Box of Lies

"These stories race headlong through the twists and turns of all kinds of macabre and fantastic situations, constantly feeling like they could swerve off the road any second, but nonetheless head single-mindedly for home, or somewhere worse. Practically every story has the air of an old Twilight Zone episode."

- Dana Wilde, Bangor Daily News

"This collection scared the bejesus out of me."

- K.J. Keller - Author of 'Waiting for Spring'

"In BOX OF LIES, Mark LaFlamme grabs his readers by the throat and never loosens his grip. More than two dozen short stories in one outrageous collection packed with a wide-ranging variety of over-the-top tales and oddball characters. Like his previous books, this one is scary as BLEEP - loaded with clever twists, some of them shocking. Entertaining, realistic, so well written, you find yourself wondering - Could it really happen? With stories like these rattling around inside his head, he must be an insomniac - maybe worse (?). The man is a talent and one of my favorite authors."

- David Ebright - Author of The Jack Rackham Adventure series

"I absolutely could not put this collection of short stories down! This is LaFlamme's best work to date, despite me being a huge Pink Room fan, I have to admit this book really was over the top. Not only is this book entertaining, but it is thought provoking and left me wondering "what if...." on many occasions. Each story is all it's own, but this collection will haunt your thoughts for some time. For the past few days since finishing the book, I have been wondering, "Am I really living in a SIMS world?" This is one book everyone should have on their shelf, one of the best books I have read in a long long time. I highly recommend this book."

- Gail Tarr, Amazon

"Like Stephen King at his best, LaFlamme doesn't stop at visual terror. He takes us inside the diseased minds of the most psychologically intriguing characters I've ever seen. "

- David Griffiths, Twin City Times

"Are you ready? Are you ready for something completely different? If you are a fan of LaFlamme's work, this will seem at first like familiar territory, but it won't be long until you realize the path he is leading you on is much much different. Much darker, more complex, more thought provoking than any of his previous work. I adored all of his earlier writings, but this one raises the bar significantly. Some stories leave you satisfied, some may leave you wanting more, others may leave you feeling unsettled and looking over your shoulder, but all will sit in your mind, your gut for days. There are big stories here, neatly packaged in tiny little boxes. Go ahead, just start with one or two. But trust me, once you open the first box, the first story, take the first bite... You're not going to want to stop.

- Lauren Zito, FrancisRocks! Productions

 "I've read Mark LaFlamme's work before, so I thought I knew what I was in for with his BOX OF LIES. Shivers at the back of my neck, furtive glances over my shoulder, a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach... delicious! But I didn't bargain on the cumulative effect of more than two dozen stories, each with its own chilling atmosphere. LaFlamme is like a graffiti artist sliding around a corner in the dark with his collar turned up, a few bold strokes and he's moved on--but the territory of your mind has been tagged with his distinctive images. "If you're about to say that short stories aren't your thing, put that opinion on hold for a day or two and peek under the cover here. See if you really can resist. Each story opens with a line that yanks you in: "Trevor Garbo liked dead things." "My name is Rudy Weather and I can read your mind." "It was two days after the world ended when the old van rumbled up Route 4." "'Do you ever worry,' Randall Albee asked him, 'That they might come for you?'" "I wouldn't know where to start, telling you about these stories. Read a few here, a few there, put the book down and think about them for a while, go back and read a few more. One thing you know for sure is that, whether you're reading about a band of murdering fourth-graders, a shopkeeper defending his territory after the apocalyse, or a man who made a very poor bargain for eternal life, the characters are so real you can reach out and touch them, if you only dare. "Many of these stories spoke to me of some truth I don't quite dare to believe. For example, if you were moving into a new house as I am this week, what would you think of a story like "Our House," about a home that nurtures one of its new tenants while abusing the other? And do you hope that we'll adopt a gentle new paradigm when the oil is gone but fear that, instead, as it does in "The Neighborhood," it will come out of our hides? And perhaps creepiest of all, do you ever think about what could happen--or not happen--because you stopped to pick up a penny (or, perhaps, didn't)? "If you've let your imagination get a little rusty, prepare to be challenged by Box of Lies. Stylish writing, great characters and some wildly skewed concepts; it's a whole lot of entertainment with the mind-bending thrown in for free."

- Linda Bulger, Amazon

"Don't start this book if you have to go to work tomorrow. #1: You won't be able to put it down. You're going to have to read the whole thing. It's a page turner. #2: Once you finish it you're going to spend hours going over the plots and characters - so don't even try to get your normal sleep. Unless your normal sleep is full of nightmares. LaFlamme's images and characters will pop up over and over, scaring you again and again. "This book will smack you upside the head, squeeze your guts, and make you cough. You might vomit. "LaFlamme drags open a curtain, showing you the scary corners of your mind. He provides just enough science along with the phantasmagoric fantasies to truly scare you crapless. He opens up his heart too, offering up just enough soul to make this an honest read. "Thanks, I think, for another haunted apartment house of horrors. Condos of creepiness. Ghost ghetto of Lewiston, Maine. Yeah, thanks."

- Meredith Kendall, author "Reiki Nurse"