Buying Illegal Bugs with Bitcoin

My new book is out now. This one is a crime noir / weird horror novel about a small-time drug dealer who buys a mysterious insect off a darknet market. Things get ugly.

You can get it here. It’s currently available in Kindle and paperback formats, and I’m recording the Audible version right now. If you write reviews of this kind of thing, on Amazon/Goodreads or a blog, hit me up for a review copy.

As per usual, you can sample the first couple chapters on Amazon. Here’s a video of me reading a passage from the middle of the book:

You can buy anything on the Internet these days. Books, electronics, and Chinese takeout are just a few clicks away. If you’re after something more illicit, all you need is a special browser and some bitcoin to spend. Every drug you might want is readily available on the darknet markets. You can also hire a hitman, get a fake ID made, or have an illegal bug delivered to your door.

Ben Samsa is a small-time weed dealer and amateur entomologist. He can’t resist buying a mysterious bug he finds on one of the black market sites where he gets his inventory. The splurge leaves him with only enough bitcoin to purchase lower quality marijuana than he normally sells. Unfortunately, Ben doesn’t realize one of his customers has been flipping his product to a murderous, one-eyed Nazi. He’s soon sucked into a hellish nightmare of dread, drugs and death.

Meanwhile, the bug is growing. Nothing will ever be the same when Ben learns the true, hideous name of the insect.