The Qwillery

Happy Monday! There are 4 debuts this week: The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott; The Weak Spot by Lucie Elven; The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec; and A Flood of Posies by Tiffany Meuret. From formerly featured DAC Authors: A Song with Teeth (Los Nefilim 3) by T. Frohock; and The Velocity of Revolution by Marshall Ryan Maresca.

 

 

 

Debut novels are highlighted in blue. Novels, etc. by formerly featured DAC Authors are highlighted in green. February 9, 2021

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Skeleton Key	Piers Anthony	F/HU - Magic of Xanth 44
The Rain Heron	Robbie Arnott	LF/MR
Fireheart Tiger	Aliette De Bodard	F/RF
Smoke Bitten (h2mm)	Patricia Briggs	UF - Mercy Thompson 12
Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre (h2tp)	Max Brooks	H/SF/Sus
Monkey King: Journey to the West	Wu Cheng'en Julia Lovell (Ed & Tr)	HistF - A Penguin Classics Hardcover
Voidbreaker	David Dalglish	F - Keepers 3
The Moonsteel Crown	Stephen Deas	F - Dominion 1
The Weak Spot (D)	Lucie Elven	FairyT/FolkT/LM/STR/Psy
The Future Is Yours	Dan Frey	TechTh/Sus
A Song with Teeth	T. Frohock	HistF - Los Nefilim 3
The Repeater Book of the Occult: Tales from the Darkside	Tariq Goddard (Ed) Eugene Thacker (Ed)	H - Anthology
The Witch's Heart (D)	Genevieve Gornichec	FairyT/FolkT/LM/HistF/MR
Rafael	Laurell K. Hamilton	P/UF/H - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 28
The Love Proof	Madeleine Henry	CW
Of One Blood: or, The Hidden Self (ri)	Pauline Hopkins	H/Occ/Sup - Haunted Library Horror Classics Series
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 & The U.S.S Defiant Illustrated Handbook	Simon Hugo (Ed)	PerfArts/SF
The Absolute Book	Elizabeth Knox	F/CF/LF
Amid the Crowd of Stars	Stephen Leigh	SF/SE/AC
Share the Moon	Toni Logan	R/FR
The End of the Ocean (2tp)	Maja Lunde Diane Oatley (Tr)	LF
The Velocity of Revolution	Marshall Ryan Maresca	F/UF/RF
The Screaming Dead	Peter Mark May Richard Farren Barber	H
A Flood of Posies (D)	Tiffany Meuret	Sus/SF/AP/PA
Oona Out of Order (h2tp)	Margarita Montimore	CW/MR/SF/TT
The Age of Witches (h2tp)	Louisa Morgan	HistF/Hist/Occ/Sup
Rabbit Island	Elvira Navarro Christina MacSweeney (Tr)	SS/LF/Psy/MR
Engines of Oblivion	Karen Osborne	SF/SO/AC - The Memory War 2
The Fall of Crazy House (ri)	James Patterson Gabrielle Charbonnet	Sus/Dys/SF/AP/PA - Crazy House 2
The Town (h2tp)	Shaun Prescott	LF/STR/Occ/Sup
Good Citizens Need Not Fear: Stories	Maria Reva	LF/AN/Hist
Code Word Access	Alex Schuler Rolf Yngve	SF/HSF/Dys - Code Word 1
The Burning Girls	C. J. Tudor	Psy/Sus/H
The Monster, The Mermaid, And Doctor Mengele	Ian Watson	SF

February 10, 2021

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels: A Tor.com Original (e)	Lavie Tidhar	H

D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - Editor
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
Ke - Kindle eBook
ri - reissue or reprint
tp2mm - Trade Paperback to Mass Market Paperback
Tr - Translator



AB - Absurdist
AC - Alien Contact
AH - Alternative History
AP - Apocalyptic
BHU - Black Humor
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CM - Crime & Mystery
CoA - Coming of Age
Cr - Crime
CW - Contemporary Women
CyP - CyberPunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
FL - Family Life
FolkT - Folk Tales
FR - Fantasy Romance
GenEng - Genetic Engineering
GH - Ghost(s)
GothicR - Gothic Romance
GW&CC - Global Warming and Climate Change
H - Horror
HC - History and Criticism
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HistM - Historical Mystery
HistR - Historical Romance
HistTh - Historical Thriller
HSF - Hard Science Fiction
HU - Humorous
LC - Literary Criticism
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legend and Mythology
M - Mystery
Med - Medical
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
MU - Mash-Up
NF - Near Future
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PCM - Paranormal Cozy Mystery
PF - Paranormal Fantasy
PNR - Paranormal Romance
Pol - Political
PolTh - Political Thriller
PopCul - Popular Culture
PP - Police Porcedural
Psy - Psychological
R - Romance
RF - Romantic Fantasy
ScF - Science Fantasy
SE - Space Exploration
SF - Science Fiction
SFR - Science Fiction Romance
SFTh - Science Fiction Thriller
SH - Superheroes
SO - Space Opera
SP - Steampunk
SpecFic - Speculative Fiction
SS - Short Stories
STR - Small Town and Rural
Sup - Supernatural
SupM - Supernatural Mystery
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
TechTh - Technological Thriller
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
TTR - Time Travel Romance
UF - Urban Fantasy
VM - Visionary and Metaphysical
WS - Women Sleuths

Note: Not all genres and formats are found in the books, etc. listed above.

Nicky Drayden (2017) Escaping Exodus: Symbiosis
Harper Voyager, February 23, 2021
Trade Paperback and eBook, 336 pages

The Compton Crook Award-winning author weaves her trademark blend of science fiction and dark humor in this dazzling story that continues the imaginative saga begun in Escaping Exodus, in which a society lives in the belly of a beast—and an entire civilization's survival depends on a pair of uneasy allies who must come together for one epic battle.

Nearly a thousand years removed from Earth, the remnants of humanity cling to existence inside giant, space faring creatures known as the Zenzee. Abused and exploited by humans for generations, these majestic animals nearly went extinct, but under the command of its newly minted ruler, Doka Kaleigh, life in the Parados I has flourished. Thanks to careful oversight and sacrifice by all of its crew, they are now on the brink of utopia, and yet Doka’s rivals feel threatened by that success.

The Senate allowed Doka to lead their people believing he’d fail spectacularly—a disaster that would cement the legitimacy of their long-standing matriarchy. Despite vocal opposition and blatant attacks on his authority, Doka has continued to handle his position with grace and intelligence; he knows a single misstep means disaster. When a cataclysmic event on another Zenzee world forces Doka and his people to accept thousands of refugees, a culture clash erupts, revealing secrets from the past that could endanger their future. For Doka, the stakes are bigger and more personal than ever before—and could cost him his reign and his heart.

He has fallen for the one woman he is forbidden to love: his wife, Seske.

