Welcome to Stone's Throw.

Each month we offer a theme. We challenge our authors to hit the theme hard in stories that are shorter than short and darker than dark, then we publish the best of the best (they're all knockouts) on our website. And when we're done, we collect the stories in an annual print anthology.

Just like this one that has your fingerprints all over it.

Might as well open it and start right in on a year's worth of dark done right. This collection features a year's worth of hard-hitting noir, with stories by: Tom Andes, Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier, John Bovio, Leslie Elman, Maggie Nerz Iribarne, Vincent Marshall, Mike McHone, Sally Milliken, M.E. Proctor, L.P. Ring, Russell Thayer, and Justin Walsh.

A year's worth of bad decisions and desperate people. And we're just getting started. Check for new fiction each month at rockandahardplacemag.com/stones-throw.