Flesh and Coin

by Craig Saunders

For some, dying is easy. For others, dying is their only hope.

Charlie Dawes lies in the Old Oak Hospice haunted by the looming specter of death, plagued by dark memories, stalked by a mysterious, faceless creature he knows only as the Shadowman, who won’t let him die…yet.

Cathy Redman, his only friend and a caretaker in the ward, spends her time reading to Charlie and comforting his pain. She thinks she knows him.

But when an inquisitive detective, a spiteful nurse, and a dangerous old Gypsy’s lives intertwine, Charlie’s true fate is revealed, and it has been sealed by...flesh and coin.

Genres: Horror

Hardcover

First published March 1, 2015

About the author

Craig Saunders is the author of over thirty novels and novellas, including 'Masters of Blood and Bone', 'RAIN' and 'Deadlift'. He writes across many genres, but horror and fantasy (the 'Rythe' tales) are his favourites.

Craig lives in Norfolk, England, with his wife and children, likes nice people and good coffee. Find out more on Amazon, or visit:

www.craigrsaunders.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/craigrsaundersauthor
www.twitter.com/Grumblesprout

A little aside - I don't visit GR often, but I'm always available on Twitter or the FB page. I apologise in advance if it takes a while for me to answer a question here!

Reviews

[Paul Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another top draw novella from must-read author Craig Saunders, with Flesh and Coin he tackles death, gypsy curses, ghosts, shadowmen, blackmail and a bit more death to finish off on, all wrapped up with a delicious twist of the 'didn't see that fucker coming' variety.
 
Set in a Hospice, where the terminally ill come to see out their last days, there's certainly a lot going on here and topped off by a supernatural entity ripping patients in half, deaths path shines a hell of a lot brighter.
 
Most are near deaths door, some are already through it, some are slightly insane, most are drugged up, some have a little bit of evil in them and couldn't give a toss either way but every character has little quirks that make you sit up and take notice of them. Generally not overwhelmingly nice traits but definitely attention grabbing all the same.
 
Take our Hattie Frey, an EVIL BITCH for sure.
 
'She had a kind of second sight when it came to having a laugh—she’d never been caught. Never would be. But still she was careful. Taking a quick look round the ward, Hattie winked at the dying man, whose name she couldn’t be bothered to remember.'
 
Hattie Frey definitely has some of the best or maybe worst lines in the book and she's also got her claws into the hospices owner, and good old Barty is sure to regret tapping this particular angel of mercy.
 
'She took his decrepit old man’s hand and put it on the swell of her right tit. Bless him, but he shook. Kind of like having a geriatric vibrator to play with. “Bet you like that, don’t you? But you know what? You’ll be dead before you ever have another pair of tits in your hand, eh.'
 
Cathy is also a nurse and she spends time at the end of her shift reading to Charlie, Charlie sees death, he saw the murder but no-one ever asked him what he saw, and it’s well worth finding out why.
 
Craig Saunders has a canny knack of leading you down that dark and twisted path, then with your attention subtly diverted you find yourself ripped through the underbrush at the whim of something fantastically outlandish and usually pretty dangerous.
 
Recommended, simple as that.

Also posted at http://paulnelson.booklikes.com/post/...

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the fourth book by Craig I have read. The story starts out in Old Oak Hospice and a man named Charlie Hawes who is dying and is in a morphine haze. He see's this man of smoke, a Shadowman, a stealer of death. He seems to see things nobody else see's. Then there is the nurse Cathy Redman who reads to Charlie every night. Who takes a bus home then takes some morphine before she goes to bed. You also have the evil one named Hattie Frey. A good cast of characters in this story. The story takes off after a man is found torn in half and the police get involved. I enjoyed reading this Supernatural Novella by Craig Saunders. Well written, nice flow and a quick read. I gave Flesh and Coin 4 stars.


I received an e-arc of this book from DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*
I received an E-arc from Darkfuse Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Someone or something is killing off the residents at Old Oak Hospice. Charlie Dawes is a patient at the hospice, he sees a faceless shadow but has no idea how to stop it from taking any more lives. When a resident is cleaved in two, an inquisitive detective begins to dig a little deeper into what might be happening at the hospice and unearths a connection to an old gypsy curse.

I was really surprised by this read, it felt very different to the author's other work that I've read, more personal. I really connected to the setting of the hospice, I felt the loneliness and isolation that the residents felt, the pacing was much less frantic than some of the author's other work and this very much suited this story. One issue I've had with this author's work in the past is the repetition of themes being used, this again is absent from the story and in my opinion it's all the better for it.

