Crossroads, Inc

by Andrew Adams

When Crossroads, Inc—a life insurance company offering cash advances on policies—arrives in town, it brings something Glanton hasn’t seen in hope.

Young Hannah Cassady and her seven siblings visit Crossroads to collect on their life insurance advancements for the family’s mounting bills, discovering the company intends to collect big returns on its investments—with severed body parts for the money.

How much is too much for free money? What’s the true cost of a better quality of life?


Andrew Adams is the author of Middle Finger Rigor Mortis, Black Widow Blues, Son of a Serial Killer, and other titles in the horror and transgressive sphere. He is a father of two, ex-filmmaker, baseball fanatic, and unabashed metalhead.

Genres: Horror

254 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 5, 2026

About the author

Author of dark fiction in the transgressive, horror, and thriller spheres.

Writer of novels, novellas, and short stories.

Ex-filmmaker, welder and engineer by trade, and unabashed metalhead.

Reviews

[Irene Well Worth A Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thirteen-year-old Hannah Cassady has known poverty all of her short life. Living with her seven older siblings and her mother, their squalid little home in the town of Glanton is crowded even without the father, who left one day and never came home. When she begins seeing commercials on TV for Crossroads Inc, a company that purports to give cash advances to make life easier, her siblings think it's worth checking out.

Hannah and her mother both know it's too good to be true. When her brother decides to check it out for himself, Hannah follows to make sure he is safe. What she witnesses at Crossroads confirms her suspicions, and it's worse than she thought. When kids start showing up to school with missing fingers, Hannah knows true evil has come to her town.

Crossroads, Inc is a dystopian novel about desperation, addiction, poverty, and how the rich get richer off the backs of the poor. Only the gore separates it from much of what is happening in the world today. The people of Glanton are much like the people in any poverty-stricken town. They live in run-down homes, subsist on hand-me-downs and meager meals, lack access to clean water, breathe polluted air, and want better for their children. To me, that is the scariest part of this book, characters that feel so genuine make the plot seem that much less far-fetched.


My thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications.

[Creeping Beauty · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Just when you think you can’t take no more darkness and will do anything to escape it then that’s when the sun peaks over that blessed horizon like some great symbol of hope."

Living in desolate times, young Hannah and her family are struggling to make ends meet. They live in a dilapidated house, live on meager meals, they work long hours in factories only to just scrape by and drink what they call "the brew" to try to feel better at the end of the day, The smog is so thick, it's hard to breathe.

When Crossroads, Inc appears in their town of Glanton, they think that maybe this is their opportunity to get them out of their dire situation. The company is offering free life insurance and money to improve the people of the town's quality of life. Letting their curiosity get the best of them, members of Hannah's family decide to visit Crossroads, Inc and what they discover there is frightening. They quickly learn that there is a much too high of a price to pay.

The people of the town are succumbing to the desire to get free money, which is essentially destroying their lives. The town is falling deeper and deeper into darkness and despair.

Hannah is the one telling her story and I just love her character. She's strong, smart, and wise beyond her years at just thirteen. She cares for her family a great deal and she is always trying to look out for them. Through all her difficulties, and even though she is scared, she stands her ground and sticks to her morals. She's a fighter and a survivor.

I was really impressed with the author's writing style and really enjoyed reading this book. It's dark, disturbing, and at times quite grotesque. But there are also moments that had me holding onto a hope for a brighter future for Hannah and the ending was quite thought provoking.

[Mieke Janssens · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into it — it wasn't until the halfway mark that I really started to feel the story. It was very different from what I had expected. This isn’t sensational horror that injects gore wherever possible just for shock value. Instead, it’s mainly a very sad story about inequality, manipulation, and the things people do to survive or to get a chance at a slightly better life. That’s where the real shock value lies: in the recognizability of a society’s disruption, the erosion of norms and values, and the role a prominent figure plays in it.

Every now and then, the story lost its pace and got bogged down in too much dialogue/descriptions. The ending was… unexpected and quite confusing to me. Personally, I don’t think the story needed its final chapter. Other than that, this was a good book.

