The grief of losing one of their own, coupled with their frustration at the careless behavior of newborn immortals forces Julia Agrippina to employ Samantha Moon to find out who took Alexei, find him and bring him home safely.  Sam finds that its an offer she can’t refuse. It seems The Watchers have been very active in the background of Los Angeles, ensuring that the locals don't find out too much about the various creatures of the night that live and hunt among them... but the time to pay for their services has arrived.  Sam teams up with prolific vampire hunter Veronica, a close friend of Alexei’s, to locate the boy and with a little help from his sister, the two investigators are soon hot on the trail. But, of course, neither is used to things sailing smoothly for very long. A warning from an unlikely source, reveals a deeper, sinister reason behind Alexei’s abduction and deep in the Central American jungle, Sam uncovers a mad man’s plan to destroy an entire nation.  In a display of their all-encompassing power, The Watchers move swiftly into action and while Sam and Veronica bring their lost friend home, Julia leads the others onto the battlefield for one more stand against evil and corruption.

    As the town’s medium, Connie Winters is the only person who can see the ghosts who call Mystic Springs home. When young temptress Lola is killed, the dead Mayor and the dead Sheriff are determined to investigate, and since they’ve never been replaced, they’d better get on with it. But they need Connie’s help. And if Connie’s helping, her sister Sage is going to get involved too - she’s beautiful, slim, and twenty years dead. It may be the first time in history that a murder-solving squad is a mixture of real live people and real dead ghosts. Connie, and the residents of Mystic Springs, will be forced to question everything they thought they knew. This is a full-length paranormal cozy mystery. Spooky not scary. Lighthearted and fun. First in series by Mona Marple, author of the Waterfell Tweed cozy mystery series.

    With his apprentice, Matthew, Levi operates one of the most ferocious covens in the world, known as The Black Fang. Managing the coven like an international corporation, Levi controls its enormous wealth while running a moonshine operation as a front. But when a plot to assassinate Levi is exposed, the warlock decides it's time to destroy The Black Fang and the destruction could create a new beginning. The Black Fang Betrayal features today's best horror, dark fantasy and thriller writers collaborating on a unique and fascinating novel. Armed with nothing but a prompt and a character name, each author became a warlock of The Black Fang and wrote a first-person account as a member of the coven. Using themes and sequences woven throughout the complete narrative, a cohesive page-turner emerges.

    As the top Paranormal Investigation Bureau agent, she only gets the best cases, but when the Cult of Ra comes to play she might be in over her head. Finding a murderer while up against a hex, an overprotective coven, and a stubborn werewolf reminds her that nothing in the paranormal world is easy. As the death toll rises and a decades old crime, linked to Abby, is uncovered, disturbing information is brought to light. Abby must unlock an ancient language steeped in black magic to uncover the truth before the murderer comes for her.

    It’s her one chance at becoming a world-renowned artist, and she’s determined nothing will get in her way. But when a murder brings Maggie and her powers to the attention of the Alpha Pack and the tragically handsome Charlie Hagan, her carefully planned future hangs in jeopardy.Charlie Hagan isn’t happy when the Alpha Female assigns him as Maggie McCray’s personal bodyguard. Just being near the Thaumaturgic threatens to unleash the primal instincts he’s been suppressing for so long. Charlie knows if the coyote is uncaged, then the person he’ll most need to protect Maggie from is himself.

    There’s bound to be a little crazy under his black hat.His life just got ten times more complicated. His new half-vampire and half-succubus partner is smart, sexy as Hell, and keeping a big secret from everyone.Oh, and their lieutenant? She's the ghost of a Van Helsing.Their case? Tracking down the entity responsible for leaving the drained body of a young man in Riverside Park.

    Mina Murray and Jonathan Harker had a son. They named him Quincy. His guardian angel calls him Q. Dracula calls him nephew. Demons call him The Reaper. "There are things in this world that men and women aren’t meant to understand. We aren’t supposed to know these things exist, much less how to fight them. The things that go bump in the night, the monsters in the closet, the shadow out of the corner of your eye — that’s where I live." This exciting new series from the author of The Black Knight Chronicles and the Bubba the Monster Hunter short stories is a walk through the dark side, where things go bump in the night, and somebody has to bump back. Quincy Harker is that somebody. Also includes a bonus free chapter to Daughters of Shadow and Blood - Book I: Yasamin by J. Matthew Saunders!

     Suspenseful, surprising, sometimes dark, sometimes humorous-these all-new stories will ensure that readers never think of vampires (or birthdays) in quite the same way again. In New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris's "Dracula Night," Sookie Stackhouse is the only human at the annual commemoration of Dracula's birth. But this year, the Prince of Darkness actually shows up-and finds Sookie to be a tasty-looking present. New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher's crime-solving wizard Harry Dresden, of the Dresden Files novels, heads to a role-playing party to give his vampire brother a birthday present in "It's My Birthday Too," only to discover there are some bloodthirsty party crashers who don't share their brotherly love. In "Twilight," Cassandra DuCharme, who appeared in New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong's Dime Store Magic, knows she has to kill to live as a vampire another year-but finds herself disturbingly disinterested in the hunt. Plus ten more bloody good birthday stories that take the cake.Contents xi • Preface: A Few Words (Many Bloody Returns) • (2007) • essay by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner1 • Dracula Night • [Sookie Stackhouse 4.3] • shortstory by Charlaine Harris21 • The Mournful Cry of Owls • novelette by Christopher Golden50 • I Was a Teenage Vampire • novelette by Bill Crider73 • Twilight • [Women of the Otherworld Short Fiction 7.2] • novelette by Kelley Armstrong100 • It's My Birthday, Too • [The Dresden Files 9.2] • novella by Jim Butcher146 • Grave-Robbed • [Vampire Files] • novelette by P. N. Elrod176 • The First Day of the Rest of Your Life • [The Morganville Vampires: Extras 2.5] • novelette by Rachel Caine201 • The Witch and the Wicked • novelette by Jeanne C. Stein230 • Blood Wrapped • [Henry Fitzroy] • novelette by Tanya Huff254 • The Wish • shortstory by Carolyn Haines265 • Fire Ice and Linguini for Two • [Garnet Lacey 2.5] • novelette by Lyda Morehouse [as by Tate Hallaway ]290 • Vampire Hours • novelette by Elaine Viets318 • How Stella Got Her Grave Back • novelette by Toni L. P. Kelner

