“AJ Brown’s debut novella presents three short stories of moralistic caution, human failings, and dark, unrelenting horror. He has a fresh, unique voice that brings the characters to life with a skill and experience that makes this a real page turner all the way to its deliciously macabre ending.”
--Starburst Magazine
At some point, everyone faces a life altering decision. The right choice can lead to success, or at the very least, happiness. The wrong decision can have a more dramatic and permanent impact, and take you down a dark path to destruction.
Sitting on a roadside curb, Phillip is down on his luck. Homeless, dirty and hungry, he is tired of life kicking him when he is down. His luck is about to change. Meanwhile two brothers, maybe not as weary of life, but tired of being broke all the time, take matters into their own hands. A convenience store and a gun in the hands of a nervous person equal a recipe for disaster.
Rekindling a crumbling marriage, James plans a romantic getaway. When things do not go as planned, he leaves and does what every angry man does behind the wheel of a car: speeds. On an icy road in the mountains, anger and speed are a bad combination. With a snowstorm brewing, James must find shelter. A long fall and broken leg makes finding refuge more important. In the middle of the woods sits a makeshift hut, made of tree branches, leaves and packed mud. And what’s inside just might make him wish he were dead.
A young man wrestles with the ghost of his past, an abusive father and a mentally unstable brother. As a last resort, he returns home to confront the evil he left behind. What he finds just may be the end of him.
Climb into the minds of the characters in A.J. Brown’s debut short story collection, Along the Splintered Path. The decision is yours to make.