Urban City

Urban fantasy offers a diverse playground for some extremely powerful stories. Professional writer and editor Kerrie L. Hughes pulled some fantastic tales out of 14 top writers for this fifth installment of Fiction River. Set in urban lands from modern Portland, to a future Detroit, to a wild Washington, D.C., and ending the tour in London, these top writers take the idea of "Hex" and stretch and twist it into stories with a magickal grip on the imagination.

Even when I’m not chasing kidnappers, I don’t keep normal hours. I’m a journalist; late nights, burnt coffee, and energy potions come with the territory. When I get lost in a story or deep in pre-publication crunch time, I can’t quit just because the sun’s been down for eight hours. So when my best friend called me well after midnight to say she was being followed, I was already halfway out the door before the call could be hexed. I wasn’t fast enough. By the time I arrived she was gone--vanished from within an impenetrable magical ward.

Finding my sister changed my entire life. A secret that haunted my past resurfaces and hides in the shadows, taunting me. Not only that, but I learned that the world is full of supernaturals, and even more surprising, my fated mate is a vampire. Threats surround me, with more obstacles surfacing at every corner, and what’s worse is they don’t solely affect me anymore. My mate’s foundation is rocked, and even the silver wolf and her friends who protect me have become targets. Our enemies are closer than we realize.

My name is Levi and I swear I didn’t kill her. Sure, I was the only person found at the scene of the crime, and maybe her blood was literally on my hands, but I can explain all that. I’m a journalist writing for Kansas City’s magical community. So when I suspected that a woman had been cursed, it’s only natural that I went to learn more. I couldn’t have known she’d be dead before I arrived. Seriously, I write headlines about bridge trolls and solstice events, not murder. The Wizard’s Council thinks I did it, and I’m going to have a hard time convincing them otherwise.

En 1923, Helena Lennox tiene 17 años y un único deseo: sustituir las calles de Londres por una vida de aventuras y excavaciones en tierras lejanas. En consecuencia, cuando sus padres se marchan a la India para investigar la desaparición de unos arqueólogos, ella decide acompañarlos…unos días después y a escondidas. Son muchas las leyendas que circulan en torno a la ciudad fantasma de Bhangarh, pero Helena nunca ha creído en las supersticiones. No obstante, el príncipe Arshad de Jaipur (sí, ese que odia a los ingleses) le insiste en que se equivoca: Bhangarh está maldita.

Built on top of the gates of Hell, Grimm City is the Devil's capital on earth. A place where every coffee shop, nightclub and shopping mall is the potential hunting ground for any of the supernatural entities that inhabit the Grimm City world. Death's 17-year-old apprentice, Nathaniel, comes into his own as he leads an uprising against the Devil with the help of a half-dead wraith and a giant hit-man. What results is a bloody, brutal revolt that calls upon the loyalties of both the living and the dead.

When Sean Moretti's powers manifested themselves, a lifetime of comic books taught him what to do. Already struggling to make it as a normal college student, his new-found ability to sense energy in those around him did nothing to simplify his life. As destructive forces descend upon Steel City, he must learn to channel his potential, or die trying.

It's tough being a faery in New Orleans, a city fraught with vampires...especially when their very existence drains your life force. Willow Rhoswen, owner of The Fated Cupcake and part-time vampire hunter for the Void is having a rough week. Four years after her twin brother's mysterious death, Willow's life is threatened and the director saddles her with a new partner-her ex-boyfriend, David. To her horror, he's turned vamp, which causes her physical pain whenever she touches him

Por essa Bryce Quinlan realmente não esperava. Ela nunca imaginou que fosse sair de Midgard, mas os malditos asteri a forçaram a literalmente procurar pelas portas do Inferno. Mas o Inferno está... diferente? Uma grama imaculada e uma linda cidade não eram exatamente o que ela estava esperando encontrar por lá. Isso sem falar dos habitantes do lugar, que são tão belos quanto letais. Onde Bryce foi parar?

I had been hidden away with my powers cloaked by those desperate to protect me. But now that my true identity has been revealed, a vile enemy is desperate to capture me. I need Cyrus, my fated mate, now more than ever. His support makes me stronger, and I need that strength as I uncover more about my hidden heritage. Danger is closing in as my adversaries grow intent on killing Cyrus and handing me over to the prince of Hell. I'll have to harness my emerging powers and prepare for war. My days as a pawn are over, and I will fight to protect those I hold dear...even to my last breath.

