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Summertime, and the cities are busy—thirty urban fantasies hit the shelves in August, including new installments in long-running series by Chloe Neill (Chicagoland Vampires), Thomas Sniegoski (Remy Chandler), Shannon Delany (13 to Life), Kat Richardson (Grey Walker), Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin), Richard Kadrey (Sandman Slim), Jeanne C. Stein (Anna Strong), and Caitlin Kittredge (Black London). New series also kick off by authors Michelle Rowen, Kevin J. Anderson, and Angie Fox.

Fiction Affliction details releases in science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and “genre-benders.” Keep track of them all here.

WEEK ONE

Nevermore:  The Final Maximum Ride Adventure (Maximum Ride #8), by James Patterson (August 6, Little, Brown and Company)

Are you ready for the final chapter? Are you ready for the ultimate flight? Because this is one last chance for Max, Fang, Angel, Iggy, Nudge and Gazzy before it all ends. One last incredible, explosive adventure with an astonishing ending that no one could have seen coming. Young Adult.

A Wolf at the Door (Jesse James Dawson #3), by K.A. Stewart (August 7, ROC)

Jesse James Dawson was once an ordinary man until he discovered that demons were real, and fighting them meant putting his own soul on the line. His new case is a beauty: Gretchen Keene, a Hollywood starlet who’s become an unwitting catalyst in an all-out demon war. It’s not her soul Jesse needs to protect, but the two-hundred-and-seventy-six others she’s carting around—all the souls sold to spend just one night with the blonde bombshell. That’s a lot of baggage, although it might explain her meteoric rise to fame. And it’s all up for grabs by the demon world.

Biting Cold (Chicagoland Vampires #6), by Chloe Neill (August 7, NAL)

Turned into a vampire against her will, twenty-eight-year-old Merit found her way into the dark circle of Chicago’s vampire underground, where she learned there was more to supernaturals than met the eye—and more supernaturals than the public ever imagined. And not all the secrets she learned were for sharing—among humans or inhumans.

Blood and Silver  (Deacon Chalk:  Occult Bounty-Hunter #2), by James R. Tuck (August 7, Kensington)

Deacon Chalk normally has no trouble telling innocent victims from real monsters. So protecting an abused pregnant were-dog is a no-brainer…until a vicious lycanthrope leader and his brotherhood target Deacon, other shape-shifters, and any humans in their way. Suddenly, Deacon is outnumbered, outgunned, and unsure who—or what—to trust. The only edge he has left is a weapon hungry for his soul and his most savage impulses. And using it will exact a price even this hell-raising hunter fears to pay.

Blood Bath and Beyond (An Immortality Bites Mystery #1), by Michelle Rowen (August 7, Signet)

Sarah Dearly is adjusting to life as a fledgling vampire, satisfying her cravings at vampire-friendly blood banks. But when her fiancé Thierry takes a job with the Ring —the secret council in charge of keeping vampires in line—Sarah’s about to get more than a taste of danger.  Being engaged to a centuries-old master vampire can be challenging—especially when he takes a job with the Ring. Thierry’s in for fifty years of nonstop travel and deadly risk. It’s enough to make any woman reconsider the wedding.  Any woman except Sarah, that is.

Blood Fever (The Watchers #3), by Veronica Wolff (August 7, NAL)

It’s the start of the fall semester, and a new crop of Acari and Trainees have descended on the Isle of Night. Watcher training has intensified, and Drew has a new roommate named Mei-Ling. But Mei-Ling harbors a dangerous secret that drove the vampires to abduct her against her will. Drew knows she shouldn’t get involved, but she can’t seem to leave her roommate to fend for herself.

Dying for You, by MaryJanice Davidson (August 7, Berkley)

Collected in this anthology of death-defying passion are four of MaryJanice Davidson’s wildest novellas of paranormal romance, featuring an amorous ghost, a witch and witch-hunter, a love-struck psychic, and a vampire and a werewolf.

