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When a tick gets infected by werewolf blood, things get a bit scary and more than a bit weird for Ryan and his little sister Carrie.A 3000 word short story by award-winning fantasy humor author Norm Cowie.Every housewife needs an alias. Donna Stone has one--and it happens to be government-sanctioned.Oh sure, you need to be ruthless to take on Russian mafia bosses, rogue dictators, and terrorists set on destroying the world. But it takes real killer instincts to survive suburbia. Try juggling the fifth grade phone tree during a shootout with skinhead arms dealers, or driving carpool while being chased by Chinese double agents.Donna’s life wasn’t always this complicated. Five years earlier she was just another woman with two preschoolers, a baby bump, and an adoring husband: Carl, with whom she lived happily ever after in a McMansion in the Orange County, California community of Hilldale. But Donna’s life was changed forever the night she delivered her baby: Carl’s car blew up on the way to the hospital.Turns out Carl was a “hard man”—an assassin—for the black ops organization known as Acme Industries. The hit on Carl was carried out by the Quorum, a terrorist cell he was tracking. The Quorum’s motto: “Show me the money.” Governments and corporations do as they’re told—or suffer bloody consequences.Carl left something behind that the Quorum wants badly. To protect herself and avenge Carl’s death, Donna joined Acme. Whereas her hostessing skills rival Martha Stewart’s, her marksmanship is second to none.A good thing, too, because the Quorum has planted a sleeper cell in Hilldale. For Donna, that’s too close for comfort. Will she be able to save her family before the Quorum blows up Los Angeles?Acme’s way of flushing out the Quorum is by “bringing Carl back from the dead.” But terrorism makes strange bedfellows--and brings new meaning to that old adage “Honey, I’m home…”*Not her real name."Adorable is not usually the word that comes to mind with a title like The Housewife Assassin’s Handbook, but it was just what I needed to pull me out of my reading doldrums. From the handy little homemaker/assassin tips at the beginning of each chapter to the thankless job of being a single parent with catty neighbors, this book hits all the right notes. Donna works for the good guys, Acme Industries, undercover by taking down drug lords and terrorists with a matter-0f-fact attitude while worrying about making it to her carpooling duties.Granted, the book ended with a hook that made me want to immediately get the next one, which is always a smart move and I was excited to see that there are actually 11 books in the series (including a prequel). I now want a week at the beach to read them all. Think Alias meets Desperate Housewives meets The Scarecrow and Mrs. King. Live a little, add some spice to your life, give this little book a try and give yourself a reason to smile. I know I did and now I’m completely smitten." -- Barbara Vey, BarbaraVey.com