Conceived in the Gilded Age, the Ferry Building opened in 1898 as San Francisco's portal to the world—the terminus of the transcontinental railway and a showcase of civic ambition. In silent films and World's Fair postcards, nothing said "San Francisco" more than its soaring clock tower. But as acclaimed architectural critic John King recounts, the rise of the automobile and double-deck freeways severed the city from its beloved structure. King's narrative spans the rise and fall and rebirth of the Ferry Building, introducing colorful figures who fought to preserve its character.

Well, back from delivering the dead to the afterlives, anyway. The political and social landscape of Limbo City has gone through quite the makeover since the Throne of Eternity was broken and the souls in the sea took charge of their own destinies. But progress is a journey on the road less traveled. Which means potholes are inevitable. And who better to pave the way than the reaper who set all this upheaval into motion? Return to Limbo City with Lana and the gang! They'll have a cold ale waiting for you at Purgatory Lounge.

We often appreciate the courage of soldiers of the Indian Army, performing their duties in adverse circumstances, as we sit on the couch in our well-furnished, air conditioned rooms, expressing a slight tint of grief in case of a mishappening. The hot discussions over the matters on television boil our blood for a couple of minutes, but everything becomes normal after a short period of time. This novel reveals the lives of those soliders and their families - how terrorism proved to be fatal in different ways and how humanism reaches the highest peaks.

Magic City is full of hustlers, con men and magicals just out for a good time. The perfect mix of glamour and gangsters. But underneath it all, a con man is scheming to pull it all apart. Can Ruby and her weretiger, Idryll, find a way to save her hometown before time runs out? Or will her quest lead her to her own unforeseen destiny? New challenges can also bring new allies. A Drow trader with an eclectic set of resources offers to help. A purple-haired troll who offers to teach her to fly or the hooded archer whose help Ruby can't decline. Are they really friends or foes?

The Mist Casino sits just above a kemana with an interior that would make a ghost feel right at home. Of course it does. After all, Magic City has to compete with nearby Vegas. Ruby is just back from University for the summer, catching up with an old friend, when everything changes with a bang! A series of small blasts are exploding all around her. Chips are flying through the air. Someone wanted to announce their arrival in town. But who? Ruby is about to get drawn into a battle for control of Magic City. They just made the fight personal. Is the Ebon Dragon Casino next?

A prequel story in the reverse harem Nighthelm Guardian series. City of the Rebel Runes is an alternative relationship dynamic that supports our badass heroine's right to choose more than one man. Get ready for a breathtaking story, soulmate romance, lip-biting love scenes, mind-blowing magic, one kickass heroine, three gorgeous men, lots of toned muscles, fights to the death, and edge-of-your-seat action.

For fifty years “Detroit” has been shorthand for all that's wrong with urban America: crime, corruption, decay, racial tension, struggling businesses, failing schools, a declining tax base, and more. Since 1950 Detroit has lost two-thirds of its population, falling from fifth place in the U.S. (just behind Los Angeles) to twenty-fourth (just behind Nashville). Between 2000 and 2017 alone, its population fell 28%, a steeper drop than any other major American city.

Twenty years of addiction to cloud, a drug which wipes the user’s short-term memory, have left single mom Mellie with her mind in fragments. With the help of a tough-minded sponsor, and motivated by her own medically challenged daughter, Mellie clings to a fragile sobriety. Then, on the evening of her 29th day sober, a stranger pulls into her driveway and her heart surges. However, when Mellie’s pursuit of this man and the past they may share threatens her sponsor, Mellie will have to put her tiny family and her recovery at risk in hopes of saving the woman who saved her first.

One woman is his soul and the other woman owns half. Sam just hopes to get killed less this time around. With a bag full of money and his wife riding shotgun, Sam Flint is ready to let the siren call of the open road pull him to distant shores. Mountain City is almost in his carburetor-ed pony's rearview, when a mysterious vampire attack on werewolf alpha Ethan Grisom leaves the Flints turning back to help. In exchange for information about the attack, Fox agrees to work with Sarah Roswell as she attempts to dethrone Lloyd Burgess at the helm of Mountain City.

In Black on the Block, Mary Pattillo - a Newsweek Woman of the 21st Century - uses the historic rise, alarming fall, and equally dramatic renewal of Chicago’s North Kenwood-Oakland neighborhood to explore the politics of race and class in contemporary urban America.