Paranormal Adventure

Every year when the deep cold of winter sets in, unbeknownst to humanity, dangerous visitors arrive from another world. Disguised as humans, the Nafikh move among us in secret, hungry for tastes of this existence. Their fickle, often-violent needs must be accommodated at all times, and the price of keeping them satisfied is paid most heavily by servs.

The Royal Bank is facing a crisis, and it's time for a change of management. There are a few problems that may arise with the job.... The Chief Cashier is almost certainly a vampire - there's something nameless in the cellar and it turns out that the Royal Mint runs at a loss. Meanwhile, people actually want to know where the money's gone. It's a job for life. But, as former con-man Moist von Lipwig is learning, that life is not necessarily a long one. He's about to be exposed as a fraud, but if he's lucky the Assassins' Guild might get him first.

Ophelia was born into a family of Hunters, tasked with protecting the humans from the creatures of the night who feast on their fear. Except Ophelia always found the idea of monsters kind of intriguing. She even made the grave sin of committing some X-rated monster thoughts to paper—which in hindsight may not have been the best idea because her parents were mortified—but you live and learn. Well, everyone finds out your secret, you get banished from society, and then you learn.

Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a 14th story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer. It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit.

The wall just didn’t look right. Alex has been trying to cope. Life after his deployment had been rough. His ex-wife thought he needed to stop disappointing their daughter. She was right. He would try harder. With six hours before his little girl’s fourth birthday party, he saw the anomaly. One wall was too short. Plenty of time to tear out a panel and look behind it. He found a brick wall. His house wasn’t made of brick. Behind that was another just like the first. He still had time. When the second wall came down, Alex stood and stared at the shining doorway.

Delia Spark is caught in a maelstrom. Her former life as a London theatre director is on the brink of implosion amid a scandalous divorce, a tarnished reputation, and, for reasons she cannot fathom, things keep spontaneously combusting around her. Her sixties were supposed to be peaceful, but now even her grown daughter won't return her calls. Escape is the only option.

As the months in the time loop seem to add up without end, Zorian forms alliances with acquaintances old and new in an effort to solve the mystery of the loop and save his city—maybe even the world—from destruction. But while his mage skills develop and he pursues more advanced and unusual forms of magic, Zorian must battle necromancers, fanatical cultists, and vicious creatures—all while avoiding the attention of the lich who could kill him...permanently.

Hal and his Beast have been sundered in two. Done with sacrifices, Hal seeks greater monster powers and delves into the ancient magic of his world. With his wounds healing, his strength grows tremendously, opening up a new evolution of bonecrafting. To reforge his eldritch body, Besal, Hal's Beast, ventures into the depths of the Fathomway dungeons, chasing after the source of the land's corruption.

Once more, and against all odds, Marcus and the rest of Virtus have managed to snatch victory from the jaws of total defeat, capturing not only Carver but also destroying the orc advance completely. Yet there is no peace in store for the exhausted victors, for not only must they pay the price for their desperate triumph, but they must also rise up once more to meet a new terror that has revealed itself.

Welcome to Bucky's Out of this World Restaurant! Finally able to live a peaceful life, Amelia decides to open a restaurant in Wolfwater. She picks up a chicken as a mascot, recruits a world-renowned [Chef] as her first employee, and ends up even convincing an angel to work for her. Meanwhile, Noele continues her training with Garron, preparing for any threat that is to come. And the threats will come. All throughout Vacuos, the Sect of the Abyssal Thorns spread their roots while the [Hero King] Kallistus Kal continues scheming. But Amelia doesn't care for any of that.

Devereau Webb is in uncharted territory. He thought he knew what he was doing when he chose to enter London's supernatural society, but he's quickly discovering that his new status isn't welcome to everyone. He's lived through hard times before, and he's no stranger to the murky underworld of city life. But when he comes across a young werewolf girl who's not only been illegally turned but who has also committed two brutal murders, he will discover just how difficult life can be for supernaturals - and also how far his own predatory powers extend.

Locked behind bars for three years, Shadow did his time, quietly waiting for the day when he could return to Eagle Point, Indiana. A man no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, all he wanted was to be with Laura, the wife he deeply loved, and start a new life. But just days before his release, Laura and Shadow's best friend are killed in an accident. With his life in pieces and nothing to keep him tethered, Shadow accepts a job from a beguiling stranger he meets on the way home.

Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. She's never known any others of her kind. Until now.

John Birmingham is the master of alternate history adventure - and now he's mastered a new genre with the volcanically fast-paced and wildly inventive Dave Hooper urban fantasy series. The series is anchored by a thrilling high concept: An oil rig opens a rift deep in the ocean that unleashes terrifying monsters into the world. But perhaps its coolest asset is its hero, Dave Hooper, a tough, bleakly funny, down-on-his luck oil rig worker with an unlikely destiny as a monster-slayer and world savior.

The time loop is coming to an end. With limited restarts remaining, Zorian and his allies must redouble their efforts to discover how they can prevent the release of an ancient primordial being once the time loop expires and they are returned to the real world—where choices can’t be undone.

Mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate, Curran, the Beast Lord, are struggling to solve a heartbreaking crisis. Unable to control their beasts, many of the Pack’s shape-shifting children fail to survive to adulthood. While there is a medicine that can help, the secret to its making is closely guarded by the European packs, and there’s little available in Atlanta. Kate can’t bear to watch innocents suffer, but the solution she and Curran have found threatens to be even more painful. The European shape-shifters who once outmaneuvered the Beast Lord have asked him to arbitrate a dispute - and they’ll pay him in medicine.

In the wake of an unexpected homecoming, Jason questions if there is still a place for him in the world he left behind. Forced to confront what he has become in his time away, he feels more alien than ever. But his old world is hiding secrets that he never knew. As he starts to unravel what has been hidden from him his entire life, he discovers that not only might he fit in better than ever but he may be exactly what the world needs.

Having somehow convinced Lady Annika Jenoure to marry him, all Finlay Ashowan wants to do is settle down, cook some good meals, and enjoy a quiet life in Daxaria. But fate has different plans. Fin’s father, Aidan Helmer, fire witch and servant of King Matthias of Troivack, has arrived in the kingdom with devastating news: Annika’s brother Charles has been taken prisoner, and the only way his life will be spared is if Annika or Fin goes to plead his case. Given that an attack from Troivack is imminent, there’s no way some trickery isn’t involved in this plot.

The New York Times best-selling Mortal Instruments continues - and so do the thrills and danger for Jace, Clary, and Simon. Can the lost be reclaimed? What price is too high to pay for love? Who can be trusted when sin and salvation collide? Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

In The Book of Swords, acclaimed editor and best-selling author Gardner Dozois presents an all-new anthology of original epic tales by a stellar cast of award-winning modern masters - many of them set in their authors' best-loved worlds. Join today's finest tellers of fantastic tales, including George R. R. Martin, K. J. Parker, Robin Hobb, Scott Lynch, Ken Liu, C. J. Cherryh, Daniel Abraham, Lavie Tidhar, Ellen Kushner, and more on action-packed journeys into the outer realms of dark enchantment and intrepid derring-do.