Riley Blackthorne’s life as a Demon Trapper is about to hit the wall. Knowing she will always be a target for those who want to exploit her “connections” with Hell, she’s learning defensive magic. It seems the only way to ensure she and her fiancé, Denver Beck, have a future together. But not everyone in Atlanta, or at the Vatican, is pleased by this news. In fact, some want to ban the use of all magic, and Riley would make the perfect scapegoat. As a new demonic enemy stalks her, Guild politics roil the city, throwing the trappers into chaos. To protect herself and the man she loves, Riley will be forced to choose: continue in her legendary father’s footsteps, or carve her own path. A path that may well lead to her losing everything she so desperately seeks to protect.

Fia and Annie are as close as two sisters can be. They look out for each other. Protect each other. And most importantly, they keep each other's secrets, even the most dangerous ones: Annie is blind, but can see visions of the future; Fia was born with flawless intuition—her first impulse is always exactly right. When the sisters are offered a place at an elite boarding school, Fia realizes that something is wrong . . . but she doesn't grasp just how wrong. The Keane Institute is no ordinary school, and Fia is soon used for everything from picking stocks to planting bombs. If she tries to refuse, they threaten her with Annie's life. Now Fia's falling in love with a boy who has dark secrets of his own. And with his help, she's ready to fight back. They stole her past. They control her present. But she won't let them take her future.

During a New Orleans Mardi Gras Ball, psychic entertainer Diana Racine touches the hand of a masked Cyrano de Bergerac and is instantly transported into the icy-cold body of a dead woman submerged in water. As Diana crumples to the floor, water filling her lungs, she hears Cyrano whisper that the game has begun.Diana has been called every epithet in the book: charlatan, cheat, publicity hound—and genius—all at least partially true. But convincing New Orleans police lieutenant Ernie Lucier that her vision of the dead woman is the real thing may be her hardest act yet. He becomes a believer when Diana leads him to the alligator-infested bayou and the woman's remains.When another vision leads to another body, it's clear that the two dead women are a prelude to the killer's ultimate victim—Diana.

A mute child holds the key in this addictive serial killer thriller for fans of Dark Places. Maggie Connolly never intended to work with the police, but Detective Reid Hanlon's latest homicide case requires the expertise of a shrink. What's a detective to do with an eight-year-old boy who hasn't said a word since his family's brutal murder? But Maggie did not expect that treating the boy would drag her into a serial killer's crosshairs. Nor could she have anticipated that her own father might be attacked. And evidence left at the scene indicates that her dad knows the suspect. Did her psychologist father treat their killer before his dementia diagnosis? Like the child in her care, her dad can't tell them what he saw; he doesn't even remember Maggie. But both the mute child and Maggie's father are in mortal danger—this killer has never before left a witness alive. And it soon becomes apparent that Reid and Maggie did not come...

Luna is a no-hoper with a secret: in a world of illusion, she can see what is real. But can she see the truth before it is too late? Luna has always been able to exist in virtual and real worlds at the same time, a secret she is warned to keep. She hides her ability by being a Refuser: excluded by choice from the virtual spheres others inhabit. But when she is singled out for testing, she can’t hide any longer. The safest thing to do would be to fail, to go back to a dead-end life, no future. But Luna is starting to hope for something better, and hope is a dangerous thing...

When an anonymous poem predicts a string of murders, ending with her own, FBI behavior analyst Kaely Quinn is paired up with special agent Noah Hunter, who resents his assignment. But this brazen serial killer breaks all the normal patterns, and soon Noah and Kaely are tested to their limits to catch the murderer before anyone else—including Kaely—is killed.