Enchanting Lily, by Anjali Banerjee (August 7, Berkley)

Into the quaint town of Fairport on Shelter Island comes Lily Byrne, a young widow who is not so much running from the old but rather edging toward something new and indefinable. Here in the peaceful Pacific Northwest, newly engaged in her vintage clothing boutique, she hides from the world. But Lily knows that solitude can’t sustain her forever. Somehow, somewhere, something’s got to give. It does, with the unexpected arrival of an exuberant little cat.

Girl of Nightmares (Anna #2), by Kendare Blake (August 7, Tor)

It’s been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can’t move on. His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead. He knows they’re right, but in Cas’s eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with. Now he’s seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he’s asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong. These aren’t just daydreams.

In the House of the Wicked (Remy Chandler #5), by Thomas E. Sniegoski (August 7, Roc)

PI Remy Chandler has always been able to rely on his angelic powers when the situation called for it. But now his human and angelic natures are sharing the same space, and Remy can feel himself becoming more and more volatile. Then Ashlie Berg, a young woman who is like a daughter to him, vanishes without a trace. A once-formidable sorcerer has taken her. The man wants vengeance against those he believes wronged him—and Remy will be the instrument of his wrath—or Ashlie will most certainly die.

Precinct 13, by Tate Hallaway (August 7, Berkley Trade)

Recent college grad Alex Conner is thrilled to have landed a job as the Hughes County coroner/medical examiner in Pierre, South Dakota. But when her first day on the job ends with a missing corpse, Alex starts to wonder if she would have been better off collecting unemployment…When the cops made some cryptic comments about being careful with the body they brought in, Alex just thought the boys in blue were messing with her. That is, until something freaky happens that no amount of med school could have prepared her for. By the time Alex gets herself together, the body has disappeared and the other residents of the morgue start talking her ear off.

Rivals and Retribution (13 to Life #5), by Shannon Delany (August 7, St. Martin’s Griffin)

Pietr and Jessie will find themselves caught in a pack war with a new breed of werewolves. Jessie Gillmansen is in trouble again and she’s in for the fight of her life—and Pietr’s. With Marlaena’s dangerous wolf pack putting more pressure on the Rusakova family, change is inevitable and when it comes, it brings a heavy price that forces Alexi into action to save his youngest brother’s heart, head and life.

Seawitch (Greywalker #7), by Kat Richardson (August 7, Roc)

A quarter century ago, the Seawitch cruised away from her dock and disappeared with everyone on board. Now, the boat has mysteriously returned to her old berth in Seattle and the insurance company has hired Harper to find out what happened.

Two Weeks’ Notice (Revivalist #2), by Rachel Caine (August 7, Roc)

After dying and being revived with the experimental drug Returne, Bryn Davis is theoretically free to live her unlife—with regular doses to keep her going. But Bryn knows that the government has every intention of keeping a tight lid on Pharmadene’s life-altering discovery, no matter the cost. And when some of the members of a support group for Returne addicts suddenly disappear, Bryn begins to wonder if the government is methodically removing a threat to their security, or if some unknown enemy has decided to run the zombies into the ground.

Wake (Waterson #1), by Amanda Hocking (August 7, St. Martin’s Griffin)

Gemma seems to have it all—she’s carefree, pretty, and falling in love with Alex, the boy next door. He’s always been just a friend, but this summer they’ve taken their relationship to the next level, and now there’s no going back. Then one night, Gemma’s ordinary life changes forever. She’s taking a late night swim under the stars when she finds Penn, Lexi and Thea partying on the cove. They invite her to join them, and the next morning she wakes up on the beach feeling groggy and sick, knowing something is different.

