would never be needed, was playing out exactly as they’d feared.
But he’s not alone. Harper Riley isn’t about to let anything happen to Ava. He’s already killed to protect her…and will again.
It’s the middle of the twenty-third century and while there have been staggering technological and environmental advances, human nature is still very much the same as it has always been. One woman unexpectedly finds herself thrust into the middle of a long simmering struggle between power, greed, and an overwhelming effort to keep long hidden secrets buried.
Hidden Keys is a series of short stories, each revealing key pieces of information that are not always obvious to Ava Sullivan and Harper Riley as they do everything they can to identify her pursuers, find the answers about why they are after Ava, and somehow stay alive after surviving the first attempt on her life only days after her father’s death.
Luckily, Ava Sullivan isn’t on her own. A childhood friend that she hasn’t seen in years is proving once again that he can be trusted even as they just barely avoid one near miss after another. But this isn’t the first time that Harper Riley has had to dodge bullets or protect himself from oncoming fire. Now though, the gun in his hand is to protect Ava.
And is grateful to find that he’s not alone in keeping her safe.
The Hidden Keys Short Story series is filled with long hidden secrets, strong characters, and a growing quest for justice. If you enjoy Short Reads…quick to read short stories, slightly entangled and complicated relationships, and a puzzling mystery that needs to be unraveled…Hidden Keys may be the series for you.
This is part four of the Hidden Keys short story series that is best read in sequence.
Hidden Keys Legacy
Surviving the Night - Book 1
First Clues - Book 2
Cryptic Truths - Book 3
False Cipher - Book 4
28 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 9, 2021
2 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Jacie Middlemann
366 books159 followersI fell in love with books when I was in the 4th grade and my free period was spent volunteering in the school library. I read every Nancy Drew book there was to check out, discovered collections of myths and fairy tales from around the world, Louisa May Alcott and C.S. Lewis, and decided I wanted my own library. By the end of that summer with the supplies our school librarian graciously provided me my books had due date slips, card pockets, book cards, and black electrical tape on the spine with the first three letters of the author's last name. I still have most of those books.
In the hope she could get me involved in something else my mother gave me a camera. Right around the same time my father told me I could use his typewriter when he wasn't using it. The typewriter won. We shared his typewriter but I also filled notebooks with stories scribbled before school, after school, and often when I was supposed to be asleep. Thanks to my mother, who saved just about every single one of those notebooks, I still have them as well.
Several years ago my father gave me his typewriter…the same one we shared all those summers ago. Every time I look at it I remember the young 4th grade girl who was quietly encouraged to do what she loved…and years later reminded with a box filled with notebooks crammed full of handwritten stories and dreams.
And it’s still not unheard of that I stay up way later than I should with a good book that’s just impossible to put down.
In the hope she could get me involved in something else my mother gave me a camera. Right around the same time my father told me I could use his typewriter when he wasn't using it. The typewriter won. We shared his typewriter but I also filled notebooks with stories scribbled before school, after school, and often when I was supposed to be asleep. Thanks to my mother, who saved just about every single one of those notebooks, I still have them as well.
Several years ago my father gave me his typewriter…the same one we shared all those summers ago. Every time I look at it I remember the young 4th grade girl who was quietly encouraged to do what she loved…and years later reminded with a box filled with notebooks crammed full of handwritten stories and dreams.
And it’s still not unheard of that I stay up way later than I should with a good book that’s just impossible to put down.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 13, 2022
A good episode. Basically, Ava, Harper, and Simon stay hidden and safe. At least for the moment. A bit more light is shed on the situation, but not a lot of information is revealed. A lot of the things that are happening are outside the reader's purview. The romance between Ava and Harper crept forward a millimeter. Tension seems to have relaxed a tad.
Easy-to-read. Entertaining. Great world building. Haunting. Tragic. Twisted. Unpredictable. Wonderful characters.
Easy-to-read. Entertaining. Great world building. Haunting. Tragic. Twisted. Unpredictable. Wonderful characters.
November 12, 2021
Boring
Absolutely nothing new. There was no activity to spike my interest. I could not in good conscience recommend this to anyone.
Absolutely nothing new. There was no activity to spike my interest. I could not in good conscience recommend this to anyone.
November 21, 2021
interesting but
I’d like to go back to start this series as l’ve loved everything from this author…how ever, this “book” is way too short for a dollar.
I’d like to go back to start this series as l’ve loved everything from this author…how ever, this “book” is way too short for a dollar.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews