My Corpse Has a Heartbeat

by Nick Roberts

Turner Blake loves his wife and children just as much as he enjoys killing people. Balancing date nights and birthday parties with chainsaw chases and shooting sprees is no easy task, but he thinks he's found the perfect system.

When mysterious notes threaten to expose him, he must leash his addiction or risk losing those closest to him. Turner soon realizes old habits die hard as his sanity and his family's safety spiral out of control.

MY CORPSE HAS A HEARTBEAT puts you in the mind of a killer at a crossroad. Deeply disturbing and darkly funny, this unfiltered narrative is as morally fractured as the man telling it and the society that continues to listen.

Genres: Horror, Thriller

208 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 20, 2025

About the author

Nick Roberts is a native West Virginian and a doctoral graduate of Marshall University. He is an active member of the Horror Writers Association and the Horror Authors Guild. His works include Anathema, The Exorcist's House, It Haunts the Mind & Other Stories, and Mean Spirited. He currently resides in South Carolina with his family and is an advocate for people in recovery from substance use disorder.

Reviews

[LTJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“My Corpse Has a Heartbeat” by Nick Roberts is one of those horror gems I promise you’ll never forget. This was one hell of a wild ride, and I’m still in shock at what I just finished devouring.

Before I dive into my review, here are the trigger warnings I found while reading:

- Violence against women
- Violence against kids
- Violence against animals
- Self-harm
- Abortion
- Pedophilia
- Drugs
- Cannibalism

If any of these trigger you, please do not read this book. Moving along, this is easily one of the craziest, bloodiest, most unhinged horror books I’ve ever read. I couldn’t put this book down, and I had such a great time reading. All the dark humor had me laughing out loud numerous times. It was so horrible yet hilarious with all the jokes, gore, vulgarity, and insanity of it all, that I couldn’t get enough. I've been a horror fan for over three decades now. What did you expect?

I loved how Roberts went wild, no, went feral in this story, especially with the main character, Turner Blake. My goodness, being inside the mind of a serial killer, to such extreme levels of carnage, was such an incredible reading experience. It was beyond shocking, and I was delighted to read this because these bits of horror came out of nowhere.

Don’t worry, no spoilers here, but the brutality was so damn good, and I was all here for it, especially when the first plot twist hits. When I least expected it, it hit me, and I was immediately hooked. I’ve always enjoyed Roberts’ style of writing, but this was exceptionally great, and such a creepy way of writing this horror book. I felt as if Blake was literally speaking to me the entire way. It was brilliantly executed.

With all the chapters flying by as I kept reading deep into the night on several occasions, I loved the illustrations for each chapter’s title. They were eerie, especially since you’ll have all these little horror seeds planted at the start to enjoy later.

Once I reached the final 25% of this book, that’s when Roberts went into complete overdrive. The race to the end was crazy, fun, and exhilarating. The ending, with all the incredible tension, suspense, and shock that had been brewing throughout the story, culminated in a bloody climax that blew my mind. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. It was so gruesome and bloody, my jaw was literally on the floor while the bloodbath completely engulfed me, and I was loving every second of it. It was so damn good, Art the Clown would tip his hat and be proud of everything that transpired with an evil, bloody smile.

I give “My Corpse Has a Heartbeat” by Nick Roberts a perfect 5-Star rating out of 5. This was out-of-this-world fantastic, and I loved all the viciousness and savagery in a genuine page-turner. For over 32 years now, I’ve always loved horror movies, especially those in the slasher and demonic genres. This felt like one of those classic 80s slashers, where it’s so over-the-top, you just have to sit back and enjoy the blood-soaked journey. You have never read anything like this, and if you love slashers with a serial killer twist with horror so brutal, you’ll probably wince and make many weird faces while reading, read this book immediately. You might have to shake off all the excess blood dripping from the pages to prepare for this. Once you have this book in your hands, I promise that if you love this kind of sadistic horror, you’ll be smiling from ear to ear with that final page turned.

RED. RED. RED. KILL. KILL. KILL.

