Here are the new releases from Crossroad Press for November and December 2023. Unless noted otherwise, you can purchase any of them at Amazon, B&N, Apple, Google Play, Smashwords, or Kobo.
by Sara Brooke
(Release date – 12/27/2023)
1347 Hidden Hollows Road
It’s a place of refuge for Lila Anderson who is heartbroken over her cheating boyfriend. She needs to get away and heal from the pain. And it seems like the perfect spot to hide away from the world.
The problem is, the big house doesn’t want her to rest. There are strange sounds coming from the attic, and the door at the end of the hallway … the one that is always supposed to be locked … likes to open on its own.
A mystery lies within the swampy grass outside, where the dark water holds a secret that threatens to break through.
by Jason Ridler
(Release date – 12/26/2023)
The Great War, 1918. With no end in sight, dark forces have entered the horror of No Man’s Land to secure victory or Armageddon.
Swept into their currents are two figures who will shape the final blow. Warren Bishop, con man and coward, is killed by his own dead brother in the lunar hell of France and reborn to serve the Lost Battalion, the army of war dead serving a mad sorcerer. Meanwhile inventor Vasilya Savorov, illegitimate daughter and heir to the Fabergé family fortune, has been kidnapped by the Germans to make a mechanical nightmare to break the deadlock of war and secure victory for the Kaiser.
As fate draws them together the future of millions lies in the balance. Victory or defeat means a cataclysmic Harvest of Blood and Iron.
(Release date – 12/23/2023)
In The Monsters are Due in Madison Square Garden, as Herb Fry told his story, his friend Daniel Spiegel mentioned his own association with mobster Meyer Lansky. In Star-Spangled Knuckle-Duster, we hear the full story of this encounter, which pits Lansky’s boys against dark forces at work in New York. In a tale more hard-boiled than the eggs on a Seder Plate, they face the Nazis of the German American Bund, who appear to have their very own costumed comic book hero on their team. But the anti-fascist mobsters also have help in the shape of the mysterious Donna Meyrink.
(Release date – 12/19/2023)
Cassie Freidman has it all. Just ask any of her social media followers. They see her big house, her handsome husband, her perfect children. She’s a self-made woman, helping other women be their best girl boss selves, selling fitness drink Serenity. Until one night, Cassie and her daughters go missing.
Cassie’s best friend Sarah knows something is wrong. Thinks husband Derek is acting peculiar. She’s suspicious of him, but could this actually be worse than a simple family annihilator? Under the blistering Las Vegas sun, Sarah has to figure out where her best friend is, what her husband has done and why, and get out alive.
by Edward Lee
(Release date – 12/14/2023)
Restaurant manager Vera Abbot has come to The Inn to embark on the job of her dreams. But from the day she arrives, her dream turns into a harrowing nightmare. She hears strange footsteps, sees faceless figures in the dead of night…and is tormented by erotic dreams in which a hideous stranger makes love to her.
The past never dies. It only sleeps, waiting to unleash a new cycle of bloodshed and terror. For The Inn is a breeding ground for unspeakable atrocities. And now the time has come for Vera to be initiated into its secret world of depravity and horror—whether she wants to or not!
by C. T. Phipps and Michael Suttkus
(Release date – 12/12/2023)
Revenge is all she has, or is it?
A year has passed since the disastrous Elysium massacre that left Keiko “Kei” Springs traumatized and hungry for revenge against her former mentor, Snake. However, going after the world’s second most powerful man is not as easy as it sounds. Kei must make a series of deadly alliances and navigate the complicated web of politics that will give her a chance to take him down. However, will going after him destroy the family she’s managed to build? Experience the final exciting chapter of the Cyber Dragons trilogy!
Mars and Sex: The Secrets of Sexual Astrology
(Release date 11/27/2023)
The Edgar award-winning author and astrologer unlocks the mystery of sexual compatibility, energy, and happiness.
In Mars and Sex, renowned astrologer and author Trish MacGregor will help even the most sexually reticent awaken their capacity for intimacy and love. What turns you on? What are you looking for in a partner? Great sex or great romance or a combination of the two? Each of us has a sexual blueprint that describes our strengths and insecurities, our emotional investment in sex, whether we tend toward monogamy or variety, possessiveness or detachment, and what we’re looking for in a partner.
In Mars and Sex, Trish MacGregor guides you in exploring your sexuality according to the potential promised in the combined energies of your sun sign and the sign that Mars was in when you were born. As Freud said, “Sex is everything…who we are in bed is who we are in life.” But even Freud would be astonished at how our sexual blueprint plays out in daily life. Our sexuality manifests itself in our hobbies, creative interests, politics, and our worldview. It influences the products we buy, the movies we see, the books we read. It lies at the heart of who we are as individuals and as a culture. And yet most of us are clueless about those deeper forces inside ourselves. We stumble around in the dark, hoping that we will find the right sexual or romantic partner or some combination of the two, but all too often we make the wrong choices.
