Shakedowners


Justin Woolley - 2021
    Some lead missions of discovery through wormholes to the other side of the galaxy. Then there's Captain Iridius B. Franklin, someone who spent too long seeking out strange new bars and new alien cocktails.After graduating bottom of his class at Space Command Academy Iridius Franklin hasn't had the glamorous career he envisioned, instead he hauls cargo ships full of mining waste, alien land whale dung, and artificially intelligent toy dogs across the stars.Iridius does have talent though - he is exceptionally good at breaking starships. So, when not hauling freight, he is captain of a shakedown crew, a skeleton crew used to test newly constructed ships for faults before the real crew takes over.While on a routine shakedown mission aboard the FSC Gallaway, soon to be pride of the Federation Fleet, Earth is attacked by an unknown alien life-form. With the galaxy in chaos, Captain Iridius B. Franklin finds himself, unqualified, understaffed and completely unprepared, in command of the most advanced starship in the galaxy.Now, he just needs to not break it.

It Gives You Strength


Philip Raymond Brown - 2020
    Zho, is transported into the dying body of bootlegger Ryan Costello. Immediately following his death, Costello’s body is reanimated by the alien. Unfortunately, Zho’s new “host body” is so damaged from a decade of alcohol abuse that the alien’s memory and vital files are corrupted. All that remains of Zho’s mission plan is one phrase: “Find the one called Mike Kelly.”Complicating matters, the alien soon discovers that Kelly is, himself, the leader of a criminal gang of World War veterans, who are battling mobster Jack “Legs” Diamond for control of the lucrative Canada/New York rum-running market. Upon recognizing Costello’s enhanced abilities and physical strength, Kelly forces the alien into the mob. Since Kelly is his only chance of discovering and completing his mission, the alien agrees. Costello soon recalls his critical task - to free an alien child from the Craig Colony, which they interpret to be a prison camp, before his home world, Dagan, dispatches its “rescue armada.” A force so massive and clumsy that its mere entry into the Earth’s atmosphere would devastate the planet.By setting part of the plot in the Craig Colony, a little-known state institution in which patients with seizure disorders were essentially warehoused, the novel raises awareness of the human rights violations that occurred there.

Her Royal Runner


Joey Anderle - 2016
    He is selected to act as her bodyguard during a political crisis in her land. Which isn't part of our Earth. Although tasked with keeping her out of trouble for forty-eight hours, Booker is finding Her Royal Princess Auralee to be a little more adventurous than he had expected. Join Runner Sterling Booker Wells as he attempts to keep the Elven Princess out of harm's way.

Bordeaux


Matthew Thayer - 2012
    With stirring imagination and an eye for colorful detail, award-winner Matthew Thayer transports readers back to a European continent that is a sea of green, a sensory overload of natural beauty. Home to woolly mammoth, hairy rhino, wolf pack and forests without end, it is a land unspoiled.There is also danger and adventure at every turn. The book series 30,000 B.C. Chronicles begins with Bordeaux. Strong women, brave men and despicable villains, the characters rise to meet the many challenges of the ancient world. The memories they share of home and the scarred Earth they left behind paint an intriguing picture of mankind’s future.

An Honest Lie


Tarryn FisherTarryn Fisher
    You’d better come if you want to save her.”  Lorraine—“Rainy”—lives at the top of Tiger Mountain. Remote, moody, cloistered in pine trees and fog, it’s a sanctuary, a new life. She can hide from the disturbing past she wants to forget. If she’s allowed to. When Rainy reluctantly agrees to a girls’ weekend in Vegas, she’s prepared for an exhausting parade of shots and slot machines. But after a wild night, her friend Braithe doesn’t come back to the hotel room. And then Rainy gets the text message, sent from Braithe’s phone: someone has her. But Rainy is who they really want, and Rainy knows why. What follows is a twisted, shocking journey on the knife-edge of life and death. If she wants to save Braithe—and herself—the only way is to step back into the past. This seething, gut-punch of a thriller can only have sprung from the fiendish brain of Tarryn Fisher, one of the most cunning writers of our time.Looking for more great reads by Tarryn Fisher? Don't miss The Wives and The Wrong Family.

Sapience: A Collection of Science Fiction Short Stories


Alexis Lantgen - 2019
     In the near future, humanity builds a colony on Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. They tunnel into the ice to explore the dark oceans beneath the moon's surface, searching for signs of extraterrestrial life. What they find will change them forever, setting humanity on a path to the stars. But the old conflicts and hatreds of Earth are not so easily escaped. Will human colonists on distant planets and moons create a paradise or a horrifying dystopia?