The strong point in this novella is the characters, they are really well drawn and although there is plenty of questionable behaviour they are written sympathetically, even the awful Hattie. She is a hospice worker who is lazy, incompetent, scheming and manipulative yet as the story ends we are given a brief insight into her behaviour that by no means justifies what's she's done but can be seen as a possible reason as to why her life has turned out the way it has. Charlie and Cathy are both great characters but to be honest my favourite character was Inspector Jim Wayne, I'm not really sure why I liked him so much perhaps because he was so determined to solve the mystery surrounding the deaths even if it meant believing in things that seemed foolish and impossible.

A really solid read from the author, one that is more sedate in ways to his previous work but a story that I connected to much more because of this.

Recommended.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Craig Saunders provides us with a thought provoking look at life in a Hospice, where death is an ever-present event. Unfortunately, for some, even this final oblivion from a pain-riddled ending is denied....

We are confronted by a wide array of characters, including a caring--if somewhat crazy--nurse, Cathy, the manipulative, self-involved Hattie, the Hospice owner, Bartholomew, a police detective who senses things that lie beneath the surface, and of course, supernatural entities.

This story of evil, sorrow, and redemption is brilliantly written. Saunders effortlessly gives the reader a sense of "knowing" each of the characters he brings to life.

While part of me would have liked a little more bearing on what enabled the "Shadowman" to do what he did, I realized that to do so would have made this novella more into a novel-length work. In some instances, it's the things that are not completely spelled out for you that make a story stand out that much more.

Highly recommended novella from an author who has yet to disappoint this reader!

*I received and advance copy of this novella from DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review.*

[Andi Rawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flesh and Coin is another great novella from Craig Saunders.

Cathy Redman is a nurse at Old Oak Hospice who spends day in and day out taking care of dying people. Charlie Dawes is one of those who Cathy has a soft spot for. Both never married, they find solace in each other's company and Cathy spends hours past her shift each night reading to Charlie and comforting him. Shadowman is a faceless embodiment of darkness who comes for those who are dying, at least those who aren't Charlie Dawes. Life and death. Flesh and coin. There are some things that even death has no hold over.

I received this book as an ARC from DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The bodies are starting to pile up at the Old Oak Hospice. They always do, but something different is happening of late. Something arising from the fog. Something living in the shadows.

Charlie is dying. Wacked out on morphine and plagued by specters of the Shadowman. Cathy, the night nurse, seems to be the only one that can sense his growing distress. In fact, she may be the only one who sees him at all. That is except for the gypsy traveler and the detective investigating the strange occurrences at Old Oak.

Another very good novella from Craig Saunders with a steadily building sense of unease and well drawn characters. 4 Stars. Highly Recommended.

*As a member of the DarkFuse Readers Group, I received an advanced copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

[Adam Light · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not read a bad work from Craig Saunders yet. I have read a few, so I am beginning to get comfortable with his style, and I am really digging it. This novella was a one sit read, the narrative was expediant without feeling rushed or choppy at all. Very thought provoking, mind-bending story with a couple of neat, twisty bits. Highly recommended.

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a lot of Saunders' work. He's someone I liked a lot from the start, but then some of the books weren't quite up to the initial introductions. This one certainly is, though. This is a very fine Saunders story showcasing his writing talents very well. For a writer of dark fiction death is an unavoidable topic, here's it's the main topic and is handled in a very interesting original manner right down to a moving perfectly apt ending. Very good novella, heavy as one might expect, but with just the right amount of other elements added in not to overwhelmingly depress. On the literary side of the genre too, which is always welcome. Recommended.

[Michael Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid Read Overall

I was wildly impressed with Craig Saunders release, Masters of Blood and Bone, earlier this year and had high hopes for Flesh and Coin.

This is certainly not a bad book by any means, and the writing is fluid enough. But, it just didn't strike that particular chord to elevate it from good to great for me. The central concepts and revelations are well-handled, with at least one big twist early on that was nicely surprising. Overall, I'd give it a strong 3.5 rating.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Old Oak Hospice, home of the dying, which includes Charlie Dawes. While Cathy Redman is his only hope, his nurse and friend. But the Shadowman starts to visit and add to this a detective, an evil nurse, and Gypsy forklore, all may be explained or not
A fairly good story

[Rachel the Book Harlot]

If anyone is interested, this is free on Amazon today, 11/29.

