And What of the Cargo? by Iyapo Yapa Available March 17

Author: Iyapo Yapa

“Kylah Mbaye of the Zahnoka people, lay as silently and still as she could, halfheartedly petitioning the ancestors that at least for one night she would not be spirited away and taken above deck to endure yet another in a procession of endless rapes. Another woman would have long ago given in to despair–but Kylah–in the face of such crushing odds against her and her people within the bowels of this floating nightmare, knew that eventually, this voyage would not end well… for her captors.” And so it began. AND WHAT OF THE CARGO? is a tale of love and hate, tears and triumph, suspense and horror that leads to an unimaginable conclusion.

“The Atlantic crossing, or “Middle Passage,” as it was called by European slavers, was notorious for the number of deaths incurred, averaging in the vicinity of 15-20%”

— Walter Rodney. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa

Much is rightly said and written about the enslavement and fates of Afrikans who were kidnapped from their homeland and transported to the Americas and other lands along the Middle Passage. Absent however is an expanded examination of the fate of those who did not make it through the journey. Whether victims of an inability to survive the unimaginable environment in which they were forced to occupy, or due to murders while attempting to revolt, or by simply jumping overboard, choosing death as a better alternative to chattel enslavement.

What of those ancestors in the depths of the oceans, and what of their souls and spirits. Or to put if bluntly—what of the CARGO?

Read more “And What of the Cargo? by Iyapo Yapa Available March 17”

Beasts of 42nd Street by Preston Fassel Available March 17

Author: Preston Fassel

From the award-winning author of Our Lady of the Inferno comes another tale of New York in the Bad Old Days: A saga of murder, bloodshed, and betrayal set against the backdrop of Times Square at the height of its decadence and depravity.

In the kingdom of the damned that is 42nd Street, there’s no lowlier subject than Andy Lew. An unrepentant junkie, voyeur, and degenerate, he’s only tolerated by the more dangerous men around him because he keeps the projectors at the Colossus theater running on time, entertaining them with the most extreme horror cinema money can buy.

There’s something unique about Andy, though. He owns a movie. It’s the only one of its kind. No one knows who made it. Only he knows where it came from. The woman it stars is beautiful beyond imagination-and the images it depicts are more nightmarish than the darkest depths of Hell. The beasts of 42nd Street will do anything to possess it, but there’s something they don’t understand. Andy loves the woman in the movie-and he’ll go to any lengths to protect her…

A savage love letter to 70s exploitation cinema and a biting satire of toxic fan culture, Beasts of 42nd Street makes horror dangerous again as it ventures into the mind of a psychopath like no other- one that will have readers recoiling even as they keep coming back for more.

Read more “Beasts of 42nd Street by Preston Fassel Available March 17”

Better Than Me by Zoe Cannon Available March 17

Author: Zoe Cannon

Seward is a torturer. He serves the conquerors who broke his kingdom’s army. He gets information from the rebels who were brave enough not to switch sides like he did. Seward is a coward.

One rebel refuses to give in. As brave as she is beautiful, she’s far too noble to break under his coarse touch. His angel.

Seward wishes he didn’t have to hurt her.

Today he’ll follow his orders and kill her, because he’s a coward. But before he does, he’ll grant her last request.

And if his angel isn’t such an angel after all… if he’s not the only with blood on his hands…

No. He has to believe in her, because she’s all he has. He’ll never lose his faith.

Even if it kills him.

Read more “Better Than Me by Zoe Cannon Available March 17”

Blood Singer (Inheritance of Shadow and Blood Book 1) by A. L. Talmadge Available March 17

Author: A. L. Talmadge

Ethira desires, more than anything else, to be herself. An aspiration which seems completely unattainable given the secret power she’s been unfortunate enough to inherit: blood magic. Untrained, her control over the taboo magic is tenuous at best. When her mother finally caves to years of pleading and agrees to teach her, Ethira is ecstatic.

Until the very education she demanded shatters a family secret. When the Undead Prince takes Ethira, her mother, and two youngest siblings hostage, his brutal reputation and unknown motives put them in a precarious position, where one misstep could mean paying the ultimate price. Faced with the frustrating consequences of her ignorance and the imprudent temptation of allying herself with an all too attractive captor, Ethira must fight to save her family from the clutches of the Court of Bones and come to terms with what it actually means to be a blood singer.

Read more “Blood Singer (Inheritance of Shadow and Blood Book 1) by A. L. Talmadge Available March 17”

The Booms : Volume 2 by J.B. Available March 17

Author: J.B.

In a society of the lost, abandoned by the great cities of Vindiri, Floaters are forced to live in the unforgiving Booms, where the wind never stops blowing and an airborne drug, called dust, reigns as king. In this desolate, dystopian world, the strong flourish on massive floating ships called shelters, unfurling their sails to capture the natural winds, using whatever power they can salvage to steal from those even less fortunate.

Buzzard lives on one such mighty shelter, the Patchwork Sail. Son of the former captain. A rare Mod among common people. Buzzard must decide what he fears more; failing those most important to him, or losing them forever. When his sister goes missing, will Buzzard discover the truth and find the courage to embark on an adventure he may never return from?

But secrets, lies, mysteries, and plots blossom in every direction.