The Jealousy of Jalice


Jesse Nolan Bailey - 2020
    The Sachem, chief of the Unified Tribes, is to blame.It is this conviction that drives Annilasia and Delilee to risk their lives. Afraid of the aether magic he wields, they enact a subtler scheme: kidnap his wife. In her place, Delilee will pretend to be the chieftess and spy on the Sachem.Unaware of this plot against her husband, Jalice is whisked away by Annilasia. Pleading with her captor proves futile, and she rejects Annilasia’s delusional accusations against the chief. After all, the Sachem has brought peace to the land. Yet a dangerous truth hides in Jalice’s past. As she and Annilasia flee through a forest of insidious threats, they must confront the evil plaguing the tribes and the events that unleashed it.What Reviewers are saying:"A slick, modern sword-and-sorcery tale!" - Christopher Ruocchio, Author of The Sun Eater series"A suspenseful, intriguing, and highly original fantasy tale from a promising new author." - Kirkus Reviews"With slick original plotting and high octane action, there's much to keep the most ardent of fantasy fans on tenterhooks with Bailey's The Jealousy Of Jalice." - Book Viral Review"A riveting and brilliantly penned novel...This is an electric debut, and newborn fans of Jesse Nolan Bailey will eagerly await the sequel, as The Jealousy of Jalice is an imaginative and impressive start to a new fantasy series." Self-Publishing Review, ★★★★½

Kestrel Island


A.B. Martin - 2017
     In a sleepy English seaside town, Sophie Watson is enjoying a peaceful holiday in the sunshine. But when she befriends a mysterious and charismatic girl called Sienna, she is drawn into a heart-stopping adventure where the future security of the world may be under threat.To find out the truth, they must go to Kestrel Island. The plot they uncover is more mind-blowing than they could possibly have imagined.Why are armed guards patrolling Kestrel Island? What are they trying to hide? Will Sophie manage to overcome her fears and save the day? Or will the secret the girls uncover put them in mortal danger? If you're looking for an action-packed adventure with surprising twists and a thrilling climax - this is it. Get your copy today. The Sophie Watson Adventure Mystery Series. Book 1. Kestrel Island.Book 2. Under Crook's Wood.Book 3. Raven's Wharf - Due for release in October 2019.

The Substance of All Things


Sam Harris - 2020
    Six years later, during the sweltering summer of 1968 in rural Oklahoma, Theo meets Frank, a Native American outcast, and learns that he has the ability to heal through his disfigured hands.As he explores the extraordinary, Theo desperately attempts to remain an ordinary boy. But when word of his gift spreads, Theo is shunned by the church for doing “the devil’s work.” He is immediately swept away by his Auntie Li, and into a world which ultimately threatens his life as he saves others’.Told from Theo’s perspective some fifty years later, it is through his work as a therapist with a broken woman that he musters the courage to relive the summer that haunts him.The Substance of All Things is the gripping, heart-wrenching, and often humorous tale of mentors and mothers and fathers, love and redemption, prophets and charlatans, miracles and faith._________________From The Substance of All Things...Suddenly, I felt a twitch in the palm of my left hand. Just the slightest tingle, a prickling really, so that I couldn’t quite discern if the feeling was painful or stimulating—like when water is so hot on the skin that it might be cold, the distinction cannot be made. Then my right hand twitched, sparkling to a tickle that felt like a fortune-teller following the lines of my destiny with a fingernail. The current splayed to my fingers, tiny jolts of something—something charged, even voltaic. But there was something more—a feeling inside of me that couldn’t be located in my physical body, as if a door which had always existed but had always been locked suddenly opened, slowly, to a secret place, and whatever was within engulfed me like a color I’d never seen; a feeling almost too large for my body, and my knees buckled at its enormity, but I would not fall. I knew that something beyond myself was happening like a dream and I dared not peek for fear that it would end.

Taken: Alien Commander's Captive


Hattie Jacks - 2021
    But not her, she is mine to claim...JAYNE: I've dedicated my life to defending clients against injustice, but the imposing alien male that's captured me doesn’t believe in innocent until proven guilty. All Commander Rexitor cares about is his precious Empire and I'm its biggest threat.This alien is going to make sure I pay for my crime. Haalux justice is swift and brutal, just like him. But I believe in justice and I'm prepared to do anything to survive, even if it means defying him or the Empire.But the one thing I'm not going to do is ask for his help, because what I see in his eyes means I'm going to have to give up far more that I bargained for if I do.REXITOR: I didn't want anything to do with the criminal. She says she's innocent, but so do all the rest. She insists she understands justice, but what could a human know of justice?The evidence speaks for itself - she's the killer. Jayne faces execution, and I'll lose the soft curves and quiet voice that calls to my primal side in a way I never thought possible.Marked Haalux warriors like me don’t deserve a mate, I accepted that.But she's here and destined to be destroyed in front of me.Unless I claim her first.Taken: Alien Commander's Captive is the first in the new Haalux Empire series from Hattie Jacks. A full length steamy sci-fi romance with a feisty human lawyer plucked from Earth and her beast of an alien captor.No cliffhanger, no cheating and HEA guaranteed.

