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Beckoning of the Gate by Benjamin J. Ryan The only life Santha Lathagin has ever known has become her prison. Vicious gossip is everywhere. Whispers of a scandal have turned to accusations of murder, and fingers are pointing her way. Feeling powerless and alone, she yearns for escape. When Santha stumbles upon a small, rusted key in the forest near her home, it seems her silent pleas have been answered. Awakened by her touch, the key demands to be heardâand she is not the only one to heed its call. Thrust into a world only glimpsed in the stories of her childhoodâof faeries and princes and eldritch magickâSantha sets out to unlock its secrets. But uncovering the truth has its own perils, and as the keyâs influence grows, she will be left with a choice: survival or sacrifice. But will it truly be hers to make? ⌠All the while, in the north, something ancient stirs. A great power that could unravel the very threads of existence. |
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Delphinium, or A Necromancer's Home by V. M. Jaskiernia The Larkspur Quartet vol. I Book Two in The Courting of Life and Death Lady Elizabeth Anne does not know about the dark magic her beloved practices, and he has no intent to tell her. As they travel to his childhood home for the summer, Pierre Salvador attempts to balance his newfound love with his murderous crĂŚft. After they arrive, the future Duc de Piques finds there is much to be done, and duties cannot be put off any longer. A fatal illness is spreading throughout his land, he is being claimed by those of Faery, and someone has already tried to take his life. But it will take much more to kill a lord of death. |
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Blind the Eyes by K.A. Wiggins In the City of Nightmares, one haunted girl is taking back more than just her dreams.â¨A lush & lyrical gothic-dystopian YA Fantasy of stolen choices, eldritch horrors & sisterhood beyond the grave. _______ In a drowned city overrun by shapeshifting monsters of the climate apocalypse, human contact is forbidden and the slightest wilfulness or sign of inner life can draw down ravening horrors. Haunted outcast Cole would give anything to be able to follow the rules, silence her rebellious pest of a ghostly best friend, and live a virtuous (and peaceful) life in Refuge. But her shameful secret obsession with the monsters' victims is only the start of her downfall when a dangerously tempting encounter with a tattooed stranger entangles her in a deadly conspiracy. Hunted for what she knowsâand what she doesnât yet even suspectâCole scales the austere heights of the Tower of Refuge and scours the depths of carnivalesque underground club Freedom for allies. But with mysterious unseen threads tugging her into gruesome visions of the monster-taken and absolutely zero practice in making friends (much less navigating an unexpected and not entirely welcome romance whiledrumming up a revolution), her survival and the fate of the city are both at risk. Can she untangle the most earth-shattering secret of all, confront her forbidden feelings, and lay to rest the ghosts of her past in time to escape a bloody end? An award-winning series starter for fans of post-climate-collapse dystopias, monsters-and-magic urban fantasy, and genre-bending gothic dark fantasy with messy and morally grey characters, dreamweaving and threadwitchery, and intricate worldbuilding. |
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Ashes of the Witch by Lucas Pederson Slain by her enemies, Gorecrow makes a deal with DEATH. Six days until a trapped god is freed. Six days for vengeance. She must travel through the dreamscapes and nightmares of her enemies searching for the god she lost and entrusted to keep while quenching her lust for blood. The only things standing in Gorecow's way are the Shifting Lands, an extraordinary girl, and utter madness. |
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Weapons of Disharmony by Chad Retterath Titans roam the world of Ruun, bringing chaos and destruction wherever they appear. Magical weapons of unimaginable power lie hidden across the land. It is a dangerous, unforgiving world. Two small kingdoms sit on the brink of war, unaware of the dangers gathering outside their borders. Elite mages and boorish monarchs feud and argue within the palaces of Brunta and Ta-Veer.â¨The Bone Knight, a notorious swordsman, reappears after years on the run. Trouble follows the Bone Knight as forces work in the shadows, attempting to resurrect a long-forgotten titan.â¨Powers collide in Weapons of Disharmony as legendary weapons, titans, and powerful mages clash over the fate of the kingdoms. |
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Exiled and grieving, Fia McCrae has spent the past eleven years wandering the island nation of Fallaros, with its numerous seperate tribelands, trying to atone for a mistake that has come to define her life. Raised in privilege. Fallen into disgrace. She rides the lands trying to redress those small wrongs that she can, using her innate ability to find that which is lost.â¨â¨Torsten Gunn is the most infamous outlaw to ride the roads, valleys and hills of Fallaros. Unencumbered by the notion of law, and accompanied by his loyal crew of bloodthirsty longriders, he has made it his merciless mission to make the lives of any Counts and Countesses that ride the roads of Fallaros a living hell.â¨â¨Chafing impatiently as he waits for his mother, who sits the High Seat of Fallaros, to die, Redmond Marr plots on how he will be the first man to subjugate all five tribelands. It is a feat that has never been attempted before, but to accomplish it the ambitious Marr has made a deal with an unknown power from across the sea. A power who has more than the dominion of a single island nation in mind.â¨â¨As Fallaros falls into chaos, witches are burned in the streets, longriders roam the roads, and dissent amongst the peasantry begins to boil over. As the threat of war from across the seas draws nearer, an unwilling Fia soon finds herself coerced back into a life she'd thought she'd left behind. What starts as a simple hunt for a wanted man quickly escalates as hidden truths start to emerge. Before long, Fia is confronted by a revelation that might bring her to her knees, even as the people of Fallaros need her to stand and fight. |