[Ashley Sawyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

《4.5⭐️ rounded up to 5⭐️》

In a struggling small town, a mysterious company called Crossroads Inc arrives with an irresistible promise. Fast cash advances on life insurance policies. For families drowning in bills, it seems like a miracle. But the deal hides something horrifying. When Hannah Cassady and her seven siblings visit the company hoping to help their family financially, they discover the real price of "easy" money. Crossroads doesn't just want paperwork. They want human body parts in exchange for the money. As desperate townspeople begin trading pieces of themselves for cash, the practice spreads like wildfire. Limbs, skin, fingers and more become currency in this economy of desperation. How much of yourself would you give up for a better life?

This book is what happens when capitalism and body horror meet up in a dark alley, and honestly I couldn't stop reading it! The premise sounds sketchy right? Quick cash in advance on a life insurance policy. We all know that saying that nothing comes for free, so obviously Crossroads wants something in exchange. The concept is wild, original, and completely hooked me. Watching the town normalize something so disturbing gave the story this creeping skin crawling tension that had me flipping the pages as fast as I could process the words. It's gritty, uncomfortable, and definitely not for the squeamish, but if you like horror that makes you think and squirm, this one delivers!

Thank you so much to Andrew Adams for letting me read an early copy of this gem! Available now on KU and paperback!

[Angel Medina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one heck of a dystopian horror read where an insurance company promises money, but there's one 'expensive' catch. From the first page, you get the sense of dread when you're introduced to the city of Glanton. While the horrors are bad enough, this one strikes the ethical question of how much too much for free money? Remember that saying, nothing is free in this world? Crossroads Inc. is a perfect story that reflects on that.

It's also a haunting story that shows what people stuck in poverty and squalid conditions are willing to do just to get their hands on a brighter financial future. It's also a real life horror that shows how easy it's to manipulate humans when they're backed into a corner. I felt bad for Hannah as she was the only one to avoid being goaded into taking the deal, but watches the rest of her family get tricked with severe consequences.

The ending is dark as heck, but I don't want to spoil it. I urge you to read for yourself, just pack a light lunch before reading because some parts are brutal. Overall, an excellent story!

[Bookaholic__Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desperation can really lead to some horrifying consequences.

full rtc

[Tyler Downs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crossroads Inc tells the story of young Hannah and her family as they struggle through poverty in the dystopian town of Glanton. Residents slave away in factories for the reward of ramshackled living conditions, canned meat, and a juice & bleach mixture known as “brew” that serves as an intoxicating distraction from their dead-end lives. That is, until the company Crossroads Inc and its enigmatic, purple-suited CEO, Samuel Sterling, strolls into town offering a better way. A brighter path in the form of fast money and a higher quality of life.

And to get it? All they need to do is sell off parts of their body.

Andrew Adams is a great writer, and I think this is a great book. With a story like this, it’s vital to make the stakes believable and Andrew succeeds in that. The conditions are so dire and desperate that characters maiming themselves to support their loved ones seems like a reasonable option. The true horror here is the hopelessness. There’s no salvation in sight. People are literally selling themselves for another meal, another day, a bit of fun, more “brew”—knowing it’s just a temporary fix and that they only have so many parts to offer.

This book handles its themes in a literal sense, which I appreciate, but it’s essentially one big metaphor. It’s about a snake oil salesman peddling hope to the desperate. It’s about the price of instant gratification. Classism. Addiction. Societal collapse. Andrew does a great job navigating all of it in a believable, well-written way, and I thought the way he wrapped it up in the end was especially cool.

Selfishly, I would’ve enjoyed a bit more direct interaction with Samuel Sterling, just because he was such an interesting character, but that’s more of a “me thing” than a book issue.

If this sounds up your alley, go grab it now for the price of a middle finger.

[Ian Gielen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crossroads, Inc is an extremely clever, topical and scarily relevant story about capitalism and how far people will go to try and get a measure of happiness in lives that are otherwise a struggle to bear.
Its a depressive vision of a dystopian future and Andrew does a fantastic job of conveying just how much addiction, desperation and poverty can affect people's decisions, especially when there is a powerful societal leader that is charismatic and convincing.

The story is told through the eyes of thirteeen year old Hannah Cassidy who is living with her mother and her seven siblings when a new life insurance company, Crossroads, Inc moves to town with an offer that seems too good to be true.

Despite the horrific cost of the free money they offer, the people in Glanton flock there, desperate to find a way to find any measure of happiness they can besides the alcohol they consume each night.

As the town of Glanton deteriorates around Hannah, circumstances take her to Crossroads, Inc where she will find out the true horror behind their facade.