Rise


Brian Guthrie - 2016
    These fragments are the Shells: fragile wastelands of desert and rock, protected from the cold of space by a water shield. In the struggle for survival, its people have depended on ancient technology, controlled by the omnipresent Network, to sustain the entire population. But the Network is breaking down, water is sparse, and a complete societal collapse is imminent. As the stakes become clear, the inhabitants of the Shells begin to turn on each other, and appear headed for all-out civil war. Now the paths of several strangers will converge at the opportune moment. From a woman who seeks to protect her family as it's ripped apart to a prison warden hiding from his past, this unlikely group has little in common--but together, they may hold the key to saving humanity from its worst enemy: itself.

Dark Gate Angels


Ramy Vance - 2020
    ​But you can guarantee someone’s getting decapitated.Anabella is a supermodel with a secret. She’s really an elf. And she’s bored, bored, bored. Born and bred as a warrior, Anabella wants nothing more than to trade her tiara for a dagger and a gun.Careful what you wish for…When orcs invade Earth, will Anabella have her chance?Abby is a robotics engineer and certifiable genius (as well as simply certifiable). When Abby’s father is killed by the orcs, she plans on using her intellect to avenge him.Terra is the toughest person in Kansas. Too bad she’s not in Kansas anymore. She was kidnapped by orcs to fight in their sick and twisted battle games.Both Abby and Terra want revenge in the form of gloopy, green orc blood. Will the blood be green, or red?Alone, none of them stand a chance. But together they just might be enough to bring evil to its knees.These three warriors didn’t start the war…but you can be damn sure they’re going to try to finish it. Will they succeed?

The Academy


C.J. DalyC.J. Daly - 2019
     Just seventeen, she already feels like she’s suffocating. Since her mother’s death, her father’s basically checked out, so she’s stuck raising her brothers by herself out in the New Mexico scrub. All Kate wants is a little distraction from the same-ole, same-ole that is her life. When two mysterious guys show up at the diner where she works, she thinks her wish has come true, until they start giving her a hard time. Like her life isn’t hard enough. Something about them niggles her, but she brushes it off. She’s never going to see them again anyway . . . right? Then they appear in an alley one night to either rescue or kidnap her (she’s still not sure which) before disappearing like figments of her imagination. Kate decides to put the bizarre encounters out of her mind. She has bigger problems to worry about: like that elite military academy that’s been pursuing her gifted little brother. When one of their cadets shows up at Clovis High School, he creates instant pandemonium. And just happens to be one of those mysterious guys. Coincidence? Mama said there’s no such thing. And to always trust her instinct. But that might be kind of hard, because every time she’s around Cadet Peter Davenport, her gut starts flip-flopping on her. And her heart. Can Kate keep it together long enough to stop Cadet Davenport’s mission? She’s about to find out. And—once again—how neatly life can be split into before and after.

Sasquatch


K.T. Tomb - 2014
    Stevens to find a legendary creature that he believes lurks in the Piney Woods. What she doesn't count on is leading a motley team of field investigators: Sam, the pompous anthropologist; Julie, the know-it-all biologist and survivalist; Ben, whose tattoos hide more than they reveal; and Hal, a seasoned adventurer. In the unforgiving boggy Texas woodlands, their days-long foray to seek Bigfoot leads Lux and her team to a remarkable discovery. Or a hoax. When one of the team disobeys her orders, the tables are turned and the predator becomes the prey. Now, it will take all of her instincts, training, and courage to help her team survive the danger and emerge from the woods. Five adventurers go into the deep woods seeking proof, but will they live to tell the world what they discover? SASQUATCH is K.T. Tomb’s first novel featuring Lux Branson in the Sasquatch series, and is her twenty-fourth book. “Epic and awesome!” —J.T. Cross, bestselling author of Beneath the Deep “K.T. Tomb is a wonderful new voice in adventure fiction.” —Aiden James, bestselling author of Plague of Coins

The Devil's Prayer


Luke Gracias - 2016
    In Australia, Siobhan Russo recognises that nun as her mother, Denise Russo, who disappeared six years ago. In search of answers, Siobhan travels to the isolated convent where her mother once lived. Here she discovers Denise’s final confession, a book that details a heinous betrayal that left her crippled and mute, and Denise’s subsequent deal with the Devil to take revenge. In the desperate bargain Denise made with the Prince of Darkness, she wagered Siobhan’s soul. As Siobhan discovers the fate of her soul, she learns that hidden within the pages of her mother’s confession is part of The Devil’s Prayer, an ancient text with the power to unleash apocalyptic horrors. And now her mother’s enemies know Siobhan has it. Can Siobhan escape an order of extremist monks determined to get the Prayer back? Can she save the world from its own destruction? Explicit Content Warning: "The Devil’s Prayer" is a historical horror thriller that contains brutality, rape, sex, drug abuse and murder. Readers may find its content offensive and confronting. You can view the video teaser for the book on https://vimeo.com/156061258.