Urban Noir Fantasy

From the pulpy pages of Black Mask Magazine in the 1920s and '30s, through the film noir era of the 1940s, to today, noir fiction has lured many a reader and movie-goer away from the light and into the dark underbelly of society. Names such as Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and James M. Cain; titles like The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon, The Postman Always Rings Twice...these have inhabited our collective consciousness for decades. Humanity, it seems, loves the dark. And within the dark, one figure stands out: that of the femme fatale.

Alexander Southerland is hired to discover how a teenage boy is disappearing at night without passing through any doors or windows. Next thing Southerland knows, he’s shackled to an altar while a hungry spirit prepares to sacrifice him to “the toothless one who brings nothing but good.” Southerland soon finds himself negotiating a minefield of dream-hopping supernatural spirits, howler monkeys, a homicidal client, a shotgun-wielding spinster, and a whistling demon.

A routine case of industrial espionage pitches hardboiled PI Alexander Southerland headlong into a maelstrom of shadowy political intrigue and deadly supernatural mayhem - not to mention some malevolent owls and the mysterious "boy who talks backwards"! After his exposure of a white-collar thief has harrowing consequences, a guilt-ridden and disconsolate Southerland roams the mean streets and dark alleys of Yerba City seeking to uncover a secret so stunning - so staggering - that just knowing it could unravel the bonds that keep the social order from dissolving into chaos!

It's been a while since Sadie Fuller has lived a normal life. Her obsessive compulsions make even daily life a constant struggle. Living in New Los Angeles doesn't help either. A haven for Descendants, gods and goddesses that suddenly woke up in mortal bodies, the city is ripe with the mysterious and macabre. But now Sadie is witness to a Descendant murder and thrown into an investigation that will test her in ways she could never have imagined. Soon, she herself becomes the hunted. Who is serially killing the Descendants and why do they want to kill her?

At least, that’s the way things worked before some lunatic abducted her cousin. When Lana is stolen away in the middle of the night, it’s Erin’s turn to start running. To rescue the only family she has, the one lingering thread that connects her to the everyday world. Without Lana, all Erin has left are monsters and murder, and she’s not about to let that happen. To rescue her cousin, Erin must embark on a grim scavenger hunt, scooping up clues all over town. Miss one checkpoint and Lana’s kidnapper guarantees his victim an extremely violent end.

Demon or angel, sinner or saint, if the price is right, Erin Banks will take you down. When it comes to killing hell spawn and unholy monsters, Erin has free reign. For other killings, there are rules. Those contracts are called lawfully sanctioned murders. Yep, that’s a thing. In Erin’s world, the rules are different. According to the Uncanny Court of Brighton, a legitimate tactic for winning a trial is to murder the opposition’s witnesses, and that’s just what Erin intends to do. Hey, she didn’t write the rules, okay?

Ever since she could walk, Homicide Detective Deena Pilgrim followed in her father's footsteps. A man with a badge, Waldo Pilgrim surrounded himself with what Deena believed to be the cream of the crop when it came to serving and protecting. These days, Deena won't discuss her father or the life she left behind in Atlanta years ago, a life before she partnered with Christian Walker to investigate homicide cases in a city where perps and victims boast incredible, dangerous powers.

After he fails to save a stranger from being mauled to death by a bear, a young mercenary is saddled with the baby girl the man died to protect. Now, 16 years later, that young mercenary has grown up to become cynical sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse. When his vacation travels bring him back to that same part of the world, he can't resist trying to discover what has become of the mysterious infant. He finds that the child, now a lovely young teenager named Isadora, is at the center of a complicated web of intrigue.

No magician has ever escaped Coldwater Prison. But that is exactly where Amanda Coleman, heist artist and Abra-killer, must go. Somewhere in London, a mysterious blackmailer has enough evidence to put Amanda’s head in a noose and ensure her only remaining daughter, Michaela, is right alongside her when it happens. To save Michaela, Amanda must assassinate one of Coldwater’s most infamous residents. But the only way in is as an inmate. But a notorious Abra-killer like Amanda can expect a few old enemies in a prison full of mages, and they have their own plans.

Twenty years ago, a barmaid in a harbor town fell for a young sailor who turned pirate to make his fortune. But what truly became of Black Edward Tew remains a mystery, one that has just fallen into the lap of freelance sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse. For years, Eddie has kept his office above Angelina’s tavern, so when Angelina herself asks him to find out what happened to the dashing pirate who stole her heart years ago, he can hardly say no—even though the trail is two decades old. Some say Black Edward and his ship, The Bloody Angel, went to bottom of the sea, taking with it a king’s ransom in treasure.

