Monster Fiction

Blaze uses wind power to beat Crusher and Pickle in a sailboat race!

A trip to the grocery store changed my life. That's where I bumped into my "straight" coworker and good friend, Jake Perez. I decided to invite him to my book club night, not realizing the chain of events that invite would kick off. Immediately our chemistry became too explosive, making our friendship and work relationship complicated. That same night, a bloody package addressed to me lands on my doorstep. Falling for Jake was never in the plans—then again neither was being targeted by a dangerous stalker. This was going to be interesting.

Betrayed and bloodied, The Hand has failed. After a desperate battle, Nismera, the Goddess of War, now rules the realms as the last remnants of Samkiel's power spill across the sky. Desperate to keep Samkiel safe after almost losing him, Dianna is willing to give up everything to protect him, even if that means sacrificing their relationship itself. But that's not a risk Samkiel is willing to take, even as the stakes grow ever higher. The one true king is poised to return, but when the dust settles, who will truly rule?

It was an offer too good to refuse: spend one month in the most haunted house in the world. When the reclusive owner of Duskwood Manor opens the door to five teams of paranormal investigators, there's no way my team can say no. But there are no ghosts here. There are monsters. They live under my bed, in my closet, and watch me from the shadows, whispering filthy visions in my ear at night. Begging me to come with them to their world—the Void, where the monsters roam free . . . where they teach me what it really means to want.

Monster Hunter International may have had its roots in the United States of America, but there are plenty of monsters in the big old world. And wherever there are monsters, humans will need monster hunters. Here then, stories of the things that go bump in the night and the men and women who bump back—focusing on the myths, legends, and folklore of Czechia, by Czech authors. Includes a new short story by Larry Correia.

Tormented as a child for being dark-skinned and the son of a womanizer, Ken Ferguson longed for that feeling of being loved. He promised himself that he wouldn't be a manipulating, deceitful man like his father, but after he is cheated on and dumped by the girl he thought he would one day marry, he begins his transformation. Fueled by anger and tired of being the "nice guy", Ken drowns himself in one-night stands, threesomes, and affairs with married women. He meets his match with Ashley. But Ashley turns out to do even more damage, wounding him deeply. Ken spirals out of control.

In his work as a defense attorney in Baltimore, Thorne has always been noble to a fault - specializing in helping young people in trouble in an attempt to atone for those he couldn't save when he himself was younger. He plays the part of the bachelor well but secretly holds a flame for his best friend and business partner, Gwyn Weaver, a woman struggling to overcome her own demons. After four years, he thinks he might finally be ready to confess his feelings, come what may. But his plans are derailed when he wakes up in bed with a dead woman, with no recollection of how he got there.

The Aldens are joining Dr. Iris Perez as she investigates legendary creatures around the world. In the last leg of the journey, the children travel to the Amazon rain forest. They love learning about all the different plants and animals they have never seen before. But is there really a creature in the forest that hasn’t yet been discovered?

Seven years hasn't been long enough to forget the bite of Casimir's rejection. When the Monster Relations Bureau tasks me and Casimir with solving a string of rogue vampire attacks in Boston, I'm quick to let him know I work best alone. But it doesn't take me long to end up in the crosshairs of the city's most feared vampire coven, and with no better options, I agree to work the case with Casimir. It puts me under his protection, staying in his opulent Gothic manor and slowly rediscovering the reasons I've always found him so darkly irresistible.

Ignazio Vitale is not a good man. I suspect it the first time I see him, sense the air of danger that surrounds him. He has a way of commanding attention, of taking control, of knowing what I'm thinking before I even do.

A little over four months has passed since Desmond McLaughlin was physically yanked from his home and thrown to the mercy of a conquering alien empire when they demanded he be handed over for training as he was an ‘Adept’, one of the few able to harness the power of magic in the universe. During that time, he has learned how to manipulate mana and made several friends amongst the aliens whose culture he was now immersed in. And one lover.

A larval Great Old One is growing day by day in power and just about ready to pop. If Chad Gadenier can't convince "the powers that be" to get involved, not only New Orleans, but the entire world, is going to fall under the power of the nastiest of nasties. Now on the outs with the US government and in exile from his usual job of saving the world, Chad must rally the forces of light against the coming darkness. The problem is one guy with a sword and a sub-gun isn't going to solve this one.

After slaying a leviathan of the deep, and gaining a magic he barely understands, an ordinary fisherman finds himself entangled in a magical game of the gods with the fate of his planet as the prize. Dean becomes Oakley's champion, competing in the Minotaur's Maze. He travels through a portal to Mixonia, a city of wonders, filled with magic and monster girls of all sorts. As he levels up in his noble quest to save his home world, he will earn and lose fortunes, rescue a bevy of beautiful babes, and protect the innocents of planet Oakley.

"Perfect deadpan marks the opening of Ali Simpson’s The Monster'" writes Susan Merrell of The Southampton Review in her introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading.

Alex Delaware is back! And in Jonathan Kellerman's riveting and ingenious new novel, Monster, he faces one of the most grisly and baffling mysteries of his career: How can a nonfunctional psychotic locked up in a supposedly secure institution for homicidal madmen predict brutal murders in the outside world? Delaware and his friend and partner Detective Milo Sturgis must penetrate this enigma in order to stop the horrific killings.

Somewhere in the toxic Bone Pits, where mechanical nightmares roam, an emaciated and wounded young wolf clings to life. Wracked with pain, driven by instinct, it crawls across the subterranean landscape, avoiding the unnatural horrors that dwell there and seeking sustenance while fending off rats, insects, and other vermin stalking it as prey.

The Empire's plans have come to fruition. Duran has fallen, and with it the other city-states of Nehatra. Only the dungeon town remains safe, but for how long? While the leadership struggle to deal with the crisis, the dungeon dwellers watch on. As Doc continues to unlock new slime evolutions, Rowen deepens his bond with Milly, and the two experience much together. When the final attack begins, will Rowen and Doc stand with the townspeople? Why has Doc been framed for murder? Who is the traitor lurking in the shadows?

The traitor Baru Cormorant is now the cryptarch Agonist - a secret lord of the empire she's vowed to destroy. Hunted by a mutinous admiral, haunted by the wound which has split her mind in two, Baru leads her dearest foes on an expedition for the secret of immortality. It's her chance to trigger a war that will consume the Masquerade. But Baru's heart is broken, and she fears she can no longer tell justice from revenge...or her own desires from the will of the man who remade her.

Despite all of the odds, Joan achieved the impossible. She reset the timeline, saved her family – and destroyed the hero, Nick. But her success has come at a terrible cost. She alone remembers what happened. Now, Aaron, her hard-won friend – and maybe more – is an enemy, trying to kill her. And Nick, the boy she loved, is a stranger who doesn’t even know her name. Only Joan remembers that a greater and more dangerous enemy is still out there. When a deadly attack forces Joan back into the monster world, she finds herself on the run with Nick – as Aaron closes in.

As king of the ice giants, I must have heirs. But our customs do not satisfy me. I do not want a giantess who will bear me a child and then leave to be with another. I would much rather pursue a union the human way: find a partner who will share my bed, bear my children, and stay by my side. Until death do us part.