Brain washing with a difference. Can Jayne out-gun and out-think the assassins and shady corporations trying to terminate her now that Julia is also in her head? (Includes both the narrative and screenplay versions for comparison.)Matthew Hall has a simple theory. Take a patient who is considered to be ‘brain dead,’ or in a ‘constant vegetative state,’ and stimulate the neural cells of their brain. Do it enough times and in accordance with the brain’s own established pathways and the patient could be reawakened from their coma. All he needs to try out his theory is funding, a lab, and a patient.The Corporation also has a theory. Take any ordinary person, render them unconscious, and stimulate the neural cells of their brain. Do it enough times and in accordance with their own very particular requirements and the person could be reawakened as a totally different person, a person who looks and is the same, but now has just the right allegiances and motivations. All they need is a young and gullible scientist with the right know how.It is a marriage made in heaven.The Corporation’s own scientists believe they understand Matthew’s theories and that it will work. They fund his research, doing their own experiments in the background. Now all they need is a test subject.Jayne Middleton has been ‘killed’ in a car accident. Matthew believes that she is still a beautiful young woman who should be treated with respect. For the Corporation she is an expendable asset. But the Corporation’s own scientists are over confident. They make a mistake, and when the experiment proves successful and Jayne awakes, she is not alone. The other occupant of her brain is knowledgeable, sassy, and violent.The battles that follow are not just fought with guns and knives in the real world, but with computers in the virtual world of Jayne’s mind, as the Corporation seek to erase their mistake while Jayne and Matthew not only seek to survive, but to get even.(Includes both the narrative and screenplay versions for comparison.)

The #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Identity presents a suspenseful new novel of tragedy and trauma, love and family, and the evil that awaits.As they do each June, the Foxes have driven the winding roads of Appalachia to drop off their children for a two-week stay at their grandmother's. Here, twelve-year-old Thea can run free and breathe in the smells of pine and fresh bread and Grammie's handmade candles. But as her parents head back to suburban Virginia, they have no idea they're about to cross paths with a ticking time bomb.Back in Kentucky, Thea and her grandmother Lucy both awaken from the same nightmare. And though the two have never discussed the special kind of sight they share, they know as soon as their tearful eyes meet that something terrible has happened.The kids will be staying with Grammie now in Redbud Hollow, and thanks to Thea's vision, their parents' killer will spend his life in supermax. Over time, Thea will make friends,...

For years Cameron has hidden behind a façade of normalcy, warned there were those who would do her harm should they uncover the truth…that she is a mind reader. She never imagined her biggest threat would come from the parents she thought dead. Cameron’s life changes dramatically when she’s abducted by her mother, a woman she hasn’t seen in thirteen years. Even more shocking is the truth… Cameron’s mother leads a group of rogue mind readers and their number one enemy is Cameron’s very own father. Everyone has their own agenda and Cameron is caught in the middle, unsure who to trust. But one thing is clear, war looms on the horizon and in order to save those she loves, Cameron must not only pick sides, but learn to believe in herself and her powers. This book contains kissing and cursing. It is best for ages 14 and up. Books in the Mind Readers Series: Book 1: The Mind ReadersBook 2: The Mind ThievesBook 3: The Mind Games

