Genre: Urban Fantasy

The Clown Service

Related Posts
Esoterrorism (Red Room Book 1)

FROM THE BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF THE RULES OF SUPERVILLAINY There are no good guys in the world of shadows … but maybe some bad men are better than others. Derek Hawthorne was born to be an agent of the Red Read more

Ghost of a Chance: Ghost Finders Book 1

Meet the operatives of the Carnacki Institute. The Institute's operatives are the best of the best: JC Chance, team leader, is undoubtedly brave, sharp as a tack, incredibly charming - and almost unbearably arrogant. Melody Chambers may be a science Read more

The Clown Service
Date:
MainCategory:
Type:
Genre:
trope:
Lenght:
Seriesize:
Author:

Drake (The Burned Man trilogy)

Drake (The Burned Man trilogy)
Date:
MainCategory:
Type:
Genres: ,
Lenght:
Seriesize:
Author:

A hitman navigates a seedy London shot through with dark magic, demons, and angels in this wickedly hilarious urban fantasy series debut

Meet Don Drake: a profane, alcoholic hitman . . . and summoner of demons. Drake owes a gambling debt to one such demon. Forced to carry out one more assassination to clear his debt, Don unwittingly kills an innocent child and brings the Furies of Greek myth down upon himself.

Rescued by an almost-fallen angel called Trixie, Don and his magical accomplice, The Burned Man—an imprisoned archdemon—are forced to deal with Lucifer himself whilst battling a powerful evil magician.

Now Don must foil Lucifer’s plan to complete Trixie’s fall and save her soul whilst preventing the Burned Man from escaping and wreaking havoc on the entire world.

“What connects [Raymond] Chandler, Guy Ritchie, Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer? ‘Not much’ is probably the answer, until now. A punchy debut novel.”
—SFX Magazine

Rivers of London

Rivers of London
Date:
MainCategory:
Type:
Genre:
trope:
Lenght:
Seriesize:
Author:
Narrator:
Reception:

My name is Peter Grant and until recently I was just another probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right thinking people as the Metropolitan Police and by everyone else as the filth. My only concerns in life were avoiding a transfer to the Case Progression Unit – We do paperwork so other coppers don’t have to – and where to get a hot coffee while on late shift. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from a man who was dead, but disturbingly voluble and that brought me to the attention Chief Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in Britain.

And that, as they say, is where the story really starts.

Now I’m in plain clothes and the first apprentice wizard in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated. Now I’m dealing with nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the River Thames and digging up graves in Covent Garden – and that’s just the routine stuff.

Because there’s something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious, vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.

The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it’s fallen to me to bring order out of chaos – or die trying. Which, I don’t mind telling you, would involve a hell of a lot of paperwork.

Titanshade (The Carter Archives Book 1)

Titanshade (The Carter Archives Book 1)
Date:
MainCategory:
Newstuffs: ,
Type:
Genres: , ,
tropes: ,
Lenght:
Seriesize:
Author:
Narrator:
Reception:

Noir mystery meets urban fantasy in this “masterpiece of a first novel” that’s full of retro throwbacks and action-packed adventure (W. Michael Gear, New York Times bestselling author).

Welcome to the gritty streets of Titanshade—an oil boomtown on the brink of disaster, where danger lurks around every corner . . .

Carter is a homicide cop in Titanshade, an oil boomtown where 8-tracks are state of the art, disco rules the radio, and all the best sorcerers wear designer labels. It’s also a metropolis teetering on the edge of disaster. As its oil reserves run dry, the city’s future hangs on a possible investment from the reclusive amphibians known as Squibs.

But now negotiations have been derailed by the horrific murder of a Squib diplomat. The pressure’s never been higher to make a quick arrest, even as Carter’s investigation leads him into conflict with the city’s elite. Undermined by corrupt coworkers and falsified evidence, and with a suspect list that includes power-hungry politicians, oil magnates, and mad scientists, Carter must find the killer before the investigation turns into a witch-hunt and those closest to him pay the ultimate price on the filthy streets of Titanshade.

In Plain Sight (Arcane Casebook)

In Plain Sight (Arcane Casebook)
Date:
MainCategory:
Period:
Type:
Genre:
tropes: ,
Lenght:
Seriesize:
Author:
Narrator:

Private Detective Alex Lockerby has a book of spells, a pack of matches, and four days to prove he’s not a killer.

In 1933 New York, there are two kinds of magic, the all powerful sorcerers who use their abilities to acquire wealth and fame, and the runewrights who scratch out what meager spells they can to make a living. Decidedly in the latter category, Alex Lockerby uses his magic to aid him in his work as a private detective, consulting for the police on cases with mystical ties.

When a lethal magical plague is released in a Manhattan soup kitchen, the police fear it is a test for a more devastating attack. They call in the big guns, the FBI and their own consultant, Sorsha Kincaid, New York’s resident sorceress. Wanting to help, Alex instead finds himself under suspicion because of his ties to the priest who ran the kitchen.

With the FBI and their powerful and dangerous sorceress breathing down his neck, Alex has his book of runes, a pack of matches, and four days to find out where the plague came from or the authorities will hang the crime squarely on him.

in the same universe : The Arcane Irregulars

The Devil You Know (Felix Castor Novel Book 1)

The Devil You Know (Felix Castor Novel Book 1)
Date:
MainCategory:
Type:
Genre:
tropes: ,
Lenght:
Seriesize:
Author:
Narrator:

Author of The Girl with All the Gifts Mike Carey presents the first book in his hip supernatural thriller series featuring freelance exorcist Felix Castor.

