BOOK BLITZ: It Came Upon One Christmas Eve by S.R. Kerr

 

Holiday Short Stories


This is a selection of short stories perfect for the dark, cold nights
of the Christmas season. Each warm tale is set on Christmas Eve and is best
enjoyed from a comfortable armchair by the fireside, as the special ambience
of Christmas fills the room and our hearts.

Within these six stories, you will discover a rich variety of seasonal magic.
One tale takes you to a snowbound ancestral home, where family secrets are
finally revealed beneath a blanket of white. Another follows a German refugee
in the 1940s who, by joining the local junior football team, finds hope and a
sense of belonging during the festive period.

You’ll also encounter unexpected meetings at a lonely country crossroads,
where characters’ destinies become entwined on the most magical night of the
year. The collection journeys further afield to the warmth and wonder of an
Australian Christmas, where high summer temperatures provide a striking
contrast to the traditional spirit of the season.

One story features two old neighbours returning to their hometown, doing their
utmost to recreate the cherished Christmases of years gone by. Each narrative
offers its own unique perspective on the joy, togetherness and wonder that
define this special time of year.

This book is lovingly crafted for readers of all ages and backgrounds who
delight in the spirit of Christmas. Let these stories bring warmth and festive
cheer into your home.


About the Author

Steve’s interest in writing came from the early 1970s when his somewhat
unconventional English teacher encouraged his creativity. His creativity and
imagination went back however to childhood when he would create stories and
draw them in a series of pictures. He has always had a strong interest in
History and music. As a teenager he composed many songs but never met with
success his creative abilities were slowly channeled into writing books.His
first Novel ” A Cafe In Arcadia”,about life in an insular Greek town, was
published in 2014. He had already published ” The Christmas Tree Of Tales ” in
2013 under the name S R Kerr Under the same name,he also published another
book of short stories for Christmas,”It Came Upon One Christmas Eve”..In 2021
he published another novel “The Winding Streets Of Kolonaki” set in
Athens..His last book to be published was the non-fiction Eurovision ;A Plea
For Respect(Continental Songs And British attitudes). He counts a love of
music in his interests as well as travel and reading. He has travelled
extensivly to places as diverse as Pakistan and Peru and hopes to visit Japan,
Hong Kong and the USA in the near future. Growing up next to the beach on the
River Tay in his home town was a a major influence on him as was living in a
castle. He was always interested in anthropology and visiting other countries
where he often immersed himself in their culture. Places he visited and lived
in inspired much of his writing, as did his interest in psychology, people
watching. He worked as a lecturer, tutor, journalist ,civil servant in London
where at a point he shared a house with the group The Test Department. He is
at the moment working on three other books 1)Short Stories For Christmas 3)The
afternoons of Sanjay Bassinger. 4.)The Golden Road To Glyfada

 

Contact Links

Youtube

AuthorsDen

 

Purchase Link

Amazon

BOOK BLITZ & GIVEAWAY: The Ordinary Bruja by Johanny Ortega

The Ordinary Bruja: Marisol’s Story
Johanny Ortega
(Las Cerradoras, #1)
Publication date: November 1st 2025
Genres: Adult, Horror, Magical Realism, Psychological

The Ordinary Bruja is a haunting and heartfelt coming-of-age novel wrapped in Dominican magical realism and psychological horror.

Marisol Espinal doesn’t believe she’s special. Not when she’s back in her small Ohio hometown, working as a barista, haunted by grief and the girls who once made her life hell. But when mirrors flicker with strange words, cigar smoke curls where no one is smoking, and voices whisper from Hallowthorn Hill, she realizes something darker has always been watching.

The Espinal family magic was buried generations ago-forced into silence by Salvador, the ancestor who bound their power for himself. Now his ghost feeds on fear and doubt, and Marisol is his next target. To survive, she must reclaim her heritage, unearth the truth hidden in her mother’s journal, and face the hill that has been waiting for her all along.

Atmospheric and emotionally charged, The Ordinary Bruja blends generational trauma, identity reclamation, and queer love with a creeping sense of dread. Perfect for fans of The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina and Mexican Gothic, this novel asks: What does it cost to embrace every part of yourself-even the parts the world taught you to bury?

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

“Ten months since she had dropped out and came home, to the place she promised herself she’d never return to. She was bad at keeping promises. That was for sure.”

PRAISE for The Ordinary Bruja

“There is spirituality, magic, ghosts, there is plenty of love, there is loss; and above all there is familia, both genetic and of choice.”

“…An impactful horror story that blew me away.”

“This book . . . pushed me to confront my own assumptions about history.”

“You can absolutely feel the anguish Marisol feels at the loss of her mother.”

“I absolutely enjoyed “The Ordinary Bruja”. It was a perfect mix between horror (with a slight humor – thank you early Marisol and her “nope” moments + Kia) and a story that shows you that you need to find your own way, even if everything is pushing you down.”


Author Bio:

Johanny Ortega is a Dominican American author who writes across genres—blending psychological horror, literary fiction, magical realism, and thrillers that punch you right in the gut. Whether writing about haunted hills, generational trauma, or the quiet unraveling of everyday life, her stories center marginalized voices, morally complex women, and the messy truth about survival.

She is the founder of Have a Cup of Johanny, a creative platform where she blogs, podcasts, and advocates for inclusive storytelling. Her award-winning middle-grade and adult fiction has resonated with readers who crave depth, grit, and emotional honesty.

When she’s not writing, she’s raising kids in a blended military family, reading books that wreck her soul in the best way, and saying what others are afraid to.

Website / Goodreads / TikTok / Instagram


GIVEAWAY!

The Ordinary Bruja Blitz


BOOK BLITZ & GIVEAWAY: Dirty Girl by Alicia Dean

 

If you want it to stay buried, bury it deep

Dirty Girl

A Friday the 13th Story, Series #7

by Alicia Dean

Genre: Horror

A tragic accident…

A fateful decision…

A horrific weekend they won’t soon forget…

Everet Holcomb is cheating with his sister-in-law, Blair, and the two sneak off
for an illicit out of town getaway. While driving down a dark country road,
they hit something and are horrified to discover they’ve killed a young woman.
Panicked, they bury the body instead of calling the police, knowing if their
spouses learn of their affair, they’ll lose everything.

When Everet’s son brings his new girlfriend home for his college graduation
celebration, they notice that something about her seems…off. The odor of dirt
emanates from her, but Everet and Blair are the only ones who can smell it. And
when Everet almost chokes to death for no apparent reason, they start to
wonder…have their misdeeds come back to haunt them?

A Friday the 13th Short Story: 13 authors ~ 13 suspenseful
stories. Murder and mayhem on Friday the 13th…with a new collection released
every year!

 

** Only .99cents!**

Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads

Author Alicia Dean hails from Oklahoma, where the wind comes
sweeping down the plain, (sometimes gusting and twisting and ravaging down the
plain…) She is from Moore, affectionately known as Tornado Alley, but now
lives in Edmond.

She’s always wanted to be a writer and wrote her first
romance at the ripe old age of ten. She still has the tattered, pencil-written
copy of ‘Just Pretend,’ titled after one of her favorite Elvis Presley songs
and featuring a hero who looks JUST like Elvis. (Have you guessed, she’s an
Elvis fan?)

Other than reading and writing, her passions are Elvis
Presley, MLB, NFL (she usually works in a mention of one or all three into her
stories) and watching (or rewatching) her favorite televisions shows like
Dexter, Vampire Diaries, Justified, and Breaking Bad. Some of her favorite
authors are Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, Lee Child, Lisa Gardner, Ridley
Pearson, and Jonathan Kellerman…to name a few.

 

Website * Facebook * Facebook * X * Instagram * Instagram * Bluesky

Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

Follow the blitz  HERE for special content and a giveaway!

Enter the Dirty Girl Giveaway

BOOK BLITZ & GIVEAWAY: You Don’t Belong Here by D.M. Siciliano

You Don’t Belong Here
D.M. Siciliano
Publication date: October 13th 2025
Genres: Adult, Horror, Paranormal, Suspense

A girl who feels invisible finally faces her worst fear on her sixteenth birthday and hastily makes a dark deal.

An old man returns to the same place every year on the anniversary of his wife’s death, to have one last moonlit dance with her.

A woman’s health concerns are ignored, and it leads to global chaos.

