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The Monster Beside the Silence
Before the tech money.
Before the throne.
Before the name James King carried weight in every room from the boardroom to the back alley…
There was us.
And I was the monster beside the silence.
My name is CJ. And I don’t speak unless I mean to end something.
To most, James King is a legend — buttoned up, calculated, untouchable. But before he was a King, he was just a brilliant hustler clawing his way out of the dirt, building an empire brick by calculated brick. I was the blade he kept sheathed until blood was the only language left.
The streets we came from didn’t hand out second chances. Loyalty was currency. Silence was survival. And breaking the code didn’t just cost you your life… it erased your name.
I’ve been called a lot of enforcer, ghost, fixer. But never hero. I don’t move for clout. I don’t flex for crowds. When the line is crossed, I don’t hesitate. Discipline lives in my bones.
James built the kingdom. I defended it — in shadows, alleys, and rooms where the wrong look could get you erased. But in a world of organized crime, street politics, and underworld deals, power attracts enemies. Every handshake hides a blade, and every alliance comes with a cost.
The deeper we climbed, the higher the stakes. The blood ran thicker. And the silence grew heavier.
The Monster Beside the Silence is a gritty, character-driven crime thriller about brotherhood, betrayal, and the razor-thin line between man and monster. It’s for readers who
Urban fiction with authentic street grit
Organized crime thrillers like Power or The Wire
Slow-burn, high-stakes drama where loyalty is everything
Crown Cipher Publishing’s breakout release will pull you into a dangerous world of power, loyalty, and revenge — where one man builds an empire, and another will do anything to protect it.
This isn’t a love story.
It isn’t redemption.
It’s a code.
And breaking it means you’d better pray the monster stays sleeping.
Before the throne.
Before the name James King carried weight in every room from the boardroom to the back alley…
There was us.
And I was the monster beside the silence.
My name is CJ. And I don’t speak unless I mean to end something.
To most, James King is a legend — buttoned up, calculated, untouchable. But before he was a King, he was just a brilliant hustler clawing his way out of the dirt, building an empire brick by calculated brick. I was the blade he kept sheathed until blood was the only language left.
The streets we came from didn’t hand out second chances. Loyalty was currency. Silence was survival. And breaking the code didn’t just cost you your life… it erased your name.
I’ve been called a lot of enforcer, ghost, fixer. But never hero. I don’t move for clout. I don’t flex for crowds. When the line is crossed, I don’t hesitate. Discipline lives in my bones.
James built the kingdom. I defended it — in shadows, alleys, and rooms where the wrong look could get you erased. But in a world of organized crime, street politics, and underworld deals, power attracts enemies. Every handshake hides a blade, and every alliance comes with a cost.
The deeper we climbed, the higher the stakes. The blood ran thicker. And the silence grew heavier.
The Monster Beside the Silence is a gritty, character-driven crime thriller about brotherhood, betrayal, and the razor-thin line between man and monster. It’s for readers who
Urban fiction with authentic street grit
Organized crime thrillers like Power or The Wire
Slow-burn, high-stakes drama where loyalty is everything
Crown Cipher Publishing’s breakout release will pull you into a dangerous world of power, loyalty, and revenge — where one man builds an empire, and another will do anything to protect it.
This isn’t a love story.
It isn’t redemption.
It’s a code.
And breaking it means you’d better pray the monster stays sleeping.
235 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 14, 2025
About the author
Alonzo J. Crippen
2 books10 followersAlonzo J. Crippen writes crime fiction with teeth—stories where the shadows of the city are as alive as the people who walk them. His debut novel, The Monster Beside the Silence (Wolf Gospel, Book One), unravels a tale of survival, betrayal, and the unrelenting search for truth in the places most people are afraid to look.
Crippen’s work sits at the crossroads of thriller and confessional, weaving together sharp prose, raw emotion, and an unflinching look at what it means to fight demons—both real and imagined. His characters aren’t safe, neat, or pretty; they bleed, break, and carry scars that refuse to heal, because that’s what makes them human.
As part of Crown Cipher Publishing, Crippen is building a body of work that refuses to play it safe, where each story is less about comfort and more about confrontation. The Monster Beside the Silence is only the beginning of the Wolf Gospel series—a world where loyalty has a price, and silence can be the deadliest weapon of all.