I'm Cisco Suarez: necromancer, shadow charmer, black magic outlaw. Sounds kinda cool, doesn't it? It was, right until I woke up half dead in a dumpster. Did I say half dead? Because I meant 100% dead. Full on. I don't do things halfway. So here I am, alive for some reason, just another sunny day in Miami. It's a perfect paradise, except I'm into something bad. Wanted by police, drenched in the stink of dark magic, nether creatures coming out of the woodwork, and don't get me started on the Haitian voodoo gang.

Something deadly is lurking in the swampy marshes of Moody Bog. For Kylie Strange, it just means more deaths she's responsible for since she's the one who accidentally unleashed a Pandora's box of horrors. She opened the Booke of the Hidden, and now she must do everything she can to close it for good, taking on every monster it releases with the help of the local coven. This time, the Booke has unleashed not one but two demons on the village. With her attention divided, Kylie and her coven of Wiccans are open to attack. But those aren't the only demons on Kylie's mind.

Tennessee State Representative Jack Walker hires Ashley Owens to find his missing, drug-addicted wife, and soon enough Ash finds himself unexpectedly at odds with Chattanooga’s various underworld gangs - both the living and the unliving. Fortunately, he has Zora Banks, a beautiful, Southern conjure woman of mixed race in his corner. Together, they find themselves embroiled in a far-reaching occult organization’s grab for ultimate power.

Crawford the were-rat checks into a shady hotel and promptly stumbles over a dead man. A mysterious troll is obsessed with finding the dagger that killed him—a dagger possessed by a demon! The demon denies that he is a demon and is obsessed with regaining his freedom. Meanwhile, the hotel’s night clerk is obsessed with the hooker on the third floor. Crawford is obsessed with what’s in the hooker’s room: a solid gold statuette of a demon-slaying goddess! Crawford has checked in, but when obsessions collide, does he have any hope of checking out?

Nicknamed Dewey Decimal for his obsessive attempts to bring order to the New York Public Library in the wake of disastrous events in the city, the hero of this series earns his keep as a bagman and enforcer for unscrupulous politicians and underworld figures. Now, he’s stumbled upon information concerning the gruesome murder of a prostitute that involves a prominent US senator - and finds himself chasing ghosts and fighting for his life, pursued by private military contractors and the ever-present specter of his own past....

Human private detective Anna Caill isn’t keen on the prohibition of magic enacted by the 18th Amendment, but she won’t deny it’s good for business. The coppers couldn’t care less about the witches’ problems, giving her any number of clients to choose from. When mysterious witch Jesse Hunt saunters into her office, he and his case will test her limits. While a killer stalks the magical underworld, Anna is hired to find Jesse’s friend, the high priest of an ancient coven.

Lucius Anoraq is getting paid to follow the mysterious and lovely canary, Sheila De Havilland. And wherever the canary goes, trouble seems to follow. Anoraq’s happy to do as he’s told, all in the name of chivalry. But one dead body later, and what started out as a lazy afternoon’s snooping soon becomes a deadly cocktail of blackmail, lies, mistaken identity, and murder.

The magical tattoos etched into Erin’s flesh give her strength, speed, and the ability to survive damage that would kill any normal person. But they come at a price. Wearing them is painful, and the deeper Erin buries herself in her work, the steeper the toll they take on her body and mind. Her friends tell her to rest, but how can she when the demonic Long Man is dangling another carrot in front of her, another clue to her brother’s disappearance? She’s so close. Erin has no choice but to do as the demon asks, power through the pain, and uncover the truth.

Promises, rules, bones; Erin Banks will break them all. Unscrupulous and lethal, Erin has everything she needs to be an assassin in a world full of mobsters, monsters, and magic. She wasn’t born with powers, but thanks to her Uncanny Ink - arcane tattoos that transform her body into a magic-fueled killing machine - she’s more than a match for anyone dumb enough to stand between her and getting paid. Fresh out of prison, Erin wastes no time getting back to what she does best: running down wanted men and claiming their bounties.

Au lendemain d'une rupture amoureuse, Olivia, jeune femme de 35 ans, se réfugie auprès de sa grand-mère, dans une grande maison du Luberon. Dans cette demeure en pleine campagne, quatre vieilles dames, drôles, parfois indignes, toujours surprenantes, partagent le quotidien de leur infirmière, du jardinier et d'un chauffeur de taxi en retraite. Durant son séjour, Olivia va plonger dans une autre réalité. Aidée de son amie Laure, informaticienne, Olivia comprendra au fil des expériences mystérieuses, que derrière les manies étranges et fantaisistes des vieilles dames se cache le combat de cinq anges contre les forces du Mal.