Book picks similar to
Raising Hell by John G. Hartness
urban-fantasy
fantasy
paranormal
vampires
Dark Bites
Sherrilyn Kenyon - 2014
At their enthusiastic behest, we have delivered this brand-new short story collection, including stories previously exclusive to Sherrilyn’s website, as well as an all-new, never-before seen story!Sherrilyn Kenyon takes readers from the Dark-Hunters to the demigods, from Dream-Hunters to demons, and everything in between. Dangerous and exciting, each story is one thrill ride after the next, proving time and again how Sherrilyn has captivated millions of readers worldwide. Now, readers are invited to go deep into Kenyon’s rich and imaginative world and experience the heart-racing moments that never stop coming!Included novellas:House of the Rising Son Phantom Lover (V’Aidan) Winter Born (Dante) A Dark-Hunter Christmas (Gallagher) Until Death We Do Part (Velkan) A Hard Day’s Night Searcher (Rafael) Shadow of the Moon (Fury) Fear the Darkness Where Angels Fear to Tread (Zeke) Love Bytes Santa Wears Spurs Redemption (bonus scene from The Guardian)
Charming
Elliott James - 2013
He comes from a line of Charmings — an illustrious family of dragon slayers, witch-finders and killers dating back to before the fall of Rome. Trained by a modern day version of the Knights Templar, monster hunters who have updated their methods from chainmail and crossbows to kevlar and shotguns, he was one of the best. That is — until he became the abomination the Knights were sworn to hunt.That was a lifetime ago. Now, he tends bar under an assumed name in rural Virginia and leads a peaceful, quiet life. One that shouldn't change just because a vampire and a blonde walked into his bar... Right?
Unclean Spirits
M.L.N. Hanover - 2008
Jayné Heller thinks of herself as a realist, until she discovers reality isn't quite what she thought it was. When her uncle Eric is murdered, Jayné travels to Denver to settle his estate, only to learn that it's all hers -- and vaster than she ever imagined. And along with properties across the world and an inexhaustible fortune, Eric left her a legacy of a different kind: his unfinished business with a cabal of wizards known as the Invisible College. Led by the ruthless Randolph Coin, the Invisible College harnesses demon spirits for their own ends of power and domination. Jayné finds it difficult to believe magic and demons can even exist, let alone be responsible for the death of her uncle. But Coin sees Eric's heir as a threat to be eliminated by any means -- magical or mundane -- so Jayné had better start believing in something to save her own life. Aided in her mission by a group of unlikely companions -- Aubrey, Eric's devastatingly attractive assistant; Ex, a former Jesuit with a lethal agenda; Midian, a two-hundred-year-old man who claims to be under a curse from Randolph Coin himself; and Chogyi Jake, a self-styled Buddhist with mystical abilities -- Jayné finds that her new reality is not only unexpected, but often unexplainable. And if she hopes to survive, she'll have to learn the new rules fast -- or break them completely....
Strange Brew
P.N. ElrodJenna Maclaine - 2009
In "Seeing Eye" by Patricia Briggs, a blind witch helps sexy werewolf Tom Franklin find his missing brother—and helps him in more ways than either of them ever suspected. And in Jim Butcher's "Last Call," wizard Harry Dresden takes on the darkest of dark powers—the ones who dare to mess with this favorite beer.For anyone who's ever wondered what lies beyond the limits of reality, who's imagined the secret spaces where witches wield fearsome magic, come and drink deep. Let yourself fall under the spell of this bewitching collection of short stories!
Insidious
Victoria Evers - 2016
What she got was a death warrant. As it turns out, the quaint little hamlet of Mystic Harbor, Maine houses more than sandy beaches and adorable B&B’s. Beneath the New England charm rests a deadly world where shifters, demons, vampires, and angelic hunters all vie for power. A world where magic is the greatest weapon. Magic that Kat now possesses. After that one fateful night, she can feel the changes beginning to take hold of her. Only problem, she doesn’t even know what she’s turning into. With threats hiding in plain sight, deciphering the lines between friend and foe is nearly impossible. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Kat learns her only real ally rests in the one person she can’t stand: Reese Blackburn, an insufferably handsome magician whom the town fears most. Kat’s very soul is at stake, and destiny doesn't seem to be playing out in her favor. Can these two unlikely partners challenge fate itself before it's too late?