Review"Wow! Crane's writing style brings to mind old-school noir, with the compelling attitude of superheroes from a graphic novel. A masterful blend of dark and light, good and bad and all the grays in between, it will draw readers thoroughly into her tale, as they root for the good guys—while trying to figure out just who the good guys are. The ending promises more adventures, and that is a very good thing." 4.5 stars—_Romantic Times_ "With a twisty, edgy storyline, a unique premise and a fascinating heroine, Mind Games jumpstarts a smart and original urban fantasy series. A fabulous debut!"—Meljean Brook, The Guardians series "Carolyn Crane writes with deft and evocative flair, creating a fantasy-noir world touched with comic book cool. With a twisty plot, a unique heroine, memorable supporting characters, and an amazingly fresh premise, debut novel Mind Games is a delicious, unforgettable delight. I can´t wait for the next book!"—Ann Aguirre, author of _Blue Diablo_  “Carolyn Crane’s debut novel is a brilliant original in every way.  Just when I think that urban fantasy heroines are becoming too clichéd and predictable, Mind Games blows me out of the water with its unique premise.  Justine does not wield a katana, or ride a Harley, or kick like a ninja.  Instead she fights with her mind, and speaking as a nerd myself, I find that concept oh so sexy.”—dirtysexybooks.com “_Mind Games_ is a violent U-Turn in a fresh direction, signaling the dynamic and welcome arrival of both Carolyn Crane and the most unique urban fantasy heroine I’ve seen on page in a long while, Justine Jones. And like Justine, Midcity is brightly imagined, beautifully dangerous, and perfectly flawed. Flashy and stylish, this is urban fantasy’s new shot-in-the-arm.” — Vicki Pettersson_, New York Times Bestselling_ author of Cheat the Grave “Masterful worldbuilding, sly humor, and fantastically quirky characters. I can’t say enough good things about this book. I loved, loved, loved it. A+” — Jill Sorenson, author of Set the Dark on Fire Product DescriptionJUSTINE KNOWS SHE’S GOING TO DIE. ANY SECOND NOW. Justine Jones has a secret. A hardcore hypochondriac, she’s convinced a blood vessel is about to burst in her brain. Then, out of the blue, a startlingly handsome man named Packard peers into Justine’s soul and invites her to join his private crime-fighting team. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal. With a little of Packard’s hands-on training, Justine can weaponize her neurosis, turning it outward on Midcity’s worst criminals, and finally get the freedom from fear she’s always craved. End of problem. Or is it? In Midcity, a dashing police chief is fighting a unique breed of outlaw with more than human powers. And while Justine’s first missions, including one against a nymphomaniac husband-killer, are thrilling successes, there is more to Packard than meets the eye. Soon, while battling her attraction to two very different men, Justine is plunging deeper into a world of wizardry, eroticism, and cosmic secrets. With Packard’s help, Justine has freed herself from her madness—only to discover a reality more frightening than anyone’s worst fears.

An inner world of magic and power. A lover. A night together���their first night. And then���disaster. And so she ran, all the way down to Marfa Texas where she met...the man they call Jack. A demon. And now he has her. And he���s playing Mind Games with her. WARNING: Contains explicit sexual content, violence & strong language. Only appropriate for readers aged 17 and older. Book 1 of 2

After hacking into police databases to research an old unsolved murder, twenty-something computer whiz Sky Lightman disappears. His father, Cliff, thinks that Sky s boss, multibillionaire Avery Kord, was involved in the murder and has kidnapped Sky with plans to kill him. First, though, Kord needs Sky to finish designing a top secret computer program that can derail a Congressional investigation of his company and enable him to monopolize the programming markets for years to come. Desperate to find Sky before it is too late­having already suffered the death of his wife and the constant guilt of believing he could have prevented it­Cliff follows a trail that leads through New York, the Pacific Northwest, and the Gulf Coast of Florida. But other programming developers are being killed and time is running out. Ensnared in a tangled high-tech web he can barely understand, Cliff Lightman faces the test of his life...and the life of his son.

Six Clearview Middle School seventh-graders are $500 richer after buying a Maryland State Lottery ticket this week in order to test a scientific hypothesis.Benjamin Lloyd, 12, whose father purchased the winning ticket, declined to discuss details of the students' experiment, citing concerns of competition in the March 13 state science fair. . . . Mr. Ennis was as tight-lipped as his students regarding the nature of their experiment. “They plan to go public at the science fair. And that's about all I can say. But," he said, grinning, “I do predict a win."Thus reads an article in the Waverly Times, which is Exhibit Ain the Mad Science Club's report to prove the existence of ESP. As told through the individual voices of a diverse cast of characters, Mind Games crackles with personality. Discoveries from the paranormal to the personal abound in this insightful exploration of friendship, science, ESP—and the lottery.

How soon is too soon for another relationship--or even for a quickie--after your husband has been killed in a tragic motorbike accident? Being catapulted into early widowhood and lone-parenting had never been part of Rachael Russell’s game plan. Neither had post-funeral sex with her ex, local government maverick, Shaun Elliott. So, on discovering that Shaun is now married, Rachael ends the affair.But a burgeoning relationship with Government Minister, Michael Chiswick, brings a new set of dilemmas for feminist leftie, Rachael. She isn’t too happy about the latest tabloid newspaper exposure where she stars as the Minister’s Mystery Blonde Biker Bimbo from Brindleford - Manchester’s toughest housing estate. And then she is faced with an unexpected re-appearance of Shaun, who wants to up the stakes.Should Rachael opt for the addictive and adrenalin-fuelled pull of the past? Or head for the uncertainty of Ministerial meanderings with a man from a wholly different class system ...