This is a fantastic book that deserves a lot of eyes on it.

[renee w · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I’ve been scared since Crossroads came to town, and now everything seems hopeless …”

Meet Hannah Cassidy. She lives in a small town called Glanton. She lives with her mother and her seven siblings. They are extremely poor, to say the least, when suddenly a company by the name of Crossroads comes to Glanton, promising a better life for all. It’s a life insurance company that pays out before you die but at what cost?

This was a sad look at poverty, the rich getting richer, surrounded by addiction and false hope.

[Jude Walko · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Crossroads, Inc.” makes no bones (or flesh) about being exactly what it is when taken in the literal sense. From page one we are treated to pink, slimy, coagulated meat chunks one can immediately infer are coming from some sort of “recycling” plant, once the town’s nefarious Super-Villain Samuel Sterling is introduced. To me, however, its analogous meanings are much more powerful.

Although the story deals with a kind of cannibalism-for-profit theme, both literally and metaphorically, I believe it can apply to many things in modern society. Things like the pressure for young women and girls to profit from OnlyFans or the like, gentrification of poor neighborhoods, tattoos and body modifications, plastic surgery, the pressures of social media to fit in often beyond one’s means… The list goes on and on. That is not to say there is anything inherently wrong with any of things when done in moderation, but the novel addresses the human desire to attain the unattainable, often with dire consequences. This in turn leads to addiction, sometimes depression, and of course exploitation by corporate greed.

I feel like the ending became a wee bit convoluted, as if the author couldn’t decide on themes like Vampires, Aliens, an “Inception”-like dream state, or clones. I feel like maybe he is a fan of all these things and couldn’t decide which box to put the story in. He certainly says he is a filmmaker, so this might just check out.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter, in my humble opinion. The story tells the same message, regardless of your personal interpretation. That is “Buyer beware”, or in the case of Glantonians, “Seller beware!”. If something appears too good to be true, then it probably is. I feel like the novel is also a reflection as to where we are in society. It is so easy to buy into propaganda whether it comes from Fox News, CNN, Ozempic or Mounjaro, or the latest TikTok shop craze selling miracle creams, gels, cleaners and diet supplements.

In the age of burgeoning Ai, the constant threat of war, rising prices and falling wages, and the unattainable need to fit in to a materialistic society, all the while struggling to make ends meet, I feel like the title is aptly called “Crossroads, Inc.”. Our global society is certainly at a crossroads, but it is up to us if we want to be corporatized into oblivion, or if we will take back our humanity and choose to actually touch grass. The citizens of Glanton have made their choice, now it’s time for the Citizens of Earth to make ours!

[Kimber Kraft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crossroads Inc. by

Oh boy, was that bleak. Beautiful and ugly.

Meet Hannah, a massively well adjusted thirteen year old girl born into a large family suffering dire poverty.
The family values are strong with the Cassady’s, and they have each other in their hardship, right? Right??
They at least have meat slop and “brew”

That’s until Crossroads Inc. moves into town promising money for body parts. An insurance company that pays YOU before you die?! Can this save the Cassady family from their ramshackle way of living and lung ruining smog to point them toward prosperity?

From here the family dynamic and Hannah’s day-to-day life takes a dark turn via morals and perspectives through desire for a “better life.”
This “better life” is presented in a twisted, dystopian way, headed by Samuel Sterling, the CEO of Crossroads Inc. Despite his pearly white teeth and pristine purple suit, that man ain’t right.

This book highlights so many horrific, dark aspects relevant to today’s society.
Addiction as a coping mechanism. Alcoholism (bleachism?), Predatory markets. Propaganda. Mob mentality. Family. Tyranny. Capitalism. Environmentalism. YOU NAME IT!
It’s completely horrifying and heartbreaking.
Hannah deserves NONE of this. Neither does Colin, tbh.

This contains just the perfect amount of gore and body horror.
What would be your price for a pound of flesh?

This is my third Adam Andrew and each one has been a home run. He knows my favorite fiction is transgressive. The writing is beautiful without losing boldness, depravity, and wrenching guts. This story is a perfect example of “too good to be true.”
If you’re a fan of Repo! The Genetic Opera, Squid Game, and Stephen Graham Jones (transgressive coming-of-age), this one is DEFINITELY for you!