Doka and Seske must work closely together to sway the other Zenzee worlds to stop their cycles of destruction. But when they stumble upon a discovery that can transform their world, they know they must prepare to fight a battle where there can be no winners, only survivors.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : BookShop : Books-A-Million : IndieBound
Google Play : iBooks : Kobo

T. Frohock (2011) A Song With Teeth
A Los Nefilim Novel 3
Harper Voyager February 9, 2021
Trade Paperback and eBook, 432 pages

As the Allied forces battle to defeat the Nazis, a shadow war rages between angels and daimons fighting for the soul of humanity in this thrilling conclusion to the critically acclaimed Los Nefilim historical fantasy series.

The year is 1944, and the daimons are rising.

With the Inner Guard thrown into disarray by the German blitzkrieg, the daimon-born nefilim of the Scorpion Court gather in Paris, scheming to restore their rule over the mortal realm. Working as a double-agent, Diago Alvarez infiltrates his family’s daimonic court, but soon finds himself overwhelmed by his kin’s multiple deceits.

Meanwhile, Ysabel Ramírez hunts a Psalm that will assist Operation Overlord, the Allies’ invasion of Normandy. Her objective takes her to Paris—into the heart of territories controlled by Die Nephilim and her power-hungry uncle, Jordi Abelló, who seeks the same Psalm in his quest to wrest control of Los Nefilim from her father. When their paths cross, he abducts her and leaves her to the mercy of his Nazi followers.

But Ysabel is as cunning and bold as Jordi. She knows only one of them can survive to one day rule Los Nefilim, and she’s determined to be the one to succeed her father as queen.

Trapped in her uncle’s château hidden deep within the Fontainebleau forest, Ysabel discovers the truth behind her uncle’s lust for dominance: those that wear the signet of the Thrones are not blessed . . . they are cursed. And it may take a miracle to end this war once and for all.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : BookShop : Books-A-Million : IndieBound
Google Play : iBooks : Kobo

Peter Newman (2015) The Ruthless
The Deathless Trilogy 2
HarperVoyager, February 2, 2021
Trade Paperback, 448 pages
eBook, June 13, 2019

Return to a world of crystal armour, savage wilderness, and corrupt dynasties in book two of The Deathless series from Gemmell award-winning author Peter Newman.

THE REBEL For years, Vasin Sapphire has been waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Now, as other Deathless families come under constant assault from the monsters that roam the Wild, that time has come.

THE RUTHLESS In the floating castle of Rochant Sapphire, loyal subjects await the ceremony to return their ruler to his rightful place. But the child raised to give up his body to Lord Rochant is no ordinary servant. Strange and savage, he will stop at nothing to escape his gilded prison.

AND THE RETURNED… Far below, another child yearns to see the human world. Raised by a creature of the Wild, he knows their secrets better than any other. As he enters into the struggle between the Deathless houses, he may be the key to protecting their power or destroying it completely.

THE WILD HAS BEGUN TO RISE

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : BookShop : Books-A-Million : IndieBound
Google Play : iBooks : Kobo

Happy last Monday in February!

There are 4 debuts this week:

The Last Smile in Sunder City (The Fetch Phillips Archives 1) by Luke Arnold;

Master of Sorrows (Silent Gods 1) by Justin T. Call;

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore;

and

Black Leviathan by Bernd Perplies; translated by Lucy Van Cleef.




From formerly featured DAC Authors:

False Value (Rivers of London 6) by Ben Aaronovitch;

If You Take My Meaning: A Tor.Com Original by Charlies Jane Anders;

Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town (An Official Stranger Things Novel) by Adam Christopher is out in Trade Paperback;

Carved From Stone and Dream (Los Nefilim 2) by T. Frohock;

Holy Sister (Book of the Ancestor 3) by Mark Lawrence is out in Mass Market Paperback;

The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu;

The Fenmere Job (Streets of Maradaine) 3 by Marshall Ryan Maresca;

and

St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid: A Tor.com Original by C.L. Polk.

Debut novels are highlighted in blue. Novels, etc. by formerly featured DAC Authors are highlighted in green.

February 24, 2020

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Fire & Water (e)	Alexis Hall	UF - Kate Kane, Paranormal Investigator 3

February 25, 2020

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
False Value	Ben Aaronovitch	UF/CF - Rivers of London 8
The Last Smile in Sunder City (D)	Luke Arnold	F - The Fetch Phillips Archives 1
Master of Sorrows (D)	Justin Travis Call	F - Silent Gods 1
Norma Jeane Baker of Troy	Anne Carson	Poetry
Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town (h2tp)	Adam Christopher	SupTh - Stranger Things
Finna	Nino Cipri	SF
Tor.com Publishing 2020 Debut Sampler (e)	Nino Cipri Kathleen Jennings K. M. Sparza Nghi Vo	F/SF
House of Assassins (h2mm)	Larry Correia	F - Saga of the Forgotten Warrior 2
Blood Ink (tp2mm)	Dana Fredsti	DF - Lilith 2
Carved from Stone and Dream	T. Frohock	HistF - Los Nefilim 2
Wheel of Time Premium Boxed Set III	Robert Jordan	F - Wheel of Time
Winter's Heart (ri)	Robert Jordan	F - Wheel of Time 9
The Path of Daggers (ri)	Robert Jordan	F - Wheel of Time 8
A Crown of Swords (ri)	Robert Jordan	F - Wheel of Time 7
Holy Sister (h2mm)	Mark Lawrence	F - Book of the Ancestor 3
The Edge (tp2mm)	Tim Lebbon	DF - Relics 3
Jade War (h2tp)	Fonda Lee	F - The Green Bone Saga 2
Carpe Diem (ri)	Sharon Lee Steve Miller	SF/SO - Liaden Universe 10
The Hidden Girl and Other Stories	Ken Liu	SF - Collection
Surrender	Ray Loriga Carolina De Robertis (Tr)	Dys
The Fenmere Job	Marshall Ryan Maresca	F/UF - Streets of Maradaine 3
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (ri)	George R. R. Martin	SS - A Song of Ice and Fire
A Memory Called Empire (h2tp)	Arkady Martine	SF/SO - Teixcalaan 1
Imaginary Numbers	Seanan McGuire	UF - InCryptid 9
Oona Out of Order (D)	Margarita Montimore	CW
The Brink (h2mm)	James S Murray Darren Wearmouth	SupTh - Awakened 2
Man-Kzin Wars XV (tp2mm)	Larry Niven (Creator)	SF - Man-Kzin Wars Anthology
Black Leviathan (D - English)	Bernd Perplies Lucy Van Cleef (Tr)	F
Aliens: Phalanx	Scott Sigler	SF/MTI
Wolf Rain (h2mm)	Nalini Singh	PNR - Psy-Changling Trinity 3
How to Love Your Elf	Kerrelyn Sparks	FR - Embraced by Magic 1
Soot	Dan Vyleta	HistF - Smoke 2
Blood Truth (h2mm)	J.R. Ward	PNR - Black Dagger Legacy 4
Firstborn (h2mm)	Michelle West	F - House War 7
Knight (h2tp)	Timothy Zahn	SF/SO - Sibyl's War 2

