Laurell K. Hamilton

To some I am Meredith Gentry, P.I. To others I am Princess Merry, heir to the throne of Faerie. And there are those who whisper that I am both of these and more. My aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness, no long distracted by her sadistic pastimes, now focusses unwaveringly on me. I spend each night with my immortal guards, but still no child has come of our decadent pleasures. But something IS happening to me. I appear to have awakened a force that's lain dormant for thousands of years and I haven't the damndest idea how or why... It all began with the chalice. I dreamed it, and there it was - cool and hard - when I awoke. My guards know this ancient relic well - its disappearance so many ages ago stripped them of their vital powers. And here it is with us now. My touch resonates with its force. A strange, dazzling magic now courses through my half-mortal half-Sidhe body. But while my guards cherish me for this unexpected gift, there are those who loathe me for it and would rather the Unseelie court suffer than have it ruled over by me, a mongrel queen. My enemies grow in number every day. If only they knew what I am capable of. But come to that, if only I did too. This is the world of Meredith Gentry, a twilight world of gods, shapeshifters and immortal souls, a world full of sensuality, wild magic, treacherous deceits and latent powers about to be unleashed...

From the back cover: AND I SAW SOMETHING LIKE HUMAN FEAR CROSS HIS REPTILIAN FACE. I'm Anita Blake and I kill monsters. The last thing I want to think about though when I get home after a night out is work. But someone has abducted a wereleopard from the Narcissus in Chains club. It's a dark world out there with shapeshifter crime and were-creature struggles. I may not have seen Jean-Claude, the Vampire Master of the City, for six months, but I need his help now, whatever the consequences. Someone is targeting the lycanthropes and we have to save them.

As consultant to the Regional Preternatural Crime Investigation Unit, Anita's called in on what appears to be a case involving a serial killer- a vampire serial killer- who may be preying on strippers. She's sure that none of the local vamps are responsible- but judgement may be clouded by a conflict of interest.

When Anita Blake meets with prospective clientTony Bennington, who is desperate to have herreanimate his recently deceased wife, she is full ofsympathy for his loss. Anita knows something aboutlove, and she knows everything there is to knowabout loss. But what she also knows, though TonyBennington seems unwilling to be convinced, isthat the thing she can do as a necromancer isn'tthe miracle he thinks he needs. The creature thatAnita could coerce to step out of the late Mrs.Bennington's grave would not be the lovely Mrs.Bennington. Not really. And not for long.

I am Meredith Gentry, P.I., solving cases in Los Angeles, far from the peril and deception of my real home--because I am also Princess Meredith, heir to the darkest throne faerie has to offer. The Unseelie Court infuses me with its power. But at what price does such magic come? How much of my human side will I have to give up, and how much of the sinister side of faerie will I have to embrace? To sit on a throne that has ruled through bloodshed and violence for centuries, I might have to become that which I dread the most.Enemies watch my every move. My cousin Cel strives to have me killed even now from his prison cell. But not all the assassination attempts are his. Some Unseelie nobles have waited centuries for my aunt Andais, Queen of Air and Darkness, to become weak enough that she might be toppled from her throne. Enemies unforeseen move against us--enemies who would murder the least among us.The threat will drive us to allow human police into faerie for the first time in our history. I need my allies now more than ever, especially since fate will lead me into the arm of Mistral, Master of Storms, the queen's new captain of her guard. Our passion will reawaken powers long forgotten among the warriors of the sidhe. Pain and pleasure await me--and danger, as well, for some at that court seek only death.I will find new joys with the butterfly-winged demi-fey. My guards and I will show all of faerie that violence and sex are as popular among the sidhe as they are among the lesser fey of our court. The Darkness will weep, and Frost will comfort him. The gentlest of my guards will find new strength and break my heart. Passions undreamed of await us--and my enemies gather, for the future of both courts of faerie begins to unravel.From the Hardcover edition.

Before now, she would have considered them merely off-putting, never dangerous. Before now, she had never heard of any of them causing human beings to perish in agony. But that’s all changed. Micah’s estranged father lies dying, rotting away inside from some strange ailment that has his doctors whispering about “zombie disease.” Anita makes her living off of zombies—but these aren’t the kind she knows so well. These creatures hunt in daylight, and are as fast and strong as vampires. If they bite you, you become just like them. And round and round it goes… Where will it stop? Even Anita Blake doesn’t know.

Classical mythology is deftly retold by a master storyteller in these legends of four Greek heroes. Their great expeditions of conquest and defeat - ventures abetted by supernatural gods and monsters, by prophesies and by morals- will form a mystical maze from which the young reader will gain enjoyment and knowledge.

I am Meredith, princess of faerie, wielder of the hands of Flesh and Blood, and at long last, I am with child--twins, fathered by my royal guard. Though my uncle, Taranis, King of Light and Illusion, claims that he is the true father since he abducted me from my home, betrayed, and defiled me. And now he has branded my guards as a threat to my unborn children.Bearing an heir has placed me halfway to my aunt's throne, that much closer to my reign over the Unseelie Court--and well ahead of her son, my cousin Cel, in this race. Now I must stay alive to see my children born and claim my place as queen.But not all in faerie are pleased with the news, and conspirators from every court in the realm plot against me and mine. They seek to strip my guards, my lovers, from me by poisoned word or cold steel. But I still have supporters, and even friends, among the goblins and the sluagh, who will stand by me.I am Meredith Nic Essus, and those who would defy and destroy me are destined to pay a terrible price--for I am truly my father's daughter. To protect what is mine, I will sacrifice anything--even if it means waging a great battle against my darkest enemies and making the most momentous decision ever made as princess of faerie.From the Hardcover edition.

In a world where vampires, zombies and werewolves are legal citizens of the United States, Anita Blake is an "animator" - a profession that involves raising the dead for a living. But Anita is also moonlights as a vampire hunter, called in to resolve situations that are too much for conventional police to handle. Now, a series of murdered vampires are turning up across St. Louis, and Anita Blake has been recruited to bring the killer to justice.

"Return to vampire hunter Anita Blake's thrilling world in the next novel by the New York Times bestselling author of Crimson Death. Anita Blake faces new, even deadlier enemies as she and the people she loves confront major changes in their lives, in the latest thrilling adventure featuring the fan favorite vampire hunter"--

Vampire hunter Anita Blake winds up trying to save the very monsters she has sworn to destroy when an arsonist begins terrorizing the city's undead.