In this tenth issue of Shock Totem, you will find fiction from Trace Conger, David G. Blake, Thana Niveau, Margaret Killjoy, and eight other fantastic authors. T.E.D. Klein breaks his long silence in an exclusive interview with Barry Lee Dejasu. Paul Tremblay is also interviewed. Plus reviews, nonfiction, and more... Come see why Shock Totem is billed as “...one of the strongest horror fiction magazines on the market today” (Hellnotes).

Shock Totem 10

Literature & Fiction

Killjoy, Margaret

Conger, Trace

Marzioli, Samuel

Anderson, Leslie J.

Totem, Shock

Pletsch, Mary

Wayrd, D.K.

Genre Fiction

Shock Totem Publications

EVERYONE PAYS FOR THEIR MISTAKES. SOME PAY MORE THAN OTHERS. Underground private investigator, Finn Harding, returns in this fast-paced, gripping crime thriller. When Finn discovers an acquaintance, Dr. Daryl Jennings, is entangled in a fentanyl smuggling operation, he negotiates a deal with the head of an Indianapolis criminal organization to earn the doctor’s freedom. But freedom doesn’t come cheap. To fulfill his obligation, Finn must locate an anonymous criminal banker who skipped town with $5 million of the organization’s money. But how do you find a man with no name, no identity, and no known location? In his toughest case yet, Finn must rely on his skill, cunning, and an unlikely connection from his past to find the banker and the cash before Dr. Jennings’ time runs out. Along the way Finn discovers that loyalties run deep, everyone has secrets, and some mistakes can never be forgiven. SCAR TISSUE is the follow-up to Conger’s award-winning debut novel, THE SHADOW BROKER.

Scar Tissue (Mr. Finn)

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

Black Mill Books

SEARCH FOR MONSTERS LONG ENOUGH AND YOU MIGHT BECOME ONE. Thirty years ago Jacob Vance and Raymond Turner committed a gruesome crime that shocked a small West Virginia town. Only nine years old themselves, they kidnapped and murdered four-year-old Josh Baker. The two boys were quickly arrested, tried and convicted, but were released after serving only eight years in a juvenile detention facility. Because of the heinousness of their crime and the town's thirst for retribution, the government gave Vance and Turner new identities and relocated them to parts unknown. Now, the victim's father has hired Finn Harding to find his son's killers so he can levy the justice that was denied so long ago. Along the way, Finn clashes with a tenacious US Marshal determined to protect the killers' new identities and crosses paths with an infamous triggerman hired to do what the courts didn't. What begins as a typical job for Finn quickly spirals into a moral struggle between revenge and forgiveness as he learns details about the lives Vance and Turner have been living. As he fights with his conscience, Finn learns that monsters truly exist, you can't hide from your past, and some cases should stay buried.

The Prison Guard's Son (Mr. Finn)

"Daddy, there's a boy in my room." Quinn Becker doesn't believe in ghosts. Or coincidences. That changes when his five-year-old son, Drew, tells him about the "white boy" who visits him at night. As Drew's encounters with the white boy escalate, Quinn and his wife, Mel, are forced to decipher what is real and what is the product of their son's vivid imagination. As the family searches for answers, they discover a link to a 40-year-old mystery and a connection to Quinn's own past. But the most unsettling discovery is that the white boy is only the beginning. A much more menacing threat is coming.

The White Boy

MIRAGE MAN - A crime thriller from award-winning author Trace Conger Connor Harding is a Mirage Man for the New York mob. He's smart, relentless, and a master of a trade that few people know exists. When it comes to solving problems for the underworld's most dangerous criminals, he's the go-to man. If you've got a problem, you want him on your side, but if you ARE the problem, you never want to meet him.In Connor's line of work, mistakes get you killed. Until now, the only mistake he made was thinking his past would never come back to haunt him. Connor's professional skills are tested when, three years after leaving the criminal life and retiring into obscurity, an eager triggerman arrives at his home to kill him. What begins with a dead man on Connor's kitchen floor spirals into a high-stakes chase that takes him back to his New York City stomping grounds. There, he becomes entangled in a criminal power struggle, mob turf war, and a federal investigation that put his former boss in prison. Connor is determined to find those responsible for the attempt on his life and cancel the contract before someone else cancels him.

