Book picks similar to
Friends Like These by Matt Forbeck


fantasy
noire
reviewed-on-blog
rpg-novels

Cursed City


C.L. Werner - 2021
    Its vampiric rulers have indulged their bloodlust in every shadow-clad alley, turning the once-proud metropolis into a charnel house. Already crushed beneath the tyranny of Radukar the Wolf and his Thirsting Court, a spate of vicious murders plunges the mortal inhabitants into fresh terror. Emerging to uncover a connection between the attacks is an unlikely group of heroes: a vampire hunter from Carstinia, a slum-born vigilante, a ruthless wizard, and a soldier who is the last survivor of her noble bloodline. Arrayed against them are the undead monsters that thrive upon Radukar's gory regime. But a daring search for answers turns into a fight for survival when the Wolf himself descends his Ebon Citadel and joins the carnage in the streets…

The River Mists Of Talry


Terry Mancour - 2013
    . . and use them as leverage against Master Minalan the Spellmonger.Tyndal is out of his element - just barely a mage, he's far more adept with a pitchfork than a wand. But then the gods never asked his opinion, and he sets to his task with the determination of a mountain-born lad. And the attractive daughter of a local innkeeper persists in distracting him from his charge, an attention that Tyndal desires even as he recognizes the danger of such an entanglement.What's a young apprentice mage to do . . . especially when the worst of his fears are realized, and the checkered cloaks of the Censorate warmagi appear on the docks of Talry. Then Tyndal's only hope to save his master's bride and his family - not to mention his own life - is to trust in the River Mists of Talry!

The Art of War Plus the Art of Management: Strategy for Leadership


Sun Tzu - 2005
    Volume 1 (this book) is a reprint of the original 1910 edition (published by Luzac & Co., London) of Sun Tzu on the Art of War: The Oldest Military Treatise in the World by Lionel Giles. The Chinese text, Giles' English translation, as well as his extensive notes are all faithfully reproduced. A Wade-Giles to Pinyin conversion table has been added to make the original classic more useful for the modern student. Volume 2, available separately, includes each chapter in Chinese traditional characters, the pinyin transcription, as well as the English translation.

Whispering Wind


Frederick Forsyth - 2000
    The favour is returned when the scout is saved by the Cheyenne and given mercy, but when he falls in love with the girl he saved he knows that the tribe will never allow them to be together. They escape, but are forced to abandon their flight when they encounter an omen telling them that she is pledged to another. This frontier tale soon becomes a violent present day manhunt through the Wild West. Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection The Veteran.

Buckles, Boots & Mistletoe


Maggie Shayne - 2015
    Even more exciting, each of these stories will spin off into a series of its own. Maggie Shayne’s CHRISTMAS BLUESA true believer returns the music to a lonesome drifter’s soul.Miranda’s Shayne’s FINDING CHRISTMASA small-town coffee shop owner melts a humbug hero’s wounded heart.River Shayne’s A HERO FOR HANNAHCan a woman in grave danger learn to trust one more time?Jessica Lewis’s THE SOLDIER’S CHRISTMAS BABYA lonely serviceman comes home for a holiday he’ll never forget.Grab a cup of eggnog, curl up near the tree, and fall in love with the holidays all over again!

THE DARKNESS


Stephen King - 2019
    King. Do not let the lack of light stop you from discovering more adventures and stories that will keep you up at night and ignite the imagination. There is no place to hide in, THE DARKNESS!

Keeper of the Eye


Mark Shane - 2016
    Then she learns she's fighting for the wrong side. Fleeing for her life, she seeks out Max, the one wizard who can help save her people. Michael is a simple carpenter. While other eighteen-year-olds seek adventure, he loves his quiet life. Then nightstalkers attack and everything turns to chaos. With the world on the brink of Armageddon, a mystical gem known as the Eye calls on Michael to wield its great magic, but its power is useless if he can’t learn to embrace the magic within himself. Thrown into a war of wizards and warlocks, demons and dragons, Michael and Falon follow Max on a daring mission to save the world. Racing headlong toward the fight of their life, Michael must wield powers he barely understands while Falon must embrace skills she abhors and Max must become the wizard he failed to be in the past.

