Book picks similar to
The Shadow by Jeff Gunzel


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Lost Lands: The Game - Atlantis


A.E. McCullough - 2014
    Grouping up with his online friends, he had an enjoyable night of gaming and even completed the Tomb of Immortality. However, at the end of the dungeon they meet a strange wizard with a compelling offer to ‘Beta Test’ a new expansion. Since every gamer dreams of being the first to explore new areas, they agree. Nonetheless, they were not ready for what came next. Mac and his friends find themselves pulled into the game and that they have become their avatars. At first, it is exciting until they realize that they are trapped inside the game. When they find themselves attacked, the Outlanders quickly realize how dangerous their new reality can be. Vowing to return home, the survivors set off to find the legendary city of Atlantis in hopes that the Dragon Kings may know of a way back to the real world. The Outlanders soon discover that they aren’t the first gamers to be pulled into game, just the latest. But more than that, they have become pawns between two rival wizards in a long standing feud. Can the Outlanders survive the game world long enough to return home?

Rock Hard


L.J. Vickery - 2014
    Now, the gods seem to be reaping a great deal of pleasure at his expense once again for it’s another little bit of a woman who has the power to make him whole. She lights his formerly passionless form on fire, but he'll have to battle more than the gods who placed him and his brothers in this purgatory to win her heart and her body. Some demons must be faced to be defeated, even if they are hers. Tess has straightened her life out. That means no alcohol, no risk, and most of all NO MEN! But this god-like creature she first sees naked on the beach makes her forget the horrors wrought by another and consider the passion zinging through her veins. Can she take such a risk again without sacrificing her sobriety and her life?

Obsidian Tears (Apparition Lake Book 2)


Doug Lamoreux - 2016
    Yellowstone is dying.New troubles are stacking up like cordwood for Chief Ranger Glenn Merrill, as Yellowstone’s existence is threatened by earth tremors and an imminent super-volcano. After a series of gruesome deaths claiming animals, tourists, and a ranger, it’s clear that something’s gone terribly wrong at the nation's oldest national park.But putting an end to these mysterious deaths is more than just the chief ranger’s job — it may be his end.Obsidian Tears plunges Glenn, his Shoshone friend, an aggressive young seismologist and an Arapaho healer into a world of Indian mysticism. Will man and nature join forces, or risk losing all of humanity to an ancient evil?

A Dance of Dragons: Series Starter Bundle


Kaitlyn Davis - 2014
    Maas, Kristin Cashore, and Tamora Pierce! This bundle includes the prequel novella, The Golden Cage, as well as the first full-length novel, The Shadow Soul.~~~THE GOLDEN CAGE (A Dance of Dragons #0.5)In the land of Ourthuro, cruelty is a way of life. The king rules with an iron fist and no one dare defy him--no one except his daughter. Princess Leena is keeping a dangerous secret, she has fallen in love with a soldier and it would mean both of their lives if her father ever discovered their affair.But Leena will risk it all to be with the man she loves--her heart, her life, her freedom. And when her brother's birthday celebration takes a dangerous turn, Leena is forced to make a decision that will change the fate of her nation and eventually the world.THE SHADOW SOUL (A Dance of Dragons #1)When Jinji's home is destroyed, she is left with nowhere to run and no one to run to--until she meets Rhen, a prince chasing rumors that foreign enemies have landed on his shores. Masquerading as a boy, Jinji joins Rhen with vengeance in her heart. But traveling together doesn't mean trusting one another, and both are keeping a deep secret--magic. Jinji can weave the elements to create master illusions and Rhen can pull burning flames into his flesh.But while they struggle to hide the truth, a shadow lurks in the night. An ancient evil has reawakened, and unbeknownst to them, these two unlikely companions hold the key to its defeat. Because their meeting was not coincidence--it was fate. And their story has played out before, in a long forgotten time, an age of myth that is about to be reborn...

Sword Bearer


Teddy Jacobs - 2012
    Then you go on all kinds of adventures - fighting monsters, casting spells and saving damsels in distress. At least that's how it's supposed to work, but I didn't believe a word of it.BOOK ONE OF THE EPIC FANTASY SERIES RETURN OF THE DRAGONSLocked in his room in the castle, young Anders yearns for adventure. Until the day he opens a magic portal and a girl bursts into his locked room with a chemical warlock hot on her trail. And adventure finds him -- an adventure full of danger, full of blood, fire, demons and evil. To face it, he'll need the sword given him by his blademaster, need the ancient words his grandfather gave him on his deathbed. Need the song that runs in his own blood, in his veins.A sword will be reforged, magic words discovered, battles fought, friends made and lost, secrets revealed. And blood will be spilled. But will blade, word and blood be enough?

Burning


Eve Paludan - 2013
    Real evil. And when this darkness comes after him and his family, he will do everything he can to stop it...and to save his loved ones.Now trained by the legendary Brotherhood of the Blade in a remote castle setting, Rand will learn all the skills necessary to find his missing daughter...and to stop the killers who prey on mankind.

Knights: Defenders of Ollanhar


Robert E. Keller - 2014
    They vow to restore and defend the ancient keep, even as an old enemy returns stronger than ever and creatures of darkness close in on them. Meanwhile, King Verlamer continues to expand his colossal, brutal empire, and Dremlock Kingdom remains his primary target. Yet the key to Dremlock's survival may exist in distant lands.

