The Smiths
()
About this ebook
When he was a kid, Kyle woke up early one morning to find a brand new, fully sealed Super Nintendo Entertainment System on his bedroom floor. He'd been begging for the game console for months and, apparently, Mom and Dad had finally made his dream come true. But they hadn't bought him the SNES, and when he burst into their room to thank them, the concerned look his parents shared revealed they knew something he didn't: a family secret, guarded over hundreds of years.
The Smiths have always been makers. For generations, the "maker" skills passed from parent to child have been refined and perfected. But San Francisco resident and factory owner Kyle Smith is an exception, even among his exceptional family, and tonight, at his parents' annual New Year's Eve party, he discovers the Smith family's special talents aren't the only secrets they've been keeping.
Michael Siemsen
Michael Siemsen is the USA Today Bestselling author of 7 novels, including The Dig, A Warm Place to Call Home (A Demon's Story), The Many Lives of Samuel Beauchamp, and Exigency. He lives in Northern California with "the wife," "the kids," "the dogs," "that cat," and he occasionally wears pants. facebook.com/mcsiemsen twitter: @michaelsiemsen
Read more from Michael Siemsen
Exigency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Warm Place to Call Home Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Many Lives of Samuel Beauchamp Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Shepherd of the Brilliant Valley Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Smiths
Related ebooks
Fata Morgana Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Matty (A Matt Turner Series short) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Inferior Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReturn (Book 3 of the Matt Turner Series) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Volunteer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Deserter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKilling Time: Physics, Lust and Greed Series, Book 3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGeeky Giving: A SFF Charity Anthology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Spaceship Next Door Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Double Threat: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Down to the Devil's House Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSurviving Death Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrazy in the Blood Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Feral Terra: Feral Terra Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSkyfall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Time's Assassin: The Islevale Cycle, #3 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Omnifix Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNecropolis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Falcon's Egg Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBane of All Things Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRogue Star: Frozen Earth: Rogue Star, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUntil the End Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Final Onslaught: Space Colony One, #6 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Something Sinister Within Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Late Great Creature: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDreamfall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lights Over Cloud Lake Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Tide: A Matt Rowley Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJudith's Prophecy: Big Sky Terror, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnlocking the Darkness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Fantasy For You
Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Empire of the Vampire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Neverwhere: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tress of the Emerald Sea: Secret Projects, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wizard's First Rule Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nettle & Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah J. Maas: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Golem and the Jinni: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Galatea: A Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Daughter of the Forest: Book One of the Sevenwaters Trilogy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mistborn: Secret History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Sun Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Eyes of the Dragon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Talisman: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Pirate Lord: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Desert: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Phantom Tollbooth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Smiths
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Smiths - Michael Siemsen
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
About the Author
1.
New Year’s Eve in San Francisco, the skyline was still sprinkled with holiday lights, and the western span of the Bay Bridge glowed brake light red. Kyle Smith loved the view from his factory at the far end of Treasure Island, smack dab in the middle of the Bay, though in a few minutes he’d be joining the party-going throngs as they crept, inch-by-inch, into the city. But counter to his typical attitude on traffic, Kyle realized he didn’t mind so much tonight. There was no rush to get to his parents’ annual bash, and he looked forward to seeing all of his family members that had driven or flown into the city.
He walked to his luxury SUV and opened the door to the back seat where his neatly pressed change of clothes hung. Kyle peered around the vacant parking lot to be sure the coast was clear, and stripped off his shirt and undershirt. A misty, sub-forty degree wind gust told him it would have been prudent to climb into the back seat to change, and he hurriedly pulled on the fresh undershirt, dress shirt, and sport coat, tucking and buttoning with haste.
‘Spensive fucking clothes you got there,
spoke an odd voice behind him—a wet lisp atop throat gravel.
Kyle jumped and spun round to see a scruffy bearded man in tattered sweatpants and flannel shirt. The potent, bitter scent of body odor mixed with an old, wet ashtray. The man held a rusty length of rebar at his side. The pole wasn’t sharp, but certainly heavy enough to crack a skull.
You’re gonna gimme your wallet,
the man said as he took a step closer. He had no teeth in the top of his mouth, and only a couple on the bottom. And the keys to this sweet fucken ride.
Only vaguely worried, Kyle offered a kind smile. You hungry, buddy?
Won’t be in a little bit. Now shut the fuck up before I smash your pretty girl face in.
The man gripped the bar in both hands like a batter warming up for the pitch. "Wallet, phone, watch, fucken keys, jewelry … those fucken shoes—goddamn!"
Kyle sighed and glanced around again to be sure no other eyes could see them.
Five minutes later, Kyle pulled behind a sixteen-vehicle line to merge onto the bridge. He looked at himself in the rearview mirror, his face lit up red from the idling pickup in front. He wondered if he’d done the right thing with the man back there. Should he have called the police? Probably, but then he’d have had to wait around for them and end up arriving at his parents’ even later.
Sure, he’d done the