 

WEEK TWO

Bullettime, by Nick Mamatas (August 14, ChiZine)

David Holbrook is a scrawny kid, the victim of bullies, and the neglected son of insane parents. David Holbrook is the Kallis Episkipos, a vicious murderer turned imprisoned leader of a death cult dedicated to Eris, the Hellenic goddess of discord. David Holbrook never killed anyone, and lives a lonely and luckless existence with his aging mother in a tumbledown New Jersey town. Caught between finger and trigger, David is given three chances to decide his fate as he is compelled to live and relive all his potential existences, guided only by the dark wisdom found in a bottle of cough syrup.

Suck It Up and Die (Suck It Up #2), by Brian Meehl (August 14, Delacorte)

All Morning McCobb wants is to complete his training at the NY Fire Academy and to stay head over heels in love with Portia for as long as the chronology-crossed lovers can, given that she’s now eighteen and he’s stalled at sixteen. It’s nearly the first anniversary of American Out Day, the historic day on which the Leaguer Vampires of America began going mainstream without going bloodstream on their fellow mortal citizens. The tension between Morning’s wish for a simple, out of the spotlight life, and Portia’s cinematic obsession with historic events escalates to the breaking point when a super-sinister vampire rises from the grave with a powerful thirst, for revenge. Young Adult.

Touched, by Cyn Balog (August 14, Delacorte)

Nick Cross always listens to the voice in his head. Because if he doesn’t things can go really, really wrong. Like the day he decided to go off script and saved a girl from being run over and let another one drown. Trying to change the future doesn’t work. But this summer at the Jersey Shore, something’s about to happen that Nick never could have predicted. He meets a girl named Taryn and finds out about the Book of Touch. Now the path that he thought he was on begins to shift and there’s no way to stop things from happening. Or is there?

The Treachery of Beautiful Things, by Ruth Frances Long (August 16, Dial)

The trees swallowed her brother whole, and Jenny was there to see it. Now seventeen, she revisits the woods where Tom was taken, resolving to say good-bye at last. Instead, she’s lured into the trees, where she finds strange and dangerous creatures who seem to consider her the threat. Among them is Jack, mercurial and magnetic, with secrets of his own. Determined to find her brother, with or without Jack’s help, Jenny struggles to navigate a faerie world where stunning beauty masks some of the most treacherous evils, and she’s faced with a choice between salvation or sacrifice—and not just her own. Young Adult.

 

WEEK THREE

Ghost Key, by Trish J. Macgregor (August 21, Tor)

Dominica and her tribe of hungry ghosts were driven from Esperanza, that magical city high in the Andes, but they were not all destroyed. As a last devastating blow against Tess Livingston, Dominica seized Tess’s niece Maddie as a host, and fled to the United States. The evil bruja has settled in a small resort town in Florida and is cementing her power over a new tribe of unquiet dead. But she will not be able to take over Cedar Key, not without arousing the suspicion of the U.S. government. And not without attracting the attention of Wayra, her oldest lover and most bitter enemy.

Widow’s Web (Elemental Assassin #7), by Jennifer Estep (August 21, Pocket)

Once an assassin, always an assassin. So much for being plain old Gin Blanco. With every lowlife in Ashland gunning for me, I don’t need another problem, but a new one has come to town. Salina might seem like a sweet Southern belle, but she’s really a dangerous enemy whose water elemental magic can go head-to-head with my own Ice and Stone power. Salina also has an intimate history with my lover, Owen Grayson, and now that she’s back in town, she thinks he’s hers for the taking.

 

WEEK FOUR

Death Warmed Over (Dan Shamble, Zombie PI #1), by Kevin J. Anderson (August 28, Kensington)

Ever since The Big Uneasy unleashed vampires, werewolves, and other undead denizens on the world, it’s been hell being a detective—especially for zombie P.I. Dan Chambeaux. Taking on the creepiest of cases in the Unnatural Quarter with a human lawyer for a partner and a ghost for a girlfriend, Chambeaux redefines “dead on arrival.” But just because he was murdered doesn’t mean he’d leave his clients in the lurch.

