Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Dark Fantasy

In 1986, humanity experienced the Reaping - a nationwide slaughter of six-year-old children by their parents - one of the country's most horrific tragedies. From that day forward, the world would never trust another cryptid. Now, Delilah Marlow and a rogue group of cryptids are on the run. One morning, Delilah wakes up with dried blood all over her hands. Though she has no memory of it, she obviously went somewhere - and possibly killed someone - in her sleep. More killings follow, and there is something connecting her victims - perhaps something as dangerous as another Reaping.

Casement Rise is a dusty town at the end of days, a harsh world of grit and arcane dangers. While Jean’s stern, overprotective Nan has always kept Casement Rise safe from monsters, she may have waited too long to teach Jean how to face them on her own. On Jean’s twelfth birthday, a mysterious graceful man appears, an ethereal and terrifying being tied to her family’s secrets. Now, Nan must rush Jean’s education in monsters, magic, and the breaking of the world in ages past.

After surviving one brutal night against a creature they call the obayifo, Cent and Torres are unexpectedly reunited when both are recruited by the mysterious billionaire Harold Campbell to join his fight against the creatures that lurk in the shadows. For Cent, it’s an easy decision: Find and kill the obayifo and rid the world of their scourge. For Torres, it’s a little more complicated. There are forces turning her against people she trusts, with her future—and those of the people she loves—in the balance.

Pahtal and his brother, Imul, have scraped a life together in pre-civil war Guatemala by finding and selling ancient relics from the Maya ruins. Their latest expedition uncovers a potentially life-changing find, a valuable tablet, etched with glyphs, hidden within the mouth of a sculpture of Nohochacyum, a god of creation–and destruction. But when they attempt to retrieve their prize, Imul is crushed beneath the stone carving.

Aster, a farmer’s daughter turned mage, narrowly survived the apocalypse and now seeks an ancient magical entity to save what remains. But when she offers herself to this entity, she receives a vision from Maven, the deceased Demon King. With what little remains of his magic, Maven sends Aster back in time to thwart the apocalypse. Like with all spells, there is a catch: she cannot reveal what she knows of the future. When Aster wakes, Maven has already chosen the girl destined to kill him.

Centuries ago, mortals split the realm into two, with a magical veil placed firmly between them and their immortal rulers, the Tiarcons. Fueled by stolen magic, the mortal kingdoms flourished, but the Tiarcons never stopped trying to reclaim their magic and mortal subjects. And now, generations later, the veil between realms has begun to tear, letting immortal monsters ravage across the nations and threaten all the mortals have built.

In a world of magic and war, a fierce Demon King formed a pact with the mortal kingdoms: Every 25 years he will choose a human partner that he must try to love for 100 days. If he falls in love, the partner will have the power to kill him. Many centuries later, the Demon King meets a gruesome fate at the hands of the girl he loves. His death sparks the beginning of the end of the world. Aster, a farmer’s daughter turned mage, narrowly survived the apocalypse and now seeks an ancient magical entity to save what remains.

When infamous hot mess vampire Roxanne resurrects her deceased best friends, she's confronted by a dream-dwelling Guardian of the Underworld, who demands that she replace them in his afterlife with three equally nefarious creatures—or he'll drag her there instead. Reunited with Medusa and Mx. Hyde, Roxanne and her macabre girl gang must become monster hunters themselves and fight for the future of their friendship.Gory, sexy, silly, touching—Glorious Fiends asks who the real monsters are, and if the bonds that we think are solely human are really ours alone.

Some people are born under a lucky star; Aris Gray isn’t one of them. Orphaned as a baby, she has struggled her entire life, but now, at 18, she hopes that going off to college will mean a new path for her. Unfortunately, that new path begins when she’s attacked in an alleyway by a stranger. To protect herself, Aris summons shadow powers she didn’t know she had and a Constellation, a being that also grants her elemental powers.

As war between Alden and Oridia intensifies, King Erik must defend his kingdom from treachery and enemies on all sides - but the greatest danger lurks closer to home. When the war began, Lady Alix Black played a minor role, scouting at the edge of the king's retinue in relative anonymity. Though she's once again facing an attacking Oridian force determined to destroy all she holds dear, she is now bodyguard to the king and wife to the prince. Still, she is unprepared for what the revival of the war will mean.

Masks, the first novel in a mesmerizing new fantasy series, draws readers into a world in which cataclysmic events have left the Autarchy of Aygrima - the one land blessed with magical resources - cut off from its former trading partners across the waters, not knowing if any of those distant peoples still live. Yet under the rule of the Autarch, Aygrima survives. And thanks to the creation of the Masks and the vigilance of the Autarch’s Watchers, no one can threaten the security of the empire.

A masterpiece of the sexual gothic, this is the story of Andrew Halfnight, whose life, part dream, part nightmare, begins with a mother's tragic choice and ends with a lover's embrace. In between he experiences tempests at sea, on land and in the mind; and relatives who kill for love and lovers who sacrifice their bodies; as all the while he moves ever closer to the central mystery of his and all existence.

In the dark reaches of the eastern continent, Tris Vishal travels from village to village, using his power to put unsettled spirits to rest. He works alone, having learned that letting people close only leads to more death. Still, he finds himself accepting the help of the Mondyalitko woman who saves his life - a woman whose gifts are as much a burden as his own. Mari Kaleja thirsted for vengeance since the night her family was taken from her. She has searched far and wide for the one she thinks responsible, known only as "The Dead's Man".

Savedra Severos is no stranger to intrigue. Mistress to the King of Selafai and daughter of a rival noble house, she navigates the treacheries of court with every breath. On the eve of delicate peace talks, the court mage is found murdered. As Savedra investigates, she stumbles further into a web of secrets that enmeshes three kingdoms - entangling spies and sorcerers, lovers and enemies, strangers and kin. Among those secrets are Savedra's own, dangerous enough to destroy her king and her family if they come to light.

Ever since raiders from the north began attacking villages, Lady Nicole Montagna has known that defending her people would come at a cost. The betrothal of her sister Chloe to a neighboring lord seems the perfect solution, forging a powerful alliance. But shortly before the wedding, Nicole is shocked to discover that her sister is with child - and not by her husband-to-be. Now she must make a choice, and she has just hours to decide.

Cora was born with a veil. She is able to discern spirits and wield the power of both the dark and the light as well as the ability to heal. Her grandmother, Mi, called it The Knowing. Cora has carried it as both a prophetic blessing and a curse, struggling under the burden until one decision changes her world. Possessed with a healer’s compulsion to help, she is unable to turn away when Fannie arrives on her doorstep, ripped, torn, and hanging precariously on the knife’s edge of death.

Ambrose, a young vampire, lives a life secreted away from the modern world with the rest of his clan, all of them under the spell of the charismatic Regina, who spins stories of salvation for their kind. Their grand plan? To build makeshift wings and fly to the moon where a safe haven awaits for all vampires. But Ambrose harbours a secret: he is not ready to abandon the earth, and he is in contact with a human who believes he can be saved. As the rest of his kind prepare to flee their home, Ambrose is torn between loyalties.