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Abby Normal by Samuel Thomas Fraser Abby Henderson has lived her whole life under a dark cloud. When she was born, a demon called the Deacon claimed her family as his property. When she turned 13, she was traumatized by an ominous psychic vision. When she turned 14, her dad had a psychotic breakdown and tried to kill her. Sheâs just turned 25, and now people are dying all around her. This is all according to the Deaconâs plan. He believes that Abby is the key to a ritual that will unleash an ancient evil on the world, and he will stop at nothing to make sure that ritual succeeds. Now, Abby is in the fight of her life against an enemy that defies all reason. Together with her pious girlfriend, her magic-slinging ex-teacher, and a hotheaded Amazon with a machete, Abby will have to use every trick in the book to outlast the Deacon. Because if she canât, her next birthday is going to be Hell. |
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The Last Dragonkeeper by Drew Montgomery Joven Farquin has spent a lifetime building up a reputation, his name spread far and wide as the man who travels with the last known dragon, as a mercenary who has made his living with a beast that inspires fear and awe throughout the land. It is a reputation that has brought him face to face with kings, warriors, clergy, and more across the Free Kingdoms as he has built his fame and fortune. But none of it could make him invincible. Awakened in a strange camp, injured and imprisoned, his dragon nowhere to be found, he finds himself at the mercy of powerful forces, agents of both a massive empire and an influential order of sorceresses. As he answers their questions, providing a glimpse into a past that has led him to this place, his mind seeks answers, searching for an escape and to find a reason that the beast he had so long entrusted with his life could allow him to fall. |
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The Definition of Vengeance by Kevin Wright The small village of Untheim has a big problem. Folk go missing with alarming frequency. Even more alarming? They turn up dead. And a young girlâs just disappeared. Sir Luther Slythe Krait also has a big problem. Heâs stuck in Untheim. Penniless and poor and on his last legs, Sir Luther shoulders the task of tracking down the missing girl. The good news? He finds her. The bad? Sheâs heading home in a box. And thatâs just the start. Bound by oath to hunt down the girlâs killer, Sir Luther treks through town and wilderness, hounding the populace, ferreting leads, and drawing back the shroud of a decades-old secret privy to a select few. Itâs a dark secret, and those few want it kept that way. Will Sir Luther find the killer? Will he exact justice? An eye for an eye? A head for a head? Or will the head lost be his own? Read âThe Definition of Vengeanceâ and experience the horror and black humor of the latest installment of the grimdark detective series, âThe Serpent Knight Saga.â |
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Cutthroats and Traitors by Steven Smith Will the Jagged Ghosts stop at nothing to evade capture? Their journey of alcohol induced law breaking may soon come to an end, with naval commander Lieutenant Dainsley being appointed the task of bringing the small pirate crew to justice. Itâs a race against time. If the Jagged Ghosts lose, the noose will await them all. |
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Falhorne: The World Is Burning by Tristan Dineen The Order is no more. The Falhorne, ancient champions of the elder gods, have dwindled to no more than a handful of beleaguered warriors. The skies are darkening over the land of Vinos and persecution of the maligned Old Believers escalates at the hands of both church and state. As one of the few surviving defenders of a proud tradition, Tagus is among the last of the Vinosian Falhorne when the pogrom comes. His mentor slain, his comrades slaughtered, and his people enslaved, he must begin a quest that will take him into the darkness of his past and a depth of evil beyond anything that he has ever faced. |
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Even your most deeply buried secrets can find their way back to you. The mysteries of Agatha's past threaten to expose themselves when Joseph investigates a noise he hears in the middle of the night and stumbles upon a world that he didnât even know existed. Her quiet life in the suburbs is about to come crashing down around her.â¨â¨When their son is kidnapped, Joseph and Agatha have to rely on each other to figure out why he was taken and how to get him back, whatever the cost.â¨â¨Along the way, Agatha discovers to her horror that even her most deeply buried secrets are finding their way back to her. And the consequences are inescapable.â¨â¨Vulcan Rising is the first book in The Zauberi Chronicles series. It is a work of contemporary/dark fantasy where Stephen King's The Institute meets Brandon Sanderson's Steelheart and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. |
