Contemporary Dark Mystery

Mendoza: I grew up in the slums and lost everything I loved to poverty, illness, and death. I had only one skill to leverage myself out of my circumstances - violence. Being hired out as a mercenary hitman brought me money and built an empire. My next job: steal secret information that could bring down world governments, find my target, and destroy it. But then I meet her.

My name is Mike Raven. I hunt nightmares. Demons murdered my parents when I was eight. Turns out my folks were paranormal investigators, and hell always settles its scores. Naturally I decided to join the family business. For two decades, I've studied the occult and traveled the world fighting monsters. But my biggest challenge lay ahead. From the moment Celeste stepped into my office, I knew she was in trouble. Her father had promised her soul to a powerful demon on the day she was born. Now, 21 years later, the forces of darkness were gathering to collect their long-awaited prize.

By the end of the Corporate War, Dallas Blake had lost everything: his wife, his daughter, his whole family. He was a man in need of far more than just a new beginning. What Dallas needed was a resurrection. Dallas went to the Union Fleet space docks to buy a war-surplus scout-class ship. Instead, he unknowingly buys the Tesseract, a ship with many secrets. It does not take Dallas long to find out that its crew of artificials seems way more human than they should be and every bit as much in need of a resurrection as Dallas.

When biologist Gillian Campbell makes an offhand comment about a family curse during a TV interview, she has no idea what her words will set in motion. Within days, Gillian finds herself at the mercy of a member of the C7, a secretive international group of power brokers with a dangerous game: competing to find the world’s most elusive treasures, no matter the cost, in money or in lives.

The Cloudkiss Killer is dead. Now a true-crime podcast is hosting a contest to find his bones. Lucy was almost the serial killer’s final victim. Carolina is a true-crime fan who fears her own rage. Maggie is a psychology student with a little too much to hide. All of them are looking for answers, for a new identity, for a place to bury their secrets. But there are more than bones hiding in the shadows…sometimes the darkness inside is more frightening than anything the dead leave behind.

Ian Hart is the most notorious criminal in the country. Like the thief he is, he came in the dark and stole a night of my life. He left me with souvenirs. Disaster and fear are my new realities. I’ll forever look over my shoulder, terrified he’d return, because when he took me, he stole more than just a few hours of my time. His crime has consequences neither of us could’ve imagined. If I’m to escape the nightmare of my life, I have to outsmart him.

Ich verstecke mich seit vier Jahren. Bin auf der Flucht vor dem Mann, mit dem ich einst das Bett teilte. ? Ich sah etwas, das ich nicht hätte sehen sollen. Ich nahm etwas, das ich nicht hätte nehmen sollen. Und er hat mich gerade gefunden. Aber es ist nicht nur meine Sicherheit, um die ich mir Sorgen machen muss. Ich habe einen kleinen Jungen. Seinen Jungen. Das geheime Baby eines russischen Gangsters.

Chon Ko Gonin, Captain of the Green Jinn, ventured into unexplored territory in search of a wanted interplanetary criminal with the best of intentions. But the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Right from the start, the Green Jinn found itself dragged into battle to save an ancient people from Merc invaders. Ancient forces of good, and evil fought for control of Sibyl's Orb and dragged Chon ko Gonin into the middle of it.

Alexandra McCord's perfect life was crumbling. After stumbling upon the body of a dead woman, she found that her working paradise on Moon Bay Island had turned into a nightmare. Each piece of evidence she discovered seemed to point toward someone on the island - and to herself as the next victim. But who would do this? And why had David Denham, the ex-husband she hadn't seen for more than a year, chosen this moment to reappear in her life?

For twenty-five years, the case of the McGraw twins kidnapping has remained unsolved. As the eldest son, Cull oversees the McGraw horse ranch, wary of prying eyes. So when true-crime writer Nikki St. James comes forward with new information, Cull can't believe his father invites her onto the compound. His family has suffered enough - he's not about to let St. James snoop and ruin them completely. But Nikki finds the eldest McGraw's protectiveness as endearing as it is aggravating.

