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Books Fiction Affliction

Fiction Affliction: December Releases in Urban Fantasy

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Published on November 29, 2012

Fiction Affliction: December Releases in Urban Fantasy
Fiction Affliction: December Releases in Urban Fantasy

The preternaturals are laying low this month, with only a dozen new urban fantasies hitting the shelves after a busy fall. Still, you’ll find series additions from Tami Dane, Robin D. Owens, Diana Pharaoh Francis, Elle Jasper, and Diana Rowland, and new series starts from Leigh Evans and Alexa Egan.

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

Note: All title summaries are taken and/or summarized from copy provided by the publisher.

 

WEEK ONE

Blood of Dawn (Sloan Skye #3), by Tami Dane (December 4, Kensington)

For brilliant paranormal profiler Sloan Skye, a reluctant trip into her past will bring her face to face with a killer who shouldn’t exist. Being a skeptic is somehow making Sloan Skye one of the best profilers in the FBI’s new Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit. Her so-called love life isn’t any less tangled, but she’s beginning to believe she’s found a place where her uber-geek smarts and her more out-there methods fit perfectly. Unfortunately, all the incredible things she’s seen can’t prepare Sloan for the ultimate horror show. Someone, or some thing, is draining blood out of local teenage girls while they sleep. And the only way Sloan can solve the case is to push past her training and surrender to powers beyond her formidable logic to root out one very elusive killer.

 

WEEK TWO

No new releases.

 

WEEK THREE

Deadly Little Lessons (Touch #5), by Laurie Faria Stolarz (December 18, Hyperion)

Young Adult. Camelia Hammond’s trying junior year of high school is finally over, but her troubles aren’t. After she discovers a painful truth about her family, she escapes to a summer arts program in Rhode Island. Determined to put family, and boyfriend, drama behind her, she throws herself into her artwork. At the arts school, she gets caught up in the case of Sasha Beckerman, a local girl who is missing. Even though all signs suggest that the teen ran away, Camelia senses otherwise. Eager to help the girl, she launches her own investigation. She finds a blog by someone named Neal Moche, a psychometric who might have clues to Sasha’s whereabouts. But time is running out for Sasha, and Camelia will have to trust her powers if she’s to save her.

Enchanted Ever After (Mystic Circle #3), by Robin D. Owens (December 18, Luna)

Magic was just around the corner. Kiri Palger knew the difference between reality, new house, hard work and not too many friends, and fantasy, the fun she had playing online games. So when the chance to work for the best gaming company in the world came up, giving her a chance to merge business with pleasure, how could she not apply? Suddenly she has more friends, interesting neighbors and an intriguing love interest. But when the game begins to awaken something inside her, Kiri is shocked by the talents she never knew she had, and an evil she’d never imagined.Her nice, safe life is imploding around her, and if she takes up the mantle of her powers, it will never be the same again.

Indigo Awakening (The Hunted #1), by Jordan Dane (December 18, Harlequin Teen)

Young Adult. Voices told Lucas Darby to run. Voices no one else can hear. He’s warned his sister not to look for him, but Rayne refuses to let her troubled brother vanish on the streets of LA. In her desperate search, she meets Gabriel Stewart, a runaway with mysterious powers and far too many secrets. Rayne can’t explain her crazy need to trust the strange yet compelling boy, to touch him, to protect him even though he scares her. A fanatical church secretly hunts psychic kids, gifted “Indigo” teens feared to be the next evolution of mankind, for reasons only “the Believers” know. Now Rayne’s only hope is Gabe, who is haunted by an awakening power, a force darker than either of them imagine, that could doom them all.

The Darkest Minds, by Alexandra Bracken (December 18, Hyperion)

Young Adult. When Ruby wakes up on her tenth birthday, something about her has changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones. When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond. On the run, she’s desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her: East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems. There are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

 

WEEK FOUR

The Trouble with Fate (Mystwalker #1), by Leigh Evans (December 24, St. Martin’s)

My name is Hedi Peacock. I’m not human, and I have the pointy Fae ears and Were inner-bitch to prove it. My childhood was damn near perfect, all fur and magic until a werewolf killed my father and the Fae executed my mother. I’ve never forgiven either side. Especially Robson Trowbridge. He was a part-time werewolf, a full-time bastard, and the first and only boy I ever loved. Until he became the prime suspect in my father’s death. Today I’m a half-breed barista working at a fancy coffee house, living with my loopy Aunt Lou and a temperamental amulet named Merry. But when a pack of Weres decides to kidnap my aunt and force me to steal another amulet, the only one who can help me is the last person I ever thought I’d turn to: Robson Trowbridge.