The Floaters once lived freely in these untamed lands, unburdened by the expectations of the society which deemed them unworthy. Now, a mysterious group called the Compact is disturbing that balance along with burgeoning magic few believe to be real. The watchful eyes of the cities are slowly returning, threatening to reclaim all that remains.

Buzzard and his friends struggle to survive as they find their place in a land both cruel and kind, to those with the ambition to dream.

Read more “The Booms : Volume 2 by J.B. Available March 17”

City of Power (City of Assassins Fantasy Stories Book 4) by Connor Whiteley Available March 17

Author: Connor Whiteley

A Dragon’s Resting Place. A Capital Of Power. A Rod Of Sacrifice.

In The City of Power The Final Begins.

The Assassin meets a contact. She learns about the Hunters. The Assassin knows the Final battle begins.

Can the Assassin prevail? Or is everything lost?

Buy this gripping, action packed conclusion to the fast paced urban fantasy series now!

You don’t want to miss this!

Read more “City of Power (City of Assassins Fantasy Stories Book 4) by Connor Whiteley Available March 17”

The Curse of the Shadow God : The Wicked Kingdom Prequel by Abbey Fox Available March 17

Author: Abbey Fox

Forced into an arranged marriage, a sorceress will stop at nothing to regain her freedom.

Violet Elder escapes her wedding night and sets out to find the family she was stolen from as a child. The Society of Crows is already hunting her, and every moment she spends in the Kingdom is one moment closer to death.

When her new husband, Gavin Luna catches her in the City of Scoria, undeniable chemistry blurs the line between friend and foe. He’s her enemy, and after being betrayed by everyone she considers a friend, how can she let down her guard to trust him of all people?

But with the Society of Crows on their feet and the Emissaries of the God chasing their every move, they are forced to form an unlikely alliance to escape the kingdom and avoid the fate that binds her to the wicked god of shadows.

Read more “The Curse of the Shadow God : The Wicked Kingdom Prequel by Abbey Fox Available March 17”

Dark Timber by J. R. Rice Available March 17

Author: J. R. Rice

October, 1945—Five months after the end of World War II, Walton Hess Jr. returned from Europe to his family home in Lakes End. Three weeks later, his father, a wealthy cattle baron was dead, making him the sole heir to the vast Hess empire. Walton had dreamed of this day for three long years while fighting the War. Now was the time to create a new empire—his empire—an industrial-based empire of processing plants and manufacturing facilities. And nothing or no one would stand in his way.

July, 1976—The bicentennial celebration was underway. The small town of Lakes End at the southern tip of Lake Culebras was inundated with tourists, enjoying the warm, clear waters of the placid lake. Twenty-three miles to the north, at the opposite end of the long, narrow body of water, the story was quite different—the Hess Processing Plant had been spewing toxins into the remote region of the lake for more than thirty years. When a fledgling organization known as the EPA shows up, a series of events unfold, becoming the stuff of legends.

May, 2015—Sheriff Jackson Campbell was a relative newcomer to the town of Lakes End—relocating there from Bane County at the beginning of 2011. He’d run for Culebras County Sheriff the following year, winning the election hands down. Life had been good for the past few years. Jackson, his wife, Mariana, and his young son, Dylan, had never been happier. But things were about to change in the sleepy little village of Lakes Ends. And no one knew better than Jackson Campbell that—sometimes …old legends could come to life.

Read more “Dark Timber by J. R. Rice Available March 17”

Happy Ghoulidays II by Shannon Lawrence Available March 17

Author: Shannon Lawrence

The holidays elicit a mixture of emotions, from joy and revelry to despair and rage. In these stories, we examine the dark side of the holidays with a twisted Easter egg hunt, a desperate St. Patrick’s Day curse, a monster that’s only visible in the light of fireworks, a mother’s guilt on Halloween, and more in this follow up to Happy Ghoulidays that embraces the underlying shadows of our favorite holidays.

Read more “Happy Ghoulidays II by Shannon Lawrence Available March 17”

Hetgarib’s Curse (Blackwing Book 2) by C. M. Alongi Available March 17

Author: C. M. Alongi

Jinua is a paladin, granted powers by the gods and sent on missions to fulfill their desires in the mortal world.

Ontiku is a necromancer, hated by gods and mortals alike.

After their unlikely alliance against Enejel, the two follow the evil queen’s trail to the city of Capulstos, certain that they’ll go their separate ways as soon as the mission is complete–assuming they don’t kill each other, first. But what should be a fairly simple investigation gets complicated by the presence of a city-wide plague, caused by Hetgarib, the god of disease.

As Ontiku risks exposing himself as a hated necromancer and Jinua risks the wrath of the gods, the two find themselves once again unlikely allies. Though neither one knows whether this alliance–or their lives–will survive a city full of death, disease, and vengeance.

Read more “Hetgarib’s Curse (Blackwing Book 2) by C. M. Alongi Available March 17”

Imago and Other Transformations by Erica Ruppert Available March 17

Author: Erica Ruppert

In the twenty-one stories in Imago and Other Transformations there is faith, found and lost again. There are eldritch horrors and profane rituals. And there are characters caught in circumstances they thought they could control.

A woman discovers the cost of the magic to resurrect her lost child. A husband struggles against hungry, old gods to win back his missing wife. A child wields a dangerous power his mother had long hoped to harness for her own. Plagues spread. Cities crumble. And the world that ends for some still goes on…

Read more “Imago and Other Transformations by Erica Ruppert Available March 17”