The secret of sexual and romantic compatibility lies in the 144 combinations of the Sun and Mars—your sexual blueprint. Once you understand it, fulfillment in the bedroom—and in life—is just a heartbeat away.
by C. T. Phipps
(Release date – 11/27/2023)
FROM THE BEST SELLING AUTHOR OF THE SUPERVILLAINY SAGA:
“Welcome to the Moon!”
Neal Gordon and his partners, former actress Lucy Westenra and intelligent canine Barksley, are in hot water with Cyberlife after a bust goes disastrously wrong. Put on what is likely to be permanent suspension, they receive a job offer to work for EarthGov directly. Unfortunately, EarthGov is hiring them because they know a catastrophic plague is about to be unleashed throughout the Moon’s neighborhood.
Neal finds himself trying to unravel a conspiracy involving poisoned narcotics, a sham church founded by humans from another planet, and a mysterious woman from his past that he was sure had died. Enjoy this latest satirical entry in the Moon Cops series that is already a best-selling new entry in the Futurepunk universe (Agent G, Cyber Dragons, Space Academy) by C. T. Phipps!
Billy the Kid and the Lazarus Stone
By Kevin Lucia
(Release date 11/14/2023)
The Lincoln County Wars are over. Billy Bonney—“The Scourge of the Midwest”—and his band of Regulators have lost, and are on the run. When a job offer to “hunt a big cat” menacing a mining operation in the small bordertown of Tascosa, Texas, comes their way, it seems like the perfect chance to flee the law and earn a big stake. Maybe a big enough stake for everyone to make a clean break and go straight for good.
It’s not a big cat killing the miners in Tascosa, however. It’s something ancient and evil, with an unquenchable thirst for human flesh. Even worse, Billy and his pals find themselves in the midst of one man’s obsessive search for the Lazarus Stone, a mythical gem purported to possess uncanny healing powers. According to legend, the last knight of the Templars hid the stone in Cottonwood Mountain, just outside Tascosa. The mining operation was nothing but a sham to find the stone; because Wagner Rutherford III—a wealthy plantation owner and amateur archeologist—believes the stone can resurrect his dead son. Even more—the monsters are drawn to the stone’s power like moths to a flame, and stand between them and the stone.
Since the end of the Lincoln County Wars, Billy the Kid has been without purpose. A gun pointed nowhere. Now, with the help of a former priest-turned occult scholar, a small town sheriff, and itinerant and adventuring frontier doctor, Billy the Kid will find his new purpose—and destiny—or he’ll finally feel the taste of death on his tongue.
(Release date – 11/14/2023)
“Welcome to the moon!”
Neal Gordon screwed up his assignment on Mars and they reassigned him to Antarctica. Now he’s being reassigned some place even worse: Luna City. A crime ridden hellhole with a super-rich ruling class, he almost immediately finds himself targeted by bounty hunters and cyborg terrorists. Thankfully, Neal has an unusual set of partners in robot dog, Barksley, and the snarky but badass Lucy Westenra. Yes, make all the vampire jokes you want.
It’s tough being a corporate cop on humanity’s foremost colony and before this adventure is over, he’s going to have to deal with deranged influencers, mysterious female secret agents, and a 1970s themed flying car called the Purple Rain. Can he survive to get reassigned? Who knows.
MOON COPS ON THE MOON is set in the Futurepunk setting of Agent G, the Cyber Dragons Trilogy, and Space Academy novels but functions as a standalone series. It is a humorous action-filled romp that fans of The Expanse, Robocop, Demolition Man, and Blade Runner will enjoy.
(Release date – 11/21/2023)
The oily and brackish waters of the Russian Northern Fleet submarine base part for the passage of the colossal special purpose Omega II-class submarine Belgorod, on a mission to hold the United States hostage. This gigantic submarine is armed with three Poseidon unmanned submersibles, each with a 10-megaton warhead. Her goal: placing them offshore in U.S. ports in a nuclear-blackmail chess move.
In response, the United States dispatches the newest special operations attack submarine, the Virginia-class USS New Jersey, which lies in wait to follow Belgorod under the polar icecap. Because every submariner knows that what happens under the ice…never happened.
Legendary former admiral and current National Security Advisor Michael Pacino and his son Anthony, a combat-decorated veteran of undersea warfare, return in this epic novel of submarine-versus-submarine warfare.
