Free Audio Download Codes & Review Copies:

If you listen to audiobooks or do reviews, but don’t like reading newsletters, you should jump to the bottom because we have been offering free Audible download codes, UK and US, for a few weeks now, along with links to the audio samples. Quick Link Here.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Another year is grinding to a close. Our last royalty payment of 2025 will go out in a few days, and it’s been a pretty good year, overall. We are on track to publish just over 100 titles this year. It’s a lot. There are myself, David Dodd, Trish (my better half) and a small team of proofreaders and copyeditors doing every bit of this.

Our policy when we first started was that if we were working with an author, particularly an author who had been commercially published, we took any new books they sent us. We stuck with that way too long for our own good, not paying enough attention to marketing, promoting new books, or our own work/life balance. We’ve pulled back from auto-accepting titles. We still read and consider those our authors send in, but we’ve got to weigh the work against the return and make smart choices.

Those of you who have read interviews with me about Crossroad Press will remember how it started. I was publishing my own books as eBooks, and others asked if I could do that for their books. The answer was “Yes, but not for free,” and that is still the answer. Looking forward to a successful 2026.

NEW PRE-ORDER

The Monster in the Closet – by Bill Gauthier – Due out 2/24/2026 – Preorders available everywhere via the Universal book link on the title and cover.

What if the monster in your child’s closet is real?

Tim Beaulieu’s daughter, Cleo, says that the monster is also her invisible friend, whom she blames for innocuous trouble. The whole thing makes Tim uneasy as he tries to remember a part of his childhood that is missing. Surely nothing can be wrong. Can it?

When the boy in the apartment upstairs goes missing after hurting Cleo, horrific memories begin to resurface as Tim finds himself under suspicion for the unthinkable. His daughter and those around him are in danger.

Tim must face his past to save Cleo but can they survive the monster in the closet?

JUST RELEASED

The Web of La Sanguinaire – by Ronald Kelly – Available at all Book outlets via the link in the title and cover.

Where do the spiders go at night? Do they creep and crawl through the bushes and trees? Up the porch posts and across the eaves? Do they scramble inside? Skitter soundlessly down the hall? Do they enter your bedroom, climb the bedcovers and wall? Do they drop from the ceiling, shivering and cold? Do they find your mouth open and think “What a lovely abode…”

Hidden or in plain sight, eight-legged creatures are everywhere. Where you expect them to be or least expect them. In the dark swamps of Louisiana. On a beach with a mysterious past. In the dimly lit tent of a carnival sideshow. In the cell of a long-abandoned prison. Down deep in an underground cavern where the sun never shines. Or, perhaps, even inside your own body…Ronald Kelly, the master of Southern-fried horror, brings you eight, spine-tingling tales of spiders invading your comfort zone and behaving badly.

Perfect Victim – by Jay Bonansinga - Available at all Book outlets via the link in the title and cover.

A slashed female corpse...a footprint, a tire track...a trail of blood in a crowded shopping mall. Even the most jaded cops are horrified by the carnage. But to seasoned FBI profiler Ulysses Grove, the evidence spells out a much more personal message, a threat that speaks to Grove alone... Meticulous Killer...

He chooses his victims with care. He plans their murders with painstaking precision; he studies the most notorious slayers. He's gone to extremes to achieve his goal. He’s committed to fulfilling his destiny as history's greatest serial killer...

With precious lives at stake, and his very soul on the line, Grove throws himself into the chase, and into a trap from which there's no escape...

Wizards of Dragon Keep – C. T. Phipps – Available on Amazon and free to read in Kindle Unlimited. Also in trade paperback and soon in unabridged audio. This is book three of the DARK UNDERMASTER SAGA. This one is for the LitRPG fans.

"So, we've got an army."
"Yes. All of the Southern Kingdoms are united for our big battle with Veles."
"Except, he's not fighting us. He ran to Earth."
"Yeah, I didn't see that one coming."

It is the time for the final battle between Veles and Aaron's heroic band of misfits. Except Veles doesn't show up. Unfortunately, this leaves Aaron holding the bag as the various factions he's united have ended up divided. Worse, Aaron is slowly metamorphisizing to becoming a god and will soon no longer be able to be among mortals. Can his relationship to his loved ones' survive? Can he defeat Veles before he's bound by ridiculous rules against stopping him? Can he stop Jon from making incest jokes?

WIZARDS OF DRAGON KEEP is the third volume of the Dark Undermaster Saga, a humorous send up of dark fantasy like Game of Thrones, The Witcher, and Dark Souls. It is a progression fantasy LitRPG that follows the adventures of video game computer programmer, Aaron Bartkowski as he is hurled bodily into the world of his favorite author, Larry C.C. Weis. Unfortunately, Weis turns out to have been much better at stealing from other, better, authors than he was in giving his heroes a break.

SPOTLIGHT

F. Paul Wilson: Universal Book Link

(Publisher’s Note) We have been fortunate enough to work with Paul for several years now. We have published three two-book series, the last Repairman Jack novel, and An Adversary novel, as well as bringing back his “Compendium of F” collected works, and more. In case you aren’t aware of his many accomplishments, below are the covers of the books Crossroad Press has published, and the (abbreviated) bio from The Last Christmas.