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The Hellborn King by Christopher G. Brenning A kingdom at war. A royal family at war with itself. After the massacre of his people, Damien Dreadfire leads a patchwork army of unlikely allies against the Kingdom of Betanthia. The alliance teeters on the edge of a knife, as old rivalries between clans threaten to tear it apart. With the help of his trusted friend, Einarr, and a strange mystic, Damien launches a bold offensive that will decide the future of the free lands. Short on time, and even shorter on men, the fate of a once vibrant culture and its people rests on the outcome of the next battle. Meanwhile, Betanthia's crown prince, Gareth Bethard, faces dangers of his own. With his family coming apart at the seams and a growing conspiracy afoot, he tries desperately to hold everything together. Even as Gareth grapples with inner demons, he must learn to take up his father's mantle as the protector of civilization and defeat Damienâs invading horde. It's only the fate of a thousand-year dynasty resting on his shoulders, after all. |
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Tara Dufrain and Nicola Morgan are eleven year old girls growing up in the â90s, obsessed by Valentine Killshot, a metal screamo band. In particular, theyâre enamoured by the lead singer, the mysterious yet charismatic Jed Maine who bears the epithet âThe Cretinâ. In Jedâs lyrics, he describes a world beyond the Dark Stars that he hopes one day to reach. The girls think itâs all just make-believe they share together, until a freak, traumatic incident makes this world very real. As adults, Tara and Nicola try to come to terms with the devastating catastrophe that changed their lives growing up, but to do so they will have to step once more into Jed Maineâs world, and confront the man who took everything from them. Dark Hilarity is My Best Friendâs Exorcism meets The Never-Ending Story, a fantasy that explores addiction, depression, and the healing power of friendship. |
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The Blood of Crows by Alex C. Pierce Ren, a state-trained thief working in a world where everyone has magical ability except for him, doesnât kill people. Tensions are already high in the walled realm of Lenmar, and when the nobility start dying with no trace of magic that isnât from the victims, Ren immediately becomes the prime, and only suspect. Hunted by magic-eating Inquisitors and the Captain of the Royal Guard, his life becomes one of flight and fear through a realm on the brink of civil war.â¨â¨All Ren wants to do is stop a serial killer, clear his name, find his mentor, and protect the people he cares about. To do that, heâll have to pull one more high-stakes heistâ And steal the proof he needs from the very people who want to catch him. |
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Elusion of Freedom by Kelvin Womack After thousands of years the trapped darkness is breaking free, and once it is, no longer shall we be. Thought to be long locked away, darkness has escaped it confines, enslaving everything it touches. The only safe haven is behind the Order's towering walls, where 17-year-old Vayn and his father have fled. But it's not the darkness they're afraid of. After escaping the clutches of Shadow Reapers that ravaged his land, Vayn desires to never live in the free world again, exchanging his liberation for what some would consider a form of slavery. But when Reapers break inside, murdering his father, Vayn is determined to attain retribution. The Order forbids it, knowing he'll uncover their secrets. There is but one way to regain his freedom. Once a year, on the Day of Liberation, one may leave the walls but at great cost. A life. Vayn must sacrifice someone innocent. If he doesnât, he'll never bring his father's killers to justice or learn the Orders secrets. Outside awaits the darkness, its creatures perishable only with the aid of a larger-than-life sword. But not even that will help him face the darkness of his own past. Freedom is both elusive and hard to distinguish. Time is of the essence, and on his quest of vengeance, Vayn must learn that true freedom is more than escape from physical and mental subjugation before the darkness swallows their world into oblivion. |
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DEATH IS ONLY THE BEGINNING in this epic series starter by debut author, Emerson Laine. In a small village in the south of England, two sisters try to resurrect an ancient evil, but when one sister betrays the other to save the life of an innocent child, everything goes horribly wrong. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER, grieving the loss of her recently deceased mother and desperate to escape her ex-fiancĂŠ, Raewyn Winters relocates to Cranston Myre for some much-needed tranquility, only to discover that having an entire forest on your doorstep is less than idyllic, especially one shrouded in fear and suspicion. Then she meets John, the mysterious and handsome gardener from the Gothic mansion on the hill, who just happens to have the same unusual birthmark as Rae, and suddenly Raeâs quiet life spirals out of control as she is dragged into a dark and sinister world beyond anything she could ever have imagined. |
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The World Breaker Requiem by Luke Tarzian Prince of Woe⌠Avaria Norrith is the adopted heir to the Ariathan throne. But that means little to a man who, for the better part of fifteen years, has sought and failed to earn his motherâs love. Fueled by pride and envy, Avaria seeks the means to prove himself and cast away his mental chains. When heâs tasked with the recreation of The Ravenâs Rage he sees his chance, for with the infamous blade he can rewrite history and start anew. Daughter of the Mountain⌠Erath has not felt sunlight for a century. Not since Ariath condemned her people to a life of darkness with their misuse of The Ravenâs Rage. But when an old friend comes seeking the remnants of the ancient sword, Erath cannot contain her curiosity and resolves to lend her aid. Is it trueâcan history be revised? Can her people be reclaimed? Toll the Hounds⌠They are hungryâand they are here. |
