Book picks similar to
Dead Man's Hand by J.A. Ironside


lgbtqai
mystery
paranormal-supernatural
unlikely-heroines

The Girl with Ghost Eyes


M.H. Boroson - 2015
    Li-lin, the daughter of a renowned Daoshi exorcist, is a young widow burdened with yin eyes—the unique ability to see the spirit world. Her spiritual visions and the death of her husband bring shame to Li-lin and her father—and shame is not something this immigrant family can afford.When a sorcerer cripples her father, terrible plans are set in motion, and only Li-lin can stop them. To aid her are her martial arts and a peachwood sword, her burning paper talismans, and a wisecracking spirit in the form of a human eyeball tucked away in her pocket. Navigating the dangerous alleys and backrooms of a male-dominated Chinatown, Li-lin must confront evil spirits, gangsters, and soulstealers before the sorcerer’s ritual summons an ancient evil that could burn Chinatown to the ground.With a rich and inventive historical setting, nonstop martial arts action, authentic Chinese magic, and bizarre monsters from Asian folklore, The Girl with Ghost Eyes is also the poignant story of a young immigrant searching to find her place beside the long shadow of a demanding father and the stigma of widowhood. In a Chinatown caught between tradition and modernity, one woman may be the key to holding everything together.

THE KIRKWOOD SCOTT CHRONICLES: Skelly’s Square


Stephen Black - 2019
    But, first, he must save himself. Kirkwood Scott is having a bad day. Languishing in a dead end job and recently dumped by his girlfriend he struggles with a crippling form of OCD which manifests itself in the form of Colonel Augustus Skelly, a phantom voice from Kirkwood’s childhood who controls his every waking moment via a series of tortuous routines, ‘The 49’. Kirkwood has little to look forward to, bar a weekend of drunken oblivion in Belfast with his equally deadbeat friends. All that changes when he meets Meredith Starc, a young homeless woman struggling to survive on the streets and come to terms with her own troubled past. Kirkwood realises Meredith may hold the answer to him finally being free of his mental demons. But what if Skelly is more than just a voice? Kirkwood and Meredith join forces to unearth a supernatural battle raging on the city’s back streets between ancient forces of good or evil, the outcome of which will decide the fate of the planet. Between them, they hold the key to saving mankind from a new Dark Age but can they survive long enough to do so as Skelly unleashes a legion of vicious ghost soldiers upon the unsuspecting city? ‘The Kirkwood Scott Chronicles: Skelly’s Square’ is a fast paced and darkly humorous supernatural fantasy guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

Dark Bayou


Nancy K. Duplechain - 2010
    That was when we saw the cabin, far off in a corner on the west bank. It was as I had seen it in my dreams—rustic long-forgotten by the world, save for whatever occupied its malevolent little frame. And whatever it was, was nothing more than a black silhouette in a creaking rocking chair on the tiny porch. As I stared at the phantom rocker, it suddenly stopped in mid rock, picked up its head and turned to me, grinning, and started rocking away, never taking its yellow eyes off of me. And there, in the humid twilight of the swamp, a bitter chill washed over me, and my spine felt like ice.When Leigh Benoit returns home to Louisiana for the funeral of her brother and his wife, she becomes increasingly concerned about the welfare of her orphaned niece, Lyla. She is prompted by her grandmother, Clothilde, to move back to take care of her. Leigh has no desire to take on any responsibility, and being home again brings back painful memories. At the funeral, Leigh’s childhood friend, Detective Lucas Castille, tells her the mysterious details of the accident that killed her brother and his wife. Lucas’ young son has dreams of a Dark Man who wishes to harm Lyla. Leigh begins to have similar dreams. She struggles with her rational mind but vows to protect her niece. Soon, she finds out there is more to the story and more to her grandmother than she thought.

Brody's Ghost Collected Edition


Mark Crilley - 2016
    What he hopes is a hallucination proves all too real when the ghost tells him she needs his help hunting down a dangerous killer, and that he must undergo training from the spirit of a centuries-old samurai to unlock his hidden ghost talker powers.While Brody initially goes along only begrudgingly, the mission becomes terrifyingly personal when he learns that his ex-girlfriend is destined to be the killer's next victim. As he evades the police and his ex's criminal boyfriend, Brody enters a race against time to learn the killer's identity before the night of her foretold doom!"Mix a pinch of The Sixth Sense with a dash of The Karate Kid and a bit of The Crow, and you'll start to get a feel for Brody's Ghost." -Wired"The setting--an unidentified future city partially in ruins--is a masterpiece of drawing . . . The story is more than a match for the art." -Booklist

The Samson Effect


Tony Eldridge - 2007
    Michael Sieff and Dr. Thomas Hamilton have stumbled onto a finding so astonishing that it could reshape the political and religious boundaries of the world. Hidden in a cave in Hebron, Israel they find an ancient scroll that gives evidence of a substance so powerful, it gave the Biblical strong man Samson his great strength.In the quest to uncover this powerful secret, they run into two other groups who also know of its existance. The first is a group of protectors chosen each generation to keep the ancient secret and use it when the moment is ready. The second is a ruthless Palestinian ruler who wants to use it to create an invincible army for Allah to purge the world of infidels and bring it under his control.Joined by an unlikely ally, Sieff and Hamilton travel the globe, dodge bullets, endure betrayal, and ultimately have to confront the most powerful enemy that this world has seen in ages. Facing unimagineable odds, they are the only two standing between freedom and conquest of the world. This is the page burner that New York Times best selling author Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure."

