News & Blog

To quote Professor Farnsworth: Good news, everyone! My Bram Stoker Award-nominated novelette General Slocum’s Gold is finally debuting in an e-book edition! Previously for sale only as an $8 chapbook from Canadian micropublisher Burning Effigy Press, it’s now available for the Kindle at a mere $1.99! Soon it will be available for Nook, Kobo, and iBooks, too. The e-book also contains the bonus story “The Jew of Prague,” one of my earliest horror-noir tales.

Readers who only know my work from Dying Is My Business or Chasing the Dragon may not know about General Slocum’s Gold because it wasn’t as widely available. Here’s the description to whet your appetite:

Sackett is no ordinary thief. He was born with strange abilities, powers he uses to pull off dangerous and unusual heists. Fresh out of Rikers and eager to get back in the game, he’s got his eye on a fortune in gold rumored to be buried on a deserted island in New York’s East River. It should be the easiest job he’s ever pulled. But North Brother Island isn’t as deserted as he thought. Something is waiting beneath the waves. Waiting for Sackett. Waiting to protect their treasure.

I’m really proud of General Slocum’s Gold. It wasn’t just nominated for the Bram Stoker Award, it also wound up on several year’s end “Best Of” lists and garnered a ton of great reviews. Here’s a sample:

“Sensational….Nicholas Kaufmann is a brilliant story teller who is able to keep the reader on the edge of their seats while taking them through an exciting rollercoaster of a ride.” — Lipstik Indie

“Kaufmann tells this tale with authority….Fans of fiction that blends crime and the supernatural (found in the works of such writers as Ed Gorman or Tom Piccirilli or venues such as Tales from the Crypt or ShockSuspense Stories) will find Sackett’s story to be a delightful foray in that vein….[A] fun horror yarn. This reader certainly looks forward to more of Kaufmann’s fiction.” — Horror Reader

“Kaufmann has a sure hand for plotting and dialogue, and his precise prose keeps the caper moving briskly to its horrific conclusion…The author has tapped into a deep vein of pulp storytelling for his tale.” – Dead Reckonings

“Kaufmann draws you into his spell without gore, without the big scares that other authors rely upon, but with a steady growing dread that marks truly great horror. I strongly recommend General Slocum’s Gold…[He] pulls this off remarkably well.” – Belleville News-Democrat

You can see lots more reviews here.

So if you haven’t read General Slocum’s Gold yet, I hope you’ll check it out now. If you’re not a Kindle reader, don’t worry. I’ll be sure to post again when it’s available for Nook, Kobo, and iBooks. (Also, if you’d prefer a hardcopy, Burning Effigy still has a few chapbooks left!)