Dead Man
Domino Finn - 2015
Sounds kinda cool, doesn't it? It was, right until I woke up half dead in a dumpster.Did I say half dead? Because I meant 100% dead. Full on. I don't do things halfway.So here I am, alive for some reason, just another sunny day in Miami. It's a perfect paradise, except I'm into something bad. Wanted by police, drenched in the stink of dark magic, nether creatures coming out of the woodwork, and don't get me started on the Haitian voodoo gang. Trust me, it's all fun and games until there's a zombie pit bull on your tail.I'm Cisco Suarez: necromancer, shadow charmer, black magic outlaw, and totally screwed.
Junkyard Druid
M.D. Massey - 2016
Let's just hope they don't hack the druid off... for everyone's sake.Name's Colin McCool. Folks call me the Junkyard Druid. I hate that name.Despite my last name, I'm not "cool" like the other hunters in town. I don't run an occult bookstore, I've never owned a Harley, and I didn't inherit a family fortune passed down through generations of hunters before me.And I kind of have this curse on me that's messed up my life.So, things have gone to hell since I was cursed. I live in a junkyard, my mentor Finn is a heroin addict, I've got the Cold Iron Circle breathing down my neck, and the local Fae Queen Maeve is blackmailing me into doing her dirty work.Now I'm in way over my head trying to retrieve Maeve's stolen magic rock, all while helping my friend Belladonna solve a series of murders that may or may not involve the local werewolves.And did I mention that my girlfriend is a ghost?If I can just get the Faery Queen's tathlum back, and help Belladonna solve the murders...Then I just might live long enough to finish my first year of college.
Seduction
Erik Henry Vick - 2020
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.
Magic Eater
M.V. Stott - 2017
and the answer might just be the death of him.
By day, Joseph scrubs toilets and fixes broken light fittings. By night he looks into weird stuff: local hauntings, unexplained disappearances, satanic cabals dancing naked around ancient stone circles.The usual.The Uncanny calls to him like a beacon, and he follows its signal wherever it leads, hoping that one day it will shine a light on who he really is.So far the clues haven't added up to much, but now a mad woman is stalking him, he’s tripping over dead bodies in the street, and he keeps having terrifying apocalyptic visions.Can Joseph put the pieces together and figure out his identity? And if he does, will he be able to live with who he really is?
Dark and Stormy Knights
P.N. ElrodCarrie Vaughn - 2010
1. A Questionable Client (Kate Daniels, #0.5) by Ilona Andrews: Kate Daniels guards shifter Saiman, less trustworthy than the enemy.2. Even Hand (Dresden Files, #11.6) by Jim Butcher: "Gentleman" John Marcone, Chicago's most dangerous crime lord, fights water demon with defenses against White Council wizard Harry Dresden. 3. The Beacon by Shannon K. Butcher: Hereditary fighter faces monster that killed his father and town, with a little girl that attracts said monster. 4. Even a Rabbit Will Bite by Rachel Caine: Liesl trains the new Dragonslayer before she faces the last dragon.5. Dark Lady (Vampire Files, #12.75) by P.N. Elrod: Vampire nightclub owner Jack Fleming promises radio to resident ghost.6. Beknighted by Deidre Knight: Artist tries to free knight painted in real gold.7. Shifting Star (Signs of the Zodiac, #4.6) by Vicki Peterson: Skamar, Tibetan for star, newly created tulpa, fights another vicious male of Tulpa. 8. Rookwood & Mrs King by Lilith Saintcrow: Vampire private eye is hired by wife to kill the woman's vampire husband. 9. God's Creatures (Kitty Norville, #0.8) by Carrie Vaughn: Cormac follows a werewolf to convent school.
Dying Bites
D.D. Barant - 2009
And real is getting stranger every day…Jace has been ripped from her reality by David Cassius, the vampire head of the NSA. He knows that she’s the best there in the business, and David needs her help in solving a series of gruesome murders of vampires and werewolves. David’s world—one that also includes lycanthropes and golems—is one with little knowledge of mental illness. An insane serial killer is a threat the NSA has no experience with. But Jace does. Stranded in a reality where Bela Lugosi is a bigger box office draw than Bruce Willis and every full moon is Mardi Gras, Jace must now hunt down a fellow human before he brings the entire planet to the brink of madness. Or she may never see her own world again…
The Rook
Daniel O'Malley - 2012
With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own. In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.Filled with characters both fascinating and fantastical, The Rook is a richly inventive, suspenseful, and often wry thriller that marks an ambitious debut from a promising young writer.
