Books Tagged With author - american

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Summary: Magical Realism. Shamanism. Post-apocalyptic survival. Coming of age. Found Family. All of that and more in a short adventure in future Oregon after the great Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquakes have ravaged the west. Meet Rodney, a seven year old boy who can see the spirits of the dead. Meet Justin, a mostly-absent father who still wishes the best for his son. Meet AJ, the bridge between them and commander of the militia forces sent to liberate the community of Sutherlin from their evil overlords. Rodney first sees the spirit of a recently departed soul when he is only seven. He sees two of them in only a couple weeks. And they tell him things. Things his community are having difficulty believing. So he tells them secrets. Secrets that those spirits shared with him. When he's 17, another spirit helps Rodney and his militia patrol survive an ambush. Things build from there with an expedition to a ravaged community resulting in a short war to liberate them. Spirits, haunts, and otherworldly guides work with Rodney to rescue a community. Rodney becomes The First Knight Shaman.

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Summary: Emma got the house in the divorce. She didn’t know it came with a sleeping vampire. Emma looks forward to the biggest challenge of her career as an art conservator - restoring her newly acquired shabby Victorian home to its former glory. She didn’t plan on the upgrades including a panicked vampire in her attic. The bite on her neck proves he’s a danger, but she can’t stop thinking about how good it made her feel. Micah’s not sure who’s the bigger threat - his sire or the woman trying to stake him with an umbrella. Micah only planned to sleep for fifty years to break the mental bond with the abusive vampire who sired him. Instead, he was unconscious for over a century and woke to a changed world. Giant crafts speed through the sky, buildings stretch to the clouds, and a strange woman is living in his home. His mortal friend is long dead and his connection to his sire is still intact. It’s only a matter of time before Vanessa finds Micah.  Can Emma help him navigate this modern age while Micah attempts to break his bond? Coauthored with Truly Bellamy

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Summary: A storm is coming ... One year has passed since the unpopular second Diamond Purge began. When the trains in Bridges mysteriously stop running, tensions among the populace rise to the point that the other three Families decide something must be done. Private investigator Jacqueline Spadros gets an unusual request: mediate with Cesare Diamond so that Inventors from all Four Families may meet to find a solution to the crisis. But Jacqui has more pressing problems. Her best friend is dying, she has a missing-persons case that she can't seem to solve, and her teenage sister-in-law is out of control. When her lawyer blackmails her for the enormous amount she owes him, Jacqui does something no one would ever have expected.

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Summary: Constance is a wild, stubborn young girl growing up poor in a small industrial town in the late 1800's. Beneath her thread-worn exterior beats the heart of a dreamer and a wordsmith. But at age twelve, she’s orphaned. Running away to join the circus—like kids do in adventure books—seems like such a brilliant idea… or is it?

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Summary: In post-apocalyptic Oregon, a forest paradise is surrounded by lands gutted from corporate greed. One tribe holds the hope of a new future for mankind. One young man becomes paramount in returning human spirituality to a hostile world. But first, he must find himself. Embedded in this culmination of an adventure trilogy that spans the life of a boy transitioning into a powerful man, find a love story that spans more than a lifetime is revealed. Find a path of redemption for a lost soul. Join kindred spirits as Jamari is joined by Rodney, the First Knight Shaman; Peter, the Second Knight Shaman; Terry, the Third Knight Shaman; and the Sophia Shaman as they discover and investigate a new portal into the Other Worlds of shamanic lore. When Jamari's wandering spirit is called back into the mortal realm from a near disastrous loss to godhood in the Upper World, does he resent what he's lost, or does he build on what he's learned? Wait, back to the mortal realm? When did he leave? THAT's the story!

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Summary: Enjoy the next chapter in this dark, psychological, steam-powered future mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Patricia Loofbourrow. Recovering from the tremendous losses she's suffered in our last chapter, private eye and mafia wife Jacqueline Spadros gets a new case from an unlikely source: her mobster husband. But when a mutual friend goes missing, Jacqui and her husband must join forces on a case which quickly turns deadly.

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Summary: The Fright Factory is here to help you as you labor in the control room, on the assembly line, or mixing the chemicals of inspiration and imagination in huge vats that give off dark and eerie vapors. Here you'll find guidance in drawing up the blueprints of your story along with a selection of tools to help you customize your design. The elements of horror include the setting, the tingle of suspense building into genuine fear, and of course the Monster. Those are the basics. From there horror can become ghost stories, tales of suspense, splatter and/or gross-out horror, and what might be called the O. Henry approach (twist endings). Cross-genre writing mixes in police procedurals, P.I. stories, and medical horror. Romance with monsters has become popular. You can also throw in the weird western, the Elder Gods, and Joe R. Lansdale - a category unto himself. Whether you're telling a weird tale in the classic tradition of Clark Ashton Smith or creating cutting edge steampunk frights, the long and venerable history of the horror story has also spawned a set of clichés you'll want to avoid. Now the whistle shrieks, signalling the beginning of a new shift. Time to set the machinery of the factory in motion as we explore the art and craft of building better horror.