I, Judas The 5th Gospel


Bob Mayer
    They have been preparing to implement the Great Commission as designated by Jesus—where everyone on the planet must hear the word of God before the end in order to be saved. They will use advanced technology to send that message directly into the minds of every human on the planet. The question is: will the message kill everyone who gets it or save them?Believing him to be the anti-Christ, they also send a team of assassins up the Amazon to find the Great Betrayer and kill him. Opposing the Brotherhood is the Triumvirate of the Illuminati. They believe they must stop the Great Commission and also they try to stop the assassination team. At the same time they rush to gather nuclear weapons and launch missiles into space to divert the Intruder, as they call the object.Two survivors do finally make it to Judas, and he tells them a story, the true story of what happened over two millennia ago.As the object nears Earth, both sides become locked in a world-wide battle for the future of the human race, as Judas prepares in the jungle for the Second Coming.Which is not at all what anyone expects.You might consider it an alternate version of Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End.

Fire & Ice


Patty Jansen - 2011
    Most citizens are immune to it, but a few, always born with physical disabilities, can bend it to their will. For fifty years, the ruling Eagle Knights, who fly on the back of giant birds, have killed these Imperfects, fearing the return of the old royal family, who used icefire to cut out people's hearts, turning them into ghostly servitors. The old king's grandson Tandor only sees the good things icefire brought: power and technology now forgotten while the people of the south live in dire poverty. He's had enough of seeing his fellow kinsfolk slaughtered by ignorant Knights, of Imperfect babies being abandoned on the ice floes to be eaten by wild animals. His grandfather's diary tells him how to increase the beat of the Heart the first step to making the land glorious once more. Arrogant as he is, he sets the machine in motion. All he needs is an army of Imperfect servitors to control the resulting power.Isandor is Imperfect, an ex-Knight apprentice, betrayed by his best friend and running for his life. The queen Jevaithi is Imperfect, living like a prisoner amidst leering Knights, surviving only because the common people would rebel if their beloved queen were harmed. Both are young and desperate and should be grateful that Tandor wants to rescue them from their hopeless situations. Or so he thinks. The youngsters, however, have no inclination to become heartless ghosts, but while they defy Tandor, the Heart beats, and he alone cannot control its power.

For Sale by Owner


D.D. Godley - 2017
    Lieutenant Joshua Simpson receives his final order, “bond with it.”While “bonding with it” the Lieutenant discovers the frightening truth about humanity. Where did we come from? How did we get here? Who are these visitors?˃˃˃ Disclosure: October 16th, 2020 -One-thousand breeding couples are abducted.Why? How are these abductions related to Lieutenant Joshua Simpson?Book Two of this series is Refuge Planet: Colonization.You will believe.

Blood on the Water


Alex Connor - 2013
    This prequel to the conspiracy thriller Isle of the Dead introduces us to the dark side of Venice - a city with secrets to rival its splendour.

Ruby Celeste and the Ghost Armada


Nicholas J. Ambrose - 2013
    So after dispatching his guarding henchmen, she snatches him and then flees—but not before blowing a gaping hole in the SkyPort.But unbeknownst to Ruby, Stein survives the blast. And along with the assassins now hot on her tail, she has other problems to contend with: the frail man she kidnapped and his newfound place on her ship, a pervasive series of dangerous electrical malfunctions—and what about the diary she finds on a derelict ship? Are its pages filled with the deranged words of a madman—or does it really hold the key to finding the mysterious Ghost Armada?

Shadowborn


Moira Katson - 2013
    Shadows gather: legacies of the centuries-long rivalries for power, old betrayals, the endless plots of the courtiers, and the murmur of rebellion in the southern provinces…Catwin, plucked from her life at the edge of the Kingdom, is thrust abruptly into the world of the Court when she is chosen by the Duke of Voltur to be a Shadow—spy, shield, and blade—to his niece, the Lady Miriel DeVere. The Duke’s ruthlessness is legendary, and he will stop at nothing to become the power behind the throne, using Miriel as a pawn to catch Garad’s heart.But the Duke's carefully-laid plans are only a piece of the intrigue of the court, and greater forces than Catwin can imagine are massed against her, determined to eliminate Miriel and impose a new order of their own. If Catwin and Miriel are to survive, they must learn quickly who to trust, and when to turn their skills against the very people who have trained them...

Misty Hill Reckoning


R.B. Tetro - 2016
    When that peace is threatened by a corrupt sheriff, and the ruthless drug dealers he’s protecting, they’ll have to stand together with their friends and some unlikely allies if they hope to survive. Jake Dillon has come to Misty Hill looking for answers about his missing brother; who’s been working undercover for the DEA. He finds the Sanders standing alone against the people connected to his brother’s disappearance. He also finds the family that he’s always wanted, and the love he’s never had. The odds are stacked against them surviving, but Laura and her family won’t back down, and Jake won’t back off, until he finds his brother and his new friends are safe. In the Great Smoky Mountains, people have their own brand of justice. It’s been passed down from generation to generation. It’s called a reckoning, and it’s coming to Misty Hill.

The Photograph (Eastbrook 1)


Kristen Otte - 2014
    All Rachel knows is that her mother disappeared around the time her father was killed in action in the Gulf War a few months after she was born.Her discovery of the photograph sends Rachel on a search for her mother against her grandparents’ wishes and propels her life into a tailspin. She never imagines her search will reveal a series of lies that jeopardizes every important relationship in her life and ultimately lead Rachel to question her identity.Recommended for teens ages 12-16.