[TheConnieFox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly, I do want to say that Nick Roberts is one of my favorite horror authors! This book was good, but not one of my favorites of his. It was well written, but too predictable for me. I liked how I was inside this serial killer / Dad’s mind, while reading this. However, this book didn’t stand out to me. It’s similar to books that I’ve already read and series that I’ve watched.

I did enjoy the storyline and found this book to be well executed. It was dark, disturbing and gory. It is a fast paced read, especially towards the end. It didn’t scare me at all, it was just like wow - this guy is going bonkers. I wanted to get to know the characters in the story more. The narrator is unreliable and it did come with emotional depth.

This book did make me laugh! So, if you want to read a horror book that also comes with dark humor in it as well, this is it! It does have trigger warnings, if you want to check those out before reading it. Overall, I give this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars rating.

This book gave me the Series, “You” and the series “Dexter” vibes. It also gave me the movie “American Psycho” vibes.

My favorite book from author Nick Roberts is, “Dead End Tunnel”!!

[Court Zierk · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 1/2

Big things come in small packages. This is true of wedding rings, dynamite, lottery tickets, checks, and a balls-to-the-wall novella that starts at 10 and cranks the volume up from there.

With one of the most shocking endings I’ve read, as we’re trapped in the mind of a serial killer in the throes of a full on berserker mode, this novella rips from start to finish.

Nick Roberts knows how to write — not in the pompous, literary, prosaic, vainglorious sense — he just knows how to put a story together that I want binge. He steps a bit outside of the supernatural lane he’s paved for himself, but it’s a welcome departure, and one I wouldn’t mind seeing more of as he tests the waters of his creative reach.

I’ll read anything he puts out, but this one will stick in my head for a while. If I was a corpse, this would definitely give me a heartbeat too.

[Stitching Ghost · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book haunted me for a while before I gave in, I was a little reluctant to pick it up because Anathema wasn't bad but it also wasn't necessarily something I felt a need to read more of. The tone of this one is a lot more playful yet there's a slow creep of anxiety to it that was surprisingly effective. The writing and pacing are also smoother here, overall think Roberts has grown into his voice somewhere between Anathema and this book.
At the risk of spoiling it, My Corpse Has a Heartbeat is like [100% Match] and the movie American Psycho had a bastard spawn of a child who lives in the suburbs.

[Ga.selle (Semi-hiatus) Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Do what you love and love what you do. Even if it’s fleeing a crime scene dressed like Rocky Balboa wearing a Devil mask with a nail in his heel."

[Kayla_Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. This was so dumb but I couldn’t put it down 🤣

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started out as an entertaining story from the serial killer's perspective. A Dennis Raider-esque killer who wants to take care of his family and keep up his killer hobby. I was roped in quickly then started to lose interest. It just started to be so repetitive. Things take a turn, but not exactly a unique turn and it didn't save the story for me. Maybe if it was shorter or structured differently it would have stayed an interesting read.

Side note, I wish I knew the moment Nick Roberts discovered the word 'Anathema,' it must have been a magical moment for him, I swear that word pops up in all his books! And obviously he even has a book with that word as the title. Not a criticism or anything, its a fun word, just something I keep noticing.

[Dead Inside · Rating 5 out of 5]

“My body is dead, immobile, and no longer part of . . . “me.” It’s a shell, harboring a dichotomy that shouldn’t exist.”

4.5 ⭐️

Nick Roberts could have EASILY taken this one to the extreme horror realm but he didn’t, and I respect him for that because that is not what he writes.

[Judith Sonnet · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. Still gathering my thoughts, but this is one helluva read. It starts off feeling a bit like Dexter, but it goes a totally different direction and has a VERY satisfying ending! Very unpredictable too, especially with that unreliable narrator! Nick Roberts makes us all work harder.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a ride! This had a "You" vibe to it, being told from the serial killer's POV including the frequent inner dialogue. And it was awesome.
I found myself going back and forth between rooting for Turner as the hero (think Dexter) and but then thinking this guy is super sick and twisted. He was the perfect combo of both.

Make you sure you have time to sit down and read this entire book because you are literally not going to be able to put it down.
Another hit from Nick Roberts - loved it!

