The Night of the Animals

Author: J.J. Pascal

Category: Literary

Regular price: $9.99

Deal price: Free

Deal starts: June 05, 2025

Deal ends: June 05, 2025

Description:

“A darkly absurd tale of identity, regret, and rebirth.” — Publishers Weekly

What if everything that kept you stuck—fear, regret, memory—wasn’t holding you back, but shaping the story you were meant to live?

René is stuck—in a job that wears him down, in a life he never wanted, in a home that feels more like a waiting room than a place to live. Fear and regret have shaped his existence, leaving him paralyzed in the face of change. But when his estranged uncle delivers a letter from his recently deceased mother, everything shifts.

Inside the envelope lies a cryptic message about a hidden inheritance, a secret she took to her grave. At first, René approaches the matter reluctantly—tentatively tracing the edges of a mystery he barely understands. But what should be a straightforward search slowly dissolves into something more elusive: a tangle of old wounds, surreal detours, and emotional blind spots he’s spent a lifetime avoiding.

As reality blurs with dreams and his carefully laid plans unravel at every turn, René is forced to confront the one thing he’s never been able to face: himself.

The Night of the Animals is a slow-burning, introspective novel that blends absurdist fiction, dark humor, and stream-of-consciousness narration. Through fragmented recollections, metaphor-laden moments, and the looping logic of the anxious mind, it examines what it means to change when action itself feels impossible. A quiet reckoning disguised as escapism, it offers an inner epic—one where the real movement lies not in the events themselves, but in the consciousness they stir.

"The Night of the Animals is a fantastically unique tale that leans into massive anxiety, disillusionment, and the overwhelming weight of the past. Pascal's keen attention to the nuances of family and the psychological troubles of his characters makes them feel incredibly real. Very highly recommended."
— Reader's Favorite ?????

"Filled with irony, dark humor, and conflict. This is good escapist fare with an original and unpredictable ending."
— Reader's Favorite ?????

"A meditative literary novel centered on grief, fractured family dynamics, and existential inertia. It offers vivid language, a dark sense of humor, and detailed introspection through its protagonist, René. The writing shows great intelligence and ambition."
— Booksprout Early Reviewer

"A compelling, melancholic and unforgettable journey"
— Booksprout Early Reviewer

"The characters will rattle around in your brain."
— Booksirens Early Reviewer

"Between the metaphorical depth that gave profound power to everyday moments and the dark humor that pulled me further in, Night of the Animals is written with a level of skill many writers won't attain."
— Booksirens Early Reviewer

"This book feeds the soul. It’s so different and original."
— Hiddengemsbooks Early Reviewer
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Nightswimmer

Author: Joseph Olshan

Category: Literary

Regular price: $8.99

Deal price: $0.99

Deal starts: June 04, 2025

Deal ends: June 04, 2025

Description:

In this brilliant literary mosaic centered around a love affair, acclaimed novelist Joseph Olshan explores the intense pressures and passions of gay life in New York City during the AIDS epidemic Ten years ago, Will Kaplan and his lover went for a night swim in the Pacific Ocean—but only Will emerged. In the decade that followed, Will relocated to the other end of the continent, filling his days with shallow and pointless affairs, unable to come to terms with the bizarre disappearance that could have been a tragic drowning, a well-planned abandonment, or both. While immersing himself in New York’s gay bar and disco scene, and a hedonistic Fire Island culture darkened by the grim specter of AIDS, Will meets Sean Paris, a young man as tortured and damaged by the past as Will himself. Drawn together by mutual doubts, needs, secrets, and obsessions, the intense relationship that they form will make waves in their circles of friends and ex-lovers, transforming Will’s life forever.

