Urban Mystery

Zephyr, Alabama, is an idyllic hometown for eleven-year-old Cory Mackenson - a place where monsters swim the river deep and friends are forever. Then, one cold spring morning, Cory and his father witness a car plunge into a lake - and a desperate rescue attempt brings his father face-to-face with a terrible, haunting vision of death. As Cory struggles to understand his father's pain, his eyes are slowly opened to the forces of good and evil that surround him.

My name is Peter Grant, and I am a keeper of the secret flame - whatever that is. Truth be told, there's a lot I still don't know. My superior Nightingale, previously the last of England's wizardly governmental force, is trying to teach me proper schooling for a magician's apprentice. But even he doesn't have all the answers. Mostly I'm just a constable sworn to enforce the Queen’s Peace, with the occasional help from some unusual friends and a well-placed fire blast.

There's a witch running loose in the town of Excelsior, Minnesota, and her brew is…beer. Actually, Leona Cunningham, co-owner of The Barleywine, is a practitioner of Wicca, which many mistakenly believe to be sorcery or black magic. Then, after one too many pints, local alcohol aficionado Ryan McMurphy accuses Leona of being a real witch, blaming her for the series of accidents. When Ryan ends up dead, without a mark on his body, Leona is not only the target of a witch hunt but also the prime suspect.

For Amber Farrell, post-military life as a PI has its ups and downs: She's been hit by a truck. She's being sued by a client. Denver's newest drug lord just put out a contract on her. The sinister Athanate want her to come in for a friendly chat. And it's only Tuesday. Enter Jennifer Kingslund: rich, gorgeous - a tough businesswoman who's known for getting what she wants in the boardroom and the bedroom.

I've always wanted to meet a mermaid, but when I finally get my chance on New Year's Eve, the circumstances are far darker than I'd imagined. One of the mermaids isn't what she appears to be, and if I don't find a way to break the spell, she will never be herself again. With strange magic in the air and a dangerous force lurking in the shadows, I have to find the truth and keep myself from being the next one to wind up caught in the sorcerer's web.

Vampires and humans live side by side thanks to an uneasy peace maintained by the Assembly. As an Arbiter for the powerful organization, Miles Watson is authorized to act as judge, jury, and executioner for anyone—living or undead—who breaks the law. But now Miles is up against a threat more sinister than anything he's seen in his centuries as a vampire. A criminal network in London is offering wealthy humans the chance to become vampires without the Assembly's consent. When the process goes disastrously wrong, the Boss wants to eliminate any trace of the fiasco.

Charlie Hall has never found a lock she couldn’t pick, a book she couldn’t steal, or a bad decision she wouldn’t make. She's spent half her life working for gloamists, magicians who manipulate shadows to peer into locked rooms, strangle people in their beds, or worse. Gloamists guard their secrets greedily, creating an underground economy of grimoires. And to rob their fellow magicians, they need Charlie Hall.

With her knack for being in trouble's way, Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte's, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two-natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. Sookie suspects otherwise, but her attention is divided when she realizes that her lover, Eric Northman, and his "child", Pam, are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master. Gradually, Sookie is drawn into the plot - which is much more complicated than she knows.

The vampire Wulfe is missing. Since he’s deadly, possibly insane, and his current idea of “fun” is stalking me, some may see it as no great loss. But, warned that his disappearance might bring down the carefully constructed alliances that keep our pack safe, my mate and I must find Wulfe—and hope he’s still alive. As alive as a vampire can be, anyway.

Crispin is a mosaicist, a layer of bright tiles. Still grieving for the family he lost to the plaque, he lives only for his arcane craft. But an imperial summons from Valerius the Trakesian to Sarantium, the most magnificent place in the world, is difficult to resist. In a world half-wild and tangled with magic, a journey to Sarantium means a walk into destiny. Bearing with him a deadly secret and a Queen's seductive promise, guarded only by his own wits and a talisman from an alchemist's treasury, Crispin sets out for the fabled city. Along the way he will encounter a great beast.