Crippen’s work sits at the crossroads of thriller and confessional, weaving together sharp prose, raw emotion, and an unflinching look at what it means to fight demons—both real and imagined. His characters aren’t safe, neat, or pretty; they bleed, break, and carry scars that refuse to heal, because that’s what makes them human.
As part of Crown Cipher Publishing, Crippen is building a body of work that refuses to play it safe, where each story is less about comfort and more about confrontation. The Monster Beside the Silence is only the beginning of the Wolf Gospel series—a world where loyalty has a price, and silence can be the deadliest weapon of all.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 20, 2025
Against the backdrop of a world that few understand, genuine bonds between a patchwork of characters are the foundation on which the author builds this story of strength and redemption. The majority of the book reads like poetry, with passages so descriptively detailed that it’s easy to forget that this is a work of fiction. The obstacles the main character CJ faces are daunting, yet somehow he perseveres time and again. Running on instincts & observations of the world around him, he carefully builds his own legacy, one strategic step at a time. Intricately woven scenes make the reader feel like they’re watching a cinematic masterpiece. We are pulled inside the world of CJ and his tight network—a place where people will do anything to survive, and connections are born of mutual respect and self preservation. Here, the author beautifully illustrates the hard reality that sometimes people fall more often than they get up. A very strong second book by Alonzo J Crippen. I hope to see more from this author again soon.
October 17, 2025
The Monster Beside the Silence doesn’t sugarcoat a thing. It’s the kind of book that makes you stop mid-page because the words sound like somebody you know — or maybe somebody you used to be. CJ’s world is rough, but it’s not just about drugs or the hustle; it’s about the pressure that turns good intentions into survival moves.
What hit hardest for me was the way Alonzo J. Crippen wrote the quiet moments. The silence after the chaos, the guilt that creeps in when you finally get a second to breathe that’s where the story punches you in the gut. There’s no fake redemption here, no neat ending. It’s just life the way it is on the "other side of the tracks" heavy, complicated, and full of ghosts that don’t stay buried.
If you’ve ever had to make a hard choice to stay alive or keep your people safe, this one will hit you different. Real talk this book doesn’t read like fiction; it reads like testimony.
What hit hardest for me was the way Alonzo J. Crippen wrote the quiet moments. The silence after the chaos, the guilt that creeps in when you finally get a second to breathe that’s where the story punches you in the gut. There’s no fake redemption here, no neat ending. It’s just life the way it is on the "other side of the tracks" heavy, complicated, and full of ghosts that don’t stay buried.
If you’ve ever had to make a hard choice to stay alive or keep your people safe, this one will hit you different. Real talk this book doesn’t read like fiction; it reads like testimony.
September 8, 2025
I read The Monster Beside the Silence early as an ARC from my publishing mate Alonzo J. Crippen. This book is powerful and intense from the first chapter. It is not a clean or polished story of good versus evil, it is about people trying to survive in impossible situations and the choices that come with that.
The writing is sharp and the characters feel very real. I found myself pulled into their lives and wanting to know how far each of them would go. It kept me turning pages because I could not predict what was coming next.
If you want a story that does not hold back, this one will stay with you long after you finish it.
The writing is sharp and the characters feel very real. I found myself pulled into their lives and wanting to know how far each of them would go. It kept me turning pages because I could not predict what was coming next.
If you want a story that does not hold back, this one will stay with you long after you finish it.
October 20, 2025
Be prepared to fall deeply into the world that Alonso J. Crippen creates for the main character CJ and his “monsters”. I found myself quickly immersed in this intricately crafted novel where loyalty is tested daily, and betrayal seems to happen in every dark alley, and around every forgotten corner. The author humanizes those whom society would normally consider “bad guys”. Drug dealers, killers, and those born into a world dominated by criminals are carefully humanized, and have a part to play in this honest and gritty tale. “The Monster Beside The Silence” is an extremely well-written and hard-hitting story. A soulfully written tale of survival & salvation.
October 14, 2025
I really love stepping outside my normal reading norms I always finding gems hiding! This book was beautiful written! This book was amazing!!! CJ been studying people since he was in school! Studying the game! He got caught but that made he wanna run the game even harder, better! Making sure the next time he wouldn't get caught! He would ,e the monster beside the silence! CJ is the silence!!! He moves in silence!! this book keep me reading because I had to know what happened to CJ!! I had to see if CJ would stay clear! CJ had me in a chokehold! This was a masterpiece!
