Book picks similar to
Murder in Wizard's Wood by Michael J. Allen


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In Times Like These


Nathan Van Coops - 2013
    How do you break time? Can something so bad happen that you fracture the world?" Benjamin Travers has been electrocuted. What's worse, he and his friends have woken up in the past. As the friends search for a way home, they realize they're not alone. There are other time travelers, and some of them are turning up dead. When Ben meets an enigmatic scientist and his charming, time-traveling daughter, salvation seems at hand, but escaping the dangers of the past may lead to a deadly future. If he hopes to save his friends, Ben must learn to master space and time, and survive a journey where past and future violently collide.

Return to Dungeon (Kobold's Quest #1)


M.J. Kaltenbrunner - 2018
     Kek has spent his life being treated like a dog, but he's only dog-like in appearance. You see, he's a kobold who originally came from a dungeon. And he's spent most of his life enslaved to a gang of exiled mercenaries hiding out in a deadly jungle. When Kek gains the power to see the hidden mechanics of reality and learns to "game" them to expand his skills and find hidden meanings, he is soon entrusted with a noble quest. He must return to the dungeon where he came from and rescue his people from servitude to the dungeon lord! Faced with untold dangers, Kek is going to need allies—such as a sweet muck fairy with a killer streak, a deadly-beautiful siren who fights best au natural, and a sensual cat woman with lightning quick moves. They are sure going to keep this lone kobold on his toes. Throughout this quest, Kek will learn the hard way that one of the greatest opponents a hero confronts is his own self-doubt. This is a LitRPG with a twist. There is no VR. The fantasy world is real. The game mechanics are part of a unique magical power that only the lucky few obtain. If you're not into this sort of thing, maybe it's time you give it a go. There's also a fun and adventure-packed story that will keep any fantasy reader engrossed right up until the end. Book two in the series is planned for launch early 2018!

Winter Kill


Mike Oliveri - 2009
    But what she finds tests her training and sanity, for what she discovers should not exist. Winter Kill is the first book in the ongoing werewolf noir series, The Pack, by Bram Stoker Award winner Mike Oliveri. Book two, Lie with the Dead, is excerpted in this edition.

Daygo's Fury: Heroic Fantasy (The Daygo Stream Book 1)


John F. O' Sullivan - 2015
     Liam is an orphan, living with eight others in a dilapidated flat. Every day is a battle in the war to survive. As conditions worsen, and casualties rise, Liam begins to lose faith. He looks at the bums on the side of the streets with hate. They’ve given up the fight. They are weak. But it frightens him, how he sometimes longs for their life. Panic grows within his chest. Racquel offers him hope, something good to live for, in a place where there seems nothing but dirt. But what form of survival is worth living for? And what is Liam willing to do to survive? What is he willing to become? Niisa lives in the great forests of the Chewe mountains. He knows he is the odd one in the tribe. He knows he is different. Daygo calls to him, it speaks to him in the sounds of the forest, in the falling of the rain, in brief glimpses of sunlight through the canopy of trees overhead. It is the life that inhabits all things, that fuels all movement. He will do anything to join the Waloleng de Kgotia, the famous priests of the daygo stream. The tribespeople might consider his actions evil … but they don’t understand. The world is on the brink of famine and war. New magic, yet to be discovered, is set to be unleashed. The beasts in the north, long forgotten, considered only a surreal page in history, raise their heads and consider, once again, marching south. Daygo flows, but which way will the current pull …

The Legacy Human


Susan Kaye Quinn - 2014
    But Eli is a legacy human, preserved and cherished for his unaltered genetic code, just like the rainforest he paints. When a fugue state possesses him and creates great art, Eli miraculously lands a sponsor for the creative Olympics. If he could just master the fugue, he could take the gold and win the right to ascend, bringing everything he’s yearned for within reach… including his beautiful ascender patron. But once Eli arrives at the Games, he finds the ascenders are playing games of their own. Everything he knows about the ascenders and the legacies they keep starts to unravel… until he’s running for his life and wondering who he truly is. The Legacy Human is the first in a philosophical HopePunk sci-fi series that explores the intersection of mind, body, and soul in a post-Singularity world.

Angel Fire


Valmore Daniels - 2011
    I cannot control this.One night, I was attacked in my home. The fire ... it raged out of control. I survived the inferno, but my house burned to the ground - with my parents inside.I was at a loss to explain to the courts what happened, and so they sent me to prison for ten years for manslaughter.Now I'm out on parole, and all I want is to return to my home town and rebuild my life; but the man who attacked me is back to finish the job he started.I can sense the power in me growing. If I can't control it, it will control me and destroy everything - and everyone - I love.

A Day Like This


Kelley McNeil - 2021
    It’s a day like any other when she takes Hannah to the pediatrician…until she wakes hours later from a car accident. When she asks for her daughter, confused doctors tell Annie that Hannah never existed. In fact, nothing after waking from the crash is the same as Annie remembers. Five happy years of her life apparently never happened.Annie’s marriage is coming to an end. Now a successful artist living in Manhattan, she’s no longer home in their beloved upstate farmhouse. Her long-estranged sister is more like a best friend, and her recently deceased dog is alive and well. With each passing day, Annie’s remembered past and unfamiliar present begin to blur. Haunted by visions of Hannah, and with knowledge of things she can’t explain, Annie wonders…is everyone lying to her?The search for answers leads Annie down an illuminating path far from home, to reconcile the memories with reality and to discover the truth about the life she’s living.

