The Teller's Tales — G.J. Kelly

An armed robbery has gone terribly wrong. A young policeman lies dead on the floor, terrified staff are held hostage by a lone and deranged gunman, and the building is under armed police siege.

Hawksley, the shotgun-toting maniac, demands each member of staff tell him a story, promising that the one who entertains him the most will walk free.

David, a Teller, wins the absurd and potentially fatal contest, but to his horror the madman goes back on his word and releases everyone else.

In the hours that follow, Hawksley terrorises his sole hostage, using him as little more than a court jester while he awaits the inevitable. “Keep them talking”, David had been instructed during a staff security seminar, and with the awful muzzles of Hawksley's gun pointed at his head, the young man struggles to satisfy the murderer's bizarre whim...