Felix Castor is a freelance exorcist, and London is his stomping ground. It may seem like a good ghostbuster can charge what he likes and enjoy a hell of a lifestyle, but there’s a risk: sooner or later he’s going to take on a spirit that’s too strong for him.

When Castor accepts a seemingly simple ghost-hunting case at a museum in the shadowy heart of London, what should have been a perfectly straightforward exorcism is rapidly turning into the Who Can Kill Castor First Show, with demons and ghosts all keen to claim the big prize.

But that’s business as usual: Castor knows how to deal with the dead. It’s the living who piss him off….

Fated (Alex Verus Book 1)

Fated (Alex Verus Book 1)
Date:
MainCategory:
Type:
Genre:
trope:
Lenght:
Seriesize:
Author:
Narrator:

Enter a “gorgeously realized world”* and meet a mage destined for greatness in the first novel in the national bestselling Alex Verus series.

Alex is part of a world hidden in plain sight, running a magic shop in London that caters to clientele who can do much more than pull rabbits out of hats. And while Alex’s own powers aren’t as showy as some mages, he does have the advantage of foreseeing the possible future—allowing him to pull off operations that have a million to one chance of success.

But when Alex is approached by multiple factions seeking his skills to crack open a relic from a long-ago mage war, he knows that whatever’s inside must be beyond powerful. And thanks to his abilities, Alex can predict that by taking the job, his odds of survival are about to go from slim to none….

Dark Prince (vampire the masquerade)

Dark Prince (vampire the masquerade)
Date:
MainCategory:
Type:
Genre:
trope:
Lenght:
Universe:
Author:

The first novel set in vampire the masquerade RPG universe by White Wolf published in 1994 and back in print in 2024 (on kindle actually)

The author also wrote a prequel : prince of the city

Vampire Cannibalism — The Ultimate Crime

Sullivan was a working stiff, a before-the-mast sailor, when he was taken in by the Family almost 150 years ago. They gave him immortality — and an undying hunger for human blood.

Since then, Sullivan has been on the prowl. And what better place for a night creature than modern San Francisco, its streets crowded with runaways, drifters, tourists, violent gangs, and nameless punks? Food is plentiful. Even food for the darkest hungers of the inhuman heart.

But San Francisco is more than just a hunting ground. Known as the Casablanca of the World of Darkness because it is home to so many competing vampire clans that have heretofore existed in relative peace, it is on the verge of becoming the locus for many schemes of immortals both within the city and beyond. And when Sullivan falls victim to their plots and is accused of diablerie, vampire cannibalism, he discovers how easily the hunter can become…the hunted.

 

 

Esoterrorism (Red Room Book 1)

Esoterrorism (Red Room Book 1)
Date:
MainCategory:
Type:
Genres: ,
trope:
Lenght:
Seriesize:
Author:
Narrator:

FROM THE BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF THE RULES OF SUPERVILLAINY

There are no good guys in the world of shadows … but maybe some bad men are better than others. Derek Hawthorne was born to be an agent of the Red Room. Literally. Raised in a conspiracy which has protected the world from the supernatural for centuries, he’s never been anything other than a servant of their agenda.

Times are changing, though, and it may not be long before their existence is exposed. When a routine mission uncovers the latest plan of the magical terrorist, the Wazir, Derek finds himself saddled with a new partner. Who is the mysterious but deadly Shannon O’Reilly? What is her agenda? Couple this with the discovery the Red Room has a mole seeking to frame Derek for treason and you have a plot which might bring down a millennium-old organization. Can he stop the Wazir’s mission to expose the supernatural? And should he?

***

“If you’re a fan of the Archer cartoon on FX, then I highly recommend you give this series a try.” – Hotlistens.com

“Snarky humor everywhere!” – Dab of Darkness

Straight Outta Fangton: A Comedic Vampire Story

Straight Outta Fangton: A Comedic Vampire Story
Date:
MainCategory:
Type:
Genre:
tropes: ,
Lenght:
Seriesize:
Author:
Narrator:
Reception:

FROM THE BEST SELLING AUTHOR OF THE SUPERVILLAINY SAGA:

Peter Stone is a poor black vampire who is wondering where his nightclub, mansion, and sports car are. Instead, he is working a minimum wage job during the night shift as being a vampire isn’t all that impressive in a world where they’ve come out to mortals. Exiled from the rich and powerful undead in New Detroit, he is forced to go back when someone dumps a newly-transformed vampire in the bathroom of his gas station’s store. This gets him fangs-deep in a plot of vampire hunters, supernatural revolutionaries, and a millennium-old French knight determined to wipe out the supernatural.

Sometimes, it just doesn’t pay to get out of the coffin.

Set in the same world as The Bright Falls Mysteries.

***

“Straight Outta Fangton is a wonderful mix of urban fantasy, dark comedy and scary vampires. It reads very much like a thriller and whose pace will have you flipping pages as fast as you can. Charles Phipps is an author who is revealing himself to be a master of many genres as he continues to thrill and amaze.” -The Fantasy Book Critic

“I love a good vampire story. When that story is wrapped up in clever, comedic writing, the ride is an enjoyable one. Charles Phipps can weave a tale with believable characters that have distinctive personalities filled with charm and wit.” -Briar Lee Mitchell, The Whistlebrass Horror

“C.T. Phipps created a not just a fun story, but a fun world ripe for expansion and exploration.” -Michael Gibson, Villains Rule

“Not only is it a funny book, but it’s a creepy vampire story, a kick-ass action novel, and an intriguing urban fantasy at the same time.” – Beauty in Ruins

“Full of fascinating characters and laughs.” – James Alderdice, Brutal: An Epic Grimdark Fantasy