February 26, 2020

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
If You Take My Meaning: A Tor.com Original (e)	Charlies Jane Anders	SF
St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid: A Tor.com Original (e)	C. L. Polk	F

February 27, 2020

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Death Unleashed	Steve McHugh	UF - The Rebellion Chronicles 2

February 29, 2020

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Knife Children	Lois McMaster Bujold	F - Sharing Knife 5
Science Fiction and Psychology	Gavin Miller	LC - Liverpool Science Fiction Texts and Studies LUP 62

D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - Editor
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
ri - reissue or reprint
tp2mm - Trade Paperback to Mass Market Paperback
Tr - Translator



AC - Alien Contact
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CoA - Coming of Age
CW - Contemporary Women
CyP - Cyberpunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FR- Fantasy Romance
GothicM - Gothic Mystery
H - Horror
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HistM - Historical Mystery
HSF - Hard Science Fiction
LC - Literary Criticism
LF - Literary Fiction
MTI - Media Tie-In
Occ - Occult
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PerfArts - Performing Arts
PM - Paranormal Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
PsyTh - Psychological Thriller
SE - Space Exploration
SF - Science Fiction
SO - Space Opera
SP - Steampunk
SS - Short Stories
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
TechTh - Technological Thriller
Th - Thriller
UF - Urban Fantasy
W - Western
WW - Weird Western

Note: Not all genres and formats are found in the books, etc. listed above.

Happy Monday!

There is one debut this week:

The Familiars by Stacey Halls.




From formerly featured DAC Authors:

Where Oblivion Lives (Los Nefilim 1) by T. Frohock;

and

The Philosopher's Flight (Philosopher 1) by Tom Miller is out in Trade Paperback;

Dreams of the Dark Sky (The Legacy of Heavens 2) by Tina LeCount Myers.

Debut novels are highlighted in blue. Novels, etc. by formerly featured DAC Authors are highlighted in green.

February 19, 2019

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Psychology of Zelda: Linking Our World to the Legend of Zelda Series	Anthony M. Bean (Ed)	Psy
Collision: Stories	J.S. Breukelaar	F/H - Collection
Alita: Battle Angel - The Official Movie Novelization	Pat Cadigan	SF/CyP/MTI
Seraphina's Lament	Sarah Chorn	DF - The Bloodlands 1
Haunting of Tram Car 015	P. Djèlí Clark	HistF/SP
Rain: And Other Stories	Mia Couto Eric M.B. Becker (Tr)	MR/LF - Collection
Tallarn	John French	SF - The Horus Heresy
Where Oblivion Lives	T. Frohock	HistF - Los Nefilim 1
HALO: Renegades	Kelly Gay	SF - HALO 25
The Rising: The Newsflesh Trilogy	Mira Grant	H/Dys/SF - Newsflesh Trilogy
Ursula K. Le Guin: Always Coming Home: Author's Expanded Edition	Ursula K. Le Guin	SF/AP/PA/VisM/LF - Library of America - Ursula K. Le Guin Edition 4
Corax Lord of Shadows	Guy Haley	SF - The Horus Heresy: Primarchs 10
The Familiars (D)	Stacey Halls	Hist/Occ/Sup/LF
The Testament of Loki (h2tp)	Joanne M. Harris	FairyT/FolkT/LM - Gospel of Loki 2
Happy Death Day & Happy Death Day 2U	Aaron Hartzler	H/HU/TT
For the Killing of Kings	Howard Andrew Jones	F - The Ring-Sworn Trilogy 1
The Mammoth Book of Nightmare Stories: Twisted Tales Not to Be Read at Night!	Stephen Jones (Ed)	H - Anthology
The Very Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan	Caitlín R. Kiernan	F/DF/SF/H - Collection
Gotrek & Felix: Vol.2	William King	F - Gotrek & Felix Omnibus 2
Broken Stars: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation	Ken Liu (Tr)	SF/HSF - Anthology
Gates of Stone	Angus Macallan	F - Lord of the Islands 1
The Nocilla Trilogy: Nocilla Dream, Nocilla Experience, Nocilla Lab	Agustín Fernández Mallo Thomas Bunstead (Tr)	LF/VisM/Epistolary
The Philosopher's Flight (h2tp)	Tom Miller	HistF - Philosophers 1
The Outcast Hours	Mahvesh Murad (Ed) Jared Shurin (Ed)	Fiction - Anthology
Dreams of the Dark Sky	Tina LeCount Myers	F - The Legacy of the Heavens 2
Fleet of Knives	Gareth L. Powell	SF - Embers of War 2
Blood Echo	Christopher Rice	Th - The Burning Girl 2
The Tainted Heart	Clint Werner	F - Warhammer: Age of Sigmar
Firstborn	Michelle West	F/RF - House War 7

February 20, 2019

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Caught in the Aftermath (e)	Jami Gray	SFR - Fate's Vultures 3
Old Media: A Tor.com Original (e)	Annalee Newitz	SF

Cr - Creator
D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - Editor
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
ri - reissue or reprint
tp2mm - Trade Paperback to Mass Market Paperback
Tr - Translator



AC - Alien Contact
AP - Apocalyptic
Bio - Biographical
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CoA - Coming of Age
Cr - Crime
CW - Contemporary Women
CyP - Cyberpunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tales
FolkT - Folk Tales
FR - Fantasy Romance
GH - Ghost(s)
H - Horror
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HSF - Hard Science Fiction
Hu - Humor
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legend and Mythology
M - Mystery
MR - Magical Realism
MTI - Media Tie-In
NF - Near Future
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PCM - Parnormal Cozy Mystery
PI - Private Investigators
PNR - Paranormal Romance
Pol - Political
PP - Police Procedural
Psy - Psychological
PsyTh - Psychological Thriller
RF - Romantic Fantasy
SE - Space Exploration
SF - Science Fiction
SFR - Science Fiction Romance
SO - Space Opera
SP - Steampunk
SS - Short Stories
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
TechTh - Technological Thriller
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
VisM - Visionary and Metaphysical

Note: Not all genres and formats are found in the books, etc. listed above.

K. Eason (2016)

Outlaw
On the Bones of Gods 2
47North, July 12, 2016
Trade Paperback and Kindle eBook, 320 pages

Snowdenaelikk never planned to return to the city of Illharek, but that was before the siege in Cardik, before the violent and once-forgotten goddess Tal’Shik came looking for revenge at the head of a Taliri army.

The only people who can save the Republic are Snow, her partner Veiko, and the highborn scout Dekklis. Together they mean to muster the power of the Senate and leverage the arcane knowledge of the Academy’s Archives.

Once in the city, however, they discover the situation is already dire. A rash of disappearances among highborn men and the resurgence of old heresies suggest that Tal’Shik’s godsworn have already infiltrated the city.