    Another is found dead in a dumpster. All five of them go to the same school and are on a list of witnesses to another crime.Because he's in bad standing with his boss, Harry is given the task of protecting a possible future victim, but Harry isn't always known to follow his boss's orders.Soon, he'll risk everything while racing to stop a killer who has left everyone else in the homicide squad shaking in terror.BOOK 2: RUN GIRL RUN:When a mother and her child are pulled out of the harbor in their car, the case seems pretty straightforward for Miami PD and Detective Harry Hunter.Everything points to a murder-suicide.They were homeless, living in their car, and the mother decided to end it all for them both by driving into the water.But the case is not what it looks like, Detective Harry Hunter soon realizes.Harry’s daughter is carrying devastating knowledge about their deaths, and soon she becomes the killer’s next target.As Harry races to protect her, he is betrayed by someone he thought he knew, leaving him terrified of trusting anyone in a town filled with liars.

    Killing comes naturally to him. It’s in his blood.Don’t judge him too fast, though. All his victims deserve to die.After answering Lieutenant Harrington’s call for help, Michael finds himself in Houston staring at a peculiar crime scene. An expert in preternatural wildlife, he immediately identifies the killer as a werewolf. The motivation behind the murder remains unclear, but one thing is certain, Michael has no desire to stick his nose in wolf business. After all, the werewolves have hunted down his kin to the brink of extinction, and as the sole survivor of his lineage, he strives to keep a low profile.Michael’s resolve vanishes when he finds Harrington and his wife savagely murdered in their home. As he sets to unearth the true motivations behind his friends’ slaying, the body count rises, and Michael soon becomes a suspect in the eyes of the law. But the police are the least of his concerns; the werewolves have uncovered his true nature, and they are coming for him.The books in the Michael Biörn series are Whodunit Mysteries with an Urban Fantasy backdrop in the tradition of Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs and Christine Feehan.

    When Julie, a new client, comes to her about a disturbing recurring dream, Pauline has a murder case on her hands. The souls of three ghosts are at stake: Mack is the household haunter who irritates Pauline with his habit of knocking over furniture, but she's secretly comforted by his friendship. Mack has an amusing request, and what he does in return for her reveals more of the secret life of spirits. Mack brings Carla to Pauline for help. She's a little girl with a tragic ending and an old soul. Carla touches Pauline's heart with her stunning idea of how to set things right. Michael is a vile young man with a dark past, and worst of all, the light has never come for him. And perhaps, it never will...

    When 80% of the population is gifted with touch magic, it’s best to keep your hands—and your lips—to yourself. Especially if you’re an ungifted serf like I am. The problem is, the most dangerous guy at Gifted Fae Academy is the one I want to touch more than anything, even as I draw the attention of the school’s most gorgeous Apprentice Fae. When my entry exam leads to the revelation that I may not be as Ungifted as I previously believed… well… surviving until graduation might prove harder than I thought—particularly when a certain fatal touch may be worth the risk. This Upper YA/NA series will eventually be three books and is intended for mature audiences. It contains cursing, sexual situations, and violence.

    who can read minds. But Sookie's far from being the only person in Bon Temps, Louisiana with a handicap, what with the local vampire population demanding their unhuman rights and weres fighting for territory ... In fact, Bon Temps is a pretty lively place these days!A Touch of Dead collects together all the Sookie Stackhouse short stories in one gorgeous volume, and showcases the writing talents of international bestseller Charlaine Harris.

    1 The Bastard Stepchild - George R.R. Martin 2 Death by Dahlia - Charlaine Harris 3 The Bleeding Shadow - Joe R. Lansdale 4 Hungry Heart - Simon R. Green 5 Styx and Stones - Steven Saylor 6 Pain and Suffering - S.M. Stirling 7 It's Still the Same Old Story - Carrie Vaughn8 The Lady is a Screamer - Conn Iggulden 9 Hellbender - Laurie R. King 10 Shadow Thieves - Glen Cook 11 No Mystery, No Miracle - Melinda M. Snodgrass 12 The Difference Between a Puzzle and a Mystery - M.L.N. Hanover13 The Curious Affair of the Deodand - Lisa Tuttle 14 Lord John and the Plague of Zombies - Diana Gabaldon15 Beware the Snake - John Maddox Roberts 16 In Red, with Pearls - Patricia Briggs 17 The Adakian Eagle - Bradley Denton

    For example, she would never consider adopting a pet.But when she’s searching for a missing friend, she finds an abandoned silver tiger cub.The magical feline is clearly from another realm, but Val has no idea which one or how to send it back. All she knows is that it’s the only witness to her friend's kidnapping.Val can kick the butts of ogres, trolls, and wizards, but she has no experience taking care of pets—certainly not magical tigers. And as she quickly learns, the cub has teeth like a chainsaw. Soon, everything from her apartment to her seat belts to the hair on her head is in danger.But if Val can’t forge a bond with the cub, figure out what it knows, and find her missing friend, more than her belongings—and her hair—may be at risk.Mist and Magic is a prequel to the Death Before Dragons series and can be read as a complete stand-alone adventure.