[Luci · Rating 5 out of 5]

“If people looked long enough at me, they’d see the cracks in my façade. I’m good at blending in. Over thirty years of practice has made me quite the adept chameleon, but I’m not perfect. Thinking you’re perfect is how people get caught. I try to remind myself of that daily with an affirmation: I’m only smart enough to know that I don’t know everything.”

So…what a wild fucking ride? When I started this book it gave me such Dexter vibes except with less organization as the book went on. This book also had me laughing my ass off a good portion of it…until the end, then I was in fact not laughing my ass off.

Anyway, this was a wonderful read and somehow one of the more brutal Nick Roberts books but, I think because the entire book was about a serial killer and because there was literally murder on each page? I’m not quite sure how to explain the logic on why I think that truthfully. Either way, 5 out of 5 corpse heart beats which I expected nothing less since I’ve started consuming Nick Roberts books they’ve all hit, and I’m a big fan. 🫀

[Erica★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turner Blake loves his wife and two children just as much as he loves killing people…
This was a wild ride, I loved how it’s written from the POV of a serial killer. The story is gory, it had me gasping and giggling at times and I love how he brought the main character to life. It was disturbing, entertaining, and impossible to put down.

[Mandee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book simultaneously made me laugh, and also super sad. Like, damn. But I enjoyed it and couldn’t put it down.

Lines like this did have me rolling though:

I say in a whispery voice that’s somewhere between Batman and my grandmother who died from emphysema. (I’m working on it.)

[bookmarksandbarbells · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Hey, so, this was brutal and the ending made me sad." - Me after reading most of Nick Robert's books. This was no exception.

[Ember · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hey Nick? Are you okay? I’m just checking.

It’s always cool to get the killers pov and kind of get into their heads. This was really fucked up. Wish I could sugar code it but that’s what it is.

[Tina · Rating 1 out of 5]

This author use to be a clever humorous horror writer,now he’s just cranking out crap as fast as his hands can type and it SHOWS, for this level of gore foul language and useless sex scenes (which he obviously used as filler on a less than 200 page book but to be honest if it had been longer I absolutely wouldn’t have been able to finish this junk) you need the book to either be good or funny this book was neither , it makes me sad to see an author I loved so much turn into a machine that just cranks out book after book instead of taking the time to write a quality novel , I think this is my last purchase from nick

[Bookaholic__Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating this as a 4* for the sake of the GR rating system, it's definitely more 3.5* read for me and I couldn't bring myself to rate it a 3...so here we are.

My corpse has a heartbeat is a dark horror/ comedy about a serial who is trying to balance his urges to murder and his day to day life. It kind of gave me extremely unhinged Dexter vibes.

The story is told as a first person narrative which I enjoyed. Because it was written this way it was easy to get lost in the mind of the character and really experience the story.

I received a copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Amanda Ruzsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Corpse Has a Heartbeat gets under the skin quickly. Nick Roberts writes characters with such care they feel undeniably alive. Their thoughts are natural, their actions believable no matter how vile, and their pain seeps into you as if it were your own. You don’t simply witness what happens to them. You live it beside them, and that makes what follows almost unbearable. The immersion is relentless, dragging you deeper with every page. I felt like I knew them. Like I was reading an account of something I once lived through. Like I was keeping their awful secrets for them. Like I was complicit. The horror is emotionally destructive, forcing you to sit with dread, grief, and full-body anxiety. Roberts builds you up only to dismantle you completely before you realize what’s happening. This is another powerful, unsettling story from a writer who knows exactly how to put his readers in a literary chokehold in all the right ways. His monsters feel so real, so human even when it feels impossible to believe they are, that you may even find yourself mourning them if/when they fall. Brilliant.

[Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

If your favorite part of American Psycho is when the ATM machine tells Patrick Bateman to "feed me a stray cat," then you're probably going to love this book.