F. Paul Wilson is an award-winning, bestselling author of sixty books and nearly one hundred short stories spanning science fiction, horror, adventure, medical thrillers, and virtually everything between. 

His novels The Keep, The Tomb, Harbingers, By the Sword, The Dark at the End, and Nightworld were New York Times Bestsellers.  The Tomb received the 1984 Porgie Award from The West Coast Review of Books. Wheels Within Wheels won the first Prometheus Award, and Sims another; Healer and An Enemy of the State were elected to the Prometheus Hall of Fame.  Dydeetown World was on the young adult recommended reading lists of the American Library Association and the New York Public Library, among others.  His novella Aftershock won the Stoker Award. He was voted Grand Master by the World Horror Convention; he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writers of America, and the Thriller Lifetime Achievement Award from the editors of Romantic Times.  He also received the prestigious San Diego Comic-Con Inkpot Award and is listed in the 50th anniversary edition of Who's Who in America.

His short fiction has been collected in Soft & Others, The Barrens & Others, and Aftershock & Others.  He has edited two anthologies: Freak Show and Diagnosis: Terminal plus (with Pierce Watters) the only complete collection of Henry Kuttner’s Hogben stories, The Hogben Chronicles.

In 1983 Paramount rendered his novel The Keep into a visually striking but otherwise incomprehensible movie with screenplay and direction by Michael Mann.

The Tomb has spent twenty-five years in development hell at Beacon Films.

Dario Argento adapted his story “Pelts” for Masters of Horror.

Over nine million copies of his books are in print in the US and his work has been translated into twenty-four languages.  He also has written for the stage, screen, comics, and interactive media. Paul resides at the Jersey Shore and can be found on the Web at www.repairmanjack.com.

FEATURED AUDIO

Glamour Ghoul: The Passions and Pain of the Real Vampira, Maila Nurmi – Performed by Beth Stewart – AUDIO SAMPLE

Maila Nurmi, the beautiful and sheltered daughter of Finnish immigrants, stepped off the bus in 1941 Los Angeles intent on finding fame and fortune. She found men eager to take advantage of her innocence and beauty but was determined to find success and love. Her inspired design and portrayal of a vampire won a costume contest that lead to a small role on the Red Skelton show which grew into a persona that brought her the notoriety she desired yet trapped her in a character she could never truly escape. This is Malia’s story. Her diaries, notes, and ephemera and family stories bring new insights to her relationships with Orson Welles, James Dean, and Marlon Brando. Sandra Niemi—Malia’s niece—fills in the nuances of her life prior to fame and her struggles after the limelight faded and she found a new community within the burgeoning Los Angeles punk scene who embraced her as their own.

Here is our new list of books we are offering free download codes for.  We are trying to build reviews, and while we don’t require a review for a free download, even just a rating on Audible or Amazon can make a huge difference in visibility. Beneath the new books are those from last week, because all still have some codes available for US and UK listeners. We will offer them to the first five who request them, and only one title per requester. To request a code send a note to [email protected]

THIS WEEK’S TITLES:

Oak Hollow – by Kristopher Rufty – Performed by Joan Dukore – AUDIO SAMPLE

The town of Oak Hollow is very eager to welcome Tracey...and her baby.

Soon after 17-year-old Tracey Parks found out she was pregnant, she was sent off to live with her grandmother in Oak Hollow. It was a painful transition, but she learned to love the quaint town and the people who live there. But now, as the birth of her son approaches, the once-friendly town seems much more ominous. Could it be that the residents of Oak Hollow have been waiting for her—and her unborn baby—all along? And what role will her baby play in this macabre nightmare?

Sallow Bend by Alan Baxter – Performed by Joe Hempel – AUDIO SAMPLE

Something old and deadly has awoken. When two teenagers go missing from the small, rural town of Sallow Bend, the residents come together to search for them. Little do they suspect that finding the wayward girls will be the start of their problems. An old evil is rising, and only one man seems to realize that everyone is in danger, and this is not the first time it’s happened. With the carnival in town, people want to have a good time, but for many, this will be the worst time of their lives.

The President’s Doctor by David Shobin, Performed by T. W. Ashworth – AUDIO SAMPLE

Years before, when the two fought beside one another in Vietnam, a humiliating event occurred which would forever impact the younger soldier's psyche. Decades later, his former lieutenant is president of the United States, while the young medic has become Admiral John Townsend, the White House physician. But dark forces were at work behind the scenes, intent on unseating the president—by any means possible. Townsend discovers the plot to take President Meredity down. But is he up to the job, or will his deep-seated fears result in national tragedy?

LAST WEEK REVIEW COPIES -Codes still available

Survivor’s Game by David Karmi – AUDIO SAMPLE

Junction – by Deborah Morgan – AUDIO SAMPLE

Night’s Plutonian Shore – by Garrett Boatman – AUDIO SAMPLE

REVIEW COPIES AVAILABLE

There is a form on our website for requesting review copies of any of our titles, but you can also do so by emailing us at [email protected] – Let us know which of our many books you’d like to read and review. Provide us with the places you will post your review, and let us know if you’d like to be added to our list of reviewers to hear about all upcoming titles.

THAT’S A WRAP!

Thanks to everyone who made it to the end of the newsletter. Remember to share, and check out all our titles, available on most eBook platforms.

David & David

            Wilson & Dodd

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