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Jordan Amador. 21. New Yorker. Waitress. Mild alcoholic. Murderer. Two years ago, Jordan accidentally shot and killed a Seer: a person who can see, hear, and talk to ghosts with unfinished business. Her crime came with a hefty price, too. She has two years to help a hundred souls cross over to the afterlife or her soul is bound for hell. Tough break. As if that werenât bad enough, two days before her deadline a handsome pain-in-the-ass poltergeist named Michael strolls into her life. His soul is the key to her salvation, but the cost just might be more than she can handle. Solving his death puts her right in the crosshairs of Belial: a vain, bloodthirsty archdemon who wonât rest until sheâs his slave. Can she rescue Michael and save her own soul, or will they both be dragged down into the clutches of the eternal black parade? |
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Magic he paid for, and she never wanted. Clover has lived as the outcast wife of a shapeshifter for six years, and been miserable every second of it. The magic-hating townspeople harass her and threaten her life, but sheâs accepted her fate. Mostly. When an accident gives Clover the chance to escape her exile, she seizes it, only to discover that itâs left her with a new, more terrifying problemâitâs trapped magic inside her. In a world that despises magic, that would have been enough, but this magic was designed to lure and now Clover is pursued by bloodthirsty animals called wilds. The only person she can rely on for help is Joss, the gunslinging wild hunter who caused the accident that upended Cloverâs life. In a journey across the country, Clover and Joss search for a way to remove the magic while fending off wilds, dealing with Jossâs past coming back to bite him, and trying to survive among people who would kill to erase magic. |
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The Shadow Courtesan by Willow Woods No mortal will tell of our tragedy... Tenebrae; a world of darkness, trapped in the past and where vampires rule over their mortal slaves. Torn from the safety of her small village, twelve-year-old Reina is a thrust into a life of slavery and eternal darkness. Spending her prime years in servitude to the demons known as vampires, Reina learns to keep her head down and remain unseen. But all that changes when she makes a fatal mistake. A century after seeing her home destroyed and family slaughtered, Reina is forced to return toTenebrae. No longer a slave and raised to the ranks of vampire, the very creature she loathes, Reina is determined to end slavery and destroy Tenebrae. But she has caught the attention of Master Vrykólakas, the man responsible for the death of her family. Suspicious of Reina's return he issues her an impossible ultimatum: become his treasured courtesan or condemn the man who is both her Creator and lover to death. Buy now and join Reina as she battles the demons of her past and fights to forge her own path in life. |
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Deep in the Australian forests, something dark is stirring. When wildlife ranger Lisa Thomas finds a pile of animal entrails on her doorstep she immediately suspects her abusive ex, but the sudden spate of deaths that follow seem beyond even Ben's vindictiveness. Worse, her father's health is deteriorating fast and when the harassment and deaths continue, it only fuels her feelings of powerlessness. To add confusion to growing fear, Lisa must also investigate reports of a giant white kangaroo, reports that suggest the creature is no mere hoax. Yet the mysterious kangaroo is impossible to track down and the more Lisa searches the more she's sure an even greater threat lurks in the wilderness... |
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Onslaught of Madness by Jesse Teller The Drine war machine needs to be constantly fed and has turned its sights on Tienne. Warlord Rextur devoted his life to planning this invasion, so how did he lose the element of surprise? And who is this emerging rival Peter Redfist? He canât be much of a problem. The god of destruction has long favored Rextur. His faith is strong and his legions mighty. Who could withstand their onslaught? |
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An Altar on the Village Green by Nathan Hall âIf one suffers, I suffer. If one is chained, I am chained.â My faith called me to become a Lance. My compassion drew me into one of the fallen lands. Through my connection with the Chained God, I alone can find and destroy the Horror that stains the land. Death can no longer chain me. But I couldnât have imagined the madness waiting for me in this village. Iâm not sure my faith can withstand the secrets Iâll uncover. Or that my compassion can survive the violence to come. This Horror may swallow me whole. Death can no longer free me. A creature stalks in the dark. Buildings burn. People die. An altar has been built on the village green. |
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Liches Get Stitches by HJ Tolson Evil stirs in the forest of Downing, spreading blight across the ancient boughs. Busy with troubles of her own, Maud the village witch just wants to be left alone. Peace and quiet should be easy enough when you're dead, right? Wrong. Reborn as a powerful lich, Maud is suddenly faced with the attentions of all the righteous heroes, holy clerics, and nosy neighbours of the realm. Now instead of whiling away the days in her garden with her cat and her knitting, Maud must figure out how much force is required to crush a man's spine, the proper storage solution to keep a spoiling cadaver, and how best to display the remains of the fallen for maximum scare. Featuring people mulch, head bouquets, revenant geese, and some very deadly embroidery, undead paradise never looked so good. A very grisly slice-of-life progression fantasy. Trigger warning for gore and violence. |
