Category: Book Spotlight

Hounding Prey: Monilinia
Author name: Free Mints
Genre: Dark MM Horror Romance
Release date: 4th March 2024
Page count: 194

A wolf cannot live among sheep. Eventually, the herd would smell the rotten carcasses of their brethren.

Loukas had always known he was tainted. Since childhood, he had an abhorrent longing—to tear away others’ living exteriors to see if they were as putrid as he was. Feast on their flesh and bone to satiate his undying hunger. His only hope for salvation was to quell his sickness, hide his shame, and fulfill his duty as the eldest son of the Asbjorn family. To live as a normal human being, keep his head down, and finally gain their pride.

That was until he met the new university repairman during his shift at the library. Loukas should have found the beast-kin, with his lecherous and crude mouth, detestable. He had been taught to avoid the impure and pray for them from afar. But the carefree attitude and kind words from an older man gave Loukas a bit of decency from another soul, a taste of the impurity he’d fought so hard never to revisit yet longed for.

Time with Hide brings Loukas to the precipice of undoing all his years of devotion and contrition to his family and church. No amount of praying would absolve his growing fascination for the filthy animal whose sweet words fester in a cesspool of his deepest desires.

Leaving Hide alone only worsens the hollowness inside Loukas, fracturing his facade of timidness. All of Loukas’ efforts to suppress his perversions will be in vain if the rot within consumes him. The solitude he’s always known is his only option to save him and keep his hunger at bay. But it may be too late if Hide is just as rotten.

This is the first book dark gay romance series. This series has a HEA but this book ends on a To Be Continued ending so keep that in mind. It dives into several uncomfortable topics and themes . Please read the warnings and take care.

Content warnings: This is a dark gay romance series. It dives into several uncomfortable topics and themes regarding trauma, abuse and obsession. Including: graphic sex Gore Murder Mutilation Bullying Age gap relationship (10+) drug and alcohol use Unhealthy power dynamics Depictions and ideations of self harm Dubcon Stalking Tentacles Implied parental abuse Brief mention/implication of animal death in the past Sexual sadism/ Sexual gratification from murder/ Sexual sadistic fantasies Jealously, implied religious trauma.

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Author Interview:

1. Tell us a little about how this story first came to be. Did it start with an image, a voice, a concept, a dilemma or something else?

It an mix of so many things its not even funny.

The characters came after a lot internal reflection on certain aspect about myself and life all bundled into a story. Both the negative and positives (mostly focused on the extreme negatives though cus its more fun that way)

I used to read a lot of horror and extreme horror novels and I thought, “Hey what if I it was very gay.”

Then I read things like Exquisite corpse and the sluts which further influence my tone. Eventually after reading a lot of dark romances where I was not really that impressed with the Male leads, I decided to go further and write “okay what will cause a male lead to devolve into stalking” and what kind of person who would love that?

Basically what if shy extreme sexual sadists met a over confident sexual masochist.

2. What, if anything, did you learn when writing the book?

I learnt that using 3 different program to write on would be a pain. Yes that should have been obvious but I’m dense and stubborn.

3. What surprised you the most in writing it?

When I got beta readers I was surprised by the number of people who found the gore scary or unsettling. Maybe cus I was writing it so it didn’t affect me, but people were unnerved. So an accomplishment.

4. What does the title mean?

Monilinia is a type of fungus that rots fruits such as peaches. It refers to how the MC Loukas feels about himself both figuratively and literally as well as describe his worsening urges as the story goes on.

5. Were any of the characters inspired by real people? If so, do they know?

I rather not get sued but a few are inspired by real people, ain’t gonna tell which ones thou. However a lot of the characters have traits from myself and conversations I have had in the past.

6. Do you consider the book to have a lesson or moral?

I tend to prefer the reader to come out with one themselves. I do plan the tone, vibe and feel but rarely an actual message and even if I do have one I prefer the reader to figure it out themselves or come to their own conclusion. That is a personal preference.

7. What is your favorite part of the book?
A tie

The roof top conversation between Hide and Loukas. It was the first time they actual bond and talk to each other rather than talk around each other. Just a calm yet melancholic chat alone where no one would judge or throw them off.

And When a guy was punched in the face in an alley.

8. Which character was most challenging to create? Why?

I’ll say Xander mostly cus its hard to get into the mind of someone so confident so secure himself yet so subtly malicious while also making him palatable to the mc to not notice. Especially since its set up for the next books

9. What are your immediate future plans?

Publishing the next 3 books in the series and wrap it up.

About the Author:

Free Mints is a black queer Author, who writes weird, gay and unsettling things. That lives with his kitty editor and a tastes for the darker world of fiction

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