A number-one New York Times best-selling author, Charlaine Harris penned the addictive Sookie Stackhouse series. In Day Shift psychic Manfred Bernardo is hounded by the press after a client drops dead during a reading. Turning to the local vampire's lover for help, Manfred hopes she can put the squeeze on the scandal before someone else is put on ice.

The New York Times best-selling author of the Nightside series, Simon R. Green has won widespread acclaim and an immense following for his Secret Histories novels featuring Eddie “Shaman Bond” Drood. In Green’s action-packed riff on everyone’s favorite superspy, Eddie once again finds himself at the center of supernatural intrigue. And even though protecting humanity from the forces of darkness is nothing new to Eddie, he now faces a threat that’s leaving him both shaken and stirred.

Long lost to the public in out-of-print pulp magazines, dusty Victorian anthologies, and the pages of now defunct newspapers, these vintage vampire stories have truly proved immortal. Resurrected now for the year 2011, this is a stunning collection of nineteenth-century vampire stories by heavyweights such as Sabine Baring-Gould and Bram Stoker. These rare stories are arranged in chronological order from 1846 to 1913 and are compiled by two of the world's leading vampire anthologists and experts.

Sergeant Duncan O'Conner has seen it all before. Beautiful erotic dancer murdered at home, no suspect, no motive. But there's one clue: She's missing her heart. It's enough to make the hard-bitten Kansas City cop enlist the help of a necro - one of the dead-channeling freaks who live in the domed city of nearby Valhalla. It's a long shot, but desperate crimes call for desperate measures. Unlike the other "high-bloods" in Valhalla, Callie Brown considers her abilities a gift, not a curse. But when she reads the dancer's final thoughts, she senses a powerful presence blocking her vision. This is no ordinary homicide. This is the work of a legendary necromancer who controls souls.

Demons, fairies, and fallen angels are everywhere. They lurk at crossroads, crouch behind doors, hide in trees, slip into beds, wait in caves, hover at weddings and childbirths, disguise themselves as friends, relatives - even disguise themselves as you. They are powerful; they are protean; they are enchanting. And, to the uninformed, they are often invisible. This guide - the first of its kind - reveals the remarkable permutations of the demon and fairy species worldwide.

Number-one New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris has won numerous awards for her Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series, which has been adapted into the hit HBO show True Blood. In this 13th and final book, a murder rocks the town of Bon Temps and Sookie is arrested for the crime. After making bail, she sets out to clear her name - but her investigation only leads to more deaths.

In this spellbinding novel, Lestat, rebel outlaw, addresses the tribe of vampires, telling us the mesmerizing story of how he became prince of the vampire world, and of the formation of the Blood Communion, and how his vision for the Children of the Universe to thrive as one, came to be.

When I arrive in Oakleaf Glade to claim an inheritance, I imagine it'll run to a few hundred in a savings account. Instead, I receive an entire house! I'd thank my lucky stars except for the experiences that come part and parcel with the arrangement. Things like my hair turning bright pink and trending skywards, or a kitten who I swear can understand me when I talk. But when a ghost shrieks me awake at night, warning that if I stay I'll die just like my great aunt Esmerelda, I'm ready to put my boots on.

John Pritkin has been trying to recover from a demon curse that separated his body and soul and almost killed him. The reunification has left him with a flood of memories to process, some that he recalls from his past and some that he doesn't, as well as wonky magic, fluctuating power levels, and a splitting headache. Something that only intensifies when he finds himself stuck in a city under siege - by his fellow war mages. As the only one not overwhelmed by a massive enthrallment spell, John must find a way to free his fellow mages before they destroy themselves.

Life was a whole lot easier when the dead stayed dead. I thought I was human. Apparently, I was wrong. I didn't even know there were non-humans. Others, they're called. Fairies, vampires, even the bogeyman - they're all real. At least, that's what the werewolf told me when I saved her from the cops. Did I mention that I saved a werewolf? And those weren't just cops trying to kill her. They're a deadly cult with the sole purpose of capturing and torturing Others...especially me. Because it turns out I'm not just any Other. I can talk to the dead.