Book picks similar to
Punk by K.D. McQuain
vampires
urban-fantasy
arc
horror
Of Wicked Blood
Olivia Wildenstein - 2021
or the cursed.SLATEI didn’t mean to steal the Bloodstone from the De Morel’s crypt. Scratch that, I did mean to steal it. Until I realized it was a curse-magnet that only comes off if I, along with a jolly trio, successfully defeat four curses.If any of us fail, I’m dead.I’ve never been a glass half-empty sort of person, but my glass looks in dire need of a refill right about now.The only highlight of this wicked treasure hunt: feisty, entitled Cadence de Morel.CADENCEI was raised on tales of magic, in a small town reputed to be the birthplace of French witchcraft.Did I believe all the stories I heard? Absolutely not. I mean, if magic existed, Maman wouldn’t have died, and Papa wouldn’t be stuck in a wheelchair, right?Wrong.The night Slate Ardoin waltzes into my life, wearing a ring he stole from my mother’s grave, I call him a monster.But then I meet real ones, and Slate, well . . . he becomes something else to me.Something frustrating to live with but impossible to live without.Something I will fight for, no matter the cost.*Warning: profuse cursing (and not just the magical kind).
Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The First Death
Laurell K. Hamilton - 2008
Hamilton delivers a look into Anita Blake's past! Written by Laurell K. Hamilton herself, along with Jonathon Green, The First Death takes place almost a year before the events being chronicled in Guilty Pleasures. Witness the first meeting of Anita and Jean-Claude, Anita's first time inside Guilty Pleasures, her first serial-killer case, and an early encounter with Edward. Prepare to be thrilled by this original story produced especially for comics!Collects Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The First Death #1-2 and Anita Blake: Guilty Pleasures Handbook.
Companions of the Night
Vivian Vande Velde - 1995
to retrieve it for him. The laundry is deserted and kind of spooky, and while she's there three men burst in, dragging a bound and bloodied young man they insist is a vampire. Kerry helps him escape, only to be caught up in a desperate game between vampire hunters and their prey. «Full of tension and familiar vampire lore-and with a touch of romance-this should find a wide YA audience.»Booklist
Night Road
A.M. Jenkins - 2008
After a century of wandering he may still look like a teenager, but he's known in the heme community for being observant, meticulous, and controlled—a master of life on the road.When Cole is asked to take a newly created heme out for training, however, his usual caution may not be enough. If Gordon, the rookie who really is in his teens, can't cut ties with his old life and accept his new limitations, Cole will have to discreetly dispose of the kid—the same way a mad dog would be put down for the safety of society.Cole thinks he can handle it. But no matter how carefully he plans, or how much he thinks he's in control, accidents still happen. . . .
Poison City
Paul Crilley - 2016
I work for the Delphic Division, the occult investigative unit of the South African Police Service. My life revolves around two things - finding out who killed my daughter and imagining what I'm going to do to the bastard when I catch him.I have two friends. The first is my boss, Armitage, a fifty-something DCI from Yorkshire who looks more like someone's mother than a cop. Don't let that fool you. The second is the dog, my magical spirit guide. He talks, he watches TV all day, and he's a mean drunk.Life is pretty routine - I solve crimes, I search for my daughter's killer. Wash, rinse, repeat. Until the day I'm called out to the murder of a ramanga - a low-key vampire - basically, the tabloid journalist of the vampire world. It looks like an open and shut case. There's even CCTV footage of the killer.Except... the face on the CCTV footage? It's the face of the man who killed my daughter. I'm about to face a tough choice. Catch her killer or save the world? I can't do both.It's not looking good for the world.Poison City is the first in a fantastical new series for fans of Ben Aaronovitch, Lauren Beukes, Sarah Lotz and Stephen King.
The Wolf of Dorian Gray
Brian S. Ference - 2016
One thing Sage cannot conceal is her infatuation with the handsome and charismatic Dorian Gray. Sage creates a lifelike painting of Dorian and a small wolf pup, but there is more to the painting than meets the eye.As Dorian unlocks his inherent darkness, a werewolf is spawned that begins killing in the streets of London. The lycanthrope turns to killing Dorian’s enemies, but who is the real monster here?Sage never imagined her passion would give birth to a vicious monster that could cost her everything.Can Dorian and Sage save their souls, or will the beast consume them all?Complete with action, harrowing escapes, hell-bent revenge, just-enough romance, and a werewolf terrorizing the gentry; The Wolf of Dorian Gray is a compelling and most delicious read.
Believe Me
Tony Strong - 2018
A struggling actor, a Brit in America without a green card, Claire needs work and money to survive. Then she gets both. But nothing like she expected. Claire agrees to become a decoy for a firm of divorce lawyers. Hired to entrap straying husbands, she must catch them on tape with their seductive propositions. The rules? Never hit on the mark directly. Make it clear you’re available, but he has to proposition you, not the other way around. The firm is after evidence, not coercion. The innocent have nothing to hide. Then the game changes. When the wife of one of Claire’s targets is violently murdered, the cops are sure the husband is to blame. Desperate to catch him before he kills again, they enlist Claire to lure him into a confession. Claire can do this. She’s brilliant at assuming a voice and an identity. For a woman who’s mastered the art of manipulation, how difficult could it be to tempt a killer into a trap? But who is the decoy . . . and who is the prey?