October 17, 2025
hooked!
Reminded me so much of my brother and the hustle of making money and switching over to other ways to make money in the streets. I was constantly wondering what was going to happen next and if he would be caught for good. Be sure to get on kindle unlimited.
Reminded me so much of my brother and the hustle of making money and switching over to other ways to make money in the streets. I was constantly wondering what was going to happen next and if he would be caught for good. Be sure to get on kindle unlimited.
November 14, 2025
Wow this book is so good takes you into the streets shows you exactly like it really is an the characters are amazing I couldn’t stop reading this it’s like reading everyday life in a inner city and all the emotions and elements to survive! A must read! Highly recommend
November 24, 2025
(Giveaway win) great book, straight to the point.
October 2, 2025
This new release from Crown Cipher Publishing is not what it seems. Readers who expect the stereotypical Black thug story will find disappointment. Alonzo J. Crippen is, as the bio note describes, "a gritty new voice in urban fiction." That said the writing is smooth, at points lyrical, and is the most wonderful aspect of the novel. CJ, the main character and narrator is a self-described, "lone wolf" who runs a drug racket, yet he manages to come across more as a soul groping for survival rather than a self-described “monster.” Again, credit the writing.
In fact, at some points in the later chapters of Crippen’s debut novel the sentences become repetitive. Nonetheless, the work is insightful. I was put off by the initial warnings about "sensitive content" when I saw, The Monster Behind the Silence on the review list. I expected the language and tone to be broadly offensive to most readers. Instead, I discovered a page-turner that keeps the suspense until the final sentence.
Crippen's prose is as tight as a lug nut on a Formula One racer. For example, "His uncle fixed mufflers. His cousin ran dice. MMC? He watched. Learned. Broke things down and built 'em better."
The taut sentence structure forces readers to sail on the prose until they are wrapped in the spare, unadorned coming of age story that cannot soon be forgotten. More than that, the tale humanizes the world of hustlers as CJ shows that those who walk in his crew are not the majority of the people who live in urban neighborhoods.
"Call me myth," he declares. "Call me ghost. Call me what they whisper when the streets get too quiet.
"But don’t ever forget — I’m the monster beside the silence."
Some of CJ's best lines are descriptions. He says of his "blood cousin from across the bridge," C Shine, "At only 21, he moved like a man with a 20-year head start. You never saw him twice in the same ride, and if you did, it was a trap."
I did not find monsters in Crippen's New York. I saw people who make bad choices, largely because they expect to come out ahead. The tale does not soft pedal crime. CJ, like many criminals, is sure he has the game figured out, yet smart enough to stay wary.
In fact, at some points in the later chapters of Crippen’s debut novel the sentences become repetitive. Nonetheless, the work is insightful. I was put off by the initial warnings about "sensitive content" when I saw, The Monster Behind the Silence on the review list. I expected the language and tone to be broadly offensive to most readers. Instead, I discovered a page-turner that keeps the suspense until the final sentence.
Crippen's prose is as tight as a lug nut on a Formula One racer. For example, "His uncle fixed mufflers. His cousin ran dice. MMC? He watched. Learned. Broke things down and built 'em better."
The taut sentence structure forces readers to sail on the prose until they are wrapped in the spare, unadorned coming of age story that cannot soon be forgotten. More than that, the tale humanizes the world of hustlers as CJ shows that those who walk in his crew are not the majority of the people who live in urban neighborhoods.
"Call me myth," he declares. "Call me ghost. Call me what they whisper when the streets get too quiet.
"But don’t ever forget — I’m the monster beside the silence."
Some of CJ's best lines are descriptions. He says of his "blood cousin from across the bridge," C Shine, "At only 21, he moved like a man with a 20-year head start. You never saw him twice in the same ride, and if you did, it was a trap."
I did not find monsters in Crippen's New York. I saw people who make bad choices, largely because they expect to come out ahead. The tale does not soft pedal crime. CJ, like many criminals, is sure he has the game figured out, yet smart enough to stay wary.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews