The Desire Card by Lee Matthew Goldberg

Any wish fulfilled for the right price. That's the promise the organization behind The Desire Card gives to its elite clients - but sometimes the price may be more menacing than anyone could ever imagine. Harrison Stockton has lived an adult life of privilege and excess: a high-powered job on Wall Street fuels his fondness for alcohol and pills at the expense of a family he has no time for. Quite suddenly all of this comes crashing to a halt when he loses his job and at the same time discovers he almost certainly has only months left to live. Desperate, and with seemingly nowhere else left to turn, Harrison activates his Desire Card. What follows is a gritty and gripping quest that takes him from New York City to the slums of Mumbai and forces him to take chances, and make decisions, he never thought he'd ever have to face. When his moral descent threatens his wife and children, Harrison must decide whether to save himself at any cost, or do what's right and break his bargain with the mysterious group behind The Desire Card.

The Desire Card is a taut fast-paced thriller, from internationally acclaimed author Lee Matthew Goldberg, that explores what a man will do to survive when money isn't always enough to get everything he desires.

Harrison's life is falling apart. Faced with a crumbling marriage, a failing liver, and loss of his job, he makes a choice that will effect not just the rest of his life but put others in danger as well.
With his wife too wrapped up in her activities, and his kids grown accustomed to his frequent absences none of them notice how seriously ill he has become, and he chooses not to share his diagnosis. Normally I'd have had some sympathy for such a character but Harrison was such an unlikable and weak willed person it was hard to muster up much concern for his well being. However, the events that unfolded after he received his "Desire card" as part of his severance were intriguing  enough to keep me glued to these pages through the surprising reveal at the end. Regardless of my feelings for Harrison the author did a great job of conveying his sheer heart pounding terror and desperation.
4 out of 5 stars
I received a complimentary copy for review.

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About the author

Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of the novels SLOW DOWN, THE MENTOR, and THE DESIRE CARD. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the 2018 Prix du Polar. PREY NO MORE, the second book in The Desire Card series, is forthcoming. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in the anthology DIRTY BOULEVARD, The Millions, Cagibi, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Underwood Press and others. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series (guerrillalit.wordpress.com). He lives in New York City. Follow him at leematthewgoldberg.com and @LeeMatthewG

The Town That Feared Dusk by Calvin Demmer

Sylvia Bernstein doesn't want to end up on a dead-end path like a former journalism colleague. She begins searching the tabloid's archives for a story that can get her career back on track. A strange bridge, with an abnormally high rate of suicides, seems like the perfect place to start. She journeys to the little town, eager to investigate, but encounters a tale far more sinister than she ever expected...


This is a quick read that features a spooky little town with an unusual bridge that seems to attract suicides. A reporter in need of a rousing story attempts to get the scoop but none of the townspeople are willing to speak openly about it.
Not to be deterred, even when she experiences first hand what happens at dusk, she may come to regret her pursuit of the truth.
 I would have liked to see the back story fleshed out a little more, because there was a very clever and creative idea behind it all.
I received a complimentary copy for review.

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About the author
Calvin Demmer is the author of The Sea Was a Fair Master and The Town That Feared Dusk. When not writing, he is intrigued by that which goes bump in the night and the sciences of our universe.

Slash by Hunter Shea

Five years after Ashley King survived the infamous Resort Massacre, she’s found hanging in her basement by her fiancé, Todd Matthews. She left behind clues as to what really happened that night, clues that may reveal the identity of the killer the press has called The Wraith.

With the help of his friends, Todd goes back to the crumbling Hayden Resort, a death-tinged ruin in the Catskills Mountains. What they find is a haunted history that’s been lying in wait for a fresh set of victims. The Wraith is back, and he’s nothing what they expected.



We already know from the book description that Poor Ashley King was the only one to survive the first killing spree, though she lost all of her friends and most of the memories of that awful night. For 5 years she tried to live a normal life though all the "final girl" fans didn't make it easy for her. When she learns the abandoned resort where her friends had been brutally murdered is about to be demolished it triggers memories that make her take her own life. Devastated and outraged, her fiancée taunts the killer and heads out to the resort to lie in wait, hoping to lure him out and finish him off. I was hooked on this story from the start, but by the time I was halfway through it was like a breathless race to make it to the finish and see who (if anyone) survived.
Highly recommended for all horror fans and contrary to the title it is not your typical slasher story.
5 out of 5 stars.
I received an advance copy for review.


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About the author
Hunter Shea is the author of over 25 books, with a specialization in cryptozoological horror that includes The Jersey Devil, The Dover Demon, Loch Ness Revenge and many others. As part of the new horror line at Flame Tree Press, his novel Creature has gained critical acclaim. His novel, The Montauk Monster, was named one of the best reads of the summer by Publishers Weekly. A trip to the International Cryptozoology Museum will find several of his cryptid books among the fascinating displays. Living in a true haunted house inspired his Jessica Backman: Death in the Afterlife series (Forest of Shadows, Sinister Entity and Island of the Forbidden). In 2011, he was selected to be a part of the launch of Samhain Publishing’s new horror line alongside legendary author Ramsey Campbell. When he’s not writing thrillers and horror, he also spins tall tales for middle grade readers on Amazon’s highly regarded Rapids reading app.
An avid podcaster, he can be seen and heard on Monster Men, one of the longest running video horror podcasts in the world, and Final Guys, focusing on weekly movie and book reviews. His nostalgic column about the magic of 80s horror, Video Visions, is featured monthly at Cemetery Dance Online. You can find his short stories in a number of anthologies, including Chopping Block Party, The Body Horror Book and Fearful Fathoms II.

A lifetime New Yorker, Hunter is supported by his loving wife and two beautiful daughters. When he’s not studying up on cryptozoology, he’s an avid explorer of the unknown, having spent a night alone on the Queen Mary, searching for the Warren’s famous White Lady of the Union Cemetery and other mysterious places.
You can follow his travails at www.huntershea.com.

What's Wrong with the Baby? by Vincent Courtney

THE FEAR IS GROWING  
From the moment he saw the ancient castle rising out of the picturesque Scottish countryside, filmmaker Dan Martin knew he'd found the ideal location for his vampire horror movie. And nothing could make him leave. Not the eerie legends of soul-stealing beasts of the night…nor a bizarre series of freak accidents. Not even his pregnant wife's tragic miscarriage.

THE TERROR IS BORN  
Except that now there is another fetus growing in Vicki's womb. But little Darian is not going to be a normal baby. The Martins' adopted ten-year-old son Marty will soon find that out. In fact, Marty will soon know exactly what his new brother really is.


I can't resist a creepy baby story. There is something so terrifying about the thought of a baby being able to do more than it should. A baby barely old enough to crawl, knowing more than it should know, dancing a jig when it shouldn't be able to walk yet, scurrying along with evil intent when nobody else is looking. I've just given myself chills and so did this book! One man knows the truth about what this baby really is, but nobody believes him until it's too late. A young boy knows something is wrong with his new baby brother but he doesn't know how to stop it. Refusing to believe, will have deadly consequences in this chilling read from Grinning Skull Press.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

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