The Silver Ring

A writer whose wife has been missing for eight months encounters a familiar old woman with an odd request -- a request that will introduce him to a surprising evil. 

Spooky Nook is a 10,000-word "prequel of sorts" to The Calling, a supernatural thriller by Robert Swartwood. The prologue and first three chapters of The Calling are included in this e-book. 

Praise for The Calling:

"The Calling is a powerful, gripping and terrifying novel, the sort that possesses your whole life while you're reading it; it'll stalk you through the day, and inform your dreams.Swartwood has delivered a novel that will become a clazzic."

-- Tim Lebbon, author of Echo City 

"Robert Swartwood's The Calling is a diabolical rocket sled of a psychological thriller. Told through the vivid, almost druggy point of view of a young man on the edge, tangled in a web of tragedy and surreal horror, Swartwood's novel gets under the skin and stays there. Highly recommended."

-- Jay Bonansinga, co-author of The Walking Dead: Rise of The Governor

"This novel is small town horror at its best."

-- Hellnotes

When eighteen-year-old Christopher Myers' parents are murdered, something is written on his bedroom door, a mark in his parents' blood that convinces the police the killer has targeted Christopher as the next victim. To keep him safe, he travels away with his estranged grandmother and uncle to the small town of Bridgton, New York. And it's in Bridgton that he meets an extraordinary young man who has come with his father to stop an unrelenting evil. Soon Christopher learns of the town's deep dark secret, and how his parents' murder was no accident, and how he has been brought to Bridgton by forces beyond his power -- forces that just may threaten the destruction of all mankind. 

The Calling is a 100,000-word supernatural thriller in the vein of Peter Straub and Dean Koontz. 

BONUS CONTENT: excerpts from Spooky Nook and The Man on the Bench



"The Calling is , the sort that possesses your whole life while you're reading it; it'll stalk you through the day, and inform your dreams.."

-- , author of Echo City 

"Robert Swartwood's The Calling is . Told through the vivid, almost druggy point of view of a young man on the edge, tangled in a web of tragedy and surreal horror, Swartwood's novel gets under the skin and stays there. ."

-- , co-author of The Walking Dead: Rise of The Governor

"This novel is ."

-- 

Ben Anderson goes to bed Sunday night, lying next to his wife in the comfort and safety of their Pennsylvania family home, to wake up the next day in a rundown motel in California -- alone.

He doesn't know how he got there, he doesn't know where his family is, and written in dried blood on the bathroom door are the words LET THE GAME BEGIN.

Soon Ben is contacted by Simon. Simon knows all there is to know about Ben, more than he cares to remember himself.

If Ben wants to save himself and his family, he will have to do everything Simon says.

As the game begins -- with stakes much higher than either man can imagine -- no one knows where it will lead or how it will end.

Only one thing is for certain: this time the game will change everything.

Man of Wax is 80,000 words long and the first book in a thriller trilogy where every day men and women must fight a power that threatens to destroy the world. Recommended for fans of Harlan Coben, Lee Child, and Dean Koontz.

***View the Man of Wax book trailer at YouTube: youtu.be/cixMgLbfjQY***

Praise for Man of Wax:

"Man of Wax grabs you by the throat in the first chapter and never lets go. A suspense-filled thrill ride with plenty of shocks along the way. Read it!"

-- F. Paul Wilson, author of the Repairman Jack novels

Two years ago Ben Anderson woke up in a rundown motel, three thousand miles from home, his family missing, and the words LET THE GAME BEGIN written in blood on the back of the bathroom door.

Now, with his past life gone, Ben has become a soldier in Carver Ellison's army against Caesar.

But when a mission goes wrong and one of their team members is murdered, it's the last cryptic word spoken that will lead Ben and the team one step closer to the Inner Circle -- a step that may bring them salvation ... or get them all killed.

With his trademark action and suspense, Robert Swartwood has delivered his most ambitious thriller yet.