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Summary: Captured! It didn’t matter that Mercy found a cure for lycanthropy or fended off bloodthirsty werewolves in Crowsmirth. Oscar the hunter still found her. Finding herself in a place she never wanted to return to again, her captor insists she play a twisted game. Oscar wants to be the father she never had, and Mercy his doting daughter. Refusal is not an option. Plotting to escape while playing along is dangerous, but Mercy is determined to get home. She must unravel the mystery of her parents’ past and conceal her growing fury if she hopes to see her friends again.   Book 4 of The Wolves of Kanta series

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Summary: A guard and a thief. What could go wrong? Aik has fallen hopelessly in love with his best friend. But Raven's a thief, which makes things … complicated. Oh, and Raven has just been kidnapped by a dragon. Now Aik is off on a quest of his own, to hunt down the foul beast and make them give back his … friend? Lover? Soulmate? The whole not-knowing thing just makes everything harder. Meanwhile, the world of Tharassas is falling apart, besieged by earthquakes, floods, and strange creatures no one has ever seen before. Aik's ex, Silya has gone back to Gullton to try to save her people as the Hencha Queen, and Aik's stuck in a caravan with her mother and a damnable magical gauntlet that won't let him be. He has to find Raven, before it’s too late. Things were messy before … but now they're much, much worse.

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Summary: The first rule of adventuring: don't split the party. The Dungeon Crawlers should know better. While they've only been trapped in the cursed role playing game they now call home for a short time, most of the party are well-versed in tabletop gaming. Whether in the real world or trapped in a fantasy one, you just don't split the party. Which is why, when Eriko, the group's rogue, decides to let curiosity get the better of her and run off on her own, everyone knows nothing good will come of it. And "no good will come of it" means a pack of feral cannibalistic undead, led by an ancient evil, who takes a special interest in the group's talented, if ridiculous, bard, Tobias. Joined by a shadowy creature whose goals coincide with their own, the rest of the group--Morgan the cleric, Jack the ranger, Cordelia the barbarian, and Tamsin the mage--find that to survive, and rescue their friends, they're going to have to split the party even further. Are they clever enough to get away from a pack of ravenous ghouls alive, or will this be the Total Party Kill they've dreaded since they first arrived in this game world? The Ghoul Slayer's Guide is the third novella in the The Dungeon Crawlers series. Find their earlier adventures in the Players Guide to Dungeon Crawling and the Dungeoneer's Bestiary.

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Summary: Book 3 of the Doorway to Magic trilogy.

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Summary: The Great Forest and Other Love Stories  is a collection of short stories, with various settings, including an alien planet, an imaginary country, and places in Virginia, and the end of the world. These gay love stories explore the growth of relationships, and the negotiations of various complications and challenges.

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Summary: THE AWARD-WINNING SPACE OPERA SERIES NOW AVAILABLE IN ONE VOLUME! A GALACTIC WAR THAT PITS HUMANITY AGAINST ITSELF! Included: A CROWD OF STARS -- Earth Alliance starship captain Jon Hendrik barely escapes death at the hands of the Star Rebellion, and vows to defeat it! Meanwhile, Rachel Adero, a young woman scarred by poverty, joins the Star Rebellion to fight for the destruction of the Alliance! That's as the ruler known only as the Eminence is pulling the strings on both sides of the conflict! WINNER OF THE 2016 IMADJINN AWARD FOR BEST SF NOVEL! THE FALLEN SUN -- Ambassador Jon Hendrik works to keep dueling political factions from re-igniting The Great Human War! When he and his lover Niva Tessler are kidnapped and Niva's family members are placed in danger, the conflict becomes all too personal! THE UNMOVING STARS -- In the midst of The Great Human War, a sneak attack leaves the starship Shen Kuo with half its crew dead and the ship itself crippled and adrift thousands of light-years from home. Now, with Captain Kiernan Taylor facing a return journey that could take decades, he must seek out a "shortcut" home even as he perceives the first glimmerings of a mutiny! WINNER OF THE 2018 IMADJINN AWARD FOR BEST SF NOVEL!

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Summary: Dwyn is a young man in the small, isolated northern town of Manicouga, son of the Minstor, and betrothed to marry the beautiful Kessa in a few weeks. Mael is shepherding the remains of his own people from Land’s End, a village farther north, chased out by a terrible storm that destroyed the town. Both are trying to find their way in a post-apocalyptic world. When they meet, their love may change the course of history.

