The author of acclaimed short story collections, Insanity by Increments, and, Redefining Darkness, is back with his third consecutive collection of psychological suspense. Author Alaric Cabiling puts you on the edge of your seat with the often dark, sometimes grisly tales set in pre-Civil War to post-Industrial Revolution America, where shutter scenes in various socio-political climates and classic ennui of the human condition collide in the midst of violence and altercation. Witness humanity falling into the depths of deprivation. Witness the Claws of Perdition.

A gothic romance is rekindled, then, left to chance. A prison inmate struggles to survive his harsh new world until an unlikely benefactor proffers him in exchange for favours. A young man witnessing the violent crime committed to a family member must choose whether to mould himself in the image of the crime's perpetrator. A man ponders the fate of any man cursed to desire what no man is meant to reap in kind. These stories and more show the intricately-sown plots and character depth integral to author Alaric Cabiling's body of work.