When Veiko is added to the ranks of the missing, Snow is done waiting. She brokers a deal with a rival god to get the power she needs to stop Tal’Shik. But Snow has never been good at making bargains, and this deal is going to cost her…

Patricia Eimer (2011)

Out of this World
Out of this World 1
Select Otherworld, July 25, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 268 pages

She was just trying to blend in, not fall in love…

Engaged to a murderous, intergalactic warlord, Capridocian Princess Corripraxis is running for her life and crash lands on Earth, where large creatures moo at her, threatening to expose her as an alien. If she can just get some help—in the form of the very attractive Earth male who just pulled up in a tow truck—she can hunker down in the Martian colony until she figures out her next move, right?

One hunky Marine. One sexy alien. One deranged intergalactic warlord. What could go wrong?

At the scene of an accident, a sexy woman asks ex-Marine Mattias Cadiz to take her to Roswell NM. He really should be getting on with living a nice, sane—quiet—life, but the very pretty Corri is probably on her way to the annual Convention with the other alien-crazy wackos. Still, no way he can refuse such a gorgeous, if confused, violet-eyed beauty.

Sharon Lynn Fisher (2012)

Before She Wakes: Forbidden Fairy Tales
Loveswept , July 5, 2016
eBook, 216 pages

You’ve never read bedtime stories like these. RITA Award finalist Sharon Lynn Fisher blends dark erotic romance, fantasy, and science fiction in these bold tales of seduction and sensual awakening. . . .

THE GARDEN RULES
After swallowing an acorn sweetmeat, Sylva is transported to a fantastical forest and begins training as a nymph at the behest of her faun master. But before she earns the right to please him, she must complete three tantalizing trials.

THE DRAGONMAID’S SECRET
On the king’s orders, a mercenary has come to ransack the village of Roussillon. But when he confronts the town’s defender, the dragonmaid Isabeau, he is overwhelmed by the most fiery passions—for this rogue is, in fact, a dragon-shifter.

RAVEN TAKES A PEARL
Pearl is a captive of Master Raven—part man, part crow, part machine. And as she submits to the curious probing of the dark-winged inventor, Pearl discovers that her body responds with an all-too-human demand: desire.

THE KELPIE’S PRIZE
Dragged beneath a fairy pool by a mechanical horse, Vivi finds herself held prisoner by an alchemist claiming to be Merlin himself. Now, to escape an ancient curse, she must play the wanton seductress—and use her body to secure the release she craves.

WILLA AND THE WISP
In the bayou that covers the long-ago flooded city of New Orleans, Willa uses light to keep her safe from the creepers. She never expected that light to take the form of a brightly glowing man—an enigmatic lover who ignites the flame within.

THE DRAGONFLY PRINCE
In post-apocalyptic Ireland, a virgin gives her hand in marriage to broker peace with a genetically modified race. But when a human rival challenges the dark prince’s claim, so begins a duel that will push the fair maiden to the limits of pleasure.

Before She Wakes is intended for mature audiences. This ebook includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

The Ophelia Prophecy
Crescent Lake Press, July 17, 2016
Kindle eBook, 320 pages

The Ophelia Prophecy is the thrilling new sci-fi romance from the author of 2013 RWA RITA finalist Ghost Planet...

Asha and Pax -- strangers and enemies -- find themselves stranded together on the border of the last human city, neither with a memory of how they got there.

Asha is an archivist working to preserve humanity's most valuable resource -- information -- viewed as the only means of resurrecting their society.

Pax is Manti, his Scarab ship a menacing presence in the skies over Sanctuary, keeping the last dregs of humanity in check.

Neither of them is really what they seem, and what humanity believes about the Manti is a lie.

With their hearts and fates on a collision course, they must unlock each other's secrets and forge a bond of trust before a rekindled conflict pushes their two races into repeating the mistakes of the past.

Ghost Planet
Crescent Lake Press, September 12, 2016
Kindle eBook, 354 pages

2013 RWA RITA finalist for Best First Book . . .

A world in peril. A bond deeper than love.
Psychologist Elizabeth Cole prepared for the worst when she accepted a job on a newly discovered world--a world where every colonist is tethered to an alien who manifests in the form of a dead loved one. But she never expected she'd struggle with the requirement to shun these "ghosts." She never expected to be so attracted to the charming Irishman assigned as her supervisor. And she certainly never expected to discover she died in a transport crash en route to the planet.

Reincarnated as a ghost, Elizabeth is symbiotically linked to her supervisor, Murphy--creator of the Ghost Protocol, which forbids him to acknowledge or interact with her. Confused and alone--oppressed by her ghost status and tormented by forbidden love--Elizabeth works to unlock the secrets of her own existence.

But her quest for answers lands her in a tug-of-war between powerful interests, and she soon finds herself a pawn in the struggle for control of the planet...a struggle that could separate her forever from the man that she loves.

T. Frohock (2011)

Los Nefilim
Harper Voyager Impulse, April 26, 2016
     eBook, 464 pages
Harper Voyager Impulse, June 14, 2016
     Mass Market Paperback, 464 pages

Collected together for the first time, T. Frohock’s three novellas--In Midnight’s Silence, Without Light or Guide, and The Second Death--brings to life the world of Los Nefilim, Spanish Nephilim that possess the power to harness music and light in the supernatural war between the angels and daimons. In 1931, Los Nefilim’s existence is shaken by the preternatural forces commanding them … and a half-breed caught in-between.

Diago Alvarez, a singular being of daimonic and angelic descent, is pulled into the ranks of Los Nefilim in order to protect his newly-found son. As an angelic war brews in the numinous realms, and Spain marches closer to civil war, the destiny of two worlds hangs on Diago’s actions. Yet it is the combined fates of his lover, Miquel, and his young son, Rafael, that weighs most heavily on his soul.

Lyrical and magical, Los Nefilim explores whether moving towards the light is necessarily the right move, and what it means to live amongst the shadows.

Nathan Garrison (2015)

Shadow of the Void
Sundered World Trilogy 2
Harper Voyager Impulse, May 24, 2016
      eBook, 624 pages
Harper Voyager Impulse, July 12, 2016
      Mass Market Paperback, 624 pages

With comparisons to N.K. Jemison, Michael J. Sullivan, and Joe Abercrombie, readers have fallen in love with The Veiled Empire, the first book in The Sundered Worlds trilogy. Now, Nathan Garrison takes the story to the next level Shadow of the Void.

The Veil has fallen . . . and the gods have been woken.

For many, a new dawn has risen, as freedom from the tyrannical Emperor Rekaj has created a land replete with opportunities. But for those who had lived outside the Veil for generations, the sudden appearance of a new nation is not cause for celebration--it is the cause for war.

Yet, even as the political machinations of men and mierothi and valynkar start to manifest on a global scale, there are a few playing their own games. Whether it's the powerful combination of Vashodia and Jasside trying to carve out a country for those freed from the Veil, or the warrior Mevon and assassin Draevenus forming an unlikely alliance in search of the dark god Ruul, the world is in chaos...which might be exactly what some are counting on.