Karma Inc.
Melanie James - 2015
Oh my! Waiting for Karma is fine—for the patient. But for the rest of us, it sure would be nice to give Karma a little nudge every once in a while. Too many dates that turned out to be losers or liars? Have a problem with two-faced backstabbers? And don’t even start with the so-called customer service centers. There comes a day when enough is really, truthfully, enough already. For Kelly and Esmeralda, two snarky single witches, that day was yesterday. After applying their witchcraft to dish out a little magical payback, they realize they have a penchant for the dark art of revenge. And who’s to say a witch can’t make a few bucks with a talent like that? Doing the odd job was fun and gratifying. Then along came an unusual client with a pitch for an idea, “Karma Inc.-Reality TV.” The witches set up shop in the sleepy little town of Caldron Falls, Wisconsin. By enabling the good citizens to settle old scores, they hoped to transform the town into a virtual coliseum of televised revenge. It didn’t take long before a few inconvenient and unexpected dead bodies began to pile up. To complicate matters, Caldron Falls just happens to have more than its fair share of paranormal creatures, not to mention a Chicago mobster seemingly bent on taking over the town. Can Esmeralda and Kelly solve the rash of unexplained deaths before they get the blame and end up behind bars? What will Marie Laveau and the Witches Union have to say about this? And as any fool knows, Karma carries a roundtrip ticket. ©2015 Melanie James
Mark of the Demon
Diana Rowland - 2009
Kara was hoping to use her occult skills to catch a serial killer, but never had she conjured anything like this unearthly beautiful and unspeakably powerful being whose very touch set off exquisite new dimensions of pleasure. But can she enlist his aid in helping her stop a killer who's already claimed the lives'and souls'of thirteen people? And should she? The Symbol Man is a nightmare that the city thought had ended three years ago. Now he's back for an encore and leaving every indication on the flesh of his victims that he, too, is well versed in demonic lore.Kara may be the only cop on Beaulac's small force able to stop the killer, but it is her first homicide case. Yet with Rhyzkahl haunting her dreams, and a handsome yet disapproving FBI agent dogging her waking footsteps, she may be in way over her head...
Urban Enemies
Joseph NassiseCaitlin Kittredge - 2017
Murphy (Walker Papers), Steven Savile (Glasstown), Caitlin Kittredge (the Hellhound Chronicles and the Black London series), Jeffrey Somers (The Ustari Cycle), Sam Witt (Pitchfork County), Craig Schaefer (Daniel Faust), Jon F. Merz (Lawson Vampire), Faith Hunter (Jane Yellowrock), and Diana Pharaoh Francis (Horngate Witches).“Even Hand” copyright © 2017 by Jim Butcher and previously published by St. Martin’s Press in the Dark and Stormy Nights collection“Hounded” copyright © 2017 by Kelley Armstrong“Nigsu Ga Tesgu” copyright © 2017 by Jeffrey Somers“Sixty-Six Seconds” copyright © 2017 by Craig Schaefer“Kiss” copyright © 2017 by Lilith Saintcrow“The Naughtiest Cherub” copyright © 2017 by Kevin Hearne“The Resurrectionist” copyright © 2017 by Caitlin KittredgeCompilation and “Down Where the Darkness Dwells” copyright © 2017 by Joseph Nassise“Bellum Romanum” copyright ©2017 by Carrie Vaughn“Altar Boy” copyright © 2017 by Jonathan Maberry“Make It Snappy” copyright © 2017 by Faith Hunter“Chase the Fire” copyright © 2017 by Jon F. Merz“Unexpected Choices” copyright © 2017 by Diana Pharaoh Francis“Reel Life: A Glass Town Story” copyright © 2017 by Steven Savile“The Difference Between Deceit and Delusion” copyright © 2017 by Domino Finn“Balance” copyright © 2017 by Seanan McGuire“Everywhere” copyright © 2017 by Sam Witt