CHARLES YNFANTE'SNOVEL: "THE HIDDEN"

In The Hidden, Mike Stevens is burdened by the abduction of his daughter, Linda, by the devil who wants to use her for breeding. Mike is drawn into a web of supernatural horror, exposing a deep conspiracy to weaponize evil for its own ends.  

One night, Mike receives a mysterious phone call claiming his daughter is alive. This sets off a frantic, dangerous quest involving cryptic clues, shadowy figures,  and a conspiracy centered around Genet-Ag, a facility breeding devilish creatures through genetic engineering. Local authorities and federal officials are complicit or manipulated.

He is joined by Amy Liston, a determined reporter, and Lester Keegler, a resourceful computer expert and weapons enthusiast. Together they face the torment and horror of the devil, experiencing fear, dread, and psychological terror.

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Charles Ynfante's books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, Apple Books, Kobo and other locations.

CHARLES YNFANTE'S SHORT STORY: "THE DOG"

 Leroy Barnes is a blue-collar worker whose life is disrupted by the arrival of Mr. Brewster and his barking dog, a German Shepherd. Leroy’s routine walks to the Quick Stop Market become a source of anxiety as the dog repeatedly harasses him, both on the street and at night, disturbing his sleep and affecting his work performance at Fred’s Gas station. 

The escalating tension between Leroy and the dog leads to confrontations with Brewster, who is unyielding about his pet’s behavior. The situation worsens when the dog’s presence becomes mobile in the back of Brewster’ pickup truck. In this way, the dog now follows Leroy around town and making him feel unsafe everywhere. Leroy’s frustration and sleeplessness culminate in a drastic decision: he kidnaps Brewster to teach him a lesson. 

This is a short filled with delicious dark humor.

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Charles Ynfante’s books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, Apple Books, Kobo and other locations.

CHARLES YNFANTE'S NOVELLA: "THE COIN"

The Coin is literary fiction, a sweeping, time-spanning meditation on love, death, memory, and the eternal mysteries of existence. The narrative weaves together vignettes from ancient Sumeria, Egypt, Pompeii, and a speculative future (5000 AD), anchored by the recurring motif of a mysterious ancient coin and a prophetic papyrus. 

Characters across eras grapple with the pain of separation, the longing for reunion, and the hope that love might outlast death itself. 

The Coin explores how memory, artifacts, and written words preserve fragments of lives otherwise lost to time. It reveals love’s promise of eternity with the reality of loss and impermanence. 

The Coin is a poetic, philosophical story that uses the journey of a coin through millennia to explore the universal human experiences of love, loss, and the search for meaning. Its characters — ancient and modern — are united by their longing for connection and understanding in the face of mortality. The story ultimately suggests that while death is inevitable, love and memory can transcend time, offering hope and continuity across generations. 

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Charles Ynfante's books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, Apple Books, Kobo and other locations.

YNFANTE'S SHORT STORY: "CLO[w]N[e]"

 CLO[w]N[e] is a darkly humorous and introspective narrative about a Man who, driven by loneliness, depression, and curiosity, creates a “Clone/Clown” of himself. The Man, living in isolation after his wife and children have left him, becomes obsessed with the idea of meeting himself. He wonders if he would like, dislike, or even be attracted to his own personality and appearance. 

Using makeshift laboratory and beer-making equipment, he successfully grows a Clone from his own blood and flesh, nurturing it with the same food and drink he consumes, mainly beer and pizza. The Clone, once fully formed, is physically identical and shares all his memories and traits. Their initial interactions are awkward and surreal, filled with both fascination and discomfort as they confront the reality of being face-to-face with themselves. 

The relationship quickly turns complicated. The Man and his Clone experience moments of intimacy, confusion, and escalating tension. Their conversations reveal that, while they share everything — including flaws and secrets — their sameness makes genuine connection impossible. The Clone becomes a mirror, reflecting the Man’s worst qualities and insecurities back at him. 

As their interactions devolve into arguments and even physical altercations, the Man is forced to confront his own self-loathing and failures. The Clone’s presence becomes unbearable, highlighting the Man’s regrets, mistakes, and the reasons for his isolation.  

CLO[w]N[e] is a comic and tragic story of the existential crisis of identity.

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Charles Ynfante's books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, Apple Books, Kobo and other locations.