I read a lot of Nick Roberts this year, and this is my new favorite. It wasn't as scary as some of his others but it was majorly disturbing and, more important, a total blast. If I could offer this dude some serial killer advice: he really needs to learn some patience. Like, sure, kill the kid who kicked your child, but do it six months later, not the very afternoon that the incident occurred.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark as hell loved it

[LJ🥀👻 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read a lot from Nick Roberts, this one just took the top spot, and then buried everything else six feet under it. I laughed more than I should have. Not because it’s funny in a light way, but because Turner’s inner dialogue has that dry, almost inappropriate timing that makes you snort… right before it guts you. It’s the kind of humor that shows up in the worst moments; sharp, human, and just uncomfortable enough to feel real. And then it hurts. This isn’t just horror. It’s a slow, methodical descent into a very specific kind of hell; one that doesn’t rely on cheap scares because it doesn’t need them. The imagery is vivid, the gore is unflinching, and the stakes feel personal in a way that sticks to your ribs. The atmosphere is thick with dread and despair, and it never really lets you breathe. Nick Roberts didn’t pull a single punch here. He built something that feels impossible… and then made it feel real anyway.
Fair warning…. this is not for the faint of heart. It’s heavy. It’s brutal. And it lingers.
Five stars. Easy. If you’re a hardcore horror fan looking for something fresh that actually commits; this one’s going to crawl under your skin and stay there.

[Kriss Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75⭐️

[Ashley Lupo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! This one feels wildly different from Nick Robert’s other work, deliciously unhinged in the best way. I’ve always been a fan of his writing style, but what really impressed me here is how effortlessly he proves he can pivot genres and still absolutely nail it.

The pacing is fast, the humor is dry and razor sharp, and the wit lands perfectly without undercutting the story. It was fun in a way that felt intentional, not gimmicky. The Batman references were an unexpected bonus and had me grinning more than once.

And honestly? The fact that this dropped early (accidentally) I’m very grateful for. A standout read that shows just how versatile Nick Roberts really is.

[Eve 🐦‍⬛ 🗡️💘 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non stop gory, unhinged, bloody chaos with relentless pacing, but the MMC was so unlikeable it actually made parts of it unpleasant, so one star off.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again Nick Roberts has both massaged my brain with his writing while simultaneously making me wonder if I’m the person that inappropriately laughs at the wrong times.

There were a few giggles in this book. Actual giggles like I was a high school girl reading about shimmering vampires. But following those giggles was a mash of unhinged rage, shark decapitation, viscera splattering, and a clown in a cubby hole.

What happens when the family man living next to you in the cookie cutter neighborhood? He goes to his sons lil league games, he reads bedtime stories to his little girl, he has random sex with his wife whenever the time is available and he kills without judgement? That’s what we find out in this book. My Corpse Has A Heartbeat is about the average dude who has some not average hobbies.

I was amazed at the way Nick Roberts was able to bring such a character to life. I was rooting for this man - like genuinely rooting for him to have it all and this is a man who murders because the kid was a douche bagging his groceries! But it’s inevitable, you just LIKE the dude. I loved how personality was brought into play with every character in this story ( the children weren’t traumatized messes, they were your average spoiled well loved kids ) and how Laya wasn’t the bitch wife who makes the husband kill.. it actually speaks on how much he loves his wife & that alone was refreshing! But the way he brought humanity to a man who was clearly lacking in that sense is brilliant.

I will never miss a book by Nick but this was a welcomed surprise that I can not wait to see how others feel about. Definitely 5/5 would recommend.

[Ry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely devoured this book. Thanks for another banger, Nick!! Had me giggling and cringing all throughout lol WHAT AN ENDING.
Absolutely love the way he flipped a switch at the end and his other personality took over. It was so eerie. This is very different from his other work and I really enjoyed the direction he took this story!! Loved the pop culture references as well 🔪 🍆

[Samantha Hoffner · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are not many books that make me say "oh my gosh, what the fck, wow" etc out loud while reading... BUT, this book. That is it. That is the review. Incredible job done, F*ck-O.

[Lisa Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn! What a wild ride! So dark, disturbing, and funny! Loved this style of writing coming from Nick Roberts.

[Stephanie Sabo · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars - the writing was good but I don’t think it was for me

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was wild.

An absolute you never know what’s going on with someone!

The ending got me.