A young woman goes home to bury her father and sell his house but finds that the home is no longer hers.

An old man with Alzheimer’s becomes increasingly lost in his own house, which seems to be doing its own forgetting.

Two young girls find a Ouija board, thinking they’re communicating with a deceased relative, but find something much more cunning.

A woman, grieving the loss of her baby, takes a trip to a remote cabin in Tahoe. Her worried sister goes after her and isn’t prepared for what she finds.

A woman’s drive through California’s winding roads leads her to a perilous and sinister discovery lurking in the woods.

A woman takes a job as a nanny for two troublesome kids, only to find that the children aren’t the problem.

Goodreads / Amazon

SNEAK PEEKS:

ROUND & ROUND

Once she was gone, the house grew quiet, the house got dark, even in daylight, even with all the lights on. He had taken to turning all the lights on most of the time, hoping it might give him some clarity, some help in understanding and navigating the house he knew inside and out. He’d flip the lights on, and then the nurse would come and shut most of them off behind him once he left the room. It was as if the house’s memory was beginning to slip, just like the old man’s. Things seemed to make less sense to both the man and the house. What might happen if the house couldn’t remember what its curving walls gave way to? What if it forgot where a door should be? Or even where the entrance and exit of the labyrinth in the backyard must be? He was certain the forgetfulness wasn’t all on him. Yes, his mind was playing tricks on him, but there was more to it than that. He played a part in it for sure, but there was something about the house. It was part of him, after all. His blood, sweat, and tears had gone into building it. The house was as much a part of him as his daughter was, perhaps even more.

SUNNY DAYS AHEAD

Tommy took a long sip of his milk, leaving a trail of a white mustache above his top lip. “She died.” He took the sleeve of his pajamas and wiped it across his lip, removing the stain. “She got sick. Sad sick.” He leaned back against a pillow on the sofa and pulled the corner of the throw blanket up to his chest.

“Oh, I am so sorry.”

“She got confused a lot. And cried a lot. She confused me and Danny. Didn’t know who was who. Sometimes she yelled at my father for no reason. Sometimes she got so sad and nervous that she would itch her arms until they bled. That’s what Dad said.”

Terry pulled her sleeves down low, so as not to call attention to the long red marks that now plagued her arms. They began to itch and tease at her, but she resisted the urge. Instead, she locked her hands around her teacup. “That is very sad.”

“When everyone went to sleep, she stayed awake. She would walk up and down the halls. Open our doors and just stand there at the bed watching us sleep.”

A chill of recognition swept over Terry.

“If we were bad, she would lock us up in our room.”

HYSTERIA

If only women’s health had been taken more seriously, perhaps the invasion would never have happened. If the Earth were a woman, it would be giving the human race the middle finger and saying, I told you so!” right about now. What’s left of Earth anyway. It might as well be called something else entirely. Or perhaps that is a human ego’s way of thinking. Since human life on this planet changed, why couldn’t it still be Earth?

I’d spoken to my doctor more in the past few months than my literary agent. It was my third visit in six months for the same problem. What started with what my doctor had called vague, benign symptoms, turned into a nightmare. Even she recommended we might have to consider more invasive methods to deal with it. Hysterectomy: that’s what she’d called it. Such a strange word. Such an offensive base. In ancient Greece, hysteria was thought to be caused by the uterus, thus hysterectomy, so the removal of the uterus would cure the hysteria. If anything in life was that easy. In hindsight, I’d have preferred to have been hysterical and called it a day.


Author Bio:

DM is a lover of all things creative. From the moment she could speak, growing up in Massachusetts, she had a passion for flair and drama, putting on concerts for anyone who was even remotely interested (and even for those who were not). A storyteller by nature, she first pursued her young dream of becoming a singing diva while living in Arizona. She soon found that stage life wasn’t the only form of storytelling she craved, so she dropped the mic and picked up a pencil instead. She still hasn’t given up on her diva-ness, and hopes her pencil stays as sharp as her tongue.

A dark sense of humor and curiosity for haunted houses and things out of the ordinary led her down the path of completing her first novel, Inside. Several other projects are constantly floating around in her head and her laptop daily, and sometimes keeping her up much too late at night. Occasionally, those projects are so dark and twisted, she needs to leave a nightlight on.

She now lives in Northern California with her two fluffy furbabies, Cezare and Michaleto.

Website / Bookbub / Facebook / Instagram


GIVEAWAY!

You Don’t Belong Here Blitz


TEASER: The Fear Driver compiled by Dragon Soul Press

Horror (various subgenres)

Date Published: September 23, 2025

 

 Bite-sized horror stories are brought to you by twenty-five authors. From
creepy crawlies to the seemingly normal pets. From hideous monsters lurking in
the dark to charismatic people showing their true colors.

Each tale is precisely 100 words and leaves a long-lasting chilling
effect. Some will make you question the security of the world around you, and
what’s more terrifying than that?
Featuring drabbles by the following authors: Bernardo Villela, K.J.
Watson, David J. Vowell, Joshua Ginsberg, A.L. Smith, Petina Strohmer, Zari
Hunt, Paul Burgess, Diana Parrilla, Angel Zapata, Vanessa Bane, Marc Sorondo,
Jacek Wilkos, Arvee Fantilagan, Jodie Francis, Alex Azar, Andreas Flögel,
Jade Kalb, Andrew Buckner, Ken Whitson, Jãnis Bogužs, Andrea Tillmanns,
C.L. Hart, S.F.J. Painter, Monica Wenzel, Dragan Ivanović, and J.E. Feldman.

Excerpt

One Moonlit Night
Copyright 2025 by C. L. Hart

As fourteen-year-old Nevil Teodoro climbed down the trellis near his bedroom
window, a blood-curdling scream pierced the darkness, startling him so badly
that he nearly fell. Juan Soto, the head groundskeeper, ran up from the
gardens, his clothes covered in mud and his face pale as the moon.

“What’s goin’ on, Ese?” Nevil asked as he finished his
descent. “You look like you seen a ghost!”

“Get back in the house, Chico, and call Mama Cecilia.”

“You trippin’, Juan Solo? You want me to call una bruja vieja and
not la policia?”

“Ain’t no policia can stop a moon vampire!”

 

About the Author

C. L. Hart is an editor who writes or a writer who edits. She primarily pens
dark fantasy (often Lovecraftian) and sweet romance. She resides in a tiny
town on the Northeastern Colorado plains with her adult son, her cat daughter,
and her cat grandson. When not editing, writing, or rehabilitating eldritch
horrors, she enjoys coloring, crafts, and cooking things that she hopes will
be palatable to someone besides the eldritch horrors.

SALE BLITZ & GIVEAWAY: The Exchange and Other Calamities by Mallory McCartney

 

Horror / Collection

Date Published: 07-22-2025

Publisher: Anuci Press


Evil lurks in the darkness, clawing its way towards unsuspecting victims . . .

 

A woman living with fibromyalgia finds an artifact that unleashes a reality
she never thought possible . . . at a steep price.

Two high school
seniors take part in a tradition that brings them face-to-face with the
monstrous truth behind a haunting, dark urban legend.
The face behind a
popular YouTube ghost hunting show travels to the scene of a horrific event to
find fresh horrors there.
Fate takes a bite out of a young woman who
ventures into the wilderness to grieve her mother.
Best-selling author,
Theo Anderson, takes part in a sleep study that turns her into the very thing
she fears.


Hold your breath as you immerse yourself in five harrowing stories written by
bestselling author, Mallory McCartney. Fans of her gripping Black Dawn series
will be kept on the edge of their seat by this horror collection inspired by
real life events!

 
About the Author

 Mallory McCartney currently lives in Sarnia, Ontario with her husband, their
dachshunds Link, and Leonard and their sphynx cats Luna, Legolas, Ivy and
Lily. When she isn’t working on her next novel or reading, she can be
found day dreaming about fantasy worlds or bingeing her favorite horror
movies.

Contact Links
Purchase Links
$0.99 for a Limited Time
 

COVER REVEAL: You Don’t Belong Here by D.M. Siciliano

You Don’t Belong Here
D.M. Siciliano
Publication date: October 13th 2025
Genres: Adult, Horror, Paranormal, Suspense

A girl who feels invisible finally faces her worst fear on her sixteenth birthday and hastily makes a dark deal.

An old man returns to the same place every year on the anniversary of his wife’s death, to have one last moonlit dance with her.

A woman’s health concerns are ignored, and it leads to global chaos.

A young woman goes home to bury her father and sell his house but finds that the home is no longer hers.

An old man with Alzheimer’s becomes increasingly lost in his own house, which seems to be doing its own forgetting.

Two young girls find a Ouija board, thinking they’re communicating with a deceased relative, but find something much more cunning.

A woman, grieving the loss of her baby, takes a trip to a remote cabin in Tahoe. Her worried sister goes after her and isn’t prepared for what she finds.

A woman’s drive through California’s winding roads leads her to a perilous and sinister discovery lurking in the woods.

A woman takes a job as a nanny for two troublesome kids, only to find that the children aren’t the problem.


Author Bio:

DM is a lover of all things creative. From the moment she could speak, growing up in Massachusetts, she had a passion for flair and drama, putting on concerts for anyone who was even remotely interested (and even for those who were not). A storyteller by nature, she first pursued her young dream of becoming a singing diva while living in Arizona. She soon found that stage life wasn’t the only form of storytelling she craved, so she dropped the mic and picked up a pencil instead. She still hasn’t given up on her diva-ness, and hopes her pencil stays as sharp as her tongue.

A dark sense of humor and curiosity for haunted houses and things out of the ordinary led her down the path of completing her first novel, Inside. Several other projects are constantly floating around in her head and her laptop daily, and sometimes keeping her up much too late at night. Occasionally, those projects are so dark and twisted, she needs to leave a nightlight on.

She now lives in Northern California with her two fluffy furbabies, Cezare and Michaleto.

Website / Instagram / Bookbub / Facebook



RELEASE BLITZ: Grave Wind by Janice Tremayne

Haunting Dahlia Series, Book One

Horror, Supernatural, Paranormal

Date Published: June 30, 2025

A cursed lighthouse, a malevolent shapeshifter, and a deadly game. One
life-altering decision could seal their fate.

In Solitary Island, Australia. A malevolent shapeshifter haunts a
storm-battered lighthouse. When Dahlia confronts an ancient secret, she must
make a life-or-death sacrifice to save herself and Paranormal Jack from a
terrifying entity trapped between worlds.

Caught in a twisted game, Dahlia is forced to make an impossible
choice—one of them must die for the other to survive.

As Paranormal Jack fights to escape the lighthouse’s sinister grip, he must
explore the human fear of death and what lies beyond to uncover the horrifying
truth. Betwixt has been claiming the souls of those who enter the lighthouse
for centuries, and its curse runs deep.

As fate hangs in the balance, Dahlia must uncover the dark history of the
Island and make a desperate bid before the evil grave wind takes hold.

Grave Wind is the first book in the Haunting Dahlia series. This riveting
tale, packed with unforgettable characters, heart-pounding paranormal
investigations, and shocking twists, will leave readers spellbound. If you
were hooked by the eerie tension of Dean Koontz’s Phantoms, this electrifying
story is must-read.

About the Author
Janice Tremayne, hailing from Australia, is a celebrated author
specializing in supernatural horror. Her novel “Haunting in Hartley” achieved
finalist status in the Readers’ Favorite 2020 International Book Awards in the
category of fiction-supernatural, clinching the prestigious Distinguished
Favorite Prize for paranormal horror at the New York City Big Book Awards.
Janice’s literary prowess was further acknowledged with the silver medal at
the IPPY Awards 2021 in the Australia/New Zealand/Pacific Rim – Best
Regional Fiction category, as well as the Bronze Award in Adult Fiction at the
Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards 2020. In 2023, she secured the Literary
Titan Gold Book Award, a testament to her excellence in writing.

Residing in Melbourne with her family, Janice intricately weaves cultural
superstitions into her narratives, drawing from her upbringing where such
beliefs were deeply embedded in daily life and customs. Her bestselling
series, “Haunting Clarisse,” has consistently soared to the top of Amazon
Kindle rankings, captivating readers with its blend of occult supernatural,
ghosts, haunted houses, and British horror.

Janice’s journey as an author began with a simple cup of coffee, sparking the
inspiration to translate her fascination with cultural superstitions into
gripping tales of horror. Her books are renowned for delivering
heart-thumping, bone-chilling, and thought-provoking paranormal experiences,
each narrative offering a fresh twist that keeps readers enthralled worldwide.

Stay updated on Janice Tremayne’s latest releases by following the author.

 

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

BookBuzz

Purchase Link

BOOK BLITZ & GIVEAWAY: Through the Woods by D.M. Million & R.M. Carpus

Through the Woods
D. M. Million, R. M. Carpus
(A Short Story Anthology, Vol. 2)
Publication date: September 9th 2025
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal

Welcome to Thorn Valley, where the dead make the rules and the living follow them.

Everyone knows what goes on at the Thorn Valley Cemetery. The locals never stray from the three sacred rules.

Don’t speak when you enter through the gate.

Never visit at night.

Never visit alone.

Seems simple enough, but in this town, nothing is simple, and no place is safe. Don’t let the white picket fences and cozy shops on Main Street fool you. Here, the dead don’t sleep, and they’re always in charge.

Escape to the small, eerie town of Thorn Valley in this fresh collection of spine-tingling tales from the much anticipated next installment of THROUGH THE WOODS.

Goodreads / Pre-order

SNEAK PEEK:

Then I see where I’m standing, at the edge of an ivy-covered gate, black iron, sharp-toothed rods I recognize well, even in the damp, cold night. The entrance to the Thorn Valley Cemetery. My freezing fingers lace tighter around Eva’s, and I look down at my bare, mud-caked feet. I’m in my blue satin nightgown, half-sheathed by my lace ivory bathrobe. Gasping, I cover myself and whirl around in the damp cold, searching the night for signs of life
or reason.

“Why am I here? What are we doing here?”

Eva releases my hand but keeps her eyes locked on mine as if I might disappear. She shakes as she tugs the quilt from her shoulders to wrap me in its warmth. “You had another spell,” she says, still trembling as she guides me away from the gate. “You were trying to climb up and over. Your sister called me and said you were gone, that your bedroom window was open, the curtains pulled wide. She woke up to make tea because she couldn’t sleep and had a feeling

she should check on you.”

“Another dream.”

“Yes.”

“They’re getting worse.”

“I know.”

“I was . . . on the coast.” Dizzy and dazed, I pause for a beat to get my bearings. Eva stalls too, waiting patiently for me to find my balance. “The sea was coming for me, it wanted to drown me. I was running, then climbing . . . trying to climb toward the sky.” I can feel Eva’s horror, her pupils like frozen, black saucers stunned as they study my face.

“There was so much sun, so much blue, an unwavering stillness on land. But the sea . . . it roared, it wouldn’t stop reaching for me. I felt an earthquake, an imminent tsunami in the distance, even in the stillness. I couldn’t let it have me, I just couldn’t—” Eva takes hold of my shoulders, carefully turning me toward her. I know in that moment my eyes are tinged with a ripple of madness, and that she sees it, too. “This is going to stop.”

-“Night Fever,” Thorn Valley – R. M. Carpus


Author Bio:

DM Million: I grew up in southern New Jersey, reading fantasy and paranormal books. I love anything that whisks me away to another world, and I wanted to create my own worlds for readers like myself to enjoy. I believe reading is not only an escape from our real-world problems, but a way to expand our minds, keep us sharp, and bring us joy. What I love about books is that we can use our imaginations to “see” what the author sees. When we watch TV or a movie, we can turn off our creativity and mindlessly view what the creators intended for us. But reading requires the engaging of our creative minds. I hope that you will enjoy my stories as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

R. M. Carpus is the author of THE CITY WIFE and co-founder of Wraith House. Born in Philly and raised in sunny Southwest Florida, her nomadic spirit has carried her all over the U.S. She now resides in the moody Pacific Northwest, where she dwells with ghosts of the bygone grunge era, always on the lookout for Eddie Vedder, killer whales, and inspiration for the next book. When she’s not reading or writing, she’s engrossed in ’90s music and reruns, catching a film at SIFF, or hiding away in the San Juan Islands or the Olympic Peninsula. She loves animals, the ocean, and spooky season.


