– Some doors shouldn’t be opened –
– Some labyrinths don’t let you go –
Morrigan just wanted a break—from failed auditions, endless shifts at the coffee house, and the slow grind of dreams slipping away. A spontaneous hiking trip with Sean, the stranger who just wanted a black coffee, feels like the best decision she’s made in years.
Until the storm.
Until the detour.
Until the ancient stone labyrinth hidden deep in the canyon.
And until the kitten.
Adorable, wide-eyed, and mysteriously attached to Morrigan, Monster shouldn’t be anything more than a surprise stowaway from the woods. But the shadows around Morrigan and Sean start moving differently after the trip. Sean is plagued by visions that feel like warnings. Morrigan lands the acting role of a lifetime—but something is watching her. And Monster is… changing.
When Sean is dragged into a web of violence, stolen secrets, and impossible truths, he crosses paths with Danny—a grizzled stranger who insists the labyrinth marked him, and something ancient has followed them home.
Criminals, cops, a lecherous producer, and a very territorial cat collide in a harrowing showdown where reality bends, loyalties shatter, and the thing Morrigan brought down the mountain finally becomes what it was always meant to be.
In this urban fantasy thriller, the monsters you meet in the woods aren’t the ones you should fear…
It’s the ones that follow you back.
Matt Truxaw’s newest book is Monster, which released on 1/12/2026. This urban fantasy, horror, thriller will keep you turning the pages.
He is also the author of the hard science fiction thrillers: “Plastiphobia/Plastivore” and “Anthrophobia: A Teacher’s Tale”
You can find them all on Amazon in Paperback, Hardback, Kindle and/or free to read with Kindle Unlimited.
When you read any of them, he would really appreciate a review/rating on Amazon or your favorite book seller/book reader site.
More about Matt:
He was born in Orange County California many years ago and he still lives there. He has been reading books for most of those years and writing up book reviews for the last few years. He gets most of his books out of the library so expect a lot of old science fiction classics book reviews and other science related reviews in addition to newer books he comes across.
If you want to be ‘in-the-loop’ on these and other works, you can follow his author’s page on Amazon or his Facebook page.
For more reviews and articles by Matt here on Amazing Stories (Click here).