Continuing where Veiled Empire left off, Shadow of the Void shows us how individuals can shape their own destinies, but not necessarily control them.

Happy Monday!

There are 6 debuts this week:

The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library Novel 1) by Genevieve Cogman;

Spells of Blood and Kin: A Dark Fantasy by Claire Humphrey;

False Hearts by Laura Lam;

Ninefox Gambit (The Machineries of Empire 1) by Yoon Ha Lee;

Escapology by Ren Warom;

and

Mechanical Failure (Epic Failure 1) by Joe Zieja.





From formerly featured DAC Authors:

The Insides by Jeremy P. Bushnell;

Los Nefelim by T. Frohock is out in a Mass Market Paperback Omnibus Edition;

Woodwalker by Emily B. Martin is out in Mass Market Paperback;

Stiletto (The Rook Files 2) by Daniel O'Malley.




Debut novels are highlighted in blue. Novels by formerly featured Debut Author Challenge Authors are highlighted in green.



June 13, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Cheetah Wild (e)	Doranna Durgin	PNR
Night of the Tiger (e)	Doranna Durgin	PNR

June 14, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
MEG: Nightstalkers	Steve Alten	SupTh - MEG 5
Blood in the Water	Taylor Anderson	SF/AH - Destroyermen 11
A Cure for Suicide	Jesse Ball	LF/Psy/Dys
The Book of Esther	Emily Barton	LF/AH
The Insides	Jeremy P. Bushnell	F/CF
Stories of Your Life and Others (ri)	Ted Chiang	SF - Collection
The Invisible Library (D)	Genevieve Cogman	SF/TT/CF/P - The Invisible Library Novel 1
Exit Zero	Neil Cohen	H/Z
The Familiar: Honeysuckle & Pain	Mark Z. Danielewski	LF/H/F/UF - The Familiar 3
Midshipman's Hope (ri)	David Feintuch	SF - The Seafort Saga 1
The Memory of Lemon	Judith Fertig	MR/R
Reliquary	Sarah Fine	UF - Reliquary Series 1
Los Nefilim	T. Frohock	HistF - Los Nefilim
Steeplejack	A. J. Hartley	F/YA - Alternate Detective 1
Battlefield Earth Special Edition	L. Ron Hubbard	SF
Spells of Blood and Kin: A Dark Fantasy (D)	Claire Humphrey	DF
Damnos	Nick Kyme	SF - Space Marine Battles
False Hearts (D)	Laura Lam	SF
Alarums (ri)	Richard Laymon	H
Ninefox Gambit (D)	Yoon Ha Lee	SF/SO - The Machineries of Empire 1
The James Lovegrove Collection Vol. 2	James Lovegrove	SF/F - Collection
Woodwalker	Emily B. Martin	F
The Shadowed Path: A Jonmarc Vanhanian Collection	Gail Z. Martin	F - Collection
The Harper Hall Collection: Dragonsong; Dragonsinger; Dragondrums	Anne McCaffrey	F - Collection
Dreams of Distant Shores	Patricia A. McKillip	F - Collection
League of Dragons	Naomi Novik	HistF - Temeraire 9
Stiletto	Daniel O'Malley	F/Occ/Sup - The Rook Files 2
Doctor Who: The Essential Guide Revised 12th Doctor Edition	Penguin UK	SF - Doctor Who
Return of Souls	Andy Remic	HistF - A Song for No Man's Land 2
The Mermaid's Secret	Katie Schickel	CW/MR
Allegiance of Honor	Nalini Singh	PNR - Psy-Changeling 15
Orbs: A Science Fiction Thriller	Nicholas Sansbury Smith	SF/Th/AC - Orbs 1
Before the Feast	Saša Stanišic	FairyT/FolkT/LM
Escapology (D)	Ren Warom	SF/CyberP
Mechanical Failure (D)	Joe Zieja	SF - Epic Failure 1

June 15, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Nothing Lasting	Glen Krisch	H
Typecasting: A Tor.Com Original (e)	Harry Turtledove	SF

D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - editor
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
tp2mm - Trade to Mass Market Paperback
ri - reissue or reprint


AC - Alien Contact
AH - Alternate History
AP - Apocalyptic
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
CoA - Coming of Age
CW - Contemporary Women
CyberP - Cyberpunk
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
FairyT - Fairy Tale
FolkT - Folk Tale
FR - Fantasy Romance
GH - Ghost
H - Horror
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
HistScTh - Historical Science Thriller
HistTh - Historical Thriller
HU - Humor
LC - Literary Criticism
LF - Literary Fiction
LM - Legends and Mythology
M - Mystery
MR - Magical Realism
Occ - Occult
P - Paranormal
PA - Post Apocalyptic
PHR - Paranormal Historical Romance
PM - Paranormal Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
PopCul - Popular Culture
Psy - Psychological
R - Romance
SF - Science Fiction
SO - Space Opera
SP - Steampunk
Sup - Supernatural
SupTh - Supernatural Thriller
Sus - Suspense
Th - Thriller
TT - Time Travel
UF - Urban Fantasy
Z - Zombies

Note: not all of these genres are represented in the above releases.

The Second Death
Author:  T. Frohock
Series:  Los Nefilim: Part Three
Publisher:  Harper Voyager Impulse, March 29, 2016
Format:  eBook, 128 pages
List Price:  $0.99
ISBN:  9780062428943

Save the world, or save his family…

For Diago Alvarez, that’s the choice before him. For unless he wants to see his son Rafael die, he must do the unthinkable:

Help the Nazis receive the plans to the ultimate weapon.

And while Diago grows more comfortable not only with his heritage, but also with his place among Guillermo’s Los Nefilim, he is still unsure if he truly belongs amongst them.

In a frantic race to save the future of humanity, Diago is forced to rely on his daimonic nature to deceive an angel. In doing so, he discovers the birth of a modern god—one that will bring about a new world order from which no one can escape.

The Second Death is the final chapter in T. Frohock’s haunting and lyrical Los Nefilim trilogy, which bestselling author Mark Lawrence has called “a joy to read.”

Qwill's Thoughts

The Second Death is the third and final novella in the Los Nefilim by T. Frohock. In The Second Death both Diago and Rafael are kidnapped, with Rafael being used to ensure Diago's compliance. Diago must figure out how to save the world and his son. He has had such a hard time throughout the prior two novellas that you really feel for him. Pledging himself to Los Nefilim does not seem to have helped him.

I love Los Nefilim. The background setting to the story is beautifully done. This setting -1930s Spain - is well researched. What is at stake is made clear - both for Diago, Los Nefilim and humanity.

Standing out even more than the terrific plot and place are the characters. Frohock imbues her characters with a deep humanity though they are not even human. They have lived more than one life and they have learned... hopefully.  Like humans some Nefilim are good and some are not quite as good. The angels plot and the Nefilim take sides.

I adore the relationship between Diago, Miquel and Diago's son, Rafael. Diago is half angel and half daimon. He struggles with this conflict in his nature and the way others perceive him. Miquel is loving and understanding. He is a wonderful partner for Diago. Rafael is a delight. The characters surrounding them are well drawn giving even more heft to the story.

