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Vice Box
From Vince Taplin, author of the Amazon bestseller ALEX SIX.
Leo is the husband nobody looks at twice. Polo shirts. Khakis. The driver's side of the couch. He consults for small businesses, steals the odd laptop charger on the side, and pays for his wife's habit without asking where the money goes.
Then he puts an app on Sarah's phone.
Now every text she sends lands in his inbox. Every Tuesday she drives to the Seaside Estate Motel, room six. And every Tuesday Leo rents room seven, the one that shares the wall, and lies on a bedspread you could grow penicillin on, listening, with his house key in his hand.
He could leave. He could scream. He could do any of the things a normal man does.
Leo is not a normal man. Leo makes a plan.
There's a motel clerk who has a guy for that kind of thing. There's a dive called the Cube with a purple back room and a drug called Mope that turns everybody into the best version of their worst self. There's a car salesman deep in debt, a neighbor who knows more than he says, a detective who draws squares she never finishes, and a wife who might be better at this game than Leo ever was.
Friday night. Ten-thirty. The purple room. A man in a duck coat comes through the curtain with a gun.
That's where it starts.
THE EVIDENCE COPY
This copy was recovered at the Seaside Estate Motel. Room seven. On the bed. Evidence #314-15-48205.
Two cops read it before you did. Officer Priya underlined everything in blue. Detective Shelby argued with her in black. Their notes fill the hunches, wrong turns, coffee rings, and a running fight over what's true. It might be a confession. It might be a novel. You decide whose handwriting to trust.
Dark, funny, filthy and mean, VICE BOX is a psychological thriller about marriage, watching, told by the people who were in the room. For readers who like their noir with a body count and a dark sense of humor.
Contains explicit sexual content, drug use, self-harm and violence. For adult readers.
Leo is the husband nobody looks at twice. Polo shirts. Khakis. The driver's side of the couch. He consults for small businesses, steals the odd laptop charger on the side, and pays for his wife's habit without asking where the money goes.
Then he puts an app on Sarah's phone.
Now every text she sends lands in his inbox. Every Tuesday she drives to the Seaside Estate Motel, room six. And every Tuesday Leo rents room seven, the one that shares the wall, and lies on a bedspread you could grow penicillin on, listening, with his house key in his hand.
He could leave. He could scream. He could do any of the things a normal man does.
Leo is not a normal man. Leo makes a plan.
There's a motel clerk who has a guy for that kind of thing. There's a dive called the Cube with a purple back room and a drug called Mope that turns everybody into the best version of their worst self. There's a car salesman deep in debt, a neighbor who knows more than he says, a detective who draws squares she never finishes, and a wife who might be better at this game than Leo ever was.
Friday night. Ten-thirty. The purple room. A man in a duck coat comes through the curtain with a gun.
That's where it starts.
THE EVIDENCE COPY
This copy was recovered at the Seaside Estate Motel. Room seven. On the bed. Evidence #314-15-48205.
Two cops read it before you did. Officer Priya underlined everything in blue. Detective Shelby argued with her in black. Their notes fill the hunches, wrong turns, coffee rings, and a running fight over what's true. It might be a confession. It might be a novel. You decide whose handwriting to trust.
Dark, funny, filthy and mean, VICE BOX is a psychological thriller about marriage, watching, told by the people who were in the room. For readers who like their noir with a body count and a dark sense of humor.
Contains explicit sexual content, drug use, self-harm and violence. For adult readers.
Audible Audio
Published October 5, 2026
About the author
Vince Taplin
29 books332 followersVince Taplin is an award-winning author and storyteller who has mastered the art of mashing subtle noir with modern thrillers. His characters are witty, promising, and believable, but never predictable. Vince is a serial entrepreneur with a contagious passion for life.
Alex Six is Taplin’s third foray into fiction. His previous fiction works include The RC Act and The Mourning Bell.
Follow Vince on Instagram @ VinceTaplin
Alex Six is Taplin’s third foray into fiction. His previous fiction works include The RC Act and The Mourning Bell.
Follow Vince on Instagram @ VinceTaplin
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