Book picks similar to
Bob vs. The Cat by Kate Baray


fantasy
wbpik
mysteries-thrillers
fantasy-urban

Chivalry


Neil Gaiman - 1992
    The readings are recorded live at Peter Norton Symphony Space in New York City. The Selected Shorts radio series is a co-production of Symphony Space and WNYC, New York Public Radio, and is heard on public radio stations nationwide."

Apocalypse Scenario #683: The Box


Mira Grant - 2011
    Every week five friends get together to play a game-- a game they call the Apocalypse Game. It's a fun time with chips and beer and plotting the end of the world. Except this time, one of them is missing and the stakes are higher than ever before.Word count: ~3,900

Playing Nice with God’s Bowling Ball


N.K. Jemisin - 2008
    Jemisin, originally published in the August 2008 issue of Jim Baen’s Universe.In “Playing Nice with God’s Bowling Ball,” a police detective tries to understand how a children’s dispute over a playing card could have led to a mysterious disappearance.

The Wolves of London


Mark Morris - 2014
    After he agrees to steal a mysterious Obsidian Heart, Locke is pursued by unearthly assassins known as the ‘Wolves of London’. Soon he discovers the heart can enable him to travel through time, and while it bestows him with his own dark powers, it also corrupts...

Shadow Born


Jasmine Walt - 2016
     Brooke is no stranger to the supernatural. In Chicago, vampires are just as prevalent as drug lords, and infinitely more bloodthirsty. So when her partner and fiancé dies in a mysterious fire while chasing down a lead in Salem, she suspects something dark and otherworldly is at play. Blessed with the ability to see into the past by touching inanimate objects, Brooke transfers to the Salem PD, hoping her talent will help her get to the bottom of things. Between dodging assassination attempts and being stonewalled at every turn, the going is tough. Add in a mysterious fae club owner with secrets of his own and a personal grudge against her, and it becomes nearly impossible. If Brooke wants to play in the supernatural sandbox, she’s going to have to roll up her sleeves and get dirty. But how many people will have to die for Brooke to discover the truth about her fiance? And is she even ready to know? Find out what lurks in the SHADOWS OF SALEM by pre-ordering SHADOW BORN, the latest Urban Fantasy hit readers are comparing to Karen Marie Moning and Patricia Briggs.

Pete, Drinker of Blood


Scott S. Phillips - 2012
    He’s also a vampire. He lives alone and avoids the other vampires in L.A., but Pete’s simple life goes haywire when he falls for Angie, the cute bartender at a Sunset Strip dive -- and when sinister vampire lord Carson Fitzgerald returns to claim his children, Pete learns that nothing's ever easy for a creature of the night.

Monster Mansion


Dante King - 2020
    It's a dungeon from another world, masquerading as just another private residence in the suburbs. It has enchanted rooms, can craft powerful items, build lethal traps, and produce incredible monsters.And it's my mission to protect and evolve its monstrous inhabitants.

The Magical Beings' Rehabilitation Center: The Complete Series


K.M. Shea - 2018
    Cyclops need glasses. Dark Elves give villain monologues. Maybe the magical paranormal world isn’t quite what we expect? This special boxset contains the complete urban fantasy series the Magical Beings' Rehabilitation Center: Vampires Drink Tomato Juice, Goblins Wear Suits, and The Lost Files of the MBRC. Book 1: Vampires Drink Tomato Juice Morgan might be losing her sanity. She thought it was a normal day but after witnessing an incident involving a werewolf, a substitute teacher/possible vampire, and a thermos of tomato juice, things get weird. A quick train ride later she finds herself at the Chicago headquarters of all things fantastical: the Magical Beings' Rehabilitation Center. At the MBRC Morgan encounters dragons, vampires, elves, centaurs and even the Pooka, a shape-shifter who is too handsome for his own good. The MBRC strives to rehabilitate and integrate magical beings into human society. It’s also supposed to be a secret, and Morgan’s accidental initiation breaks every rule the place has. Book 2: Goblins Wear Suits Morgan has settled into a balance between her school work and teaching at the MBRC. But she doesn’t know what she wants after this. Her family and friends, including a certain flirtatious Pooka, all have colleges and future career paths for her to consider. Her choices are made even more difficult when terrorist threats are issued by an anti-human, magic-based organization. And their main target is Morgan. Book 3: The Lost Files of the MBRC When Morgan decided to stay employed at the Magical Beings’ Rehabilitation Center, she thought her life would quiet down as she started college and developed her career. She thought wrong. The Lost Files of the MBRC is an anthology of five short stories set in the world of the Magical Beings' Rehabilitation Center series.

The Case of the Green-Dressed Ghost


Lucy Banks - 2017
    Ribero, but he wasn’t expecting to find his long lost father. Nor was he expecting to join the family business: catching supernatural spirits. Kester is intrigued despite his fear, and finds himself drawn into an ancient ghost story that will test the entire agency.He soon becomes enmeshed in a struggle with the spirit, who is so malevolent and haunting that his first real case might just be his last.