Kissinger: A Biography Part 1 Of 2


Walter Isaacson
    It draws on extensive interviews with Kissinger, as well as 150 other sources, including Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. In addition, it makes use of many of Kissinger's private papers. The result is an intimate narrative, filled with surprising revelations, that takes this century's most colorful statesman from his childhood as a persecuted Jew in Nazi Germany, through his tortured relationship with Richard Nixon, to his twilight years as a globe-trotting business consultant.

The Legend of Drizzt Omnibus, Vol. 2


R.A. Salvatore - 2008
    Yet, to protect the friends he has come to love as family, he's willing to put his life on the line... and does! Collecting the comic book adaptations of R.A. Salvatore's The Crystal Shard, Streams of Silver, and The Halfling's Gem into one massive volume!

Thieves' House: Tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser


Fritz Leiber - 2001
    This collection contains ten stories in the "Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser" series, seven originally collected in Swords Against Death, two originally collected in Swords in the Mist, plus "Bazaar of the Bizarre", as follows, with dates of original publication:Thieves' House * Unknown, February 1943The Bleak Shore * Unknown, November 1940The Howling Tower * Unknown, June 1941The Sunken Land * Unknown, February 1942The Seven Black Priests * Other Worlds, May 1953Claws from the Night ["Dark Vengeance"] * Suspense, November 1951The Price of Pain-Ease * ss Swords Against Death, Ace, 1970Bazaar of the Bizarre * Fantastic, August 1963The Cloud of Hate * Fantastic, May 1963Lean Times in Lankhmar * Fantastic, November 1959

The Baine Chronicles Books 1-7: A Boxed Set Collection


Jasmine Walt - 2019
     This boxed set contains all 8 books in the COMPLETE Baine Chronicles Series by New York Times Bestselling Author Jasmine Walt. This kick-ass urban fantasy series has been compared to books by Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs, Karen Marie Moning, and more. You're sure to enjoy it if you like spunky heroines, kick-ass fight scenes, wild new worlds and sizzling, slow-building romance. From the inside flap of book one: In the city of Solantha, mages rule absolute, with shifters considered second-class citizens and humans something in between. No one outside the mage families are allowed to have magic, and anyone born with it must agree to have it stripped from them to avoid execution. Sunaya Baine, a shifter-mage hybrid, has managed to keep her unruly magic under wraps for the last twenty-four years. But while chasing down a shifter-hunting serial killer, she accidentally loses control of her magic in front of witnesses, drawing the attention of the dangerous and enigmatic Chief Mage. Locked up in the Chief Mage’s castle and reduced to little more than a lab rat, Sunaya resists his attempts to analyze and control her at every turn. But she soon realizes that to regain her freedom and catch the killer, she must overcome her hatred of mages and win the most powerful mage of all to her side. Scroll up to get this COMPLETE series for 85% off!

Rage of a Demon King/Shadow of a Dark Queen/Rise of a Merchant Prince


Raymond E. Feist
    

A Fire in the Heavens


Mary Robinette Kowal - 2014
    Part of the Shadows Beneath - The Writing Excuses Anthology

Raiya: Early Game - A LitRPG Saga: Archon's Chosen, Book Two


Russell Wilbinski - 2019
    Joining the fiery Captain Fenna Lis and her no-nonsense first mate Hawkins, Skree finds plenty of opportunities to grow in skill and strength. With few options available to him, Skree must provide a haven for his friends and the last survivors of the Kobold race. Luckily, Captain Fenna knows just the right guy to solve their problem, but it won't be easy. Or cheap. Will Skree and Priestess be able to find a home of their own, and if they do, will they be able to protect it from harm in the harsh world of Raiya? Who are the mysterious servants of Abrenacht and why do they want him dead? Can Skree overcome these challenges, level up and beat the game so he can return to his own world? But a bigger question lurks at the back of his mind: Does he even want to go home?

Dawn of Man


Thomas A. Watson - 2015
    At the birth of the universe, a new species, man, has been created by the Gods. What path will man take in this new world? Thanos has been home of elves, dwarves, and orc: the sentient races. Magic, fae, and mystical creatures live side by side as the Gods introduce man to see what path will be taken. When the palace of the Kingdom of Gratu is overrun by the three traitor brothers, the only thing that the sho-ka, protectors of royalty, can do is escape with the king and queen amidst the bloodbath. They must survive in the wild and lay low, keeping their anonymity and preparing for when they can return and take back their kingdom.