Showing results by author "James A. Hunter" in All Categories

After saving the people of Ironmoor, Boyd Knight thought he was finally getting a handle on this whole Vigil thing. Bounties were rolling up. Monsters were dying in droves. Plus, he convinced his chaotic pixie familiar, Renholm, to stop committing random acts of arson. But defeating the fabled Hexblight of Ironmoor is child’s play compared to the tests Boyd will face in Wildespell, home to the Citadel of the Vigilant. Something foul has infiltrated the city.

Sam King is enjoying being a Bibliomancer, especially as his powers grow and new doors begin to open for him. Between slapping down people hunting him and the Wolfmen that he works with, he’s even starting to get fringe benefits that even his handler is surprised by.

After narrowly surviving his first year at Shadowcroft Academy for Dungeons, Logan Murray - army vet turned fungaloid - thought the hardest and weirdest days of his life were finally behind him. Logan has never been that lucky. Students are being killed, more so than usual, and no one is quite sure why. Logan and the Terrible Twelfth suspect it has something to do with Arborea’s secretive past. Worse, solving the mystery is only one of Logan’s many problems.

Illusionist and novice spy Alan Campbell just got out of one relationship only to have another woman walk into his life: the Lady Camilla Favonius of the Imperial Inquisition. He's close to broke and left without orders. She wears plate armor in the field and around her heart. Is the lady just what the Plague Doctor ordered, or will his efforts to get a job and woo her only leave him jaded...or dead?

Wounded Army vet Logan Murray thought mimics were the stuff of board games and dungeon manuals...right up until one ate him. In a flash of snapping teeth, Logan suddenly finds himself on the doorstep to another world. He’s been unwittingly recruited into the Shadowcroft Academy for Dungeons - the most prestigious interdimensional school dedicated to training the monstrous guardians who protect the Tree of Souls from so-called heroes. Heroes who would destroy the universe if it meant a shot at advancement.

For the first time ever, legendary editor Otto Penzler has handpicked some of the most respected and best-selling thriller writers working today for a riveting collection of spy fiction. From first to last, this stellar collection signals mission accomplished.

This witty and unexpected show brings you toponyms, abbreviations, euphemisms, old words, new words, cockney rhyming slang and Greek gobbledegook. Find out the meaning of words like giff-gaff, knock-knobbler and buckfitches; the difference between French marbles, French velvet and the French ache; hear the glorious poetry of the English language, as practiced from writers varying from William Shakespeare to Vanilla Ice; and spend time laughing and learning with some of the finest Wordaholics in the business.

The end of the world is not such a bad thing for Russian weapons engineer Vlad Nardoir. Really, his world ended six months ago when his wife died, and ever since then, things have been downhill. Soul-crushing medical debt. Favors to the Russian mafia. Now, asteroid. For Vlad, this is life in a nutshell. But, in a wild twist of fate, he has found a way out. A chance to start fresh in a brand-new ultra-immersive MMORPG called Viridian Gate Online. Making the leap might kill him, but again, death is not such a bad thing for a man with nothing to live for.

Recently deceased and squishy as hell, Alan, a newly minted Illusionist, is forced to flee for his life. He needs time to deal with his loss, both in-game and IRL, but first he'll have to escape his crazy ex, the treacherous Firebrand, Thalia Daceran. On his way to safety and revenge, he'll team up with Titus, the Imperial spymaster, as well as a crew of pirates, commandos, and even a shapeshifting Mimic with a taste for blood. His path leads to Wyrdtide, a gaslit city hidden in mists and governed by dark demigods. But even with Alan dead, the world marches on.

New worlds get new kings, and that’s exactly what Abby thinks she’s found in her boss’ hacked code. With a cataclysmic asteroid careening toward Earth, the VRMMORPG project Viridian Gate Online has become more than just a game, and Abby thinks her boss, Robert Osmark, wants to be more than just its founding father.

The End is Coming. An extinction-level asteroid is cannonballing toward Earth. In humanity’s final hours, a lucky few earn a one-way ticket to the brand-new, ultra-immersive, fantasy-based VRMMORPG, Viridian Gate Online. Making that leap of faith might mean survival, but it comes with a steep price tag: “Travelers” will forever be stranded as digital avatars inside a fantastical world filled with vicious monsters, all-powerful AIs, and cutthroat players. Let the games begin....