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BOOK BLITZ & GIVEAWAY: All the Silent Bones by Gregory Funaro

All the Silent Bones
Gregory Funaro
Publication date: June 9th 2025
Genres: Adult, Horror, Psychological Thriller

When they were boys, Ray Dawley, Eddie Sayers, and Matthew Kauffman were the best of friends. Then new kid Bobby “Bones” Bonetti fell through the ice at Blackamore Pond. The other boys saved Bobby from drowning, but something else came out of the water that day, something dangerous that would tear their friendship apart and set one of them on a dark path.

Forty years after the incident on the ice, Ray, a retired college professor, has moved back into his childhood home. Eddie is a retired homicide detective, and Matthew is a successful investment banker. Bobby, who is on disability from his job as a corrections officer at a juvenile detention center, has a secret: the darkness that found him under the ice when he was a kid has made him do terrible things.

Following a reunion at Ray’s house, Matthew is found murdered in his car beside the old pond. The killer includes a chilling message that only the three remaining friends would recognize. Could one of their own be a murderer?

All the Silent Bones, a tense and disturbing thriller told from alternating perspectives of morally complex characters, explores the lasting impact of childhood trauma and its influence on adult relationships.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Only $2.99 pre-order price! Grab yours today!

EXCERPT:

Ronnie Matarese felt a darkness descend upon him, even as he understood that it had always been there, pouring out from those eyes behind the sunglasses and into his apartment. A darkness as indifferent and as cold as the one that had greeted him when he’d returned home. A darkness that feared no light and could not be reasoned with. A darkness that was neither happy nor sad but just was.

Bobby “The Machete” Bonetti had not visited Ronnie to warn him or give him a beating. He had come to kill him. Ronnie suddenly knew this as surely as he was sitting there, and he was both terrified and furious that he hadn’t realized it sooner, when he still might have had a chance to escape. More than anything, though, Ronnie was sad. He wasn’t ready to die—he wasn’t even thirty—but there was no turning back from the elves at the bottom of these stairs. That was what this crazy SOB was trying to tell him.

Ronnie began to cry, softly at first then harder as Bobby finished his story.

“So my mother, she lets me go, but I just held on to the door- frame and didn’t dare look back. She was still there. I could hear her breathing. And in my mind, I watched her, mouth open and eyes blinking as she looked around like she usually did when she came out of one of her episodes. A minute later, I hear the sofa springs in the parlor. She’d been sleeping in there for weeks because the elves hid under her bed, she sometimes thought. But still, I didn’t move. I just stood there, staring down at the darkness in silence.”

Ronnie searched Bobby Bonetti’s sunglasses but saw only murder in the smudge of his reflection, light and shadows on a face that looked like a skull. This was not the way he was supposed to go out, sniveling on his bed like a pussy and not knowing why. And thatwas the hardest part. Not knowing why. Not knowing what he had done—no, not had done but would do. And just as quickly as the darkness had descended, Ronnie saw a light. It was faint at first but coming fast, like when he was speeding through the cross-harbor tunnel up in Boston.

“You said you were here because of something I would do,” Ron- nie said, making no attempt to hide the desperate, trembling hope in his voice. “Not because of something I did but because of something I would do. That’s what you said, right? What is it? Tell me what you think I’m gonna do, and I swear on the souls of my dead parents that I won’t do it. Please, I’m begging you, Mr. Bonetti. You have my word.”

“I would give anything to have that kind of silence again,” Bobby said. “A silence so precious that, when it’s broken, it stings you like a box of bees.”

Then Bobby shot him.

Author Bio:

Gregory Funaro is the NY Times best selling author of Disney-Hyperion’s ALISTAIR GRIM’S ODDITORIUM (an Amazon Best Book of the Month for January, 2015) and ALISTAIR GRIM’S ODD AQUATICUM (2016), which received a Kirkus starred review. WATCH HOLLOW (HarperCollins, 2019) received starred reviews from School Library Journal and ALA Booklist, and was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. The exciting sequel, WATCH HOLLOW: THE ALCHEMIST’S SHADOW, was published in February of 2020. He has also written two thrillers, THE SCULPTOR and THE IMPALER, for Kensington/Pinnacle. Gregory is a professor emeritus and lives with his family in Rhode Island, where he is busy working on his next novel. Please visit his official web site at http://www.gregoryfunaro.com.

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