[Fred Conrad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why I picked this but I'm glad I did. It's pretty great, be careful to avoid spoilers, it's got elements you don't want to know in advance of the author's pace.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dark tale.

I have had this book for a while and after finally reading it I am at a loss of how to review it. I must say though it was scary, original and dark as hell. I recommend this book to all fans of modern horror!

[Anthony Hains · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flesh and Coin by Craig Saunders is about a hospice where the dying are being haunted and, in some cases, killed by something called the Shadowman. The main characters include two nurses (one kind and caring, the other sadistic and insensitive), a patient near death who is trying to make sense of the goings-on while barely surviving in a morphine daze, the hospice director, and a police detective. The characters are well-developed for such a short novella and the atmosphere is alive in detail. You experience the sights and smells of elderly patients in their last days. There are a number of interrelated subplots including the origins of the ghostly Shadowman, a patient’s violent and criminal past, an illicit affair between a nasty nurse and the hospice director, and a curse administered by an ancient gypsy woman. The latter was an enjoyable character and her appearance really pushed the story along. While the disparate subplots don’t quite hold together in a seamless narrative, the story was creepy and the plot clever enough to maintain interest – and the pages flowed. 3.5 stars

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Craig Saunders is really on a roll delivering unique stories of dark fantasy that are grounded enough in reality to provide an emotional attachment to the characters. Flesh and Coin continues Craig's winning streak.

The novella revolves around a hospice and an otherworldly spectre that may be Death himself claiming the residents. The patients, caregivers, and owner of the facility along with a detective investigating the deaths provide multiple perspectives on the events. One would think so many major characters would be too much for the short length of Flesh and Coin but Mr. Saunders makes it work, using economical prose to make each one come alive in a short amount of time.

This one is too good to be spoiled so I will say no more. Recommended for dark fiction fans of all types. 5 stars.

[Robert Mingee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novella by Craig Saunders, which managed to not be at all depressing despite being set in a hospice. The characters weren't particularly original: the older, caring nurse and the young, sadistic nurse, the greedy hospice owner always looking to maximize profit, the older cop who is more of an administrator now but still loves the field work, etc.

But the interactions between them were well-written, and the story was intriguing, keeping me constantly guessing about what was really going on. The pacing was good, and the imagery was well-drawn and imaginative. The relationship between the caring nurse and a dying man is genuinely touching and heartfelt.

The ending fit well, and was satisfying. This dark fantasy is highly recommended, and I definitely look forward to more from Craig Saunders - I have yet to be disappointed in anything he's written!

[Kim (Wistfulskimmies Book Reviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Charlie, and of Cathy. One is dead and the other works in a hospice, reading to him. Charlie is chained to this world, by an old and ancient gypsy curse, that has been paid for with flesh and with coin.

This took me a little while to get into. It moved quite slowly but in essence that was character building and story setting. Once the story got moving I was hooked totally. Charlie made me cry, and Hattie really was a total bitch! I liked the idea of the ancient gypsy curse, weaving it into a story of a hospice where people have no hope anyway was a good idea. The ending was gritty and gruesome but ultimately uplifting and I loved the twist towards the end. This is a story that will stay with you. I still find myself mulling over it, and I finished it a couple of days ago!

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love when an author is able to trick me in a good way, to surprise me within a story just when I think I've figured things out. Craig Saunders accomplished this several times in Flesh and Coin, another wonderful novella offering from publisher DarkFuse. To discuss the plot in any detail would remove many of the hidden pleasant surprises you will experience when you read Flesh and Coin. Highly recommended.

[Eric Compton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly disjointed British fantasy horror. "Flesh and Coin" would probably have been served well on a much larger platter for us, the avid reader, to dissect slowly. Instead this is a shorter spin and isn't "fleshed out" as much as I'd like. Still...what better way to pass the time than sharing a hospice room with ghosts and shadowmen?

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! The Shadowman, a hospice, a ghost in a bed and a Gypsy curse! I loved it! Bravo to DarkFuse for publishing Craig Saunders. The man can keep you guessing and on the edge of your chair. Highly recommended.

[Oskar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this novella after Masters of Blood and Bone and confirmed that I made a good decision putting this author in my list of writers I like.This is
a dark and interesting story with a very obscure atmosphere,solid characters and total interesting plot.Highly recommended.

[Alondra Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars (I think)

That was a little weird. Nice ghost story about what happens when you die...or kinda die. See, when you do horrible things, sometimes horrible things get done to you. It's called Karma.... or Ma.

Pretty good short story.