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Gold Glamour's Ghost by Neil Adam Ray A legendary gunslinger returns, bringing his mythic revolvers and a host of eldritch magic back to the Wild West. Carter Quinn might be Tarnationâs premiere scoundrel, charlatan, and snake oil salesman, but at least each of his overpriced promises of false hope comes with a good story pegged to it. All the man claiming to be Lucas Linden offers with his lies is a brief dance at the end of a short rope. After studying the art of the scam for decades, Quinn knows a fraud when he sees one. Sure, the legendary gunslingerâs revolvers weigh down the strangerâs belt and heâs got the folk heroâs signature smile stretched across his face, but the real Lucas Linden disappeared thirty years ago. For him to come back after so long without a single wrinkle or gray hair, heâd need a hell of a lot more than a healthy dietâheâd need the kind of magic that only exists in stories more outlandish than those of Lucas Linden himself. The fake Lucas Linden seems harmless at first, but when he appoints himself sheriff and claims to have discovered enough gold to reanimate the dried-up mining town, the simple townsfolk fall for the con hook, line, and sinker. They feed off the fervor of the lawless, godless hangings, growing more manic by the day, and it falls on Quinn and his soft-headed sidekick, Ron Chesterfield, to stop the grinning ghost before his festering evil consumes Tarnation and spreads its black tendrils to the rest of the world. |
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Yellow Tape and Coffee by Pat Luther Four intertwining stories. Four points of view of a single large event. Four people from different backgrounds with different ideals. And a secret society of werewolves is unveiled in Portland, Oregon. For four hundred years, they have kept their secret. Some will do anything to reveal it. Others will sacrifice everything to keep it. Alliances will be forged and shattered. Friendships will be made and betrayed. Conspiracies within conspiracies will unravel as conflicting agendas clash across the city. And by the end, nothing will be the same. |
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A Song For The Void by Andrew C. Piazza A Mind Imprisoned Is The Greatest Of Hells. 1853. South China Sea. While on patrol between the Opium Wars, the crew of the steam frigate HMS Charger pursues a fleet of pirates that have been terrorizing the waters surrounding Hong Kong. But now the hunters have become the hunted. Something else has come to the South China Sea, something ancient and powerful and malevolent. Now, the crew of the Charger must face their worst nightmares in order to survive the terrible creature they come to know as the Darkstar. A Song For The Void is a haunting, terrifying historical horror novel that will keep you turning the pages and jumping at the shadows. Readers who are interested in a historical adventure mixed with slow burn cosmic horror should take a closer look at A Song For The Void. |
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Winterâs Myths by Gage Greenwood When the world ends, who will tell the story? After a disease ravages his underground community, Winter escapes with his daughters to the dangerous surface of Earth. Believing the planet is largely abandoned, he struggles to make sense of this strange new world while trying to keep his family alive... But the surface is not all complicated artifacts and relics of a deserted universe. Winter is certain somethingâor someoneâis hunting them. He weaves wild tales to entertain and teach his daughters, turning celebrities into demigods and Abe Lincoln into an ice giant. As the journey grows darker and more dangerous, his mythologies keep not only his children from confusion and despair, but him as well. With tensions rising and danger at every corner, will Winter keep his family alive long enough to finish his tales? Winter's Myths is a multi-season serial currently publishing on Amazon's Kindle Vella. This book covers the first season. Each season will be available in book form upon completion. |
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delta by Tom Starita Jason Carico is a grieving father, desperately trying to come to grips with the loss of his eight-year-old stepdaughter, Delta, who drowned two months ago. But if she's dead, then why is there a little girl claiming to be Delta locked up in his basement? Desperately wanting to believe her, Jason attempts to live a normal life while hiding his nightmare below. His anxiety explodes when his late wife's sister appears on his doorstep. Can he trust her? Would she believe him? And what will the police think if they ever find out the only African American man in town has a white girl trapped in his basement? The haunting motto of Mother's death cult tolls throughout the book, "The Universe has a plan, independent from the wants of man." |
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Page of Tricks (Inheritance, 5) by AK Faulkner Thereâs nowhere left to run. Quentin dâArcy has escaped his fatherâs clutches for six years, but the life he has built in San Diego is about to come crashing down. The skeletons in his closet wonât stay hidden. The Duke of Oxfordâs pawns are all in place. One move triggers a catastrophic chain of events: Freddy kidnaps Laurence, and Quentin is thrust into a race against time to save both his loverâs sanity and his own. Every family has secrets, but the dâArcy line is built on them. Nothing will ever be the same again. |
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Lord of Ravens (Inheritance, 3) by AK Faulkner Hunter and prey. Which is which? Laurence Riley believed that he was nothing. He couldnât have been further from the truth. Descended from Herne the Hunter, his own need to seek prey has long gone unfulfilled. Now itâs out of control. Something ancient is coming to take Quentin home: a creature of nightmare who feasts on the flesh of children. But Laurence has seen the real monster. The one who is pulling all their strings from afar. Only Herne can prepare Laurence to face an evil which far outmatches him. Their enemy wields the most powerful weapon of all, and will destroy everyone Laurence loves unless he can master the same power. He must learn magic. |