Dollhouse


Anya Allyn - 2012
    A dollhouse, filled with life-sized toys. A doorway into other realms. And girls who keep disappearing...When Cassie’s best friend, Aisha, vanishes during a school hike, Cassie sets off with Aisha's boyfriend and their friend Lacey, determined to find her. Instead, the three teens fall into a carefully-laid trap—deep into the surreal nightmare and dark secrets of the Dollhouse.Now, Cassie must uncover the mysteries of the Dollhouse and her own connection to it-- before it's too late.With the horror and otherworldliness of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and the gothic romance of A Great and Terrible Beauty, Dollhouse is a tantalizing start to The Dark Carousel series.

Genesis


Helen Dennis - 2016
    Unable to communicate, the River Boy is given paper and a pencil and begins to scribble. Soon a symbol emerges, but the boy has no idea why he has drawn it even thought it's the only clue to the mystery of his identity... As the boy begins to build a new life under a new name, the hunt for his real identity begins.A hunt which will lead him on a dangerous QUEST that he has only one year to complete ...Introducing the first book in a thrilling new series packed with adventure and mystery.

Jenny Pox


J.L. Bryan - 2010
    A lifetime of avoiding any physical contact with others has made her isolated and painfully lonely in her small rural town.Then she meets the one boy she can touch. Jenny feels herself falling for Seth...but if she's going to be with him, Jenny must learn to use the deadly pox inside her to confront his ruthless and manipulative girlfriend Ashleigh, who secretly wields the most dangerous power of all.* * *Not recommended for readers under eighteen.BONUS: Includes an excerpt of Glimpse by Stacey Wallace Benefiel.

Witches in Wonderland (Wicked in Moonhaven #3)


J.D. Winters - 2017
     In the meantime, they’re each working to clean up the strange town of Moonhaven with its Alice in Wonderland themes and its oddball inhabitants, trying to solve a few murders and find out what happened to Haley’s missing family. If only Haley’s grandmother—the one who brought her back from the dead—wouldn’t always seem to be the guilty party. Just what is she planning, anyway? A Mad Hatter's game of Musical Chairs?

Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls Unsolved Mysteries


Joseph A. Citro - 1994
    Aimed at adults, teenagers, and tourists, this is the most comprehensive collection of tales, legends, folklore, ghost stories and strange-but-true facts ever assembled about Vermont and the surrounding areas of New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Quebec--one that can be used to find these haunted sites.

Underdead with a Vengeance (Underdead Mysteries)


Liz Jasper - 2013
    Why not?Who cares. She has everything under control.Except she's not sure Will is really dead dead. And Detective Gavin Raines, her vampire-hunting crush, has popped back in her life to investigate an odd string of murders...and maybe finally ask her out on a real date.At least her her teaching job is straightforward. Or rather it was before the world's most perfect teacher joins the staff and seems to be noticing that her vampire traits are, well, a lot more apparent than she'd like them to be.Caught between two worlds and fitting into neither, Jo must risk it all to take her own path--before the next person dead is her. Buy your copy today!

Living Among Bigfoot: First Contact (A True Story)


Tom Lyons - 2018
    In the summer of 2008, Tom made the move from Wisconsin to Idyllwild, California, where he intended to embrace a change of scenery and a healthier lifestyle, while continuing to grow his successful online business. Shortly after the move, he began experiencing strange and grim happenings around his property. He initially presumed that someone was messing with him... that was until he came face to face with something he never thought existed. Living Among Bigfoot is a series based on Tom's multiple encounters with the Bigfoot species.

Powers


James A. Burton - 2012
    He's forgotten more than he remembers about his past, but those snippets he's retained tell him two things: he's lived a long, looong time and he doesn't trust anyone, particularly gods. He's not any too fond of demons either, particularly the one that materializes in his kitchen wanting to hire him for a special mission. It's as deadly to cross a demon as to deal with him, so Albert reluctantly agrees to investigate, putting him in the path of a prickly arson detective named Melissa el Hajj with trust issues of her own. Clashing at a crime scene, they uncover a broken seal that seems ancient enough to have been forged by Solomon himself. The seal cries out to Albert that he must mend it or something dark and dire will happen. Albert, who has a special affinity for metal, must first discover exactly what that will do to his kind - and he's only just beginning to understand who and what he really is.

The Girl Who Cheated Death


Alan Baker - 2018
    Ironically, recovering from her emotional and physical scars is not her biggest challenge. She is also haunted by Azrael, the angel of death. On the morning of the accident, Alex watches as Azrael takes the souls of her family. And the visions keep coming. A man with oily black hair in a pinstripe suit appears to Alex in the hospital, outside her high school, and in the woods near her campsite. She worries that she’s crazy, though Azrael appears to be just as threatened by her ability to see him. She confides in her doctor and friends and, while they appear to believe her, they are unable to help Alex banish death. Midway through the book, the narrative takes an unexpected twist and Alex’s recovery is overshadowed by the realization that she could bring her family back to life. But Azrael is determined to stop Alex’s meddling and she must enlist the help of her remaining family and friends if there is any hope for success.The Girl Who Cheated Death placed as a Semi-Finalist in the 2018 Faulkner Wisdom Competition

The Mind Readers


Lori Brighton - 2010
    Fortunately, no one but her family knows the truth... that Cameron can read minds. For years Cameron has hidden behind a facade of normalcy, warned that there are those who would do her harm. When gorgeous and mysterious Lewis Douglas arrives he destroys everything Cameron has ever believed and tempts her with possibilities of freedom. Determined to embrace her hidden talents, Cameron heads to a secret haven with Lewis; a place where she meets others like her, Mind Readers.But as Cameron soon finds out some things are too good to be true. When the Mind Readers realize the extent of Cameron’s abilities, they want to use her powers for their own needs. Cameron suddenly finds herself involved in a war in which her idea of what is right and wrong is greatly tested. In the end she’ll be forced to make a choice that will not only threaten her relationship with Lewis, but her very life.