Urban Fantasy Book Releases, Part 1

Well, we've done films and television, so I thought it was time we got back to the main event. which is after all, books! There are so many great urban fantasy novels out there, that someone new to the genre might find it rather overwhelming. So today and tomorrow, I'm going to list a selection of this month's urban fantasy releases. Feel free to tell me which ones you've read and liked, which you'd put on your TBR list, or which you'd recommend to a reader keen to dip his or her toe into the genre.

Midnight Riot, by Ben Aaronovitch (Del Rey)

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Now, as a wave of bizarre killings engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

Unseen, by Rachel Caine (Roc)

After Cassiel and Warden Luis Rocha rescue an adept child from a maniacal Djinn, they realize two things: the girl is already manifesting an incredible amount of power, and her kidnapping was not an isolated incident. This Djinn—aided by her devoted followers—is capturing children all over the world and indoctrinating them so she can use their strength for herself. With no other options, Cassiel infiltrates the Djinn’s organization. Third in the Outcast Season series.

Storm of Reckoning, by Doranna Durgin (Tor)

Lisa “Garrie” McGarity leads a ghost buster team—and has recently become entangled with Trevarr, a fiercely driven demon-hunter from a different dimension. After tumultuous adventures in San Jose, Trevarr returns to this world and to Garrie, a battered exile. But there’s little time to recuperate; a friend in Sedona needs their help. There, in that area of power convergence, Garrie is astonished to find the ethereal breezes quiet, the earth’s activity so diminished as to be nonexistent, if you don’t count those oddball surges that don’t taste like our world at all.

Jane Goes Batty, by Michael Thomas Ford (Ballantine)

After 200 years undead, Jane Austen still has bite. But will her most recent literary success be her last? Life was a lot easier for Jane when she was just an unknown, undead bookstore owner in a sleepy hamlet in upstate New York. But now the world embraces her as Jane Fairfax, author of the bestselling novel Constance—and she’s having a killer time trying to keep her true identity as the Jane Austen a secret. Even the ongoing lessons in “How to Be a Vampire,” taught by her former lover Lord Byron, don’t seem to be helping much, not to mention the constant threat of a certain bloodsucking Brontë sister coming back to finish her off.

Halfway Hexed, by Kimberly Frost (Berkley Trade)
New witch Tammy Jo Trask has a whole town full of trouble. First, there are the local residents who form a scripture-spouting posse and kidnap Tammy to “defend” Duvall, Texas, against witchcraft. Next, someone saddles her with a secret package full of dangerous visions. And who worse to examine Tammy’s entanglement with off-limits and drop-dead gorgeous wizard Bryn Lyons than his ex-girlfriend? Not to mention that the clash between the locals and the magical visitors leads to a series of unnatural disasters that may doom them all.

Forest Moon Rising, by P.R. Frost (Daw)

A new Tess Noncoiré adventure finds the successful fantasy writer and Celestial Blade Warrior making a deal with the Powers That Be, forfeiting her own dreams in order to save those nearest and dearest to her. Tess, along with her imp Scrap, is determined to hunt down a demonic intruder from another dimension, the Norglein, who seems bent on ravishing young women, leaving them pregnant, and waiting for the proper time to steal their babies for his own purposes.

Blood Wyne, by Yasmine Galenorn (Berkley)

The D’Artigo sisters have turned in their badges to the Otherworld Intelligence Agency. Now that they’re free agents they’re hoping things will be easier, but when you’re half-human, half-Fae, things can go astray at the most inopportune times—especially if you’re attempting to go undercover and penetrate the underworld of a vamp society on the brink of war.

Curiosity Thrilled the Cat, by Sofie Kelly (Signet)

When librarian Kathleen Paulson moved to Mayville Heights, Minn., she had no idea that two strays would nuzzle their way into her life. Owen is a tabby with a catnip addiction and Hercules is a stocky tuxedo cat who shares Kathleen’s fondness for Barry Manilow. But beyond all the fur and purrs, there’s something more to these magical felines.

Evenfall, by Liz Michalski (Berkley Trade)

Frank Wildermuth always regretted a mistake he made as a teenager: choosing Clara Murphy over her sister Gert. And like a true Murphy woman, Gert got on with her life, never admitting to heartbreak. Not even now, decades later, with Frank dead—dead, that is, but not quite gone.

666 Park Avenue, by Gabriella Pierce (Avon)

What if your mother-in-law turned out to be an evil, cold-blooded witch—literally? Ever since wealthy Malcolm Doran swept her off her feet, fledgling architect Jane Boyle has been living a fairy tale. But when Malcolm introduces Jane to the esteemed Doran clan, one of Manhattan’s most feared families, Jane’s fairy tale takes a darker turn. Now she must struggle with newfound magical abilities and the threat of those who will stop at nothing to get them.