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In a Hotel Room in Chillicothe by Joshua Shuh The Voice wakes Jon. His chair makes a circle with six others and each chair subdues a stranger. The Voiceâs tone is light, but his actions are ruthless. Within moments, the instructions are delivered. Every ninety minutes Jon and his unwilling neighbors will vote on the next person to leave the game. The only way to leave is by death. Well, thatâs not the only way. For one âluckyâ participant thereâs a reward at the end of this contest. One of these seven seemingly perfect strangers is going to meet the man that made it all possible, the man that makes everything possible. |
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If Amazon could talk, what would it say about you? Wish List follows woman's life told through things she bought online, as told by the shopping algorithm that sold them to her. ARgurl16 first logs onto Hermes as a teenager and the platform continues to watch over her throughout her life as she transitions from broke college student to single woman looking for love, and eventually into motherhood. Hermes is data-hungry and obsessive, as it struggles to understand its own identity alongside the wants of its millions of users so that it can suggest buying the very best earplugs and coffee mugs. This concise novella is The Death of Ivan Ilyich for the reader with a guilty pleasure for Buzzfeed listicles. Readers haunted by Guy Debordâs Society of the Spectacle or Niccolò Machiavelli will enjoy this slice of life. |
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Zero Saints by Gabino Iglesias Enforcer and drug dealer Fernando has seen better days. On his way home from work, some heavily tattoed gangsters throw him in the back of a car and take him to an abandoned house, where they saw off his friendâs head and feed the kidâs fingers to ... something. Their message is clear: this is their territory now. But Fernando isnât put down that easily. Using the assisance of a Santerian priestess, an insane Puerto Rican pop sensation, a very human dog, and a Russian hitman, heâll build the courage (and firepower) heâll teed to fight a gangbanger whoâs a bit more than human. |
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Sixteen stories from the Bowels of Hell. You canât chear death, but death can still cheat you. Gods are real. Monters too. Like sheepoids, creepoids, and landlords. Take the ghost bus to a showing of a haunted film; it really is to die for. Keep your distance from the uncanny residents of a picturesque wasteland. If you forget your wallet at some sketchy jobsite in the middle of nowhere, just leave it. Some things are better lost. Stepped in the history of Time, Earth, and B-Movies, Eric Williams creates worlds where nothing is what it seems, and be you graverobber, podcaster, or small-town veterinarian, there are no magic charms to protect you. A collection where Weird is the norm, where the unreal is all too real, Toadstones is a reminder that we donât know everything, actually. |
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Mary, Everything by Cassandra Yorke A young woman born in the wrong reality. A destiny that will lead her into the past. And a love so enduring it reaches across time - and existence itself - to bring her home. A gripping tale of best friends and romance, sorcery and survival, at the dawn of the Roaring 20s. Courtney is a lonely undergrad at secluded Braddock College in 2004, working a drowsy summer job in the Archives. Assigned to a new project, she becomes haunted by a college yearbook from the 1920s - filled with familiar faces and memories of times she never experienced. A chance encounter with a mysterious girl named Sadie - dressed in long-outdated clothes - alters her reality. But if you were never meant to be born, that reality can expel you like an infection - or kill you outright. While Courtney struggles against forces she cannot comprehend, a psychopathic stalker smells blood and closes in for the kill. Sadie, now in 1921, races against the clock to save her friend, joined by some remarkable allies - an American combat sorceress and veteran of World War I, an enigmatic professor who specializes in piercing the veil between realities, and two young women who insist theyâre Courtneyâs oldest friends - one of them even claiming to be her truest love. Time is running out for Courtney, and a terrifying wilderness - haunted by the dead from centuries past - may hold the key to her salvation. But none who enter have ever returned... Cassandra Yorke's groundbreaking debut brings Magical Realism home to the Midwest in an explosive new style, blending Midwestern Gothic and historical fiction with a warm lesbian love story to create a riveting, deeply immersive epic you won't be able to put down. It's the world of Boardwalk Empire and Gatsby, with an urgent, immersive narrative about what it means to belong, what it means to be hated, what it means to be loved, and ultimately what it means to come home. |
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Heretic (Hellmage Chronicles #1) by Jennifer deBie The Hellmages, outcasts who feed on the deaths of friends, enemies, and each other, are shaking the earth, killing powerful mages, causing the kind of destruction the Magesâ Council was created to stop. Siraj, a Lightkeeper who wields sunlight as a weapon and carries purification in his hands, is the only one who can meet with a Hellmage, find out who is upsetting the balance, and walk away unscathed, but thereâs a problem. The Hellmage he meets doesnât know the earthshaker and magekiller either, but now sheâs curious and if thereâs anything worse than a curious Hellmage, itâs one who doesnât fear being burned to death by a Lightkeeperâs touch. |
