Thrift Store Puzzles

Ken Allenwood is a man being devoured, from the inside out, one memory at a time. A once famed horror writer who now spends his days in an elder care facility waiting for the breath that will be his last and hoping he'll retain at least some memories from his long and unusual life. Ken is over 130 years old...or is he? Has the unraveling fabric of his mind tangled with the threads of his fictive endeavors?

Elijah is a boy who adores all things spooky, a boy who spends the bulk of his time alone, his single mother juggling jobs to keep a roof overhead and food in their bellies. Eli occupies his days, hanging out at the home across the street with his uncle/pal, Tierny, one of Mr. Allenwood's many carers as well as Allenwood himself. Afternoons filled with cheesy scary movies and the old man's recollective stories (while he is still able to tell them).

Then a change comes to the little town on Cordry. The killings are vicious and devoid of pattern, almost. When Elijah tells Ken about them, the old man grows fearful and decides to use his unreliable windows of focus to help his friends figure out what is going on and who or what is behind the murders.  

A monster has come to roost in their midst. A creature that craves blood and possibly much more, inheritance of a sort, acknowledgment. A monster from the very dark recesses of Allenwood's mind, a horror very old and very bitter. The things we create have a tenacity, a stubborn strength and a very vicious bite. And no debt glares harder than one owed the heart.


Genre: Horror

"...so poignantly heartbreaking that it made me ache." - Candace Nola

"Thrift Store Puzzles includes some of the best of Boden's writing, both the brutal and beautiful, as monster meets metaphor in a tale that will haunt you." - Kelli Owen

"Thrift Store Puzzles finds John Boden at his brilliant bloody best." - Josh Rountree

"Thrift Store Puzzles will make your heart ache and your stomach turn in equal measure." - Michael Wehunt