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Summary: I’ve confronted the half-blood mercenary who has what I need to find Jael, wherever she may be. Neither of us will leave until we reach a bargain which yields what we most desire. The Dragonchild has brought me into a city he knows to its foundations, where I am at a disadvantage. My devout Deathwalker may be content to wait for the coming war between Manalar and the Ma’ab, secure in his value to a newly revealed influence in the conflict, but my position seems neither secure nor desirable to anyone but me. I must dig deeper into the motives of all involved, including my own, to convince the Guild's leaders to lend me their vast knowledge and far reach within strangely familiar plots. I have to succeed for Jael’s sake, for she is my only sister left. In The Guild’s Design, outcasts from the Deepearth dare to reveal resolute hopes waiting within quiet hearts. This time and opportunity must not pass them by, lest the promise of war rend their chances for a future beyond the next conflict. Sister Seekers is dark epic fantasy for adults with an ever-broadening scope. The saga genre-hops a bit so things never get stale. Found Family is a core theme throughout. Perfect for fans of entwined plots, challenging themes, immersive worldbuilding, and elements of erotic horror. Sexuality and inner conflict play into character growth with nuanced intrigue, intense action, and fantastical magic.

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Summary: Get Your Bad-Ass On! The rumble of a Harley... The gleam of black leather... The shine of polished chrome... The freedom of the open road.... Motorcycles meet magic and mayhem as Lance Cosain, the halfling leader of The Wild Hunt MC, protects his turf and his people from attacks ordered by Dair na Scath, the high king of the fae. Holding his own against rogue fae, redcaps, and pissed-off road gremlins, all Lance wants to do is settle down with his lady. Instead he goes toe-to-toe with the high king’s champion over an ancient dagger and his claim to the throne. Who will triumph? The king of the road or the king of the realm? Either way, the Hunt is on!

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Summary: Farahnaz Rahnema has spent her life in the shadows of Emari’s grand Citadel, serving the powerful queen, theMashyana, as her most loyal Hand. With the Talent of metallurgy, Farah can bend and control metal, making her a skilled thief and assassin, tasked with retrieving ancient relics of unimaginable power for the queen. She believes in the queen’s vision for a restored kingdom, one relic at a time. When a mysterious girl named Pari, the Voice of the gods, insists that Farah must join forces with Yasher—a charming, reckless card shark who thrives on luck—Farah’s world starts to unravel. Yasher has always relied on his quick wits and strange luck to survive, avoiding deep ties to anyone or anything. But when he crosses paths with Farah, he’s thrust into a perilous mission to recover relics that could reshape Emari’s future.  As they navigate a kingdom filled with hidden truths, ancient secrets, and ever-shifting alliances, Farah begins to question the queen she serves and the kingdom’s growing corruption. With her loyalty tested and Yasher’s own hidden motives in play, Farah must decide: is Mashyana truly Emari’s savior, or is something darker at play? In The Hand of Mashyana, power, betrayal, and ancient relics collide, with a kingdom’s fate hanging in the balance. Perfect for fans of epic fantasy, thrilling heists, and slow-burn romance, The Hand of Mashyana is the first book in the sweeping saga where destiny, power, and loyalty collide.

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Summary: It’s the summer of 1971, and all ten-year-old Janina Starcevich wants to do is spend the seemingly endless warm days riding her bicycle, climbing trees, and catching frogs in the pond in her back yard. But when a young drifter named Justin Lazarus walks into the hardware store owned by her next-door neighbor, Kathy Christian, a series of events are set in motion that will change them all forever. Justin is a melding of opposites—charming but odd, friendly but frightening, seemingly ordinary but at the same time deeply strange. Kathy compares him to an optical illusion before you’ve figured it out. Something’s wrong, but it’s impossible to say exactly what. The events of that sweltering summer turn the little village of Guildford, New York upside down. So why, twenty-five years later, can Janina—now happily married, with three children of her own—barely remember what happened? A chance mention at work starts her on an obsessive quest to reconstruct how the tragedy in 1971 unfolded, and to try to figure out what had been her role in it. The more she uncovers, the more puzzling and disturbing it becomes—an enigma that has lain buried for two and a half decades, centering around one single question: Who was Justin Lazarus?

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Summary: Cmd. Boone knows he works for the bad guy. He knows the warlord wants to end humankind. And he knows his treachery—hiding the warlord's rival—means death. His plan: escape with the warlord's weapon. But his superiors are catching on, and the rival fleet isn't as receptive as he'd hoped. And worse: the weapon has a reckless agenda of her own. Multi-award winning space opera. Full of page-turning action, epic space battles, twists & biological magic.

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Summary: Every town has a mystery. The Crimshaw family were once the caretakers of the prestigious Strathmore Estate. After the great blizzard of 1868, the townspeople found Elizabeth Crimshaw’s body hanging from the banister. Her young son and husband were declared missing and never found.  Every town has a legend. The locals say they have seen Elizabeth’s ghost and that the manor is haunted. Others claim to have heard a woman’s scream and have witnessed strange lights and shadow people.   Some mysteries are better left unsolved. What really happened to the promising Crimshaw family? Are the rumors surrounding the family true? Intent on investigating these claims, Stephen Davenport, adjunct professor of Paranormal Studies at Strathmore University, along with students from the school’s paranormal investigations club begin a weekend investigation. What they find confirms their beliefs in the paranormal—and challenges them to simply stay alive.