He is employed by Freeground station as a port traffic controller, a job he took after completing a tour in the military. His only real joy in life is his participation in true-to-life military simulations with a cadre of friends who come together regularly to defeat challenges made to test the brightest military cadets and officers alike. These restricted scenarios stand as an addictive preoccupation that is so enticing that they ignore the potential repercussions of breaking in to participate. When someone betrays their identities to the Freeground Fleet Admiralty, Jonas and his friends are faced with a far greater challenge: to venture out into the more populated regions of the galaxy to acquire technology and knowledge. They are tasked with laying the groundwork for the Freeground Nation in their efforts to reconnect with the rest of humanity, and to secure the armaments they might need to defend themselves from encroaching enemies. Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins is a collected trilogy that chronicles the early adventures of an ambitious crew. Their leader, Jonas Valent, has the least to lose and everything to gain as he tells the tale of his first tour as Captain of a ship tasked with making allies and discovering new technologies for the good of his people. This simple mission becomes more complicated as the crew ventures further into the settled fringes of the galaxy. This trilogy spawned the best selling Spinward Fringe eBook series. This is where it all began, when one man was challenged to aspire for more than an idle life. A Space Opera Adventure enjoyed across the globe by all ages.

    The dawn of his afterlife is where our story begins. To redeem his soul and earn a place in Heaven, Daniel must first venture to the 9th Fortress: Lucifer’s primary prison in the heart of hell-fire. There the worst of the worst are contained, and Daniel’s mission is to save one particular soul from its dungeon. To help him achieve that almighty feat, the detective was given a defender--a samurai warrior called Kat--the most dangerous man who ever lived and the only one qualified, and capable of leading this perilous expedition. Together, the Kat and Fox encounter the unnatural and supernatural on their decent to the pit, and all of it trying to stop them...

    Concealment. In the shadow of Dimmingwood, she finds temporary protection with a band of forest brigands led by the infamous outlaw Rideon the Red Hand.But as Ilan matures, learns the skills of survival, and struggles to master the inherent magic of her dying race, danger is always close behind. When old enemies reappear and new friendships lead to betrayal, will her discovery of an enchanted bow prove to be Ilan’s final salvation or her ultimate downfall?

    Echoes of the ancients' power are distant memories, tattered and faded by the passage of eons, but that is about to change. A new dawn has arrived. Latent abilities, harbored in mankind's deepest fibers, wait to be unleashed. Ancient evils awaken, and old fears ignite the fires of war.

    Her journey turns into more adventure than expected when Meghan meets the mysterious Kiernan and accepts his invitation to a secret club, hidden beneath the streets of London. By the time Meghan learns of his strange beliefs, she has nearly lost the fight for her own survival. She flees the city and seeks sanctuary with Kiernan's twin, in a remote English village. Meghan soon discovers that she is in the middle of a centuries-old battle between two groups. The first seek to maintain their traditional way of life, while the other fight against their looming extinction. Twin brothers, separated too young to remember each other, must set aside personal loyalties and reunite to save their people and help the human they have both come to care about.

    It currently appears in the Konrath story collection 65 PROOF. Because THE AGREEMENT ties into the Jack Daniels thriller LAST CALL, Konrath has made it available on its own. Also included is a chapter from LAST CALL. Warning: Though this only takes a few minutes to read, the images will stick with your for life. This is a wickedly mean story. So let the reader beware... If you are a more sensitive (or adventurous) reader, this handy scale rates specific categories from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) to give you some idea if this is your kind of book. THE AGREEMENT by JA Konrath Bad Language - 2 Scary - 6 Violent - 9 Funny - 3 Sexy - 0

    Giles has spent her life mining the ruins of the elves who vanished from the Four Kingdoms a thousand years ago. But when her patrons begin disappearing too—and then turning up dead—she finds herself unemployed, restless, and desperate. So she goes looking for other missing things: as a bounty hunter. Tracking her first fugitive—the distractingly handsome and strangely charming Alric—she unearths a dangerous underworld of warring crime lords, demonic squirrels, and a long-lost elven artifact capable of unleashing a hell on earth.Chased, robbed, kidnapped, and distressingly low on rent money, Taryn just wants one quiet beer and to catch her fugitive. But there’s more to Alric than his wicked grin—is he a wanted man or the city’s only hope? With menacing mages in pursuit and her three alcoholic faery sidekicks always in her hair, Taryn’s curiosity might finally solve the mystery of the elves… or be the death of her and destroy her world.

    When her mother goes missing and her twenty-one-year-old witchy cousin shows up out of the blue, Audrey knows something’s gone horribly, dangerously wrong. Now it’s up to her to get her own magical powers up to speed before everyone she loves is destroyed by the sorcerer intricately connected to her mother’s secret past.

