Book picks similar to
Austin Wyrd by Steve Curry


urban-fantasy
fantasy
fantasy-urban
spfbo6

Dark Currents


Jacqueline Carey - 2012
    Introducing Daisy Johanssen, reluctant hell-spawn… The Midwestern resort town of Pemkowet boasts a diverse population: eccentric locals, wealthy summer people, and tourists by the busload; not to mention fairies, sprites, vampires, naiads, ogres and a whole host of eldritch folk, presided over by Hel, a reclusive Norse goddess. To Daisy Johanssen, fathered by an incubus and raised by a single mother, it’s home. And as Hel’s enforcer and the designated liaison to the Pemkowet Police Department, it’s up to her to ensure relations between the mundane and eldritch communities run smoothly. But when a young man from a nearby college drowns—and signs point to eldritch involvement—the town’s booming paranormal tourism trade is at stake. Teamed up with her childhood crush, Officer Cody Fairfax, a sexy werewolf on the down-low, Daisy must solve the crime—and keep a tight rein on the darker side of her nature. For if she’s ever tempted to invoke her demonic birthright, it could accidentally unleash nothing less than Armageddon.

The Curse Keepers


Denise Grover Swank - 2013
    It’s about to come crashing down.Ellie Lancaster has lived her whole life by the site of the mysterious Lost Colony of Roanoke, the North Carolina settlement that vanished without a trace around 1590. Only the descendants of the two men who banished the spirits of an enemy tribe from the material realm know what really happened to the colony. Ellie is one of those descendants—a Curse Keeper. Her father took pains to teach her what he knew of the curse and the responsibilities of its guardians. He taught her that if the two Curse Keepers ever meet, the curse will be lifted, the gate will open, and the raging Native American spirits will be unleashed to seek their revenge.Despite her father’s seriousness, Ellie has always taken the legend for a harmless fairy tale. Until she meets the darkly handsome, but downright infuriating, Collin Dailey and realizes everything she was told is true. For when they meet, it’s like the air is sucked from the room. Collin’s presence is electrifying… and it’s not just attraction Ellie feels, but the inexorable pull toward her destiny. The prophecy is real, and now Ellie and Collin must battle supernatural forces and their loathing—and passion—for each other to set things right.The Curse Keepers are all that stand between the world and its destruction.

The Hunted


Jessica Gunn - 2017
    Newbie Hunters. They don’t know their magik, they barely know their place in the world, and when they find out the secrets I’ve been carrying, they’ll definitely decide it’s safer if they don’t know me.But unfortunately for them—and me—Darkness has other plans. Lady Azar, Darkness’s heir, stole my new team leader’s son two years ago. Now, she and her lackeys are rallying to exchange Ben’s son for me because of the power I wield. I’m one-half of a prophecy to save an ancient city the Powers of Good lost centuries ago. And if I fail or die before that happens, the destruction of that city will be felt across all planes of existence.If we can’t find Ben’s son before All Hallows’ Eve and somehow save him without putting my life at risk, that existential explosion will absolutely happen. But it’ll be nothing compared to the destruction wrought if Lady Azar changes Ben’s son into a demon… and her minion.Because the only thing more dangerous than me with a blade is a father’s wrath.

Owl and the Japanese Circus


Kristi Charish - 2015
    No supernatural jobs. Ever. Until she crosses paths with Mr. Kurosawa, a red dragon who owns and runs the Japanese Circus Casino in Las Vegas. He insists Owl retrieve an artifact stolen three thousand years ago, and makes her an offer she can’t refuse: he’ll get rid of a pack of vampires that want her dead. A dragon is about the only entity on the planet that can deliver on Owl’s vampire problem – and let’s face it, dragons are known to eat the odd thief.Owl retraces the steps of Mr. Kurosawa’s ancient thief from Japan to Bali with the help of her best friend, Nadya, and an attractive mercenary. As it turns out though, finding the scroll is the least of her worries. When she figures out one of Mr. Kurosawa’s trusted advisors is orchestrating a plan to use a weapon powerful enough to wipe out a city, things go to hell in a hand basket fast…and Owl has to pick sides.

A Devil in the Details


K.A. Stewart - 2010
     Jesse James Dawson was an ordinary guy (well, an ordinary guy with a black belt in karate) until one day he learned his brother had made a bargain with a demon. Jesse discovered there was only one way to save his brother: put up his own soul as collateral, and fight the demon to the death. Jesse lived to free his brother-and became part of a loose organization of Champions who put their own souls on the line to help those who get in over their heads with demons. But now experienced Champions are losing battles at a much higher rate than usual. Someone has changed the game. And if Jesse can't figure out the new rules, his next battle may be his last...

Low Town


Daniel Polansky - 2011
    . . and sorcery. Welcome to Low Town.In the forgotten back alleys and flophouses that lie in the shadows of Rigus, the finest city of the Thirteen Lands, you will find Low Town. It is an ugly place, and its cham­pion is an ugly man. Disgraced intelligence agent. Forgotten war hero. Independent drug dealer. After a fall from grace five years ago, a man known as the Warden leads a life of crime, addicted to cheap violence and expensive drugs. Every day is a constant hustle to find new customers and protect his turf from low-life competition like Tancred the Harelip and Ling Chi, the enigmatic crime lord of the heathens.The Warden’s life of drugged iniquity is shaken by his dis­covery of a murdered child down a dead-end street . . . set­ting him on a collision course with the life he left behind. As a former agent with Black House—the secret police—he knows better than anyone that murder in Low Town is an everyday thing, the kind of crime that doesn’t get investi­gated. To protect his home, he will take part in a dangerous game of deception between underworld bosses and the psy­chotic head of Black House, but the truth is far darker than he imagines. In Low Town, no one can be trusted.Daniel Polansky has crafted a thrilling novel steeped in noir sensibilities and relentless action, and set in an original world of stunning imagination, leading to a gut-wrenching, unforeseeable conclusion. Low Town is an attention-grabbing debut that will leave readers riveted . . . and hun­gry for more.

