Deception's Maternal Embrace is the first collection of short stories written by Phillip Garrett. The stories within all follow a common theme of deception. While that may be more literal in some than others, the idea of something not being what it seems is present throughout. The four stories range from Science Fiction, Adventure, and Horror.

"The Staged Couple" is a flash fiction story following George and Mary, a couple on the run whose bad habits just might get them killed.

"Stranded Stars" is a flash fiction about a married couple on a top-secret government space mission. But when Chris, the husband, starts to go stir-crazy, he begins to investigate the validity of the mission itself. Who can he trust, when it's just him and his wife?

"Drugs" is a flash fiction story about a boy and his clock. Aware of his bad habits, the boy journeys with his friend, the clock, through the horrors of his home and past.

In the short story "Novilunium," a young orphaned girl partakes in her underground civilization's annual scavenger hunt, hoping to learn something of her mother's disappearance.