Blood Winter (Horngate Witches #4), by Diana Pharaoh Francis (December 26, Pocket)

Winter is coming to Montana and Shadowblade warrior Max is expecting trouble. People are banding together, many flocking to the congregation of Sterling Savage, a fire-and-brimstone preacher. Unbeknownst to him, the “divine” voice he’s been hearing isn’t God but a demon that feeds on hate, death, and destruction. Max and her people at Horngate are all that stand in its way. Savage starts a war between his congregants and two other powerful gangs in the city. When he manages to capture Max’s niece, brother, and several teenagers from Horngate, Max tries to free them. Going undercover in the cult compound, Max swiftly realizes just how seductive Savage is. But courage, loyalty, and friendship are powerful forces, and Max doesn’t like to lose.

Blood-Kissed Sky (Darkness Before Dawn #2), by J.A. London (December 26, HarperTeen)

Young Adult. There’s nowhere left to hide. I thought vampires were our enemies, they controlled our lives, isolated our cities, and demanded our blood, until I met Victor. With Victor taking over as the new Lord Valentine, things were supposed to get better. Instead, they’re worse than ever. Day Walkers, a new breed of vampires who can walk in the sun, are terrorizing the city. Blood supplies are low, and if Victor’s vampires don’t get enough, they will become infected with the Thirst—a disease that will turn them into mindless killers. To stop it, I must journey across the desolate wasteland to the very place where the sickness began. I can only hope that the answers that await me are enough to save us all, before it’s too late.

Demon’s Curse (Imnada Brotherhood #1), by Alexa Egan (December 26, Pocket)

A rising star on the Covent Garden stage, Bianca Parrino believes she has everything she wants. When her close friend, Adam, is murdered, and Bianca is suspected in his death, she is unwittingly drawn into the search for his killer. A member of the mysterious race of shape-shifting Imnada and part of an elite military unit, Captain Mac Flannery gathered intelligence during the Napoleonic wars. As a result of a savage massacre, Mac and the men he served with are cursed. One of them has been found murdered, and Mac suspects the existence of the Imnada has been discovered. His only link to unearthing the truth is the actress who turns up at Adam’s funeral. Mac has more to contend with than Bianca’s overt mistrust. Because Adam’s killer is back, and Mac is next on his list.

Forbidden (Otherworld Stories #10.1 Novella), by Kelley Armstrong (December 28, Subterranean)

The team-spirit sign by the side of the highway seems a good omen to loner Morgan Walsh. Then he wakes naked in the woods, surrounded by wolf tracks and a ring of suspicious cops. The situation only gets worse when he’s bailed out by Alpha-elect Elena Michaels and Clayton Danvers, her terrifying enforcer and mate. Disappointed that such a promising young werewolf risked exposing them, Elena isn’t expecting anything from the pesky retrieval job except some much-needed alone time with Clay. Instead, she finds a different kind of evil stalking the streets and forests of Westwood, New York. Trapped in town by a snowstorm and sabotage, Elena, Clay and Morgan must find the mysterious threat before it sets its sights on them.

Black Fallen (Dark Ink Chronicles #4), by Elle Jasper (December 31, Signet)

There’s only one thing more lethal than a vampire. A Black Fallen. Rather, a fallen angel engulfed in the blackest of magic. Tattoo artist, Riley Poe, has changed. After surviving the bites of three potent Strigoi, she has acquired traits from each that parallel those of the most lethal of vampires. Her strength, speed, hearing are unmatched. She’s about to put those powers to good use. Riley, along with her guardian vampire, Eli Dupre, Riley’s brother, Seth Poe, and Eli’s brother, Phin Dupre, and Strigoi vampire Victorian Arcos agree to join Jake Andorra’s elite WUP team. Worldwide Unexplained Phenomenon takes cases too dangerous for humans to handle. There are unholy, lethal disturbances in the ancient city of Edinburgh, and Riley and the others accept the mission.

Touch of the Demon (Kara Gillian #5), by Diana Rowland (December 31, DAW)

Kara Gillian is in Deep Trouble. Kara is the prisoner of the demonic Lord Mzatal, but quickly discovers that she’s far more than a mere hostage. He has his own plans to use Kara and keep her from Rhyzkahl, the demonic lord she is sworn to serve. Intrigue and treachery run rampant amongst all lords, and Kara is hard pressed to keep her wits about her. Her abilities as a homicide detective are put to the test as she seeks the truth about FBI Agent Ryan Kristoff, Rhyzkahl, and herself. She soon discovers that she has her own history in the demon realm, one that goes back farther than she could have ever imagined. She’s going to need all the strength and tenacity she’s developed as a cop and a summoner, or the hell she endures may well last forever.


Urban fantasy author Suzanne Johnson is a book geek with a fondness for a good dystopia. River Road, the second in her Sentinels of New Orleans series, will be released on November 13. Find Suzanne on Twitter.

About the Author

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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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