The Reaper and the Cop


Mina Carter - 2014
    For Laney Larson, it’s a full time job.The latest in a long line of Reapers, Laney hits Liberty, Oakwood expecting the usual ‘reap and run’ type of job. However the small town holds far more secrets than she expects, including a sexy cop who blindsides her reaper instincts - big time. Liberty. It used to be a nice town until the things that go bump in the night moved in. Detective Troy Regan moved to Liberty to claw back a little of his soul after working homicide in the big city. But the sleepy little town has problems of the paranormal kind and its police department has gone from calls about lost cats to Boggarts in the basement. Then the seriously nasty stuff moved in. Troy’s not sure exactly what flavour of paranormal Laney is, but he doesn’t care. She’s tiny, delicate and gorgeous. When he finds a Lycan looming over her in an alley, all his protective instincts flare up. He needs to get her home, keep her safe… in his bed. But is she the answer he’s been looking for to fill the empty spot in his heart, or the most dangerous creature he’s ever met?

Island 731


Jeremy Robinson - 2013
    But his work is interrupted when, surrounded by thirty miles of refuse,  the ship and its high tech systems are plagued by a series of strange malfunctions and the crew is battered by a raging storm.When the storm fades and the sun rises, the beaten crew awakens to find themselves anchored in the protective cove of a tropical island...and no one knows how they got there. Even worse, the ship has been sabotaged, two crewman are dead and a third is missing. Hawkins spots signs of the missing man on shore and leads a small team to bring him back. But they quickly discover evidence of a brutal history left behind by the Island’s former occupants: Unit 731, Japan’s ruthless World War II human experimentation program. Mass graves and military fortifications dot the island, along with a decades old laboratory housing the remains of hideous experiments.As crew members start to disappear, Hawkins realizes that they are not alone. In fact, they were brought to this strange and horrible island. The crew is taken one-by-one and while Hawkins fights to save his friends, he learns the horrible truth: Island 731 was never decommissioned and the person taking his crewmates may not be a person at all—not anymore.

Tamora Carter: Goblin Queen


Jim C. Hines - 2020
    The scruffy pair passed through a magical portal into our world, and they’re not alone.Do these creatures know the truth about the disappearance of Tamora’s best friend Andre? She won’t rest until she finds out. But there are things far more dangerous than goblins...

Studies of Beasties


Polly Letson - 2014
    But when you are moonlighting for a secret organisation aiming to destroy all evidence of the paranormal, whilst working as a parapsychologist at the world renowned Diederich Institute of Parapsychology, things are bound to get complicated. Throw into that mix an uncanny ability for mind control, her baffling spirit guide, a fake clairvoyant mother, as well as some naked dead bodies, and mayhem ensues. Iona is forced out of the safe world of Edinburgh academia by her new Texan boss and is suddenly in the field, exploring a small Scottish town that believes the Beast of Badnoch is behind the spate of recent disappearances. Will her dishy colleague Andy find out that the psychic he’s investigating is her mother? And will that change how he feels about her? In this, the first of the Iona Adair Scottish Mysteries, Iona finds out that the supernatural world is far more dangerous and expansive than she could possibly imagine, even if it does have some very charming characters, like blood drinking Henry, a bonafide ancient techno-geek. The supernatural world has never been funnier, sexier or more tartan.

Blood Kissed


Vivienne Savage - 2017
    Years after ditching a corrupt coven in San Antonio, Emma is making a fresh start in Massachusetts as the owner of a new luxury spa. Her life couldn’t be more peaceful - until a near-death encounter with ruthless vampire hunters draws attention to her questionable history. According to the vampire elders, Emma’s old ties make her a liability. Given one chance to prove herself, she’s plunged headfirst into a journey to recover a stolen artifact from the hunters—and assigned her own champion. Unfortunately, he’s also her former lover, a master vampire with his own motivation for accompanying her. Despite their differences, Emma and Adrian must work together to solve the mystery. Her past is coming back to bite her, and the only way off the council’s hit list is to discover why the hunters want the relic at all.

Heirs of Grace


Tim Pratt - 2014
    Bekah expected a pleasant year to get her head together and have a romantic fling. Problem is, the house is full of junk...and siblings she didn't know she had are willing to kill her for it.More important, the junk in her new house is magical, she's surrounded by monsters, and her life seems to be in mortal peril every time she ventures into a new room. As Bekah discovers more about her mysterious benefactor and the magical world he inhabited, she's realizes that as tough and resourceful as she is, she might just be in over her head...Heirs of Grace is a tale of family and magic, action and wonder, blending the strong heroine, cheeky humor, and dark fantasy that have become the hallmarks of Tim Pratt's writing.