The long hidden heart of the Twisted Curse had been found, concealed in a realm that no angel can enter, where magic runs wild and time is just another direction. The Twisted Curse is the key to ending the Eternity War and it can only be broken by someone willing to traverse the depths of Faerie. Unfortunately, Mitch has other things on his mind.

It’s been ten years since a mysterious, horrific incident in the South China Sea annihilated a US Navy destroyer and its Navy SEAL team. Only one man survived. Now, the US Navy is determined to put a stop to the new, frightening incidents taking place with alarming frequency. Enter SEAL Team 13, an elite group of soldiers led by sole survivor Harold “Hawk” Masters. Everyone on the team has survived contact with supernatural forces from “the other side.”

The man couldn't help himself. His captor was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her powerful eyes held his attention and made him forget that she had him confined in a basement, his hands and feet bound with duct tape. She fed him when he was hungry and kept him alive for the telling of her horrific tale. After getting past the terror and discomfort, he reasoned that there was nothing to worry about for the moment.

Sie hätte nie in meinen Club kommen dürfen. Aber sie tat es. Ich hätte sie nicht zweimal anschauen sollen. Aber ich tat es. Eine Nacht mit Katerina ist nicht genug, aber Männer wie ich können es sich nicht leisten, schwach zu sein. Also sage ich ihr, dass sie gehen muss und mich nicht wiedersehen darf.

When Jared refuses to kill for his gang, they beat him nearly to death. Comatose, his world splits in two. In one, Jared battles to wake from unconsciousness. In the other, he becomes a ruthless gang member known as J-Rock. After three years in darkness, Jared finally opens his eyes and is bombarded by visions of the horrible crimes J-Rock is committing in a parallel world. As Jared struggles to wake, he realizes his soul has been switching places with his criminal counterpart. Jared must find a way to eliminate J-Rock before the next switch.

Evil men conspired to have a starship destroyed to hide the evil they had done. They intended for its crew to disappear forever without a trace. They flew an unmarked ship into space docks and marked it for destruction. They thought that was the end of it, but in all of that chaos, the anoza found me. They chose me to save the Five Moons. I didn’t know any of that when I bought a ship that was never meant for sale. I didn’t know any of that when I first stepped foot upon its decks and changed everything.... But I know it now. And save the Five Moons? Damned straight I will. I am Dallas Blake, outworlder to the nines.

Despite her amazing abilities, all Sun Song Shia ever wanted was to be loved. But it's hard to find love when you don't even know who you really are. Little Bird is an expansion of In Her Eyes, originally published in F&SF, a nominee for the Sturgeon award, an honoree for the James Tiptree award, and included in the 2015 Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Novellas (edited by Paula Guran).

What happens when The Firm meets Anita Blake? You get the Halls of Power - our modern world, but twisted. Law, finance, the military, and politics are under the sway of long-lived vampires, werewolves, and the elven Alfar. Humans make the best of rule by “the Spooks”, and contend among themselves to affiliate with the powers-that-be, in order to avoid becoming their prey. Very loyal humans are rewarded with power over other women and men. Very lucky humans are selected to join the vampires.

When a man walks into a police station confessing to a series of gruesome murders, lead detective Devizes Marsh doesn't believe he's telling the truth, until he reveals his true identity. As part of his sick game, the killer gives Marsh 48 hours to save the last victim, a prostitute with whom the wayward detective has become romantically involved. Marsh battles against time to try and save the girl from an almost certain fate, while his public and private lives, and his integrity as a police officer, come under severe scrutiny.

Tony has always been a bad dude. Blake has known Tony since they were kids and knows better than to believe anything the guy says. The massive wad of bills Tony keeps flashing is real enough, though. Down on his luck, the allure of quick cash makes Tony seem a lot more believable. Blake agrees to do one simple job, continuing to chase the prize even as it becomes clear that Tony is still the liar he's always been.