The Blade This Time

A man wakes to find himself below ground in the abandoned subway stations of New York City. He has no idea how he got there no idea who he is. In his pocket he finds only a wad of blood-stained cash and a deck of playing cards. Once above ground he rents out a cheap apartment previously occupied by an enigmatic artist named Max Leider whod left most everything behind-books clothes personal letters. But most peculiar are a series of paintings each one of a mysterious woman hidden behind a curtain. Without an identity of his own the man becomes fascinated with Leider. He begins wearing his clothes. He begins painting on his canvases. He begins taking on his obsessions. But as his persona fully transforms into Max Leider he will find some horrifying truths about the artist...and himself. Praise for THE BLADE THIS TIME: Jon Bassoffs The Blade This Time is a nightmarish descent into the underbelly of New York City and the darkest corners of the psyche. A gritty disorienting ride. -Paul Tremblay author of A Head Full of GhostsThe Blade This Time a dark masterpiece of classic horror. Bassoff blends art insanity violence and obsession into a haunting nightmare that you dont want to stop. Truly Bassoff at his best. -C.J. Howell author of The Last of the Smoking BartendersJon Bassoffs latest full-length piece of noir The Blade This Time transports you into the bowels of urban subterranean humankind. Literally. A riveting tightly woven masterpiece of hard-boiled loneliness I was held mesmerized by it. Part Charlie Huston part Henry Miller with a sprinkling of Bukowski this is a novel you will not want to miss. -Vincent Zandri New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Remains and Orchard GroveDark and disturbing a guided tour through one mans private hell. You can feel the pain touch the grime and smell the decay. I burned right through it tripping on the feverish story arc and came out the other side more than a little uneasy. -Tim Curran author of Doll FaceThe Blade This Time is the book David Goodis would have written if hed taken WAY too much mescaline one weekend and holed himself up in an abandoned Port Richmond movie theater and hallucinated straight into his typewriter. Brilliantly demented. -Scott Phillips author of The Ice HarvestCreepy intriguing compelling and well-crafted Bassoffs novel is the kind of thing you didnt realize you were looking for until youre already up to your neck in it. And by then youre hooked. -Victor Gischler author of The Deputy