Roark von Graf fought his way up from the bottom to become not only the Dungeon Lord of the Cruel Citadel, but the leader of the Troll Nation, making underhanded alliances with other dungeons and players along the way. To stop Lowen and his Divine armies once and for all, Roark will have to drag the magics of the game into the real world, harness deadly new technologies, and build dungeons in places no Dungeon Lord has ever gone before. The fate of Earth hangs in the balance. The duel between Dungeon Lords has begun. And one of them isn’t leaving Hearthworld alive.

Immerse yourself in a world of strong men and the beautiful women who adore them. From Dragon Lords and Greek Gods to Dungeon Masters and Barbarian Kings. Whether you're an avid harem fan or just want to spice up your sci-fi and fantasy habit, Dangerous Playmates from Black Forge Books brings battle babes and bad boys together in an explosive boxed set you'll listen to again and again.

Roark von Graf built a nation on the bodies of griefed players and disgruntled mobs who wanted him dead. He grinded his way up to the level cap of the Troll Evolutionary Path and made powerful underhanded alliances along the way, but even all of that isn’t enough to defeat the Tyrant King’s right-hand mage, Lowen, and the Divine armies of the most powerful dungeon in the game. When Lowen and the Vault of the Radiant Shield go on the attack, Roark’s only hope of survival lies in the stolen World Stone Pendant and its mysterious transmutation magic.

Build. Evolve. Conquer. The dawn of the Troll Nation has begun.... Roark von Graf - former noble and hedge-mage, current mid-level mob in a MMORPG - has taken down the dungeon Lord of the Cruel Citadel, but the battle has only started. Lowen, right hand to the Tyrant King, has come to Hearthworld, and he is building an army of his own. Worse, Lowen and company have taken over one of the most powerful dungeons in the game, The Vault of the Radiant Shield. Even as a Jotnar and a newly minted Dungeon Lord, Roark is supremely outclassed and he bloody well knows it.

Boyd Knight, Marine turned Vigil, has been formally invited to join the Wyld Hunt. To refuse is a death sentence. Participating might not be any safer. As the Caller of the Hunt, it is up to the Queen of Oblivion to select targets worthy of the wrath of the Fae Court. Hunters from across the Wylds are unleashed like hounds to track down each target and exact bloody vengeance against those who have struck dark deals for money, fame, and power.

Not even gods are safe from the power of the fabled Doom-Forged weapon. Grim Jack didn’t set out to be the leader of Eldgard’s united armies, but with dungeons falling one by one and hordes of Vogthar pouring into the material plane, it’s up to him to save both citizens and travelers from digital destruction. His doomsday weapon will take him straight into the heart of Morsheim, but once there, even the combined might of the Empire and the Crimson Alliance might not be enough.

Somewhere within the Library, a clock is winding down. With Wendy safe, Alan needs to focus on paying his debt to the Plague Doctors of Wyrdtide by the end of the month. But a slip of the tongue doubles the amount, turning a hard task into an impossible one. His only option is to ask the master of assassins for work. But murder for money isn't the only thing Alan needs to worry about. The gods are upset with him, his old colleagues want him dead, and the Circle of Brewers is hiding more than the secrets of Alchemy.

In this absorbing tale, you watch the timeless principles of servant leadership unfold through the story of John Daily, a businessman whose outwardly successful life is spiraling out of control. He is failing miserably in each of his leadership roles as boss, husband, father, and coach. To get his life back on track, he reluctantly attends a week-long leadership retreat at a remote Benedictine monastery.

Roark von Graf - former noble and hedge mage, current mid-level mob in a MMORPG - has his sights set on taking down the tyrannical dungeon lord. But the reigning troll despot is nearly as devious as Roark, and his followers are at a much higher level. With forever-death on the line, civil war breaks out in the Citadel, pitting Roark’s new regime against Azibek’s horde of loyalists. To survive, Roark will have to outfox the dungeon lord, forge new, dirtier weapons and shady alliances, and above all, evolve....