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Three Days in Ashford by Ty Tracey Daniel Hallowell, by all standards, is a tough cookie. Despite growing up in a different foster home every few years and several run-ins with the authorities, he pulled himself up and put himself through college. A few years later, he became a household name as the most wildly successful paranormal investigator that the world had ever known. His success came complete with his own television show and a lucrative contract from the network that owned its rights. With his tight-knit crew in tow, the show would take him around the world to explore and document the most haunted locations the world had to offer. A chance encounter one evening with a stranger in a hotel bar piques Daniel's interest. He reluctantly agrees to investigate Ashfordâa long abandoned town cut somewhere deep into the Ohio countryside. Having become intrigued by a stranger's desperate and terrifying synopsis into a decades-long series of unexplainable events that had taken place there, Daniel and his eclectic crew of paranormal investigators clear their schedule and embark on a trip that they would come to regret for the rest of their lives. As they struggle to unravel the terrifying truth that lies at the heart of the disturbances that plague Ashford, they find that they are being hunted from within the deep, foreboding forests that surround them on every side. As Daniel slides deeper down the rabbit-hole and watches helplessly as his mind and sanity are slowly ripped away, he and his crew must embark on a journey across Ashford, across timelines and within the deep recesses of their own souls to uncover answers they otherwise would have never cared to know. Answers that will only serve to question the very psychological, physical, theological and philosophical meaning of our existence as a species. However difficult to stomach, the only way to save themselves from the unimaginably savage force that threatens, not only their lives, but the very existence of humanity, is to decipher the riddle that haunts Ashford. The town that Satan calls home. |
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When Conrad and his wife set out to meet their friends for a simple weekend retreat, all they wanted was an easy weekend full of catching up and drinking. But when the group discovers a map that shows them the location of a hidden waterfall, hidden in the heart of an uncharted valley, they canât help but jump at the opportunity to rediscover it. What they donât expect is to find an abandoned ghost town. Hidden away from the world with an evil secret. Now Conrad and his group must do whatever they can to stay alive as they are hunted by an entity that feeds off the horrors that occur in the valley. A horror they are doomed to repeat for eternity. Winner of Inkshares 2018 Horror Competition, Mike Salt brings the reader into a dark world and never lets off the throttle. |
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After the Devil by Kayla Krantz Itâs our darkest parts that know us best. Alex Alpine is unhappy with her lifeâa dead-end job, a marriage thatâs falling apart, and a failed string of self-published books. In an effort to better her life for her and her daughter, she makes the decision to quit writing in order to get a second job. Jamie, a recovered addict and Alexâs only fan, canât bring himself to accept her decision. Convinced he can fix her, he kidnaps her and holds her hostage in his home in the woods. As Alexâs captivity extends from weeks to months, Alex finds herself torn between her duties to the daughter she left behind and the life Jamie has made for her. To figure out where her true priorities lie, she must dive into not only her own past traumas but Jamieâs as well. |
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Road to Redemption by Crystal Kirkham Centuries ago Michel made a deal with the devil and now, for longer than he cares to think about, he's only just managed to stay one step ahead of the death and destruction cursed to follow him for eternity. Now his wanderings have brought him to the strange city of La Port and a girl who knows a thing or two about the supernatural. Paige is determined to rid Michel of his curse and free him from Satan's grasp. When Satan discovers her involvement in his affairs, Michel must tread the depths of hell itself to save her and maybe save himself as well. |
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The Chapel St. Perilous by Michael Rands Believing the universe is sending him secret signs, Marcel Swart puts his meagre savings into a high-leverage investment. Overnight, Marcel becomes a millionaire, but these winnings come at a great costâsuch as the demon that seems to be following him, leaving carnage in its wake. In a quest to set himself right with the universe, Marcel travels cross-country, finding himself in a small town in Alabama, rife with political tension surrounding a mysterious cult and a sheriff's election that may very well decide the fate of the country. Marcel struggles to uncover the secrets of the cult, the town, and the world itselfâall while facing criminal charges for a murder he can't remember committing. Part South Gothic, part metaphysical noir, with a tough of magic realism and a dash of dark comedy, the Chapel St. Perilous dares the reader to take a chance with fate. |
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Bestow the Darkness by Amanda Hocking BESTOW THE DARKNESS is a brooding gothic romance set in the rugged forest of 1890s Michigan. Emiliath lives in a cloistered religious sect with her sisters and brothers, as she has for over twenty-one years. Her life is stable and quiet, but she has begun to feel a longing for something more. When tragedy hits close to home, she begins to connect with a handsome stranger from the city, Trent. But her quiet life is far more sinister than it seems, and Trent has his own secrets. On top of that, a hungry beast is lurking in the forest, and it might be the end of everything Emiliath has ever known. |
