He never asked for followers. That didn't stop them.

Tasha is a single mother drowning in bills, scrolling past his posts at midnight. Eli is a laid-off factory worker who finds something true in the anger. Neither of them has ever met The Minister. Neither of them needs to.

By the time his name becomes known, they've already built something in his image — something he never intended and cannot control.

The Minister's Disciples is a standalone short story set in the world of the Punch-Girl series by J.M. Reilly — a deeply human look at belief, desperation, and what happens when a message escapes its author.

Start with Punch-Girl Book One to experience the full story.

Every choice has a cost. Most people don't find out until it's too late.

Terrance Roque starts as a young banker genuinely trying to help people the system has left behind. He's smart, he's ambitious, and he can see exactly what he'd need to become to make a real difference. The question is whether he's willing to pay that price.

The Last Honest Dollar traces one man's ascent from idealism to something much harder to name — and the moment, years later, when the bill finally comes due.

The Last Honest Dollar is a standalone short story set in the world of the Punch-Girl series by J.M. Reilly — a sharp, unsentimental character study about power, compromise, and the long game.

Start with Punch-Girl Book One to experience the full story.

They gave him the name to humiliate him. He kept it to remind himself.

Angelo was the shortest kid in his grade when the nickname first landed. He was the same height when the whole school laughed. By the time he stopped caring what people thought, he had already started building something — and by the time he finished, SoDo was his.

The Deuce's Origins is a standalone short story set in the world of the Punch-Girl series by J.M. Reilly — a richly detailed origin story for one of the series' most compelling antagonists, tracing the long road from humiliation to power.

Start with Punch-Girl Book One to experience the full story.

He moves through the world like a storm that hasn't broken yet.

The Minister has been watching. Following. Building a righteous fury one small injustice at a time. He has plans — grand, broad, seismic — but they require patience and the right conditions. He is not ready. The person he needs is not ready either.

Until the day they are.

The Minister's First Miracle is a standalone short story set in the world of the Punch-Girl series by J.M. Reilly — a chilling character study of one of the series' most complex figures,told entirely from inside his perspective.

Start with Punch-Girl Book One to experience the full story.

Everyone has a theory. Almost none of them are right.

On the VigilanteWatch forum, the regulars have opinions. SkywatcherSara has grainy footage. DeepState_Dan has a government conspiracy. TechAnalyst_2024 has a detailed breakdown of the PunchSuit's probable capabilities. And SavedByBlue has a story that cuts through all the noise — because he was actually there.

Urban Legends is a standalone short story set in the world of the Punch-Girl series by J.M. Reilly — a street-level view of the Punch-Girl phenomenon through the eyes of ordinary citizens who've built a mythology around someone they've never met. Funny, warm, and surprisingly moving.

Start with Punch-Girl Book One to experience the full story.

He has one thing on his schedule today. Everything else has other ideas.

Waylon Grimes has been preparing for his choir solo audition for months. He has a plan, a voice coach, and a song that finally sounds right in the church's acoustics. What he doesn't have is a car that starts, a dry cleaner that can locate his shirt, or a day that cooperates in any meaningful way.

Waylon's Day Off is a standalone short story set in the world of the Punch-Girl series by J.M. Reilly — a warm, funny portrait of a man determined to reach the back pew, no matter what the day throws at him.

Start with Punch-Girl Book One to experience the full story.

Nobody wants a Punch-Girl case. Stephanie Schmidt just drew one.

Court-appointed defense work is supposed to be straightforward — quick cases, clean wins, résumé padding. Then comes Marcus Kumar, a medical equipment distributor caught with counterfeit defibrillators, with evidence gathered by a vigilante who doesn't answer to anyone. Cases like this end careers.

Stephanie takes it anyway. As she dismantles the prosecution's case and traces the real conspiracy up the supply chain, she demonstrates an unusually detailed knowledge of Punch-Girl's methods. Whether that comes from brilliant legal instincts or something else entirely is a question.

The Assigned Defense is a standalone short story set in the world of the Punch-Girl series by J.M. Reilly — a sharp legal thriller that deepens one of the series' most compellingsupporting characters.

Start with Punch-Girl Book One to experience the full story.

The numbers don't lie. Someone wishes they would.

Alec is good at his job. Exceptionally good. So when a routine review of a client's accounts reveals vendor payments that don't connect, shell companies that barely exist, and a money trail that leads somewhere no honest business should go — he can't let it go. That's not how his mind works.

What starts as professional due diligence becomes something more dangerous than Alec bargained for. But he's not the kind of man who walks away from a problem just because it pushes back.

Balancing the Books is a standalone short story set in the world of the Punch-Girl series by J.M. Reilly — a character study and financial crime thriller that reveals the quiet determination beneath Alec's accountant exterior.

Start with Punch-Girl Book One to experience the full story.