The Inner Circle is over 120,000 words long and the second book in a trilogy where every day men and women must fight a power that threatens to destroy the world. Recommended for fans of Harlan Coben, Lee Child, and Dean Koontz.

Praise for The Inner Circle:

"The Inner Circle is a crafty, clever, white-knuckle thriller. If you haven't yet read Swartwood, you're missing out."

-- Brian Keene

About the Author

Robert Swartwood's work has appeared in The Los Angeles Review, The Daily Beast, Wigleaf, and PANK. He is the author of several novels and the editor of Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer. Visit him online at www.robertswartwood.com.

In a not-so-distant future, the world has devolved and most of the population has become the animated dead. Those few that are living are called zombies. They are feared and must be hunted down and destroyed. 

Conrad is one of the animated dead. A devoted husband, a loving father, he is the best zombie Hunter in the world. But when he hesitates one night in killing a living adult, his job is put in jeopardy. Instead of being outright dismissed, he is transferred to a program so secretive even the Government would deny its existence -- and where Conrad soon learns a startling truth about how his own son might be in danger of becoming a zombie. 

As living extremists become more emboldened and blow up a Hunter Headquarters, as a power-hungry Hunter becomes more enraged and will stop at nothing to gain absolute power, Conrad begins to question not just his profession, but his own existence. And before he knows it he is on a journey of self-discovery, remembering a past he was forced to forget, and soon finding himself not only a hunted man, but a man who must now save both his son and the entire world. 

The Dishonored Dead is a 100,000-word zombie thriller that includes the 3,000-word short story "In the Land of the Blind," which won 10th Annual Chiaroscuro Short Story Contest and was the inspiration for the novel, plus the 3,000-word short story "The Hunter" and a bonus interview with the author. 

BONUS CONTENT: excerpt from Through the Guts of a Beggar 

Praise for The Dishonored Dead: 

"The Dishonored Dead is one of the most original and gripping zombie novels I have ever read, offering a glimpse into the life of a zombie in a world turned backwards, where zombies live and humans are feared. Highly recommended!" 

-- Jeremy Robinson, author of Instinct and Threshold 

"The Dishonored Dead is simply brilliant, and its telling a superb achievement. Robert Swartwood has given us a wonderful twist, not only on the zombie novel, but on the dystopian tale as well. It's like Brave New World meets Logan's Run, but with a bite all its own. Strongly recommended!" 

-- Joe McKinney, author of Apocalypse of the Dead and Flesh Eaters 

"One of the most unique zombie novels I've ever read ... a must-read." 

-- wezombie.com 

"A definite page turner with lots of action, tension and suspense." 

-- buyzombie.com

Five years ago Elizabeth Piccioni's husband was arrested for being a serial killer. Her life suddenly turned upside down, she did what she thought was best for her newborn baby: she took her son and ran away to start a new life. 

Now, living in a quiet part of the Midwest with a new identity, Elizabeth is ready to start over. But one day she receives a phone call from a person calling himself Cain. Cain somehow knows about her past life. He has abducted her son, and if Elizabeth wants to save him she must retrieve her husband's trophies -- the fingers he cut off each of his victims. 

With a deadline of one hundred hours, Elizabeth has no choice but to return to the life she once fled, where she will soon realize that everything she thought she knew is a lie, and what's more shocking than Cain's identity is the truth about her husband.

The Serial Killer's Wife is a 80,000-word thriller in the vein of Jeffery Deaver, John Sanford, and Thomas Harris. It includes a special foreword by Blake Crouch.

BONUS CONTENT: excerpt from Man of Wax and No Shelter

Praise for The Serial Killer's Wife:

"This is a scary, thrilling, page-turning, race-against-the-clock novel if ever there was one, with a true shocker of an ending. Miss this one at your own peril."

-- Blake Crouch, author of Run and Desert Places

"An explosive summer thriller. Robert Swartwood is a sharp writer, his prose lean and mean as a razor blade. He notches up the tension from chapter to chapter like a master storyteller, keeping you reading long into the night."

-- The Man Eating Bookworm