A smashing 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Zach Constable · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcome to Glanton, a small town which has lost its small-town charm. By day, residents slave away in polluting factories while their children attend grade school for a seemingly meaningless education. By night, everyone returns to their home lives of poverty and squalor, alleviated only by an addictive drink known as “Brew”. Anyone with higher aspirations has long since moved away—except for Samuel Sterling, the charismatic and charming CEO of a company promising quick cash in exchange for…body parts.

Sounds wild? That’s only the beginning of Andrew Adams’ Crossroads Inc.

I went into this novel essentially blind, which only amplified the experience. Adams’ dark and dystopian setting is eerily reminiscent of stories I heard about my great-grandmother and her family growing up in coal company towns in rural West Virginia. The narrative is enhanced through the perspective of Hannah, a nine-year-old girl whose intelligence and independence proves her resistant to the snake-oil salesmanship of Sterling. She is an extremely likable character, and watching Sterling slowly infect everything around her only makes us want to root for her more.

There’s a sprinkling of body horror in this novel, especially as the novel progresses and people run out of body parts to maim. However, the true horror lies in the already bleak setting deteriorating like a slowly rupturing dam. With each chapter, Mr. Adams only ups the stakes and desperation in Glanton, propelling its residents into increasingly animalistic behavior. The scariest part is how entirely believable it all is. Crossroads Inc may be fiction, but the themes of classism, gentrification, addiction, and corporate greed are all very real. In that, Andrew Adams may have written us more than a book. Much like countless other dystopian novels of yesteryear, perhaps this serves as a warning of where we’re headed.

[Milt Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

What struck me most about "Crossroads, Inc" is how relevant it is. This is a rich book, both in ideas and implications, frighteningly topical and worryingly on target. It does not read like satire or political comedy - the seriousness of its message, conveyed via a most upsetting allegory, comes through clearly and loudly: we are f*cked.

The central idea is unveiled with some fanfare, amid false promises and fanciful hopes: an insurance company puts ads everywhere addressing the poor people of a small town, promising them cash if they come in and surrender parts of their bodies, as many times as they like. Anyone is welcome to do it, kids, moms, teachers, whole families. What starts as a curiosity soon blows up into a social trend: teens without fingers, disfigured adults without feet or hands, even gangs kidnapping others to cut off their body parts and sell them to the company - the sky is the limit! Only a few suspect a larger plan at work behind the scenes, a twelve-year old girl among them. She watches her family lose themselves as Crossroads rewards them with money for visiting the company premises again and again. But what does Crossroads do with the collected body parts, the cropped patches of skin and the amputated limbs? Therein lies the rub: we have met the enemy, and it is us.

"Crossroads, Inc" is high quality political and social SF, with a horrific premise and a bleak, if extraordinarily compelling, ending. I unreservedly recommend it for the dystopian atmosphere, the punchy message, and the provocative depiction of a society in collapse.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A life insurance company that will pay you money before you die sounds like a great idea, right? They'll help you get out of poverty and improve your quality of life! You may lose bits of yourself in the process, but hey, at least you'll have money!

Crossroads, Inc. is an excellent example of if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is. While free money sounds great, there's always a price to pay somewhere, as the citizens of poverty-stricken Glanton soon found out. But it also brings up an interesting question of what would you be willing to do, to sacrifice, if it would help your family and ease their burdens?

I can't decide if this story is more horrifying or terribly sad. Reading as Hannah's family struggled just to get by and slowly succumbing to the brew ans the manipulations of Samuel Sterling was hard, doubly so knowing that even now there are people who would have no choice but to go to Crossroads if such a place existed here.

The story did get a little repetitive for me in the middle. It didn't seem like much was happening overall except very similar situations, then everything picked back up for the grand finale. I wish the action had been spread out a little bit more so I could better feel the build up to the big reveal of Sterling's real intentions.

All in all, this was an interesting read! For me, Colin really stole the show even though he was more of a supporting character. His self-awareness and the way that he was supportive of Hannah throughout the book really stood out to me and made him shine as a character.

[Abby Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crossroads by Andrew Adams is a unique, original, and insanely gnarly story and I loved every single second of it.

The story follows a young girl named Hannah, living with her momma and siblings in a poverty stricken town. Things are fine (as fine as they can be) until Crossroads Inc. rolls into town with a horrible proposition: They’ll pay the town’s poorest folks cash for their own body parts….