Ripper
Amy Carol Reeves - 2012
. ." It's 1888, and after her mother's sudden death, Abbie is sent to live with her grandmother in a posh London neighborhood. When she begins volunteering at Whitechapel Hospital, Abbie finds she has a passion for helping the abused and sickly women there. But within days, patients begin turning up murdered at the hands of Jack the Ripper. As more women are murdered, Abbie realizes that she and the Ripper share a strange connection: she has visions showing the Ripper luring his future victims to their deaths--moments before he turns his knife upon them. Her desperation to stop the massacres leads Abbie on a perilous hunt for the killer. And her search leads to a mysterious brotherhood whose link to the Ripper threatens not just London but all of mankind.
Cornered Magic
Charissa Dufour - 2015
Packed into the Reservation with vampires, werewolves, faes, and mages alike, Sam does her best to travel below the radar, but when her only friend asks for her help she can’t say no. Her work to solve a fae’s murder brings her to the forefront of vampire politics, and changes her life forever.
SEVEN-X
Mike Wech - 2012
With the opportunity to break this story, Eddie voluntarily commits himself into the asylum. His journals, video diary and recordings leave a trail of breadcrumbs into a series of radical experimental procedures conducted on patients without their consent. With proof that this vicious serial killer is alive, records of her forced exorcism and the impending birth of the child the world believes is dead, Eddie has the big story that will redeem his life and career.But as Eddie dives deeper into his investigation, he is forced to confront his own demons, becoming an unwilling participant in the asylum's paranormal rehabilitation experiment.__________________________________Please Note: A revised edition of SEVEN-X was released on February 4, 2016 edited by Rachel Kirsch. The previous edition was edited by Robert Scott.SEVEN-X is Amazon Kindle's INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLING NOVEL reaching #1 in Dark Horror and Religious Mystery; as well as a Best Seller in Psychic Suspense, YA Paranormal and Horror in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and Australia. This is the first novel in the SEVEN-X Trilogy.For more information visit: www.seven-x.com
Those Who Hunt the Night
Barbara Hambly - 1988
At the turn of the twentieth century, a former spy is called into service to hunt down a vampire killer...Once a spy for Queen Victoria, James Asher has fought for Britain on every continent, using his quick wits to protect the Empire at all costs. After years of grueling service, he marries and retires to a simple academic’s life at Oxford. But his peace is shattered one night with the arrival of a Spanish vampire named Don Simon. Don Simon can disappear into fog, move faster than the eye can see, and immobilize Asher—and his young bride—with a wave of his hand. Asher is at his mercy, and has no choice but to give his help. Because someone is killing the vampires of London, and James Asher must find out who—before he becomes a victim himself. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Barbara Hambly, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.
Blood Dragons
Rosemary A. Johns - 2016
His only company? A savage Elizabethan Blood lifer. And he’s keeping a secret from her that breaks every rule.London, 1960s. When a seductive human singer tempts Light with a forbidden romance, their worlds collide. At the same time, Light discovers his ruthless family’s horrifying experiments. Now he’s torn between slaying the humans he was raised to fear, or saving them.But an effort to play the hero could spell the end…for both species.
Rooms
Lauren Oliver - 2014
His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance. But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself—in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb. The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide—with cataclysmic results.
Blood Type
K.A. Linde - 2018
For Reyna Carpenter, giving up her body isn’t a choice. It’s survival. In a civilization laid waste by poverty and desperation, Reyna accepts a high-paying position with the wealthy and hungry vampire elite. Her new job is as the live-in blood escort for the intimidating, demanding, and devilishly handsome Beckham Anderson. He’s everything she expected from a vampire, except for one thing—he won’t feed off her. Reyna soon discovers that behind Beckham’s brooding, wicked façade lies a unique and complex man. And that, in a dark and divided world, she is more valuable than she ever would have believed. For with each passing night, Reyna can’t shake the sensation that it’s Beckham who’s afraid of her. Note: Reyna and Beckham’s story continues in Blood Match.This ebook includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.
Halfway Dead
Terry Maggert - 2015
Stay for the magic.Working at the town diner isn't her only job, for Carlie is also a good witch who will do bad things to protect her town. Trained by her Gran, she'll be asked to follow a handsome stranger into the deepest forest to find a grove of sacred trees, but there are ghosts in the forest, and one of them cries out to Carlie across the years: Come find me.With the help of a vampire who's been marooned for a thousand years, she’ll fight to bring a ghost home, and deliver justice to a murderer who hides in the cool, mysterious green of a forest gone mad with magic.