The Marfa Blues

Author: John Egenes

Category: Literary

Regular price: $8.99

Deal price: $0.99

Deal starts: June 02, 2025

Deal ends: June 03, 2025

Description:

Vera DeSoto runs a cafe in Marfa, Texas in 1968. The cowboys and truckers who come in every day fantasize and hope for a chance with her, but she enjoys her solitary life and isn’t ready to settle down with anyone. Yet somehow, Vera seems to collect strays, lost and wayward people looking for second chances. A 14-year-old girl, two hippie boys, and a scared young artist manage to find their way into Vera’s life and suddenly, she’s joining them in a search for buried treasure in the badlands of the rugged desert of Southwest Texas.

They will learn what finding treasure really means.

A classic yarn, full of surprises, with all the right elements: love and loss, hope and despair, drug dealers and cloned cows, and the mysterious Marfa Lights.

From the author of the award winning “Man & Horse: The Long Ride Across America”.

The Marfa Blues

Author: John Egenes

Category: Literary

Regular price: $8.99

Deal price: $0.99

Deal starts: June 02, 2025

Deal ends: June 03, 2025

Description:

Vera DeSoto runs a cafe in Marfa, Texas in 1968. The cowboys and truckers who come in every day fantasize and hope for a chance with her, but she enjoys her solitary life and isn’t ready to settle down with anyone. Yet somehow, Vera seems to collect strays, lost and wayward people looking for second chances. A 14-year-old girl, two hippie boys, and a scared young artist manage to find their way into Vera’s life and suddenly, she’s joining them in a search for buried treasure in the badlands of the rugged desert of Southwest Texas.

They will learn what finding treasure really means.

A classic yarn, full of surprises, with all the right elements: love and loss, hope and despair, drug dealers and cloned cows, and the mysterious Marfa Lights.

From the author of the award winning “Man & Horse: The Long Ride Across America”.

Semi-Gloss

Author: Joe Barrett

Category: Literary

Regular price: $5.99

Deal price: Free

Deal starts: May 30, 2025

Deal ends: May 30, 2025

Description:

"Funny as hell, brilliant dialogue, great characters who I just want to hang with forever and an air-tight story-line that thinks of every contingency and plans accordingly." –Tom McCaffrey, bestselling author of The Claire TrilogyWhat sucks about waking up next to a dead girl on a Saturday is, more than likely you're gonna miss brunch.Just ask Sammy Junior-full-time house painter, part-time street artist and, as of Saturday morning, prime suspect in a South Tampa homicide investigation. One more hassle he simply does not need.Then there's Penny Sullivan, a fifteen-year-old runaway who shows up in South Tampa that same Saturday morning with only her dead sister's street smarts, a whole lot of survivor's guilt, and a Canada backpack.Misunderstandings lead to Penny joining Sammy's crew, giving her a glimpse of the house painting business-where mind-numbing boredom inspires an acid-trip world of distraction, art and healing relationships.A funny, fast-paced story about friendship and love, tragedy and redemption, and the always intriguing business of house painting.

Head Fake

Author: Scott Gordon

Category: Literary

Regular price: $4.99

Deal price: Free

Deal starts: May 28, 2025

Deal ends: May 28, 2025

Description:

Longlisted for the 2025 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel and Named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2024 “Head Fake is about how laughter can save us." —Chris Rock, comedian, actor"An absorbing, uplifting tale of finding light and self-worth in adversity’s darkest depths.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Mikey makes everything a joke, even the clinical depression he’s struggled with for years. After a run of failed jobs, he becomes the unlikely basketball coach at a high school for high-risk offenders who are experiencing mental illness. The position becomes suddenly available after the team tried to strangle their last coach.Every instinct tells Mikey to get as far away from this school as possible. Coaching these kids, who have been arrested for who-knows-what, would be difficult for a normie. For Mikey, it could cause another breakdown and force him right back to living on the street. But he knows that if he has any chance to make his twenty-sixth birthday, he needs to keep this job, even if the school board wants him fired, and the students would rather fight each other than play ball.This poignant, hilarious, and sometimes uncomfortable novel proves that even the most damaged of us can emerge victorious.