It is fascinating to watch Diago, the Nefilim and the angels perform their magic. Frohock has created an arresting and interesting magic system and mythology in the Los Nefilim novellas. There are extant stories and myths of the Nephilim but Frohock makes them her own.

The Second Death is a wonderful concluding novella to Los Nefilim with a fabulous climax that brings together the overarching plot of the 3 novellas. While the main story arc is concluded, Frohock leaves a couple of threads that could be explored in future stories which I hope we get to read. If you are a fan of beautifully written historical fantasy that is dark and intricate you should not miss In Midnight's Silence, Without Light or Guide and The Second Death.

In Midnight’s Silence
Los Nefilim: Part One
Harper Voyager Impulse, June 23, 2015
eBook, 128 pages

The fate of mankind has nothing to do with mankind…

Born of an angel and a daimon, Diago Alvarez is a singular being in a country torn by a looming civil war and the spiritual struggle between the forces of angels and daimons. With allegiance to no one but his partner Miquel, he is content to simply live in Barcelona, caring only for the man he loves and the music he makes. Yet, neither side is satisfied to let him lead this domesticated life and, knowing they can't get to him directly, they do the one thing he's always feared.

They go after Miquel.

Now, in order to save his lover's life, he is forced by an angel to perform a gruesome task: feed a child to the daimon Moloch in exchange for a coin that will limit the extent of the world's next war. The mission is fraught with danger, the time he has to accomplish it is limited…and the child he is to sacrifice is the son Diago never knew existed.

A lyrical tale in a world of music and magic, T. Frohock's In Midnight's Silence shows the lengths a man will go to save the people he loves, and the sides he'll choose when the sidelines are no longer an option.

Without Light or Guide
Los Nefilim: Part Two
Harper Voyager Impulse, November 3, 2015
eBook, 128 pages

The fate of mankind has nothing to do with mankind…

Always holding themselves aloft from the affairs of mortals, Los Nefilim have thrived for eons. But with the Spanish Civil War looming, their fragile independence is shaken by the machinations of angels and daimons…and a half-breed caught in-between.

For although Diago Alvarez has pledged his loyalty to Los Nefilim, there are many who don't trust his daimonic blood. And with the re-emergence of his father—a Nefil who sold his soul to a daimon—the fear is Diago will soon follow the same path.

Yet even as Diago tries to prove his allegiance, events conspire that only fuel the other Nefilim's suspicions—including the fact that every mortal Diago has known in Barcelona is being brutally murdered.

The second novella in T. Frohock's Los Nefilim series, Without Light or Guide continues Diago's journey through a world he was born into, yet doesn't quite understand.

Los Nefilim
Harper Voyager Impulse, April 26, 2016
ebook, 400 pages

Happy last Monday in March. I hope that those celebrating had a wonderful Easter and everyone else enjoyed the weekend!

Davila LeBlanc's Dark Transmissions is the only debut out this week. It was published in digital format earlier this month. The cover also won March's Debut Author Challenge Cover Wars.


There are four books out for a few formerly featured Debut Author Challenge authors:

Rise of the Federation: Live by the Code (Star Trek: Enterprise) by Christopher L. Bennett;

Javelin Rain (Shadow Ops) by Myke Cole;

The Second Death (Los Nefilim Part 3) by T. Frohock;

and

Aftermath: Star Wars  by Chuck Wendig is out in Trade Paperback.






March 29, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Rise of the Federation: Live by the Code	Christopher L. Bennett	SF - Star Trek: Enterprise
Heroes Reborn: Collection One	David Bishop Timothy Zahn Stephen Blackmoore	SF/SH - Heroes Reborn
His Father's Eyes (h2mm)	David B. Coe	CF - Case Files of Justis Fearsson 2
Javelin Rain	Myke Cole	CF/MF - Shaodow Ops
The Doll Collection (h2tp)	Ellen Datlow (Ed)	H - Anthology
Angel of Darkness (ri)	Cynthia Eden	PNR - Fallen 1
Grantville Gazette VII (h2mm)	Eric Flint (Ed)	AH - The Ring of Fire 7
The Second Death (e)	T. Frohock	HistF - Los Nefilim 3
Smoke and Fire: Part 3 (e)	Donna Grant	PNR - Dark Kings
Day Shift (h2mm)	Charlaine Harris	UF - A Novel of Midnight, Texas 2
The Little Green Book of Chairman Rahma (h2tp)	Brian Herbert	Dys
Rose Madder	Stephen King	H/Sus
Battlestorm	Susan Krinard	CF - Midgard 3
The Undoing	Shelly Laurenston	PNR - Call Of Crows 2
Dark Transmissions (D) (mm)	Davila LeBlanc	SF - Jinxed Thirteenth 1
The World Forgot (h2mm)	Martin Leicht Isla Neal	SF - The Ever-Expanding Universe 3
World of Water (print)	James Lovegrove	SF - Dev Harmer 2
Dragon Soul	Katie MacAlister	PNR - Dragon Fall 3
The Complete Independence Day Omnibus	Stephen Molstad	SF - Media Tie-In
The Stopped Heart	Julie Myerson	Th
Supernatural - Cold Fire	John Passarella	DF/P/Sup - Supernatual
She Who Watches	Anthony Pryor	H - The Shepherd 1
The Blood Red City	Justin Richards	SF
The Witch of Painted Sorrows (h2tp)	M. J. Rose	Hist/GO - The Daughters of La Lune 1
The Visitor	Amanda Stevens	Sus - The Graveyard Queen 5
The Mortal Tally	Sam Sykes	F - Bring Down Heaven 2
Trail of Evil (h2mm)	Travis S. Taylor	SF - Tau Ceti Agenda 4
Lightbreaker (ri)	Mark Teppo	UF - Codex of Souls 1
Crazy Love You (tp2mm)	Lisa Unger	Sus
Aftermath: Star Wars (h2tp)	Chuck Wendig	SF - Star Wars: The Aftermath Trilogy 1

March 31, 2016

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Human Chord / The Centaur	Algernon Blackwood	DF
Downfall of the Gods	K. J. Parker	F
DJSturbia	David J. Schow	H - Collection

D - Debut
e - eBook
Ed - editor
h2mm - Hardcover to Mass Market Paperback
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
tp2mm - Trade to Mass Market Paperback
ri - reissue or reprint


AH - Alternate History
CF - Contemporary Fantasy
DF - Dark Fantasy
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
GO - Gothic
H - Horror
Hist - Historical
HistF - Historical Fantasy
MF - Military Fantasy
P - Paranormal
PNR - Paranormal Romance
SF - Science Fiction
SH - Superheroes
Sup - Supernatural
Sus - Suspense
Th - Thriller
UF - Urban Fantasy

Stephen Blackmoore (2012)

Dirty Deeds
Heroes Reborn - Book 3
Bastei Entertainment, November 20, 2015
eBook, 76 pages

When a veteran Federal agent begins investigating the involvement of a ruthless Los Angeles Police Department detective in the death of an Evolved Human, she gets close to uncovering a dangerous truth that could cost him everything: his job, his freedom, maybe even his life.

