Showing results by narrator "Nick Sullivan" in All Categories

These interconnected stories are set in an opulent quasi-historical world of magick and high manners called the Republic of Califa. The Republic is a strangely familiar place - a baroque approximation of Gold Rush era-California with an overlay of Aztec ceremony - yet the characters who populate it are true originals: rockstar magicians, murderous gloves, bouncing boy terrors, blue tinted butlers, sentient squids, and a three-year-old Little Tiny Doom and her vengeful pink plush pig.

Sex, intrigue, and murder spice the latest installment in the stunning new prequel to Ellen Kushner's beloved Riverside saga. Rafe's academic troubles grow worse, but he finds comfort in surprising places. When Micah plunges into mathematical calculations that threaten to expose trade secrets long held close by Kaab's people, Kaab must do some quick thinking of her own. Meanwhile, Diane seeks to involve the house Balam in her intrigues....

In a city that never was, the rich live high on the Hill, the criminals and swordsmen live on the dangerous streets of Riverside, while foreign merchants keep them both supplied with their daily chocolate. And through it all weaves a dance of politics, intrigue, and secrets.

When Tess finds herself plagued by mysterious dreams of her murdered ex-protector, Ben, Kaab vows to solve the mystery. But she may never get the chance, for Reynald is on her trail, with more murder on his mind. Meanwhile, Will tells Diane of Micah's discovery, but her response is not what he had hoped for. And Micah gets an unexpected job offer.

Bill, the “Nameless Detective”, and his wife, Kerry, were in the Sierra foothills, just outside of Six Pines, falling in love with a cabin. It was all perfect, until Kerry went missing. They’d seen Balfour at breakfast at the diner and Kerry remembered his name… PR people are like that. Which was unfortunate, because when she ran into him along the trail on that sunny afternoon and called him by name, he panicked. And that’s when Bill’s nightmare began.

The first in a new historical mystery series featuring Dr. Clyde Deacon - 1902. Widower Clyde Deacon arrives in Fairfield, New York, to take up the post of doctor. The townspeople initially regard him with suspicion because he comes from Tennessee. When a beautiful actress is found murdered, the overworked sheriff asks Deacon to assist him with the case. Deacon quickly discovers that the Fairfield inhabitants aren’t as innocent as they seem, the victim not as blameless, and the truth more shocking than anyone could have imagined....

This "Fantasy of Manners" follows the lives and intrigues of four very different characters as they maneuver the cobblestone streets and glittering ballrooms of a city that never was. Nameless, but inspired by Elizabethan London, 18th-century Paris, 1980s New York, and many others great cities both real and fictional, the setting of Tremontaine comes alive behind the colorful figures of Micah, Rafe Fenton, Ixkaab Balam, and, of course, Diane, the duchess of Tremontaine.

A Fair Hand continues the 13-part serial Tremontaine, presented by Serial Box. This prequel to the cult classic Swordspoint is brought to you by the collaborative effort of a team of writers under the creative direction of Ellen Kushner herself.

Cody Hatcher is the kind of teenager you don't want your kids hanging out with. That's the book on him, and it's why the citizens of Mineral Springs have no problem at all believing that he's guilty of three rapes. His mother, Cheryl, an old lover of Nameless, is being harassed by vindictive townspeople. It's against such odds that Nameless must work to prove Cody innocent. There are few to help him and plenty to get in his way. It's a classic situation for an iconic private investigator.

Draken vae Khellian, bastard cousin of the Monoean King, had risen far from his ignominious origins to become both a Bowrank commander and a member of the crown's Black Guard. But when cursed black magic took his wife and his honor away, he fought past his own despair and grief and carved out a new life in Akrasia. His bloody, unlikely path, chronicled in Exile: The First Book of the Seven Eyes, led him to a new love, and a throne.

After returning from a 30-year trade mission, the crew of the Ea wake from cryonic suspension to find that their home world, Bh'Haret, is dead. "Screamer" satellites have been strung around their planet, warning of a plague. A scan of the surface of Bh'Haret reveals no trace of human life - only crumbling cities. Their fuel and other supplies nearly exhausted, the crew has little choice but to make planet fall on Bh'Haret, infected with a virulent and deadly disease.

From the introduction by David L. Ulin: "For me, Cape Cod is a repository of memory: forty summers in the same house will do that to you. But it is also a landscape of hidden tensions, which rise up when we least anticipate. In part, this has to do with social aspiration, which is one of the things that brought my family, like many others, to the Cape. In part, it has to do with social division, which has been a factor since at least the end of the nineteenth century, when then summer trade began."

Swordplay and stolen kisses keep the blood pumping and flowing in the new installment of Tremontaine, the online episodic series set in Ellen Kushner's beloved Riverside universe.

Tennessee, 1955. Conley Ford learned quickly the world's full of hard knocks. Seeking the wrong kind of excitement, the restless 13-year-old falls in with a group of older boys joyriding in stolen Mercury cars...until he is arrested and put on probation. With a harsh father waiting and too embarrassed to face his classmates as a jailbird, the impetuous youth leaves town, making it all the way to New Orleans. 

It’s just another day in Paradise, if Paradise was in Detroit. In the quaint, coastal town of Port St. Joe, FL, Sheriff Evan Caldwell had been called out to the fancy new development to appease its influential owner and look into his missing shrubbery. He did not go out there to work a homicide, but since the old man in the pajamas probably didn’t bury himself, a homicide investigation is pretty much mandatory.

When Mechant Loup Detective Clint Wolf stops a vehicle for reckless driving, he doesn’t find a drunk driver or an irresponsible teenager inside. Instead, he discovers a distraught father in a desperate search for his missing sons. Upon learning the boys were overdue from a fishing trip in the swamps, Clint summons the assistance of trusted friend and skilled man-tracker Melvin Saltzman.

As a superstar trader at his elite Dallas wealth management firm, Chase decided he was ready to cash out, so he sold his client base. There was just one catch. To close the deal, he had to agree to a three-year contract overseeing the transition.

The quaint coastal town of Port St. Joe, FL isn’t the kind of place where people go around getting stabbed to death. So, when Jake Bellamy—an insurance agent and beloved father—is found murdered in the dewy grass of a local park, it comes as a bit of a shock. Now it’s up to Evan Caldwell, the new sheriff and recent transplant, to solve the case. All he wants to do is live peacefully on his boat and tend to his comatose wife, but that’s easier said than done when he’s tasked with solving the murder of a man with no enemies.

Rick Waters travels to the Amazon to save his true love Jules. Rick must overcome snakes, spiders, jaguars, and flying spears and arrows to find the jewel. If he cannot find the Sacred Jewel of Orinoco, not only is Jules’ life in danger, but so is the fate of the entire Kayapó tribe. Rick runs into an old friend, or is he now a foe? He has come into money and seems different. Will Rick and the crew save Jules in time, or will she die deep inside the dark jungle? Time is running out. No pressure, right?

Rick and the gang must find Tyler Raynes, who was kidnapped on Halloween night at the crossroads in Mississippi. He went there to sell his soul to the devil, following in the footsteps of Blues legend Robert Johnson. But Tyler met an even more insidious fate at the hands of a certified psychopath.