I’m not going to say anything more about the plot because the twists are where this book truly shines and it gets so much deeper and darker than that hook.

BUTTT I have to talk about his writing… Adams is an absolutely phenomenal writer.. He gives every single character such a distinct, believable voice. He doesn’t rush the dialogue or cut corners and it all flows so seamlessly that you just forget you’re reading. By the time I hit the ending, it was a total freaking gut punch. I am still REELING..

And while this is a good “story” my real take from it is in our world, the poor don’t literally sell their limbs to a company called Crossroads Inc., but they do sell their health, their time, and their physical safety to survive. If you’re working three manual labor jobs that are destroying your back or breathing in chemicals at a factory just to feed your siblings, you are basically trading your body for a paycheck in slow motion. And that’s honestly just the beginning of the darkness of this book that literally applies today in our fucked up world. It gets… worse.

This is an easy 5 star read and I cannot recommend it enough.

[ScarlettAnomalyReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so lucky to get to read this early, it was so good.

Small town horror and corruption with a twist.

This company Crossroads Inc comes to town and it seems like a good idea on the surface, maybe.. Cash advance on your life insurance for now while your living? That seems so generous right?

Nah, sinister af.
Hannah and her family are poor, the type that would absolutely fall prey to this kind of company so her and her siblings borrow early against their policies and find out the price and interest are more then they bargained for.

This was so fucked up, I know that feeling of seeing hope and thinking it's the answer and really it's just a shit sandwich with fancy wrapping, I was screaming inside when I started reaming about this company, No!

I think even if I had read this during a different time, it wpukd have hit me hard, but during this current... Climate, this got under my skin and until my brain in a way that was horrying.

This is fiction but it's not, it's horrying I knew better, but in my soul I though when people realize and see how horrifying it is to loose an appendage for cash it will wake them up.. Right??

No?! It made it like, some how trendy in a way and fueld this, it should have been seen as barbaric and just wasn't, that was such a horrifying realization and then I looked around in real life.

I want to say more but I can't ruin this for you all, it's bleak and hard and emotional some how but horrifying and needs to be read.

Absolutely one of my top reads this year.

[Josette Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started reading this book I was not sure what kind of story was taking place. The town described was depressing as well as the people who lived there. When money became more and more difficult to acquire Hannah followed her brother to the place that was supposed to give money for free. Of course Hannah was skeptical, since she was the smart one. And whoah was she right to be skeptical! The things going on at Crossroads, Inc. were despicable. From that moment on the town began its downward spiral into sheep mentality. The people figured out that nothing is for free but began to worship the system that was killing them; literally and metaphorically. As things in the little town begin to deteriorate rapidly into more chaos; Hannah went to ask the owner of the corporation to stop and give back her family. Little did she know that the plan set forth by Mr. Sterling was so outrageous that she wanted to disagree but to no avail. There simply was not enough people to protest the current status therefore Hannah was led to believe she could not change what was coming to the town, possible the entire globe. She ran from the factory with little hope and no one to listen. This book was quite the emotional fit for how I feel our world is headed now. There are certain people that are similar to Mr. Sterling. I was left feeling disheartened at the end of the book and I am still thinking of this book and the similarities to real life.

[BookishDogMamaKate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Off the hook crazy in the most horror delicious way.

Crossroads Inc by author Andrew Adams is definitely a book that left me pausing after certain pages stare at the wall.

Glanton is an industrial town on life support. (Much like what I remember growing up in the Rust Belt when the plants started to close.) Sweet Hannah, is youngest of 7, residing in a quintessential old blue collar neighborhood. Her family already lives the ‘work, drink, spam for dinner again’ life, and she hopes for more someday through school.

A company, Crossroads Inc, comes to town promising debt relief and instant prosperity! Life insurance paid before you die so it can be enjoyed now. Neglected in the advertising, until one goes in to inquire, is that the catch is cash… for body parts.

And when I thought it could not get wilder than that, it did. And then it did again. Eloquently worded passages of nightmares, anxiety, twists.

Equally terrifying was how easily struggling communities and desperate people can be manipulated by corporations. And how the insane becomes acceptable.

The characters are so well written, the pace is spot on, and I did not see it all coming. Nice job Andrew Adams!

Highly recommend!