Mirage Man: A Connor Harding Thriller

Thrillers & Suspense

A small-town sheriff with a panic disorder must solve a series of murders before the killer claims his fifth victim and disappears forever. 
A serial killer thriller that will keep you guessing until the last page. 
Tim Burke is the sheriff of Lincoln, Ohio, a small town where nothing happens. That all changes when he finds a chilling note claiming five people will die in town. At first, Burke and his two deputies dismiss it as a prank by local teenagers. This is idyllic Lincoln, Ohio, after all. 
Then the bodies begin turning up. 
Consumed by the murder investigation, Burke uncovers a link to another Ohio town, where a killer left a similar note, claimed five victims, and vanished without a trace. Burke also discovers something else. His panic disorder, which had been dormant since retiring from Cleveland's gruesome homicide division three years ago, has returned more paralyzing than ever.\nCan Burke overcome his debilitating condition and stop the killer before he claims his fifth and final victim and leaves Lincoln forever?\nFive Will Die is the sixth novel from Shamus Award-winning author Trace Conger.

Five Will Die

When finding criminals is your business, it’s easy to make a killing. Finn Harding (Mr. Finn to his clients) specializes in finding people who don’t want to be found. Stripped of his PI license, Finn begins working for the type of clientele who operate in the shadows, pay in cash, and don’t care if he’s licensed or not. As Finn becomes ensnared in a plot to take over a black market information brokerage, he finds himself and his family straddling the thin line between life and death. With his own clients gunning for him, Finn must evade a psychopathic killer, special agents from the FBI’s cybercrime unit, and a Detroit mob boss. Finn is about to find out that working with criminals has its advantages. Staying alive isn’t one of them. In The Shadow Broker, Trace Conger delivers a sharp-edged and gritty tale of crime, murder, and family. It’s a fast-paced crime thriller that holds nothing back.

The Shadow Broker (Mr. Finn)

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

The Prison Guard's Son

LMBPN Publishing

WHEN A SERIAL KILLER STALKS A SLEEPY OHIO TOWN, EVERYONE IS A SUSPECT.\nNothing ever happens in Lincoln, Ohio. Sheriff Tim Burke likes it that way. That's why he moved to the tranquil town after a panic disorder, triggered by a gruesome unsolved case, forced him to retire from Cleveland's Homicide Division.\nThese days, the only thing Burke has to worry about is who spray-painted the side of Walt Tanner's barn. That all changes when someone slips a note under Burke's door. A note claiming five people will die in Lincoln.\nAt first, Burke and his two deputies dismiss it as a prank by local teenagers, the same troublemakers he singled out for defacing Walt's barn.\nThen the first body turns up. Then the second.\nConsumed by the murder investigation, Burke uncovers a link to another small Ohio town, where a killer left a similar note, claimed five victims, and vanished without a trace. Burke also discovers something else. His panic disorder, which had been dormant since retiring three years ago, has returned more paralyzing than ever.\nWill Burke overcome his debilitating condition and stop the killer before he claims his fifth victim and leaves Lincoln forever?\nFive Will Die is the sixth novel from Shamus Award-winning author Trace Conger.

An ex-mob fixer must solve the murder of a hitman’s wife and daughter before becoming the next victim.\nA vigilante justice crime thriller with a twist ending.\nConnor Harding is the go-to man when it comes to solving problems for the underworld’s most dangerous criminals. Freddie Blasko is a violent hitman with a reputation for results. Twelve years after Freddie’s wife and daughter were brutally killed, he wants Connor to solve their murders.\nFreddie tracks Connor down at his secluded cabin in Maine, but Connor wants nothing to do with the job. He knows an unsolvable case when he sees one. Twelve years is a long time, and there’s no evidence, no witnesses, and nothing to go on.\nBut, Freddie isn’t the type to take no for an answer. He gives Connor an ultimatum: solve the case, or Connor’s brother dies. Fearing for his brother’s life, Connor investigates the murders and slowly pieces the puzzle together. He uncovers a long-buried secret and quickly finds that no one, not even the victims, is who they seem.\nWhat he doesn’t know is that while he’s tracking the killer, someone else is tracking him.\nCan Connor find the murderer and save his brother before becoming the next victim?\nCatch and Release is the seventh novel by award-winning author Trace Conger.

Catch and Release (Connor Harding)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Conger, Trace. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Conger, Trace

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Conger, Trace. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Shock Totem 10

Scar Tissue (Mr. Finn)

The Prison Guard's Son (Mr. Finn)

The White Boy

Mirage Man: A Connor Harding Thriller

Five Will Die

The Shadow Broker (Mr. Finn)

The Prison Guard's Son

Five Will Die

Catch and Release (Connor Harding)