Three Mages and a Margarita


Annette Marie - 2018
    Those are my official reasons for answering a wanted ad for a skeevy-looking bartender gig. It went downhill the moment they asked me to do a trial shift instead of an interview - to see if I'd mesh with their "special" clientele. I think that part went great. Their customers were complete dickheads, and I was an asshole right back. That's the definition of fitting in, right? I expected to get thrown out on my ass. Instead, they...offered me the job? It turns out this place isn't a bar. It's a guild. And the three cocky guys I drenched with a margarita during my trial? Yeah, they were mages. Either I'm exactly the kind of takes-no-sh*t bartender this guild needs, or there's a good reason no one else wants to work here. So what's a broke girl to do? Take the job, of course - with a pay raise.

Slouch Witch


Helen Harper - 2017
    If it were up to Ivy herself, she would like to hang out on the couch all day, watch series, munch junk food and have arguments with her cat. But due to a bureaucratic mistake, Ivy becomes a victim of a reversed identity and involuntarily - very, very involuntarily! - hurled right into the Arcane Branch, the investigative agency of the Holy Order of Magical Enlightenment.Ivy's problems quickly quadruple when a valuable object was stolen and she was forced to work with Adeptus Exemptus Raphael Winter. Raphael's sapphire-blue eyes somehow make butterflies flutter in Ivy's stomach, but the adeptus actually shows everything that Ivy deeply rejects: the joyless pitfalls of too much stoic witchcraft. And the longer Raphael Ivy sucks, the greater your desire ... to turn him into a frog!

A Fistful of Evil


Rebecca Chastain - 2014
    Honestly, it’s kind of gross.Madison Fox is shocked when she learns her soul sight is more than a distasteful affliction: It’s a weapon for battling evil. Roped into a job she doesn’t want, Madison wades into a world where monsters actively hunt her and deadly experiences are becoming the norm. Her survival depends on mastering the mechanics of her ethereal powers—fast. If only she had a clue what she was doing...A Fistful of Evil is a fresh urban fantasy perfect for fans of Darynda Jones and Jim Butcher. Find out for yourself why urban fantasy readers can’t get enough of this laugh-out-loud internationally bestselling series.

The Delivery of Flesh


Francis James Blair - 2019
    Gunslinger. Daemon-hunter. Witch. Able to call forth powerful magicks with the pull of a trigger. With her faithful talking horse Astor, she travels across Korvana, searching for the daemon that killed her family and destroyed her town.Just a few weeks onto the trail, not everything is going as planned. After joining what should have been a routine escort mission to earn a bit of coin, Temperance finds herself saddled with babysitting an unyielding marshal and his sorcerous prisoner. To make matters worse, an army of bandits are hot on their heels, determined to free the sorcerer at any cost. It will take all of Temperance's wits—and bullets—to come out of this on the right side of the dirt.THE DELIVERY OF FLESH is the first in a planned eight-part series, with book two also available. The book also includes six illustrations by artist Jin A. Lee.

American Gods


Neil Gaiman - 2001
    Numbly, he makes his way back home. On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.Scary, gripping and deeply unsettling, American Gods takes a long, hard look into the soul of America. You'll be surprised by what - and who - it finds there...

Shadow Summoner


Tess Adair - 2018
    A high school full of suspects. Can a paranormal detective catch the killer before school is out of session forever?Half-demon H.C. Logan is used to living on the fringes of society. Determined to rise above her dark origins, she works as a paranormal detective hunting down the monsters whose blood courses through her own veins. When the arcane key embedded in her skin sends her a gruesome vision of a teen’s murder, she follows the twisted magic to the victim’s sleepy Montana hometown.Undercover at the local high school, H.C. picks her way through a web of jealousies in search of any student with motive enough to summon a demon and unleash it on the popular girl. When she befriends a bullied outcast, the demon’s next violent attack becomes personal. As the monster grows stronger, H.C. must unmask the teen who summoned it before the demon breaks its chains and soaks the town in blood.Shadow Summoner is the first book in the fiendish Choronzon Chronicles urban fantasy series. If you like edgy detectives, demonic encounters, and hair-raising suspense, then you’ll love Tess Adair’s paranormal adventure.Buy Shadow Summoner to step into the darker side of magic today!

Deadtown


Nancy Holzner - 2009
    Most humans stay far from its borders-but Victory Vaughn, Boston's only professional demon slayer, isn't exactly human.

Sixty-One Nails


Mike Shevdon - 2009
    A dark magic will be unleashed by the Untainted...Unless a new hero can be found. Neverwhere's faster, smarter brother has arrived.Sixty-One Nails follows Niall Petersen, from a suspected heart attack on the London Underground, into the hidden world of the Feyre, an uncanny place of legend that lurks just beyond the surface of everyday life. The Untainted, the darkest of the Seven Courts, have made their play for power, and unless Niall can recreate the ritual of the Sixty-One Nails, their dark dominion will enslave all of the Feyre, and all of humankind too.

Off to Be the Wizard


Scott Meyer - 2013
    With every use of this ability, though, Martin finds his little “tweaks” have not escaped notice. Rather than face prosecution, he decides instead to travel back in time to the Middle Ages and pose as a wizard.What could possibly go wrong?An American hacker in King Arthur’s court, Martin must now train to become a full-fledged master of his powers, discover the truth behind the ancient wizard Merlin… and not, y’know, die or anything.