The Tenth Wish available now for kindle preorder

From acclaimed crime and horror author Dave Zeltserman (Small Crimes) comes something very different. A charming mix of fantasy and thrilling adventure.

Emily Mignon recently moved to New York and finds herself frustrated romantically, professionally, and financially. When she comes into possession of a genie's lamp, she's tempted to wish for her biggest dream to be fulfilled, but she knows from literature that a genie's wish can be maliciously twisted. Even the genie--who is quite handsome and looks like a young lawyer dressed in a Brooks Brothers suit and black leather oxfords--admits to her how disastrously some of his previous masters' wishes turned out. He seems sincere when he promises her that this time will be different and she wants to believe him. Except there's a warning engraved on the bottom of the lamp. Do not trust him.

"Fun and fanciful, The Tenth Wish finds love and magic in this bitter old world." - Clea Simon

Paperback and kindle versions of The Tenth Wish will be available February 21. Kindle copies can be preordered now.

Something very different from me

I wrote this book about 7 years ago, but it was so different from the darker crime and horror novels I was writing and publishing that I didn't know what to do with it. I didn't want to send it out to publishers and I wasn't even sure what genre it was. It's charming, and it somewhat a love story, or at least a search for love, but it doesn't fit in the romance category since there's no sex. It's also somewhat a paranormal fantasy in that it features a genie, but there's also a realism that I think pushes it out of that category. In a way it's an adventure, but probably not what most people would expect from an adventure novel. I ended up self-publishing it under a different title and pen name, but it was all very dissatisfying throwing it out there with no marketing, and I ended up taking it out of print soon after.

This book has always been my wife's favorite of mine, and I recently gave it another look, and decided I liked it also quite a bit, and gave it a careful edit, made a few other changes, and prepared it to be self-published as The Tenth Wish. Even though it's not my typical dark crime or horror novel, I think folks who like my writing will like this book. And even though the best I can describe it is as a charming mix of fantasy and adventure, the book has it's hard edges. There's a biker gang in it that could've come straight out of BLOOD CRIMES, and the other thugs and villains would be right at home in my crime noir novels. And while the genie is very different than Archie, he has a certain quality that I think will appeal to Julius Katz fans.

I haven't figured out a publishing date yet, but will probably make it available end of February. I'll let folks know when I figure that out. Also, I think Oliviaprodesign did a tremendous job on the cover, and I highly recommend Olivia to any other writer looking for a book cover design (and her fees are extremely reasonable.)

Upcoming Morris Brick thriller UNLEASHED available for review at Netgalley

My 5th Morris Brick crime thriller UNLEASHED will be out March 5th and is available to reviewers now on Netgalley.

Jeffery Deaver on UNLEASHED: “A roller coaster ride between covers! A skillful blend of psychological and investigative thriller writing, Unleashed brings back the great Morris Brick and his crew, who have to stop a horrific series of murders in L.A. Rarely is an author so skilled at portraying such unremitting evil and the poignant, human side of his characters in a single
tale.”

Book description:  There’s a new demon in the City of Angels. The Cupid Killer targets couples in love, unleashing on them a pure animal savagery.

L.A. detective Morris Brick has never hunted a psycho who’s taken such sadistic pleasure in destroying people’s lives. The surviving victims have all identified the killer’s snarling wolf tattoo. Now Morris knows he’s on the trail of a brutal predator who’s taunting him. But there's a dark secret behind the Cupid Killer and the danger is closer to home than Morris imagines . . . 

Expertly alternating between past and the present day, Unleashed is the very best kind of suspense thriller, one where the twists and surprises will shock even the savviest reader.

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I think this one works well as both a thriller and a crime novel. I also got to unleash my inner Richard Stark writing it, especially writing the back story chapters. I hope folks check it out!