Urban Contemporary Fiction

Marius Winter doesn't walk the road of the shaman-warrior alone. He has powerful allies in the Other Realms and in ordinary reality. His spirit guides are a Lakota war-chief and medicine man, First in Front; Tigre, a powerful feminine spirit who appears as a white tiger; and Burt, a spirit raven who channels an old Jewish bookie from the Bronx. Now, Marius is targeted by a powerful sorcerer. In the battle for the souls of his friends and lover, he must storm the gates of the underworld and fight through the Seven Demi-Demons of Hell to the deepest dungeons to confront Belial himself.

Alex Verus is part of a world hidden in plain sight, running a magic shop in London. And while Alex's own powers aren't as showy as some mages, he does have the advantage of foreseeing the possible future-allowing him to pull off operations that have a million-to-one-chance of success. But when Alex is approached by multiple factions to crack open a relic from a long-ago mage war, he knows that whatever's inside must be beyond powerful.

Even though Brynlee is a hood girl at heart, getting out the hood has always been number one on her to-do list. Now at the age of 25, she has done just that. Big house, dream job, and even engaged to her college boyfriend. She has it all, but she is consistently left wondering, am I really happy? Is my life complete? After getting into it with her fiancé Troy about the one thing she desires so desperately, she decides that it is time to let her hair down and escape reality for a while.

Mattie, an intelligent automaton skilled in the use of alchemy, finds herself caught in the middle of a conflict between gargoyles, the Mechanics, and the Alchemists. With the old order quickly giving way to the new, Mattie discovers powerful and dangerous secrets - secrets that can completely alter the balance of power in the city of Ayona. This doesn't sit well with Loharri, the Mechanic who created Mattie and still has the key to her heart - literally.

Chez Funiculi Funicula, le café change le cœur des hommes. À Tokyo se trouve un petit établissement au sujet duquel circulent mille légendes. On raconte notamment qu'en y dégustant un délicieux café, on peut retourner dans le passé. Mais ce voyage comporte des règles : il ne changera pas le présent et dure tant que le café est encore chaud. Quatre femmes vont vivre cette singulière expérience et comprendre que le présent importe davantage que le passé et ses regrets. Comme le café, il faut en savourer chaque gorgée.

The Yaga siblings—Bellatine, a young woodworker, and Isaac, a wayfaring street performer and con artist—have been estranged since childhood, separated both by resentment and by wide miles of American highway. But when they learn that they are to receive an inheritance, the siblings agree to meet—only to discover that their bequest isn’t land or money, but something far stranger: a sentient house on chicken legs.

He’s killed three men in the few days she’s known him. Yes, it was self-defense, but when he tried to kill her, it wasn’t. Her peaceful mountain refuge has been invaded, her inexplicable nausea linked to his physical presence. She’s captive in his house for her “protection,” with a churning stomach, his bad attitude, and no safe way home. All that changed the night the stars aligned. Now he’s talking about ancient bloodlines and celestial alignments…and other things she only believes because of what she’s seen him do.

An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment. Old alliances quickly fracture as the initiates take opposing strategies as to how to deal with the deadly bargain they have so far failed to uphold. Those who remain with the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities, while elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society cohort partner to influence politics on a global stage.

Six magicians were presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Five are now members of the Society. Two paths lay before them. All must pick a side. Alliances will be tested, hearts will be broken, and The Society of Alexandrians will be revealed for what it is: a secret society with raw, world-changing power, headed by a man whose plans to change life as we know it are already under way.

Clive Barker has made his mark on modern fiction by exposing all that is surreal and magical in the ordinary world - and exploring the profound and overwhelming terror that results. With its volatile mix of the fantastical and the contemporary, the everyday and the otherworldly, Weaveworld is an epic work of dark fantasy and horror - a tour de force from one of today's most forceful and imaginative artists.

In Smoke and Mirrors, Gaiman's imagination and supreme artistry transform a mundane world into a place of terrible wonders - where an old woman can purchase the Holy Grail at a thrift store, where assassins advertise their services in the Yellow Pages under "Pest Control," and where a frightened young boy must barter for his life with a mean-spirited troll living beneath a bridge by the railroad tracks.

Life sucks. Gabe Harris has been clued into this fact for a long time now. In his mid-twenties, life has been nothing but low paying jobs, petty power-tripping bosses, and the worst roommates mankind has to offer. Bills, debt, and misery have haunted him for his entire adult life and, to make matters worse, it feels like his dream of being a writer is dead on arrival. One fateful night, he decides to take control of his life and make his dream a reality.

Years ago, the magnificent dragon queen Tintaglia forged a bargain with the inhabitants of the treacherous Rain Wilds. In exchange for her protection against enemy invaders, the humans promised to protect an unhatched brood of dragons. But when the dragons emerged as weak and misshapen hatchlings unable to fend for themselves, dragonkind seemed doomed to extinction. When even Tintaglia deserted the crippled young dragons, the Rain Wilders abandoned the burden of caring for the destructive and ravenous creatures.

After breaking from life with the Pack, mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate - former Beast Lord Curran Lennart - are adjusting to a very different pace. While they're thrilled to escape all the infighting, Curran misses the constant challenges of leading the shapeshifters.

A month has passed since Martin helped to defeat the evil programmer Jimmy, and things couldn't be going better. Except for his love life, that is. Feeling distant and lost, Gwen has journeyed to Atlantis, a tolerant and benevolent kingdom governed by the Sorceresses, and a place known to be a safe haven to all female time-travelers.

My name is Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman, and I am a car mechanic. And a coyote shape-shifter. And the mate of the Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack. Even so, none of that would have gotten me into trouble if, a few months ago, I hadn’t stood upon a bridge and taken responsibility for the safety of the citizens who live in our territory. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. It should have only involved hunting down killer goblins, zombie goats, and an occasional troll. Instead, our home was viewed as neutral ground.

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.

Meet Justice, the beautiful bombshell with a slick mouth and the attitude to match it. Running a drug empire is hard enough, but try being a female while doing so. In a profession that’s mostly men, she has no problem stepping up and getting it done in her stiletto heels and a Glock on her hip. Anytime she walks in the room, people notice her, and there’s nothing but respect. When the plug dies, and she has to meet with his son, she finds out that there may be more to life than being the head of an empire.

Accountant turned professional monster hunter, Owen Zastava Pitt, managed to stop the nefarious Old Ones' invasion plans last year, but as a result made an enemy out of one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Now an evil death cult known as the Church of the Temporary Mortal Condition wants to capture Owen in order to gain the favor of the great Old Ones.

After winning the trust of the terra indigene residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.