The third in the "Heroes Reborn" event series of six short thrillers based on the fascinating characters and rich mythology of NBC's world-wide hit TV series "Heroes", and the highly anticipated "Heroes Reborn". The new season picks up five years after the finale of the original series and finds those with special powers in a precarious and dangerous world where they are feared, persecuted and attacked.

Stephen Blackmoore is the author of the urban fantasy thriller, "City of The Lost," as well as the Eric Carter "Necromancer" series. He is also the author of a "Wasteland" video game tie-in novella, a "Gods & Monsters" tie-in novel, and "Khan of Mars."

Deborah Blake (2014)

Dangerously Charming
A Broken Riders Novel 1
Berkley, October 4, 2016
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 304 pages

From the author of the Baba Yaga novels, a brand new series set in the same “addicting”* world, filled with wild magic, enchanting damsels, and the irresistibly daring men who serve the Baba Yagas…

The Riders are three immortal brothers who protect the mythical Baba Yagas. But their time serving the witches has ended—and their new destinies are just beginning…

Ever since a near-fatal mistake stripped Mikhail Day and his brothers of their calling to be Riders, Day has hidden from his shame and his new, mortal life in a remote cabin in the Adirondack mountains. But when a desperate young woman appears on his doorstep, he cannot resist helping her—and cannot deny how strongly he’s drawn to her…

For generations, women in Jenna Quinlan’s family have been cursed to give up their first born child to the vengeful fairy Zilya. When Jenna finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, she is determined to break her family’s curse and keep her baby, even if it means teaming up with a mysterious and charismatic man with demons of his own…

To unravel the curse, Jenna and Day will have to travel deep into the Otherworld. But the biggest challenge of the journey might not be solving an ancient puzzle but learning to heal their own broken hearts…

Tina Connolly (2012)

Seriously Shifted
Tor Teen, November 1, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 240 pages

A sparkling new adventure about teen witch Camellia and her mother, wicked witch Sarmine, introduced to readers in Seriously Wicked

Teenage witch Cam isn’t crazy about the idea of learning magic. She’d rather be no witch than a bad one. But when a trio of her mother’s wicked witch friends decide to wreak havoc in her high school, Cam has no choice but to try to stop them.

Now Cam’s learning invisibility spells, dodging exploding cars, and pondering the ethics of love potions. All while trying to keep her grades up and go on a first date with her crush. If the witches don’t get him first, that is.

Can’t a good witch ever catch a break?

T. Frohock (2011)

The Second Death
Los Nefilim: Part Three
Harper Voyager Impulse, March 29, 2016
eBook, 128 pages

Save the world, or save his family…

For Diago Alvarez, that’s the choice before him. For unless he wants to see his son Rafael die, he must do the unthinkable:

Help the Nazis receive the plans to the ultimate weapon.

And while Diago grows more comfortable not only with his heritage, but also with his place among Guillermo’s Los Nefilim, he is still unsure if he truly belongs amongst them.

In a frantic race to save the future of humanity, Diago is forced to rely on his daimonic nature to deceive an angel. In doing so, he discovers the birth of a modern god—one that will bring about a new world order from which no one can escape.

The Second Death is the final chapter in T. Frohock’s haunting and lyrical Los Nefilim trilogy, which bestselling author Mark Lawrence has called “a joy to read.”

Emmi Itäranta (2014)

The Weaver
Harper Voyager, May 24, 2016
Trade Paperback and eBook, 304 pages

The author of the critically acclaimed Memory of Water returns with this literary ecological tale in the vein of Ursula K. Le Guin and Sheri S. Tepper, in which an innocent young woman becomes entangled in a web of ancient secrets and deadly lies that lie at the dark center of her prosperous island world.

Eliana is a model citizen of the island, a weaver in the prestigious House of Webs. She also harbors a dangerous secret—she can dream, an ability forbidden by the island’s elusive council of elders. No one talks about the dreamers, the undesirables ostracized from society.

But the web of protection Eliana has woven around herself begins to unravel when a young girl is found lying unconscious in a pool of blood on the stones outside the house. Robbed of speech by her attackers, the only clue to her identity is one word tattooed in invisible ink across her palm: Eliana. Why does this mysterious girl bear her name? What links her to the weaver—and could she hold Eliana’s fate in her hand?

As Eliana finds herself growing closer to this injured girl she is bound to in ways she doesn’t understand, the enchanting lies of the island begin to crumble, revealing a deep and ancient corruption. Joining a band of brave rebels determined to expose the island’s dark secrets, Eliana becomes a target of ruthless forces determined to destroy her. To save herself and those she loves, she must call on the power within her she thought was her greatest weakness: her dreams.

Here are my top 5 favorite/best books of 2015 (in no particular order). Each of these novels deserves a place on your reading list!



Silver on the Road by Laura Anne Gilman

Silver on the Road is one of my favorite books of 2015 because of the wonderful characters and the gorgeous worldbuilding. The novel is at moments like the soft brush of gently swaying prairie grass and at times like the thunder of a herd of buffalo stampeding. There is magic. There are monsters and a 16 year old girl - Isobel - learning her place in the world. The mythology and lore underpinning Silver on the Road are terrific. Isobel is a great character and watching her learn and grow into magic and her new life is captivating. Silver on the Road is a fabulous coming of age story set in a deeply memorable alternative American West.



Zer0es by Chuck Wendig

Zer0es by Chuck Wendig is a technological thriller surrounding issues of government surveillance and overstepping. The Zer0es of the title are 5 hackers on the hook for one year of servitude to the government instead of multiple years in prison. Wendig quickly introduces us to this disparate group as they are rounded up. The novel starts off as hackerpunk and gently slides into cyberpunk and then into what-the-hell-is-that? I absolutely loved it. Wendig has a talent for writing fabulous characters and I always enjoy his offbeat ones immensely. Zer0es surprised me, occasionally frightened me, and totally delighted me.



Los Nefilim, Part One and Part Two by T. Frohock

I can't tell you how much I adore this series so far - In Midnight’s Silence (Part One) and Without Light or Guide (Part Two). T. Frohock has written engaging characters with an extremely well thought out mythology while at the same time making them confront deeply human emotions and conditions. Diago Alvarez who is half angel and half daimon struggles with this conflict in his nature and the way others perceive him. The relationship between Diago and Miquel (his lover) is gentle and loving and rings with veracity. The writing and pace are gorgeous. The machinations of humans, Nefilim and others create a great backdrop for Diago's story. I can't wait to see what happens in the Part 3 of this series.