The Phoenix Series: Books 1-4


Ted Tayler
    The system often fails to deliver the correct punishment. He can redress the balance. The Olympus Project Rescued by strangers from a watery grave and given a new identity. The Phoenix is a stone-cold killer. An ideal fit for the Olympus Project, a secret organisation fighting injustice.Gold, Silver, and Bombs The eyes of the world are on London 2012. British security services anticipate an organised terror attack. Safety is paramount. What if the real danger comes from a lone wolf?Nothing Is Ever Forever The action never slows. The tension never slackens. The Phoenix stares death in the face once more. Detectives Phil Hounsell and Zara Wheeler are back, as Colin Bailey’s past threatens to catch up with him.In The Lap Of The Gods Olympus battle vicious gangsters on home soil. The body count rises. Dimitar Marinov cements his reputation as the most brutal criminal ever to have set foot on UK soil. Phoenix and Athena attend their first senior meeting with Zeus and the other Gods. They sense factions within the Project are plotting to take it in a different, more sinister direction. Who can they trust?

Theft of Dragons


John Forrester - 2014
    The Black Heart Clan assassins have hunted him ever since. In the six years that have passed, King Braxion continues his ruthless tyranny against citizens and neighboring Kingdoms alike. He controls the dragon nobility through powerful spells of beast shamanism cast by the Hakkadians, sorcerers from the northlands.Princess Sebine, the girl the King believes is his daughter, plots to one day break free from the palace and discover the mystery behind her true father. Tempted by the lure of sorcery, she studies in secret with the Hakkadians in the palace dungeons. When a merchant from the east delivers her the Ring of Galdora as a gift from the Elven Kingdom of Drazal'tan, the course of her life will change forever.At the author's request, this book is offered without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

The Misbegotten


Justin DePaoli - 2016
    But sometimes death is a myth. Astul, assassin by day and purveyor of secrets at night, has agreed to hunt down a king slayer. Somewhat for the money, a little for the ego, and a bit for the adventure... but mostly for the money. There's just one problem. The king slayer's trail leads to a cache of disturbing secrets involving insane kings, mad queens and kingdoms suddenly poised for a war to end all wars. People seem to be losing their minds. Or rather, forfeiting them. Something harrowing lingers and lurks in the world of Mizridahl. And only an infamous assassin with a woeful reputation is aware. Conjurers have returned.

Fire in Frost


Alicia Rades - 2015
    It's not the harmful kind that can kill a girl like Olivia. It's the kind that can save her."CRYSTAL FROST tells herself she isn't crazy, but sane people don't see ghosts. As her psychic abilities manifest, Crystal discovers she can see into the future, witness the past, and speak with the dead. Add blackmail to the list of things she never thought would happen to her, and you basically have her sophomore year covered. After spotting her first ghost, secrets from her family, friends, and classmates begin to surface. Uncovering secrets can be dangerous, but giving up means someone will get hurt. Again.

I Choose You


Gayle Curtis - 2020
    Now, grown up and married with a young family, they feel their worst nightmares are behind them. Until the day their daughter is abducted and murdered.Both Elise and Nathaniel lost their mothers to a notorious killer who manipulated innocent victims into taking their own lives. Could it be that ‘the Watcher’ has returned for another round of the same sadistic game? Why now? And why are Elise and Nathaniel being targeted again?When Elise’s family falls under suspicion, her world crashes down around her. Is there anyone she can trust, or is her whole life built on lies?Only one thing is clear: someone left their cruel game unfinished all those years ago. This time the Watcher intends to win – once and for all.

The Riven Wyrde Saga


Graham Austin-King - 2015
    A boy and his mother, in the right place at just the wrong time, will set in motion events that will change two worlds forever.The fae were banished, locked away until the tales of them passed into myth and folklore. Now the barriers are ancient, and fading in the faltering grasp of the one man who still knows the truth.But war is coming to Anlan. Bjornmen raiders have abandoned coastal plunder for outright conquest, and their fleets surge across the icy seas. As the people of Anlan struggle to repel them, and the first battles rage, there are rumours of things in the moonlight - whispers of creatures escaped from myth and fable. An older peril has awoken and mankind must set aside their differences or perish. The fate of the world may rest in the hands of two young men, born of opposite sides of the conflict, and with no reason to trust each other.The Riven Wyrde Saga is a dark fantasy epic, where good and evil know no boundary, and the hero you imagine may well become the villain.Download this Special Edition Omnibus edition to experience epic battles, the politics and scheming of two worlds, and a race as alien as they are familiar. "Graham Austin-King puts the bite back into the world of fairy tales." - S.H. Mansouri, Grimdark Magazine. "Austin-King's writing is descriptive and layered, full of mystery and tension..." Sarah Chorn, Bookworm Blues Includes all three novels of the Riven Wyrde SagaFae - The Wild HuntFae - The Realm of TwilightFae - The Sins of the Wyrde

Sora's Quest


T.L. Shreffler - 2012
    She yearns for freedom, but he won’t let her go—not when her Cat’s Eye necklace is the only thing that can save his life.But the necklace itself presents a problem. It is an ancient device from the long forgotten War of the Races, and its magic has the ability to steal souls. Can Sora learn to wield its power—or will the power wield her? (Winner of the SKOW 2006 Best Fantasy Award)

Beyond Every Mirror


Christine Church - 2016
    Women desire him. Men envy him. Despite his charmed life, however, what Dane Bainbridge truly craves is love. But the only woman who sends his heart aflutter and his emotions in turmoil is the "imaginary woman" he has been seeing in mirrors all his life. Meirah resides in a time dimension beyond every mirror. Her world is one of imagination and nightmares, kept alive by the strength of a mortal’s blood. And Dane’s is the strongest, which curses him to life after life of suffering and torture - watching the only woman he could ever love slip away with his sacrifice. Can they break the curse that separates them before they die in a war of worlds never before known?