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Shards of Venus by Tjalara Draper Shifting by the light of Venus... Still reeling from the vicious murder of her best friend, Violet Chambers is haunted by the "faceless" man with the neck tattoo who kidnapped her. Trying to move on is a daily struggle for the girl who spent most of her life in foster care. But when she meets Nathan, the detective who found her at her best friend's crime scene, things begin to look more promising. Violet finally finds sanctuary for the first time in her life. Hellbent on protecting her, Nathan Delano, a mysterious shape-shifting Veniri, will do anything he can for Violet. All he has to do is ensure Violet's world never collides with the shifter world. But even he can't stop the enemy determined to destroy her and anyone she gets close to. Suddenly, Violet doesn't know who she can trust. With a pact broken and her safety on the line, will Violet save herself before it's too late? |
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Golem by P.D. Alleva A haunting tale of suspense, loss, isolation, contempt, and fear. On November 1, 1951, war hero John Ashton was promoted to detective. His first assignment: find the district attorneyâs missing daughter. But his only lead is Alena Francon, a high society sculptor and socialite committed to Bellevueâs psychiatric facility. Alena has a story for the new detective. A story so outlandish John Ashton refuses to heed the warning. Alena admits to incarnating Golem, a demonic force, into her statue. A devil so profound heâs infiltrated every part of New Yorkâs infrastructure. Even worse, he uses children to serve as bodily hosts for his demonic army, unleashing a horde of devils into our world. When Alenaâs confidant, Annette Flemming, confirms the existence of Golem, John is sent on a collision course where fate and destiny spiral into peril, and the future of the human race hangs in the balance. The Devil Is In The Details! Fans of The Silence of the Lambs, Clive Barker, John Connolly, old Stephen King, and Anne Rice will be fascinated by this edge of your seat psychological horror thriller with a story that tears out the heart of humanity and throws it on a slab to be feasted on. |
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Where Blood Runs Gold by A.C. Cross Sheriff Errol Thorpeâs life is chaotic, brutal, and above all, solitary. After an unimaginable loss years ago, all he feels is the compulsion to seek vengeance. But when a vulnerable family arrives in town, facing an ugly future, he is pulled headfirst into a web of violence, secrets, and things he never imagined. In search of truth and answers, Thorpe finds himself battling deadly flesh-eating Dust, acidic golden blood, and the political designs of powerful people â all the while learning how to be a person again. When Dust rises in San Dios, people hide indoors. When Sheriff Thorpe arrives, people run. |
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Bang to Begin by Jethro Weyman Reality is Relative. There is no such thing as universal truth. But lies are always lies. From auctions to assassinations, from cosmos to subconscious mind, the roots feeding into these short stories start fine, but thicken and tangle as they grow deeper. Follow these wayward souls through their darkest moments, each beginning with a bang and each trying desperately to avoid ending with the same. A metaphysical, visionary exploration of the human psyche and all that it means to be real - discussed via an anthology with a difference. |
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Dan Noble is an old Vampire, perhaps the oldest in the world. One night on the prowl, he is inexplicably drawn to a plain-looking university student. But Nina Wright is not as boring as she seems: she meets Dan's charm with the allure of her own, and the two share an unforgettable night. When Dan tries and fails to compel Nina to forget their encounter, he suspects that she is no ordinary human. And when a gang of bloodthirsty vampires singles her out for a vicious kidnapping, he realizes the girl he has fallen head over heels for may very well be a Human Immortal, a being of awesome power. Nina will be able to reclaim her supernatural gifts if she chooses a mate of her own lineage, Nature's Immortals: a Dragon, Were, or Fae. As a Vampire, Dan would only stand in the way of her destiny. Will he find the courage to give up his true love just as soon as he has found her? |
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Ablem's Sanctuary by Briar Esterline Right outside the small town of Burriston, Pennsylvania is Ablemâs Sanctuary: a luxurious inn with freshly-painted walls, sparkling windows, and a manicured apple orchard all run by the reclusive Ablem family; itâs a place straight from a fairytale. Then people start going missing in the late summer of 1995, vanishing without a trace and returning... different. Stanley Dolmen has his own problems: he's still reeling from his motherâs sudden death and an uncontrollable power awakening within him. But when his path crosses with the Ablems, he soon finds himself drawn into their world of wealth, secrecy, and the affection heâs been starved of in his own family. However, it seems to come with a hefty price. He begins to question their intentions when his world descends into terror, his family is caught in the crosshairs of dangerous people, and a supernatural force is growing wrathful in the surrounding woods. With the help of the outcasts in his neighborhood, he is forced to decide whether to believe the Ablem's checkered past or have the rest of the town pay the ultimate price for his mistakes. |