Planetfall by Emma Newman

I am a big 3D printing fan with 2 printers running most of the time at home. Newman takes 3D to new levels in Planetfall - where most everything that the settlers use on a new world is 3D printed. While this part of the novel charmed me, it's not what kept me reading. This story of betrayal, lies, religion, science, and extraordinarily flawed characters is fantastic. Newman pulls off the neat trick of making me empathize with characters that I often did not like, in particular Renata Ghali. Things really go sideways for Ren during the 22 years she and the rest of the settlers have been living on a planet far from earth. Newman slowly peels back the layers of lies and mysteries that surround planetfall and the colony giving readers a fascinating look at human behavior.



The Killing Kind by Chris Holm

Hands down this is the best thriller I read in 2015. Holm bends the hired killer trope to give us a fascinating look at hit man who kills hit men. Getting inside the mind of our 'hero', Michael Hendricks, was a blast if often somewhat disturbing. The cat and mouse game between Hendricks and the hitman hired to take him out is nerve wracking and exciting,  The action scenes are often breathtaking. The writing is top notch. The Killing Kind kept me on the edge of my seat. Hendricks is the morally challenged good guy that you'll come to really like.

Silver on the Road
The Devil's West 1
Saga Press, October 6, 2015
Hardcover and eBook, 400 pages

A heroic fantasy by an award-winning author about a young woman who is trained in the art of the sinister hand of magic, but at what price?

Isobel, upon her sixteenth birthday, makes the choice to work for the devil in his territory west of the Mississippi. But this is not the devil you know. This is a being who deals fairly with immense—but not unlimited—power, who offers opportunities to people who want to make a deal, and they always get what they deserve. But his land is a wild west that needs a human touch, and that’s where Izzy comes in. Inadvertently trained by him to see the clues in and manipulations of human desire, Izzy is raised to be his left hand and travel circuit through the territory. As we all know, where there is magic there is chaos…and death.

Zer0es
Harper Voyager, August 18, 2015
Hardcover and eBook, 432 pages

An exhilarating thrill-ride through the underbelly of cyber espionage in the vein of David Ignatius’s The Director and the television series Leverage, CSI: Cyber, and Person of Interest, which follows five iconoclastic hackers who are coerced into serving the U.S. government.

An Anonymous-style rabble rouser, an Arab spring hactivist, a black-hat hacker, an old-school cipherpunk, and an online troll are each offered a choice: go to prison or help protect the United States, putting their brains and skills to work for the government for one year.

But being a white-hat doesn’t always mean you work for the good guys. The would-be cyberspies discover that behind the scenes lurks a sinister NSA program, an artificial intelligence code-named Typhon, that has origins and an evolution both dangerous and disturbing. And if it’s not brought down, will soon be uncontrollable.

Can the hackers escape their federal watchers and confront Typhon and its mysterious creator? And what does the government really want them to do? If they decide to turn the tables, will their own secrets be exposed—and their lives erased like lines of bad code?

Combining the scientific-based, propulsive narrative style of Michael Crichton with the eerie atmosphere and conspiracy themes of The X-Files and the imaginative, speculative edge of Neal Stephenson and William Gibson, Zer0es explores our deep-seated fears about government surveillance and hacking in an inventive fast-paced novel sure to earn Chuck Wendig the widespread acclaim he deserves.

In Midnight’s Silence
Los Nefilim: Part One
Harper Voyager Impulse, June 23, 2015
eBook, 128 pages

The fate of mankind has nothing to do with mankind…

Born of an angel and a daimon, Diago Alvarez is a singular being in a country torn by a looming civil war and the spiritual struggle between the forces of angels and daimons. With allegiance to no one but his partner Miquel, he is content to simply live in Barcelona, caring only for the man he loves and the music he makes. Yet, neither side is satisfied to let him lead this domesticated life and, knowing they can't get to him directly, they do the one thing he's always feared.

They go after Miquel.

Now, in order to save his lover's life, he is forced by an angel to perform a gruesome task: feed a child to the daimon Moloch in exchange for a coin that will limit the extent of the world's next war. The mission is fraught with danger, the time he has to accomplish it is limited…and the child he is to sacrifice is the son Diago never knew existed.

A lyrical tale in a world of music and magic, T. Frohock's In Midnight's Silence shows the lengths a man will go to save the people he loves, and the sides he'll choose when the sidelines are no longer an option.



Without Light or Guide
Los Nefilim: Part Two
Harper Voyager Impulse, November 3, 2015
eBook, 128 pages

The fate of mankind has nothing to do with mankind…

Always holding themselves aloft from the affairs of mortals, Los Nefilim have thrived for eons. But with the Spanish Civil War looming, their fragile independence is shaken by the machinations of angels and daimons…and a half-breed caught in-between.

For although Diago Alvarez has pledged his loyalty to Los Nefilim, there are many who don't trust his daimonic blood. And with the re-emergence of his father—a Nefil who sold his soul to a daimon—the fear is Diago will soon follow the same path.

Yet even as Diago tries to prove his allegiance, events conspire that only fuel the other Nefilim's suspicions—including the fact that every mortal Diago has known in Barcelona is being brutally murdered.

The second novella in T. Frohock's Los Nefilim series, Without Light or Guide continues Diago's journey through a world he was born into, yet doesn't quite understand.

Planetfall
Roc, November 3, 2015
Trade Paperback and eBook, 336 pages

From Emma Newman, the award-nominated author of Between Two Thorns, comes a novel of how one secret withheld to protect humanity’s future might be its undoing…

Renata Ghali believed in Lee Suh-Mi’s vision of a world far beyond Earth, calling to humanity. A planet promising to reveal the truth about our place in the cosmos, untainted by overpopulation, pollution, and war. Ren believed in that vision enough to give up everything to follow Suh-Mi into the unknown.

More than twenty-two years have passed since Ren and the rest of the faithful braved the starry abyss and established a colony at the base of an enigmatic alien structure where Suh-Mi has since resided, alone. All that time, Ren has worked hard as the colony’s 3-D printer engineer, creating the tools necessary for human survival in an alien environment, and harboring a devastating secret.

Ren continues to perpetuate the lie forming the foundation of the colony for the good of her fellow colonists, despite the personal cost. Then a stranger appears, far too young to have been part of the first planetfall, a man who bears a remarkable resemblance to Suh-Mi.

The truth Ren has concealed since planetfall can no longer be hidden. And its revelation might tear the colony apart…

The Killing Kind
Mulholland Books, September 15, 2015
Hardcover and eBook, 320 pages
Trade Paperback to be published September 1, 2016

A hitman who only kills other hitmen winds up a target himself.

Michael Hendricks kills people for money. That aside, he's not so bad a guy.

Once a covert operative for a false-flag unit of the US military, Hendricks was presumed dead after a mission in Afghanistan went sideways. He left behind his old life--and beloved fiancée--and set out on a path of redemption...or perhaps one of willful self-destruction.

Now Hendricks makes his living as a hitman entrepreneur of sorts--he only hits other hitmen. For ten times the price on your head, he'll make sure whoever's coming to kill you winds up in the ground instead. Not a bad way for a guy with his skill-set to make a living--but a great way to make himself a target.