Ordinary lives rarely remain ordinary.

A schoolteacher drifts into the night sky.

A scientist discovers a solution that could save billions—if only anyone will listen.

A writer finds himself defending the rights of a machine that may have developed a mind of its own.

A coffee shop owner learns that the cockroaches beneath his floorboards have ambitions of their own.

In Murdering Tranquility & Other Stories, Scott Hertzog presents eleven tales of speculative fiction that blend science fiction, satire, humor, and wonder. From encounters with impossible technologies and unexplained phenomena to quiet moments that reveal the extraordinary hidden within everyday life, these stories explore what happens when ordinary people find themselves facing the unexpected.

The universe seldom announces its intentions.

Sometimes it steals a decade.

Sometimes it rewrites the rules.

Sometimes it arrives disguised as a gift.

By turns thoughtful, unsettling, funny, and deeply human, these stories examine time, identity, technology, memory, and the fragile nature of the lives we build. Whether confronting bureaucracies gone mad, impossible scientific discoveries, or mysteries that defy explanation, Hertzog's characters discover that the familiar world is often far stranger than it first appears.

Inspired by the imaginative tradition of Ray Bradbury and The Twilight Zone, Murdering Tranquility & Other Stories is a collection for readers who enjoy speculative fiction that lingers long after the final page.

Eleven stories. Eleven ordinary lives. Eleven encounters with the impossible.

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