Book picks similar to
City of Smoke and Mirrors by Nick C. Piers


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A Mongrel's Curse


Paul C. Middleton - 2016
    Yeah, even the government comes crying. When those that hunt the thing that go bump in the night become the hunted, he's the one that bumps back.But nobody likes the guy because they don’t know what to expect. After all, he wakes up a new man every morning. Then there's the relatives. Being the grandson of a Fury wins him no popularity contests amongst those in the know. And the rest of his heritage being a big freaking blank isn't of help either.He takes no favorites. In the battles between the supernaturals, he’s neutral. Picking sides in a twenty or thirty-sided conflict is plain crap. Even his family pays for his help.When there’s a fuck-up that others won’t touch, you go to the Mongrel. And you’d better bring your life savings with you—he don’t work for short pay.So who’s this Mongrel, you ask? That'd be Me

Uncle Dust


Rob Pierce - 2015
    Dustin loves to drink. Dustin loves his women. Dustin loves loyalty. He might even love his adopted nephew Jeremy. And, he sometimes gets a little too enthusiastic in his job doing collections for local bookies--so, sometimes, he loves to hurt people. Told in the first person, Uncle Dust is a fascinating noir look inside the mind of a hard, yet very complicated criminal.Rob Pierce has been nominated for a Derringer Award for short crime fiction, and has had his stories published in Flash Fiction Offensive, Pulp Modern, Plots With Guns, Revolt Daily, Near To The Knuckle, and Shotgun Honey. The editor of Swill Magazine, he lives in Oakland, California, with his wife and two children. He is equally comfortable taking romantic walks on the beach or dumping the body elsewhere. "I was imprisoned for bank robbery, where I read plenty of novels with a bank robber as the protagonist. Only a few writers entertained me with killer dialogue. I even contacted Elmore Leonard when I was paroled, told him crime writer to crime writer that he understood criminal dialogue real swell. Here's the thing: Had I read "Uncle Dust" while I was incarcerated I would've got out and contacted Rob Pierce before Elmore. The story and dialogue in "Uncle Dust" captured so much of that world and circumstance in all its squalid glory. Made me wish I'd done time with tough guy Dustin. I thoroughly enjoyed our criminal hero's mind as he observed the world, and himself, through a cynical thief's lens. And I think you will too."– Joe Loya, author of the critically-acclaimed memoir, The Man Who Outgrew His Prison Cell: Confessions of A Bank Robber.

Black Orchid


Sheldon MayerFred Carillo - 1973
    The original appearances of the Black Orchid from Adventure Comics #428-430, The Phantom Stranger #31, 32, 35, 36, 38-41, and The Super Friends #31.

Ghalib Danger


Neeraj Pandey - 2013
    What seems like a good deed however has a cruel payback andin a single moment, Kamran loses everything dear to him. This is whenMirza, in gratitude, takes Kamran under his wing and the young man getsdrawn into the mafia boss’s dangerous world of cops and rival gangsters,eventually taking over from him.Kamran also inherits Mirza’s philosophy that all of life’s problems can besolved through Ghalib¹s poetry.Soon, the innocent taxi driver has cops, criminals and even cabinetministers at his beck and call.And he has a new name—Ghalib Danger.

Not My Thing


James Hadley Chase - 1983
    He has amassed millions and now wants someone to pass them on to, the next in the family line. But he has no heir as his wife has been unable to have children. Refusing to let this stand in his way, Jamison pleads for a divorce but his wife, a devout Catholic, refuses to give into his demands. If she will not agree, she will have to be removed. Jamison hires a professional killer to do the deed but this is only the beginning of a thrilling and electrifying story of revenge, betrayal and murder.

Heartland


Jenny Pattrick - 2014
    Heart - warming and compulsive reading, this is an entertaining, lively and moving novel from one of New Zealand's favourite authors.

A Personal History of Thirst


John Burdett - 1996
    A highly unlikely menage a trois unites a brilliant, handsome, and ambitious lawyer, a smart, curious, and sexually inventive American woman, and an ingenious thief named Thirst, in this dark and erotic psychological thriller reminiscent of Josephine Hart's Damage.

Night Goblins: A Memoir


J.T. Gregory - 2020
    

Blackest Night #0


Geoff Johns
    Don't miss this prelude to the biggest comic event of the year! This special story recaps the key moments leading up to the start of BLACKEST NIGHT and will give readers everything they need to know about the Green Lantern universe, their ongoing War of Light, and their dark days ahead.

Past Forward-A Serial Novel: Volume IV


Chautona Havig - 2012
    Jerked from a life of isolation with her mother, Willow learns what alone really means when she finds her mother still in her bed, never to awaken again in this life. From the moment Willow arrives in the police station with her startling announcement, Chad Tesdall fights the friendship he knows he can't avoid. This collection includes episodes fifteen through eighteen of Past Forward. In this volume, Chad and Willow start their life together. A surprise attack, Willow's first vacation, and a slow, gradual expansion of the farm brings more changes to Walden Farm. Follow as Willow's story unfolds past forward.

The Words of a Madman


Caitlin Kelly - 2019
    

Number #1 Fan


Queen Brown - 2013
    She's beautiful, talented and loved by many but she runs from love and lives for attention. Her horrible choices to get attention bring on a ton of chaos as she becomes stalkers prey. She doesn't know which way to turn as her admirers come at her and each other gunning for the title, Number One Fan. Will Fallon go crazy and dive off the deep end or will she gain the upper hand?

Sunspot


Rob Leininger - 2014
    Nothing like it had ever been seen before---a twenty-billion square mile blot on the surface of the sun, and growing. Dr. Morris Tyler at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff has a theory that might explain what's happening, and the news isn't good. Which is why he's under surveillance after having been told to keep his theory to himself. Keeping his theory under wraps isn't easy, not when a gorgeous reporter for Parsec magazine, Gail Dionne, has him in her sights, out to get a story. Tyler's well-ordered world spins out of control when all these forces converge on him, and the world begins to grow colder as the sun . . . goes . . . out.

Arena of Souls: A Brock Stone Adventure


David Wood - 2014
    Stone and his companions set off on an action-packed adventure where enemies lurk in the shadows and the past comes to life. Mysteries, thrills, monsters, and more in David Wood’s classic-style adventure, Arena of Souls. Fans of Indiana Jones and Doc Savage will love Brock Stone!

Mr. Nuts and Mr. Balls


Richard Weiner - 2013
    It is also wildly inappropriate for young children. Parents: Consider yourselves warned! "This book is disgusting, I want nothing to do with it." -- my son's sixth grade teacher. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself." -- old lady in parking lot. "Don't use your name and don't tell any of my friends." -- my mother. "..." -- twelve-year-old boy. (He couldn't speak. He was too busy laughing.)