    She never wanted that burden.The realm needs magic again, and the the King of Aegunlund has been waiting for the first craft-born girl to marry his son, Prince Casimir.In Mae's town of Halts-Walden, the ambitious miller claims his daughter Ellen is craft-born. Mae knows this is a load of hogwash, but she's glad Ellen will have the unfortunate pleasure of becoming queen instead of her. All she has to do is sit back and wait until Casimir and Ellen are married, then she will finally be free of the threat of her fate. But on that day an event so shocking and terrible occurs that Mae finds herself entering the neighbouring cursed forest on a quest she never thought she'd have to follow. Join Mae as she rides her white stag through the Waerg Woods with a pampered prince at her heels. She's out for revenge and nothing, no one, will get in her way.

    forever.Rylie Gresham hates everything about summer camp: the food, the fresh air, the dumb activities, and the other girls in her cabin. But the worst part is probably being bitten by a werewolf. Being a teenager is hard enough, but now she's craving raw flesh and struggles with uncontrollable anger. If she doesn't figure out a way to stop the transformation, then at the end of summer, her life is worse than over. She'll be a monster.

    The land will sing with his passing and they will know fear that oppose him, for he is the Lord of the skies and protector of the Realm.' : The Child's Prophecy. T.E. 2147The land of Kil'Tar has a long and bloody history of war between the Kay'taari and the Ashar'an. Aided by Dragonkind, the Kay'taari have protected the world against the Ashar'an and their demonic followers for many centuries. With demonkind banished to the Voids, and the Ashar'an all but destroyed, Kil'Tar has enjoyed an era of peace. However, the seals binding the portals to the voids are failing, and the Ashar'an are abroad once again. Both the Kay'taari and Dragonkind are nowhere to be found on Kil'Tar. Can Valdieron, a young man raised in the small village of Shadowvale, fulfill his destiny and rid the lands of this menace once and for all, or will he falter, and condemn Kil'Tar to demonic destruction?"Demon Gates is a finely crafted tale of sufficient quality to place right alongside those of it's peers...." SFBook.com "The fighting scenes are written in a way that reminds me of R. A. Salvatore with the detail and complexity of the melee battles...." IndieBookBlog

    Immense as a mountain, the ancient Tower holds unnumbered ringdoms, warring and peaceful, stacked one on the other like the layers of a cake. It is a world of geniuses and tyrants, of airships and steam engines, of unusual animals and mysterious machines.Soon after arriving for his honeymoon at the Tower, the mild-mannered headmaster of a small village school, Thomas Senlin, gets separated from his wife, Marya, in the overwhelming swarm of tourists, residents, and miscreants.Senlin is determined to find Marya, but to do so he'll have to navigate madhouses, ballrooms, and burlesque theaters. He must survive betrayal, assassins, and the long guns of a flying fortress. But if he hopes to find his wife, he will have to do more than just endure.This quiet man of letters must become a man of action.The first book in the stunning and strange debut fantasy series that's receiving major praise from some of fantasy's biggest authors such as Mark Lawrence and Django Wexler.

    Scornful. Full of pride. Darnuir, Prince of Dragons, cares nothing for the damage he's doing to the faltering alliance against the demonic forces of the Shadow. He thinks himself invincible - right up till a mortal wound forces him to undergo a dangerous rebirthing spell, leaving him a helpless babe in human hands.Twenty years pass and demonic forces are once again poised to sweep across the land. With the alliance between humanity, dragons, and fairies fracturing, Darnuir will have to uncover the secrets of his past, seek redemption for his sins, and rally the disparate races if they are to survive.Only Darnuir can do this. For he’s the last member of the royal bloodline and only he can wield the Dragon’s Blade...

    When Neythan is framed for the murder of his closest friend, he pursues his betrayer - and in so doing learns there's far more to the Brotherhood, and the machinations of the rulers of the warring kingdoms, than he'd ever thought possible. His journey will lead him across the five realms, from the Forest of Silences to the Ash Plains of Calapaar, and reveal the breaches that lie beneath the world, and the hidden truths of his oath.File Under: Fantasy [ Brothers at Arms - The Faceless Ones - Kings and Keepers - Creed of Assassins ]

    Then Tabitha Serannon awakens an ancient power and the world begins to change.She is hunted for her talent. The Shadowcasters whisper in her ears as their evil closes around her. Soon the Riddler walks beside her, but is he on her side?She has a moment to learn the magic before she loses her grasp of the Lifesong, but the path she must follow leads into Darkness; into terror, treachery and desire.To survive she must give voice to a music that she hardly understands, an enchantment that will echo through all time.