Asylum


Kristen Selleck - 2011
    These crumbling castles all share a common appearance and history. They inspire curiosity, fear, and even a few urban legends.Chloe Adams came to Birch Harbor, a small college town in the U.P., to escape the stigma of mental illness. Her new roommate Sam Klingeman, came to drink her weight in vodka and find a hot guy with a trust fund. Between Chloe's developing relationship with campus hockey hero and floor RA, Seth Maird, trying to be the voice of moderation for Sam, and her new position as teacher's assistant for the eccentric Dr. Willard, she's stayed busy enough to keep the past firmly behind her.But the voices return...and this time, she's not the only one that can hear them.The beautiful old dormitory she lives in is hiding a secret. A secret that will uncover a dark plot 200 years in the making. Will Chloe be able to hold onto the new life she's worked so hard to build, will she relapse into a world of her own making, or will she, perhaps, fulfill the legacy she was born into?

Silas


Robert J. Duperre - 2011
    Duperre, author of The Fall and Dead of Winter, now presents Silas, a contemporary fantasy novel. Ken Lowery is a man at odds with his life. He hates his job, is disappointed in his marriage, and feels resigned to leading a mundane existence. That all changes when his wife brings home a rambunctious Black Labrador puppy named Silas, who forges a remarkable connection with Ken and begins to heal his inner turmoil. When some neighborhood children start to go missing, he takes it upon himself to protect those around him and is thrust into a surreal world where monsters roam. Not everything is what it seems to be, he soon discovers, including his new best friend.

Shadowed Summer


Saundra Mitchell - 2009
    Except this summer, Iris doesn’t have to make up a story. This summer, one falls right in her lap.Years ago, before Iris was born, a local boy named Elijah Landry disappeared. All that remained of him were whispers and hushed gossip in the church pews. Until this summer. A ghost begins to haunt Iris, and she’s certain it’s the ghost of Elijah. What really happened to him? And why, of all people, has he chosen Iris to come back to?

Blood Calling


Joshua Grover-David Patterson - 2011
    Her parents divorced, she's earned a DUI, and her grandfather has died. He left her a single possession: A vampire slaying kit with a note that says, "They're real. Fight them."Lucy finds answers in a place she never expected--the homeless shelter where she has to perform her community service. The Sundown Shelter is only open at night, and the man who runs it disappears during the day. But digging into the truth is dangerous. What Lucy learns will force her to abandon her life and confront an ancient vampire out to get her family.

Unrest


Michelle Harrison - 2012
    Ever since the accident that nearly killed him, a shadowy figure has made its presence felt – a figure only he can see. Elliott is convinced his near death experience has enabled him to contact the dead. But are his ghostly visions real, or the effects of a damaged mind?When he gets a job at a supposedly haunted museum it seems like the perfect chance to discover what’s really going on. But his arrival doesn’t just cause a stir amongst the living. Unwittingly, Elliott uncovers the museum's terrible secret . . . and a spirit hell-bent on using him for revenge.

The Island: Part One


Michael Stark - 2012
    At first, reports trickled across the wire in small segments relegated to the final seconds of the broadcast news. Lost among stories of failing economies and political bickering, few noticed what proved to be the birth pangs of a monster. Within months, the disease dominated the news as thousands died and infection rates soared.William Hill knew his chances of avoiding the virus sat squarely between slim and none. With experts predicting a global pandemic, his choices boiled down to not if, but where he would die. While the rest of the world built barricades and set up distribution points for food, he chose a simpler end. The island had been one of the last and best times with his father. He couldn’t think of a better place to spend his final days.He wanted sun and sand, fresh fish on the grill and cool nights by the campfire. He wanted feel-good days filled with oldies on the radio, days when he could hoist the sails and run before the wind. He didn’t set out to make enemies, but he did. He didn’t plan on becoming humanity’s last hope for survival, or watching over an old woman and an eerie little boy either.To William Hill, the island seemed as good a place as any to die.He just didn’t realize how good.

The Glass Demon


Helen Grant - 2010
    The Glass Demon bridges the world of the traditional Grimm fairytale with the darker world of Angela Carter's adult fairytales. The first deathSeventeen-year-old Lin Fox finds a body in an orchard. As she backs away in horror, she steps on broken glass.The second deathThen blood appears on her doorstep - blood, and broken glass.The third deathSomething terrible is found in the cemetery. Shards of broken glass lie by a grave.Who will be next?As the attacks become more sinister, Lin doesn't know who to trust. She's getting closer to the truth behind these chilling discoveries, but with each move the danger deepens.Because someone wants Lin gone - and won't give up until he's got rid of her and her family. Forever.Helen Grant's first teen novel The Vanishing of Katharina Linden was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal; her other darkly thrilling young adult novels, The Vanishing of Katharina Linden and Wish Me Dead, are also available from Penguin.