(Release date – 11/28/2023)
The Book of the Damned reads “Know ye this – a Merciful God hath provided release from the damning curse of vampirism. If the creature be righteous, loving truly and truly loved in return, he may save his immortal soul. God may grant he become human once more.
Szeretni spends her days translating occultic text and her nights dreaming of romance. Shunned by Society because of family madness, she despairs of finding a man who will share her life. Then she meets the enigmatic Baron Corvinus and she dares to hope love has found her at last.
Once great King Matthias Corvinus has lost his faith in love. Three hundred years before, aided by his queen’s betrayal, Vlad Dracula changed him into a vampire. When Matthias finds himself drawn to the innocent Szeretni, he wonders is she too will betray him, or if he will gain peace for a brief moment in his never-ending lifetime.
When Dracula again makes his presence known, Matthias must face his past. Should he save the woman he’s come to love before Vlad makes her his prey?
What happens when a vampire is granted his greatest desire at the worst possible time?
by Brian Lumley
(release date 11/11/2023)
From the Introduction:
This pretty much is what the title says. Many of the stories/novellas here will have only been done in limited print runs, such as in fanzines, magazines, pamphlets, special editions or online magazines.
It’s a mixed genre of stories and these are what Brian considers the best of the rest of the stories in his body of work. We’ve got 111,000+ words in this collection so that means lots of enjoyment in what is likely the last collection coming from Brian.
“The Challenge” As some fools do. But do you dare? Yes? Well, don’t!
“The Man Who Photographed Beardsley” They should have been pictures from life – or was he simply impatient?
“The Cyprus Shell” There are some you can eat, while others have their own pick-me-ups.
“Clean Slate” If you’re in debt to the Devil, don’t mess with look-a-like sisters.
“The Deep-Sea Conch” Some species build nests; while others are much like the cuckoo….
“The Ugly Act” But what’s a pimple or two – if there’s only you?
“Irving’s Story” Her downstairs knew best, every time.
“The Running Man” It may be true you can run – but as for finding a place to hide…?
“Somebody Calling” The only way she could. He simply had to listen harder.
“Vanessa’s Voice” Both beautiful … and deadly!
“The Vehicle” Some might think of him that way, others as a dyadic personality?
“Mandraki” Take care who you lie down with … and where!
“Two Stone Tom” Yes, except he was an entire science heavier than that!
“The Long Last Night” Was it just a myth – or a Mythos?
“The Weird Wines of Naxas Niss” A wizard’s stolen potion is another man’s gateway to Nirvana…maybe!
“Stealer of Dreams” Always remember, once they’re gone they might stay gone!
by Thom Carnell
(release date 11/7/2023)
In this, the tenth book by Fangoria/Dread Central contributor Thom Carnell, we present nineteen brand new tales, compiled in the order in which they were completed, all written during the first years of the Coronavirus Pandemic. These stories range from the poignant to the paranoid, from the heartbreaking to the heart-pounding, all designed to transport the reader away from our mundane world to the wild frontiers of the imagination. Stories that are meant to be read over and over again.
Stories included in this collection:
Advent
I Double-Dog Dare Ya
Lealtà
Hitting the Spot
Secuestrados
The Mumble
Real Estate
Paw-Fly
Burying the Bone
Ablution
Stuck
The Somnambulist
Carrion
Ijheyojin
The Atttestant
Alias: Smith and Jones
Kiru
Willow, Weep for Me
Man’s Best Friend
Salamat!
by Adam Stemple
(Release date – 11/7/2023)
Pallasoldi. The crossroad of kingdoms. Center of commerce, of trade. While empires rise and fall, the city remains. For trade is the lifeblood of all who would rule, and Pallasoldi is its beating heart.
Most nights in Pallasoldi were the same for Alda: dress in black, go to the nicer parts of town, and steal everything that’s not nailed down. It’s not the greatest life—she risks losing a hand to the law or her head to her murderous boss, Heron, if she screws up—but she’s good at her job, has her own place, and even has a little bit of silver stashed away.
But this night is different. Because whatever she stole has the whole city looking for her. They all want what she has and are willing to kill anybody and everybody to get it from her.
And Alda doesn’t even know what it is.
**************
“There is no one on earth who writes the kind of dirtbags, scoundrels, cutthroats and rotters quite like Adam Stemple, always with equal portions of compassion and exasperation, with the occasional well-deserved scorn. This book is a complex, knotty, and cliff-hanging yarn. I enjoyed it immensely.” — Kelly Barnhill, Newbery and World Fantasy award winner, and NYT best selling author
“Everything I’ve loved about Stemple’s work comes together in this. Three characters, each a delight to follow, spiral in to a meeting with all the fireworks you’d hoped for. I can’t wait for the next one.” — NYT best-selling author, Steven Brust