Devil Said Bang (Sandman Slim #4), by Richard Kadrey (August 28, Harper Voyager)

Getting out of hell is just the beginning. What do you do after you’ve escaped Hell, gone back, uncovered the true nature of God, and then managed to become the new Lucifer? Well, if you’re James Stark, you have to figure out how to run Hell while also trying to get back out of it again. Plus there’s the small matter of surviving.

Fair Game (Guardian #3), by Taylor Keating (August 28, Tor)

Video-game designer River Weston has seen her world torn apart. The streets of Earth have filled with looting, sickness, and fighting, but River knows that she is in a unique position to help. Drawing on her Fae magic, she creates a computer-generated program called Hollow Man, designed to protect humans during battle.

Haunted (Anna Strong Chronicles #8), by Jeanne C. Stein (August 28, Ace)

Anna Strong, kick-ass bounty hunter and vampire, has made some enemies in her time. But it’s not just her old foes she should be worried about.  Anna’s shape-shifting friend, Culebra, finally opens up to her about his life before owning Beso de la Muerte, a bar catering to supernatural clientele. As if summoned by the conversation, Culebra’s past stumbles into his bar in the form of an old buddy cashing in on a favor.

Immortally Yours (Monster MASH #1), by Angie Fox (August 28, St. Martin’s)

No one patches up the incoming wounded like Dr. Petra Robichaud. Recruited by the gods for her uncanny medical skills, she’s the best M*A*S*H surgeon in the army. Along with a nosy guard sphinx, vegetarian werewolf, and other paranormal paramedics, she bandages soldiers who are built like Greek gods (literally). But when one sexy immortal ends up on her operating table—half dead and totally to-die-for—Petra’s afraid she’ll lose her patient and her heart.

Mockingbird (Miriam Black #2), by Chuck Wendig (August 28, Angry Robot)

Miriam is trying. Really, she is.  But this whole “settling down thing” that Louis has going for her just isn’t working out. She lives on Long Beach Island all year around. Her home is a run-down double-wide trailer. She works at a grocery store as a check-out girl. And her relationship with Louis, who’s on the road half the time in his truck, is subject to the piss and vinegar Miriam brings to everything she does.

Soul Trade (Black London #5), by Caitlin Kittredge (August 28, St. Martin’s)

The crow-mage Jack Winter returns to crash a secret gathering of ghost hunters, soul stealers, and other uninvited guests, both dead and alive. Normally, Pete Caldecott stays far away from magical secret societies. But ever since her partner and boyfriend Jack Winter stopped a primordial demon from ripping into our world, every ghost, demon, and mage in London has been wide awake and hungry.  And the magical society in question needs their help putting things right. 

Spark (Elementals #2), by Brigid Kemmerer (August 28, Kensington)

Sometimes he can even control it. And sometimes he can’t. Like the fire that killed his parents. Gabriel has always had his brothers to rely on, especially his twin, Nick. But when an arsonist starts wreaking havoc on their town, all the signs point to Gabriel. Only he’s not doing it.

Zeuglodon, by James P. Blaylock (August 31, Subterranean)

A skeletal hand clutching an iron key lies hidden within a mermaid’s wooden sarcophagus; a hand-drawn map is stolen from beneath the floorboards an old museum; an eccentric sleeping inventor dreams of a passage to the center of the hollow earth, and by dreaming of the passage, brings it into being.


Author Suzanne Johnson is a book geek with a fondness for a good dystopia. Royal Street, the first in her Sentinels of New Orleans series, is set in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina. Find Suzanne on Twitter

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Suzanne Johnson

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Urban fantasy author with a new series, set in immediate post-Katrina New Orleans, starting with ROYAL STREET on April 10, 2012, from Tor Books. Urban fantasy author with a new series, set in immediate post-Katrina New Orleans, starting with ROYAL STREET on April 10, 2012, from Tor Books.
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