Urban Contemporary Fiction

In Japan, cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they'll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a glittering Kyoto moon. This particular coffee shop is like no other. It has no fixed location, no fixed hours, and seemingly appears at random to adrift young people at crucial junctions in their lives. It's also run by talking cats.

Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, between the world of the Broken (where people drive cars, shop at Wal-Mart, and magic is a fairy tale) and the Weird (where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny). Only Edgers like Rose can easily travel from one world to the next, but they never truly belong in either.

An investigation into a simple cellular-phone fraud leads both Peter Parker and his alter-ego, the Amazing Spider-Man, to a fiendish plot: using unique counterfeiting equipment and a devastatingly large stock-pile of bombs, someone plans to destabilize the world's economy and destroy several major cities. The mysterious corporation CCRC is involved in this plan - and they have caused trouble in the past for Spider-Man and for the alien symbiote Venom, who has sworn to kill Spidey.

Deep in the Amazon jungle, a tribe holds the key to the truest form of dreaming — where the human spirit walks the petal-thin line between life and death. In an elaborate ceremony, the dreamer ingests a toxic brew, then submerges herself in an herbal bath that turns human skin a vivid shade of midnight-blue. And the experience changes the dreamer forever....

For archaeologist and TV show host Annja Creed, a restful vacation in Costa Rica is as elusive as a rare artifact. Days into her sojourn, Annja's peace is interrupted by a woman with a mysterious — and enticing — tale. Weeks earlier, her husband led an expedition into the rain forest, in search of the lost treasure of Lima, and hadn't returned. The priceless hoard was smuggled out of Peru during the country's 19th-century revolt against Spain. But it disappeared when a ship captain went mad with greed.

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.

For someone who’s been alive for two thousand years, Atticus O’Sullivan is a pretty fast runner. Good thing, because he’s being chased by not one but two goddesses of the hunt—Artemis and Diana—for messing with one of their own. Dodging their slings and arrows, Atticus, Granuaile, and his wolfhound, Oberon, are making a mad dash across modern-day Europe to seek help from a friend of the Tuatha Dé Danann. His usual magical option of shifting planes is blocked, so instead of playing hide-and-seek, the game plan is . . . run like hell.

This set contains all 6 of the Wild Hunt books. Each of them is a steamy new adult fantasy romance featuring a different couple with their own happily ever after.

The Lowlands’ city states have lived in peace for decades, hailed as bastions of civilization. Yet that peace is about to end. A distant empire has been conquering neighbours with highly trained soldiers and sophisticated combat techniques. And the city states are its desirable new prize. Only the ageing Stenwold Maker – spymaster, artificer and statesman – foresees the threat, as the empires’ armies march ever closer. So it falls upon his shoulders to open the eyes of the cities’ leaders.

John Rast went to the Ren Faire looking for a fight. Well, a simulated fight, with blunt swords and safety equipment. But when his final opponent turns into a living, fire-breathing dragon, John finds himself in the fight of his life. It's John or nothing stopping a disaster in its tracks - and the only real weapon at hand is his mom's Volvo. So John decides to let it roll....

Pour arracher à la mort l'homme qu'elle aime, la Mère Inquisitrice a prononcé le nom des trois Carillons. Sans le vouloir, elle a ainsi invoqué des êtres de l'au-delà et libéré une puissance destructrice inimaginable. On raconte que les trois Carillons volent les âmes des vivants et absorbent la magie du monde ! Richard, Kahlan et Zedd vont se lancer dans une effrayante quête. S'ils perdaient leurs pouvoirs magiques, comment pourraient-ils s'opposer aux hordes du terrible empereur Jagang ?

For nearly two thousand years, only one Druid has walked the Earth—Atticus O’Sullivan, the Iron Druid, whose sharp wit and sharp sword have kept him alive as he’s been pursued by a pantheon of hostile deities. Now he’s got company.

Bruce Silver is the author of the Riftbreaker novels, one of the most popular, beloved fantasy book series of all time. He's got everything he's ever dreamed of having: freedom to tell the stories he wants to tell, legions of enthusiastic fans who wait eagerly to see what he'll write next, and a really nice car. But despite all that, Bruce finds himself dissatisfied, battling an ennui he can't quite put his finger on. So he decides to do what anyone would do in his situation: burn it all down by unexpectedly killing off Carpathian Einzgear, Riftbreaker's cherished hero.

Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester. One crisp October night, as they watch, a star falls from the sky, and Victoria promises to marry Tristran if he'll retrieve the star and bring it back for her. It is this promise that sends Tristran on the most unforgettable adventure of his life.

When Daniel Blackland was six, he ingested his first bone fragment, a bit of kraken spine plucked out of the sand during a visit with his demanding, brilliant, and powerful magician father, Sebastian. When Daniel was 12, he watched Sebastian die at the hands of the Hierarch of Southern California, devoured for the heightened magic layered deep within his bones. Now, years later, Daniel is a petty thief hiding amid the crowds in Los Angeles - the capital of the Kingdom of Southern California.

People start dropping dead around Charlie, giant ravens perch on his building, and it seems that everywhere he goes, a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Strange names start appearing on his nightstand notepad, and before he knows it, those people end up dead, too. Yup, it seems that Charlie Asher has been recruited for a new job, an unpleasant but utterly necessary one: Death.

The downside to faking your own death is that people tend to get upset when they find out they’ve been had. In Atticus O’Sullivan’s case, they’re upset enough to come after him to make sure he dies for real this time. Yet he can’t remain in hiding anymore: He has to bind his apprentice, Granuaile, to the earth so that she can become the first new Druid in centuries.

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway - a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors.

A magical serial killer is on the loose, and gelatinous, otherworldly creatures are infesting the English countryside. Which is making life for the Ministry of Occultism difficult, because magic is supposed to be their best kept secret. After centuries in the shadows, the Ministry is forced to unmask, exposing the country's magical history - and magical citizens - to a brave new world of social media, government scrutiny, and public relations.

With Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami gives us a novel every bit as ambitious and expansive as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which has been acclaimed both here and around the world for its uncommon ambition and achievement, and whose still-growing popularity suggests that it will be read and admired for decades to come.