A Sudden Light


Garth Stein - 2014
    Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant, whole trees, and is set on a huge estate overlooking Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch Grandpa Samuel—who is flickering in and out of dementia—to a graduated living facility, sell off the house and property for development into “tract housing for millionaires,” divide up the profits, and live happily ever after.But Trevor soon discovers there’s someone else living in Riddell House: a ghost with an agenda of his own. For while the land holds tremendous value, it is also burdened by the final wishes of the family patriarch, Elijah, who mandated it be allowed to return to untamed forestland as a penance for the millions of trees harvested over the decades by the Riddell Timber company. The ghost will not rest until Elijah’s wish is fulfilled, and Trevor’s willingness to face the past holds the key to his family’s future.A Sudden Light is a rich, atmospheric work that is at once a multigenerational family saga, a historical novel, a ghost story, and the story of a contemporary family’s struggle to connect with each other. A tribute to the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, it reflects Garth Stein’s outsized capacity for empathy and keen understanding of human motivation, and his rare ability to see the unseen: the universal threads that connect us all

Witch Way Bends


Olivia Hardin - 2011
    After discovering the true nature of her father's business--he sells children to vampires--she's focused on only one goal: stopping him. Along the way, the people who join the quest help her discover a life-changing truth about herself and her origins, but only one will capture her heart and soul.Kent Crosby doesn't have time to deal with the daughter of the man he's trying to take down. He has orders, and she doesn't fit in with the plan. But when he discovers who--and what--Devan is, he can't let her go. Drawn to her despite himself, in her arms he finds more just magic.Fans of Charmed and Supernatural will love this series. One-click today!

Suicide Forest


Jeremy Bates - 2014
    Legend has it that the spirits of those many suicides are still roaming, haunting deep in the ancient woods.When bad weather prevents a group of friends from climbing neighboring Mt. Fuji, they decide to spend the night camping in Aokigahara. But they get more than they bargained for when one of them is found hanged in the morning--and they realize there might be some truth to the legends after all.

Blood Debt


Nancy Straight - 2012
    Before her mother’s last breath, she gave Camille the information she had craved her entire life: the identity of her father. Daring to contact him, Camille was welcomed by an entire family she never knew existed. But nothing comes without a price, as she discovers when her family claims a legendary heritage tracing back to a centaur touched by Zeus. As she learns the secrets of her Centaur bloodline, she is drawn into a forbidden love with Drake. Her life may be the blood debt required to pay for her mother’s transgressions. The same person who once held her mother captive, and forced her into decades of hiding, now controls Camille. Her only chance is to seek a piece of her mother’s past that will win her freedom and the life she desperately wants.

Better Off Dead


H.P. Mallory - 2013
    Killed in a car accident before it’s her time to go, Lily learns that the hereafter isn’t exactly what she hoped it might be. First, there’s AfterLife Enterprises, the company responsible for sorting out the recently dead and sending them on their way to the Kingdom, (aka happily ever after,) or to the Underground City, (not so happily ever after.) Learning that Lily’s death was indirectly their fault (her guardian angel, Bill, was MIA during her accident and was one of their employees,) Afterlife Enterprises offers Lily the chance to live again. But, as with most things involving the afterlife, beware the fine print. Most notably, Lily will have to become a soul retriever, venturing into the bowels of the Underground City to retrieve souls that were mistakenly sent there by Afterlife Enterprises during a Y2K computer glitch. Second, there’s angel Bill. As if risking her second life in the Underground City wasn’t enough, Lily’s guide to the Underground is none other than her incompetent, alcoholic, womanizing guardian angel, Bill, the antithesis of anything wholesome. With only Dante’s Inferno and Bill to help her in her quest, Lily’s future isn’t looking bright.Finally, there’s the legendary bladesmith, Tallis Black. As Scottish as his kilts and heavy brogue, Tallis Black is a centuries-old Celt who, for reasons only known to him, offers to train Lily and act as her escort into the depths of the Underground City. Dark, brooding and definitely dangerous, Lily knows she shouldn’t trust Tallis, but she also can’t deny her attraction to him. Between soul retrieving in hell, dealing with Bill and trying to figure out what’s in it for Tallis, Lily wonders if maybe she would’ve just been better off dead.

The Mystic Wolves


Belinda Boring - 2012
    Darcy understands the primal instincts driving her beloved Mason's commands. With the help of those he sets as protectors, she learns about herself and the things she'll need to help support her Alpha and pack. When events turn dire however, one truth offers her strength - once given, oaths are unbreakable...even if it means risking it all.**This is the full length novel version of Without Mercy, Cherished, and Blood Oath*

How to Talk to Girls at Parties


Neil Gaiman - 2007
    "It'll be great.""No, it won't," I said, although I'd lost this fight hours ago, and I knew it."It'll be brilliant," said Vic, for the hundredth time. "Girls! Girls! Girls!" He grinned with white teeth.

Once Dead, Twice Shy


Kim Harrison - 2009
    Because I'm there. Seeing it. Touching it. Living it. Madison's prom was killer—literally. For some reason she's been targeted by a dark reaper—yeah, that kind of reaper—intent on getting rid of her, body and soul. But before the reaper could finish the job, Madison was able to snag his strange, glowing amulet and get away.Now she's stuck on Earth—dead but not gone. Somehow the amulet gives her the illusion of a body, allowing her to toe the line between life and death. She still doesn't know why the dark reaper is after her, but she's not about to just sit around and let fate take its course.With a little ingenuity, some light-bending, and the help of a light reaper (one of the good guys! Maybe . . . ), her cute crush, and oh yeah, her guardian angel, Madison's ready to take control of her own destiny once and for all, before it takes control of her.Well, if she believed in that stuff.