CHARLES YNFANTE'S NOVELLA: "CHECKS"

In Checks, a family’s dysfunction and trauma unfolds in a sweltering, isolated house in the Southwest desert, centering on the dysfunctional family of Big Daddy, an eighty-year-old man. The household is crowded: Big Daddy, his adult children Don (the narrator), Chuck (recently dishonorably discharged from the military), Jesse (with her four kids), Aunt Rachel (with three kids), and young Lou. The family’s daily life is marked by poverty, dependence on government welfare checks, and constant tension. 

The story begins with Big Daddy’s morning routine — drinking beer, watching TV, and using his walking cane — while Lou is sent to fetch a newspaper outside that never arrives. The family’s anticipation for their welfare, pension, and compensation checks is intense, as their cupboards are bare and the heat is oppressive. The lack of mail delivery, compounded by a sudden loss of electricity and phone service, isolates them further, heightening anxiety and frustration.  

As the day progresses, tempers flare. Big Daddy’s volatile behavior, fueled by alcohol and frustration, leads to violent outbursts. The children’s noise and racket, Jesse’s blaring radio, and the oppressive heat create a chaotic environment. The family’s attempts to cope — seeking refuge in the bathroom, pacing the rooms of the old house, drinking alcohol — only underscore their desperation. 

This is a horror story about violence and survival, poverty, isolation, and mental breakdown.

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Charles Ynfante's books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, Apple Books, Kobo and other locations.

CHARLES YNFANTE'S NOVEL: "BUTTERFLY of EDEN"

 The Butterfly of Eden  begins with the caterpillar's slow, deliberate journey — shedding its skin, entering a cocoon, dissolving, and finally emerging as a butterfly: "Fluttering. Fleeting. Free. A pollinator for life. A joy and wonder to behold." This metamorphosis sets the tone for Mariner Manchild's own journey through loss, self-discovery, and renewal. 

Mariner grapples with the death of a father he never knew, the unraveling of family secrets, and the search for meaning in a world marked by isolation and uncertainty. The butterfly's transformation mirrors Mariner's emotional evolution — from feeling trapped and imprisoned by his past, to seeking connection and hope in new relationships. 

Mariner encounters a dead butterfly in a parking lot, its vibrant wings crushed by a speeding car — a poignant image that evokes the randomness of fate and the vulnerability of life. He muses, "God is in the speeding car. We are the butterflies," suggesting that human lives are subject to forces beyond understanding, much like the butterfly's brief flight. Transformation is possible, beauty can emerge from pain, and even the most fleeting moments can hold meaning. A butterfly "as wonderfully colored as the eyes of my companion and as a rainbow, fluttering lazily on a soft breeze from the clouds."

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Charles Ynfante’s books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, Apple Books, Kobo and other locations.

CHARLES YNFANTE'S NOVEL: "THE BETRAYAL"

The story opens in November 1944, in war-torn Germany, where Karl and Greta Schmidt, members of the anti-Nazi Underground, hide with their infant son, Johann. Their trusted comrade, Ulrich Kreitz, is revealed to be a double agent who betrays them to the Gestapo. As Allied forces attack, Ulrich's duplicity leads to the deaths of Karl, Greta, and Johann's grandmother, but Johann survives and is sent to an orphanage, his identity erased. 

Decades later, in 1972 Los Angeles, Heinrich Traupman (renamed from Johann, his name when he was the baby in World War 2) is now a German immigrant and orphan, struggling to find his place after a troubled past in Germany, including time in a mental institution for killing Neo-Nazis. 

Heinrich becomes entangled with a group of American Neo-Nazis led by Ulrich (who betrayed Heinrich's parents and is now an old man). Wilford Tal (a wealthy financier), and Hans Frisch (the current leader of the Greater Neo-Nazi Association of America, GNAA). The group is rife with internal power struggles, betrayals, and criminal activity, including political assassinations orchestrated by Ulrich and his associates. Heinrich, seeking revenge for his parents' deaths at the hands of Ulrich Kreitz, infiltrates the group by proving his loyalty through violence. He becomes close to Ulrich, not realizing at first that Ulrich is the man responsible for his family's destruction. 

The story is a chilling tale of people traumatized and broken by the cycle of betrayal, violence, and the enduring legacy of Nazism.

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Charles Ynfante's books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, Apple Books, Kobo and other locations.