[Horror Haus Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s time to talk about another Andrew Adams book, which means you already know things are about to get deeply messed up.

This one felt a little different from his usual work and honestly? I loved that. Crossroads, Inc. leans hard into dystopian horror, and what makes it especially unsettling is how believable it feels. A company profiting off desperation and poverty by literally collecting body parts as payment? It’s horrifying because it doesn’t feel that far removed from where society could realistically end up.

Beneath all the gore and body horror (which Andrew absolutely delivers on) there’s a genuinely bleak look at capitalism, greed, addiction, and the impossible choices people make when they’re desperate. The horror isn’t just in the blood it’s in how easily people can be manipulated when survival is on the line.

Hannah was easily my favorite part of the story. She’s sharp, resilient, and carries a weight far beyond her thirteen years. Watching her navigate the absolute nightmare unfolding around her gave the story a strong emotional core amidst all the chaos.

This is brutal and uncomfortably relevant. Another solid hit from Andrew Adams. A perfect mix of social commentary and complete body horror fueled fuckery.

[Lisa LaFontaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what an excellent book I just read. Crossroads, Inc. by Andrew Adams it’s a gem of a story. If you have lived all your life in poverty, eating the same thing day after day, what wouldn’t you give to at least eat something different, to have drinkable water, to live in a nice place. Crossroads, Inc. comes into town offering free money. The only thing that they ask in exchange for that free money is that you sell them your body parts. Who needs 10 fingers and 10 toes after all right? Hannah, the main character whom is only 13, everyday sees somebody that has fallen into this new way of life. Including her siblings, including some school friends, including his favorite teacher, including her Mom. Will she be one of them too? The author does an excellent job describing everything in the story I could close my eyes, and I can see where they live, the school the kids go to, and even the Crossroads insurance company. He describes everything so vividly that he brings you in to the story. I will definitely recommend this book to others and will look for something else from him to read. Now, close this app and go to the store or buy the book online, you will not regret it. Don’t worry, it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. 😉

[Katie Ranney · Rating 5 out of 5]

“How does it feel never having any cash in your pockets? Hopeless? Crushing?"Erasing your will to live?"

From the very first line of Crossroads, Inc you get this sense of hopelessness and dread.
When Crossroads, incorporated rolls into the dilapidated town of Glanton offerering cash advances on life insurance 13 year old Hannah is not easily convinced and already skeptical about the company and it's CEO Samuel Sterling. When she discovers what is really happening behind closed doors in exchange for the cash advances Hannah is determined to stay away and warn others about the atrocities that are occurring within Crossroads. However a town of desperate families living in squalor are roped in and start giving away themselves piece by piece for a little bit of hope and happiness in the form of money and brew.

Andrew Adams is an amazing writer and he brings the characters, their feelings and stories to life with such detail that you can't put the book down. I can't give this book enough praises and I will definitely recommend it to all.

Please check your triggers as this is a very dark, disturbing and often times grotesque story.

[A.C. Hessenauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished Crossroads, Inc this week, and I have thoughts. And feelings. If you're like me, and you're a fan of allegory and social commentary, you will appreciate the message Crossroads, Inc conveys. The critiques on modern society are woven into a narrative that is shockingly arresting from page one. The dystopian future Adams created feels like a bleak, deeply disturbing glimpse into our potential future. Crossroads, Inc will likely take you a while to fully process, and for me at least, that says something. As a life-long avid reader, I can honestly say that this book is different from anything I've ever read. I hope you give it a shot. I feel it has the vibes of a future cult classic with long-lasting staying power. I will add the caveat that if you are averse to bodily mutilation, proceed with caution. I personally was totally fine, but just wanted to throw that out there. I give Crossroads, Inc five severed thumbs up.

[Jyl Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

As if we needed another reason to hate insurance companies, Crossroads, Inc. gives us a pretty horrifying one. The premise is simple and awful in the best way: a company offers struggling people cash in exchange for parts of their bodies. Fingers, skin, whatever they’re willing to give. It starts as curiosity, then slowly turns into something much darker as more and more people line up for the money.
What makes this one really hit is how believable it feels. The town, the poverty, the way people convince themselves it’s worth it. The horror isn’t only in the gore. It’s watching a whole community slide into something terrible while telling themselves it’s helping.
This one is bleak, disturbing, and hard to put down. Beneath the shock factor is some sharp social commentary that is very relevant right now about desperation, exploitation, and how easily people can be pushed when they have no good options left. Definitely not a light read, but absolutely worth it!

