Paranormal Adventure

Something weird is happening to the Los Angeles freeways - phantom cars, lanes from nowhere, and sometimes unmarked off-ramps that give glimpses of a desolate desert highway - and Sebastian Vickery, disgraced ex-Secret Service agent, is a driver for a covert supernatural-evasion car service. But another government agency is using and perhaps causing the freeway anomalies, and their chief is determined to have Vickery killed because of something he learned years ago at a halted Presidential motorcade. Reluctantly aided by Ingrid Castine, a member of that agency, and a homeless Mexican boy....

Get four complete stories in Frank Kurns: Tales of the Underworld: You Don't Touch John's Cousin, Bitch's Night Out, Bitch's Night Out, and Challenges.

Kandri Hinjuman was never meant to be a soldier. His brother Mektu was never meant for this world. Rivals since childhood, they are drafted into a horrific war led by a madwoman-Prophet, and survive each day only by hiding their disbelief. Kandri is good at blending in, but Mektu is hopeless: impulsive, erratic - and certain that a demon is stalking him. Is this madness or a second sense? Either way, Kandri knows that Mektu's antics will land them both in early graves. But all bets are off when the brothers' simmering feud explodes into violence, and holy blood is spilled.

In order to protect his loved ones, the mage Arthur Leywin must reveal the truth of his identity. If he is to fulfill his role in the war between the godlike asuras and the demonic Vritra, he must leave those he hopes to protect and travel to the land of deities and dragons. First, however, he must escape. Arthur stands before the kings and queens of Dicathen, accused of a crime he did not commit. It will take an act of the gods to save him from having his magic stripped away, leaving him powerless in the war to come. Fortunately for Arthur, he can count the gods among his friends.

Keras Selyrian is already well on the way to cutting his name into the annals of legend. He’s fought false divinities, thieving sorcerers, and corrupt demigods - and left them defeated in his wake. But he’s a long way from home, and Kaldwyn offers a different brand of danger than he’s used to. He’s already got a sword of unfathomable power, but it’s damaged and leaking world-annihilating mana, so he’s in the market for a new one. Possibly six. The more the better, really.

Eighteen-year-old Trinity Marrow may be going blind, but she can see and communicate with ghosts and spirits. Her unique gift is part of a secret so dangerous that she’s been in hiding for years in an isolated compound fiercely guarded by Wardens - gargoyle shape-shifters who protect humankind from demons. If the demons discover the truth about Trinity, they’ll devour her, flesh and bone, to enhance their own powers.

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.

Isabeau, the witch, longs to rejoin her sister and her home in these uncertain times, but she must first complete one last task for her teachers. To find her true purpose in life, she must reach the Skull of the World and listen to the silent words of the White Gods. Few survive. But those who do are changed forever. Now, when she does return home, she does so with an extraordinary gift. But when Margrit of Arran decides to take advantage of Lachlan’s absence by kidnapping his son - heir to the throne, Isabeau must learn to use her gifts in the face of evil - and overcome her enemy.

A god has died, and it’s up to Tara, a first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethras, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring him back to life before his city falls apart. Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the city of Alt Coulumb. Without him, the metropolis’ steam generators will shut down, its trains will cease running, and its four million citizens will riot. Tara’s job: resurrect Kos before chaos sets in.

Jonas Quarrel has tracked Verity from Mexico to Northern California. Just what is he after? Verity Ames finds herself fighting an attraction to Jonas from the moment he knocks on the door of the No Bull Cafe. He seems far too good to be true. Together they will discover a shared passion and a shared danger.

Doctor Talbot Harrison, a professor in archaeology, receives a phone call one day which will destroy everything he perceives as reality. His brother has been mysteriously killed and within moments, the United States military appear at his door, literally dragging him from his home. Thrown into a helicopter under intense armed guard, it doesn't take long until they are attacked by something which cannot possibly exist, something drawn to destroy the one man who can stop the beasts from a land beyond Hades.

Harry has faced terrible odds before. He has a long history of fighting enemies above his weight class. But this time it’s different. A being more powerful and dangerous on an order of magnitude beyond what the world has seen in a millennium is coming. And she’s bringing an army. The Last Titan has declared war on the city of Chicago and has come to subjugate humanity, obliterating any who stand in her way. Harry’s mission is simple but impossible: Save the city by killing a Titan.

Ryan "Quicksave" Romano is an eccentric adventurer with a strange power: he can create a save-point in time and redo his life whenever he dies. Arriving in New Rome, the glitzy capital of sin of a rebuilding Europe, he finds the city torn between mega-corporations, sponsored heroes, super-powered criminals, and true monsters. It's a time of chaos, where potions can grant the power to rule the world and dangers lurk everywhere.

They arrive in a land both familiar and strange. A continent where there have been no dragons for generations. One where human civilization now exists in shrinking cities that are increasingly squeezed in by dead lands. Here, the bold and desperate risk it all for the promise of cards.

When the supernatural nations of the world meet up to negotiate an end to ongoing hostilities, Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, joins the White Council's security team to make sure the talks stay civil. But can he succeed, when dark political manipulations threaten the very existence of Chicago - and all he holds dear?

Well, this year, after the Spring Planting season, I’m really gonna relax and put down roots. It’s the slow life for me. Sure, the talking animals and cultivators coming to live with me are a bit weird, but this year everything is gonna be basically normal. There definitely won’t be any Heavenly Tribulations, ancient formations, or cultivator issues to deal with . . .

It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness.

Classes evolve, roles shift, and in the city of Liscor, change is happening. The Horns of Hammerad are growing as adventurers, rising in the eyes of the city and the surrounding lands. They've survived, and they've leveled, but new levels also bring new problems. Izril is still facing turmoil as nobles fight and squabble while Liscor breathes again and heals, trying to find a new way forward. The best cure for dark days? Games! And none know it better than the oldest adventurers, who've lived through countless struggles.

Accidentally murdered by a cleric in another universe during a botched resurrection, Arnold, a semi-pro gamer, wakes upon an altar to find himself incarnated into the overweight body of a farmer who could have been his fatter twin. He’s not the hero. He’s not the villain. He’s certainly not the chosen one who is there to save the world. He’s a clerical error. It could be a bad joke, but apparently, it happens so often that they have a standard procedure for returning you.

Elaine learns how to be a Ranger and about the cold realities of fire magic, healing, and life at the bottom of the food chain.