[Alana K. Drex · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I had to comp this I'd say a fucked up Wonka factory where something called "brew" is the only prize the citizens of Glanton need. Each generation has found themselves spiraled further down, closer to dropping in the drain, so all they need now is instant gratification.

Enter Samuel Sterling. He's the founder of Crossroads, Inc and Hannah, the 13 year old (youngest) sibling of 8 will do everything in her power not to accept this. Every day she tries to keep a semblance of normalcy: going to school, coming home amd having family time at the dinner table, etc, but things get so whack, weird, and downright terrifying. Because turns out people will do ANYTHING for money and instant gratification.

I believe this is going to be one of those cult classics like Soylent Green. It speaks to us today with some of the things we've learned about behind our own scenes. Just don't expect a happy ending, okay?

[Amanda S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Welcome to Crossroads, Inc--the only insurance company that pays you. Improving your quality of life is our only mission."

How many times have you said, "I'd sell my soul for xyz."? But would you sell a finger? How about a foot? A whole leg?

Desperate people do desperate things. Welcome to Glanton, where the majority of the population lives in poverty. When Crossroads, Inc. promises them money and a better life, residents line up by the dozen. It doesn’t take long to discover that nothing is free, and if it sounds too good to be true, it likely is.

What makes this book even scarier is how it is so relateable that it almost feels as if it could be foreshadowing our own future. It is a true example of preying on the desperation of the poor, those hoping for a better future, no matter the cost.

[Danielle Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You’re miserable out there, I see you! You’re struggling big time. Your concerns are heard! The bills are impossible to pay, inflation is out of control, and groceries cost more than your first born and a good kidney. Never fear, for Sterling is here—I will help you get on your feet for the first time in your life! Speak with an agent today to find out what we can do for you!"

Wow. Wow. Wow. This is a standout book of the year for me. It is so relevant to the times we are living in and the political climate, etc., BUT it’s taken on REALLY well and done in a really wild way! This story is dystopian and actually creepy as hell.

This is one of those reviews where I can’t praise the story and how it was told enough. I wasn’t sure what I was getting into, especially in the first few pages, then BAM, it all hit me, and I was mind -blown for the rest of the book.

I saw it described as a story of desperation, hope, and horror… and I honestly couldn’t agree more. It’s quite bleak in the tale. But that’s also what I love about it. It held my attention from start to finish. At almost 300 pages, I was so engaged that I binge-read it in one day! (That’s honestly something I am used to doing, but haven’t done in months, so it felt really good to have this book draw me back into what I love so much about horror).

I know I didn’t say a ton for this one, but this book truly speaks for itself. It most definitely will land on my top reads of 2026 list, and I could not recommend it more if I tried! It’s available now, so grab it asap and bump it up on your TBR!

[Michael Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of my favorite horror lives in the apocalyptic and dystopian space, and this one lands firmly in the latter. The best stories ask hard questions, and this one cuts straight to it: how far would someone go to find happiness?

Crossroads Inc. promises exactly that. Naturally, the pursuit comes at a cost.

Told through the eyes of thirteen-year-old Hannah Cassidy, this dystopian tale delivers on the surface, gore, creatures, and corporate evil. But that’s not where the real horror lies. The true terror is in how it preys on the meek, the disenchanted, the hopeless… the people with nothing left, clinging to anything that offers even a flicker of hope in the dystopian dark.

It’s a deeply horrific story, made all the more unsettling by how closely it mirrors what we all see in society day.

A must read!

[Heather Shower · Rating 5 out of 5]

A chilling, thought-provoking dystopian horror that feels disturbingly real. Hannah is a strong, compelling narrator, and her love for her family adds emotional depth. The tension builds relentlessly as desperation is exploited in terrifying ways. Dark, brutal, and impactful, with an ending that lingers long after the final page.

[Emily Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Money

Hannah and her siblings want to get money for their family. Crossroads Inc. Is an insurance company that sounds too good to be true. Is the money worth what they want in return. A story of desperation, hope and horror.

[Amina Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Squid game vibes!

A family down on their luck in their small factory town discover an insurance company is offering to pay you money and better your quality of life.

The themes in this story felt so on point with how the world works.