Sherlock Holmes and Miss James "Mori" Moriarty may have closed their first case, but the mystery is far from over in the thrilling sequel to Lock & Mori, perfect for fans of Maureen Johnson and Sherlock.You know their names. Now discover their beginnings. Mori's abusive father is behind bars...and she has never felt less safe. Threatening letters have started appearing on her doorstep, and the police are receiving anonymous tips suggesting that Mori—not her father—is the Regent's Park killer. To make matters worse, the police are beginning to believe them. Through it all, Lock—frustrating, brilliant, gorgeous Lock—is by her side. The two of them set out to discover who is framing Mori, but in a city full of suspects, the task is easier said than done. With the clock ticking, Mori will discover just how far she is willing to go to make sure that justice is served, and no one—not even Lock—will be able to...

MJ LaBeff has probed the dark recesses of the human heart to craft a riveting page turner. MIND GAMES scared the stuffing out of me! --- NYT Bestseller Vicki Lewis Thompson Sparrow Von Langley had a childhood that was anything but typical. Born into the privilege of wealth in Crystal Cove, California, her father is Dr. Theodore Von Langley, a well respected, nationally known behavioral therapist. Tormented by frightening visions brought on by a series of mysterious deaths, Sparrow is determined to search for the truth behind the tragedies and reconnects with Dr. Derrick Sloan. Derrick has been searching for his missing sister, Kathlyn “Kat” Sloan since her disappearance ten years ago. A hypnotherapist helps Sparrow pull together the pieces of her traumatic past, and her repressed memories reveal the twisted truth behind the mysterious deaths and Kat’s disappearance. She is shocked to discover her father’s possible involvement, and when her hunt collides with Derrick’s search for Kat, she must decide if she can trust him enough to follow the evidence trail together or risk losing the man she loves. Will the only daughter of the respected doctor prove his guilt or innocence in his quest to change lives? **

During a New Orleans Mardi Gras Ball, psychic entertainer Diana Racine touches the hand of a masked Cyrano de Bergerac and is instantly transported into the icy-cold body of a dead woman submerged in water. As Diana crumples to the floor, water filling her lungs, she hears Cyrano whisper that the game has begun. Diana has been called every epithet in the book: charlatan, cheat, publicity hound...and genius--all at least partially true. But convincing New Orleans police lieutenant Ernie Lucier that her vision of the dead woman is the real thing may be her hardest act yet. He becomes a believer when Diana leads him to the alligator-infested bayou and the woman's remains. When another vision leads to another body, it's clear that the two dead women are a prelude to the killer's ultimate victim--Diana.

Book Two in the MIND GAMES series. An inner world of magic and power, ruled over by witches who are by nature conniving, deceitful, ... lustful. A hunter. Built and powerful and godly...obligated by duty to protect the witches from parasitic demons. The war is on. Witches are being recruited. And their innate weaknesses threaten to destroy them all.

The daughter of a schizophrenic, Dr. Jane Evans prioritizes order, control, and—above all—her work in a psychiatric research lab. When an attempted kidnapping threatens to derail the project she’s on, her boss hires a bodyguard. He’s everything Jane is not, and if she can survive, she may even learn to like the difference. Eric Sorensen owes Jane a debt he can’t possibly repay. Without her tutoring, he would not have made it through college, would not have the life he does. But none of his memories of college Jane prepare him for adult Jane. When she suddenly disappears, he follows her trail to a secret lab in a cartel-controlled Mexican jungle. Rescue seems impossible but Eric’s not the type to give up, even if it means trading his own life for hers.

Award-winner William Deverell proves that when you mess with a psychiatrist’s mind, anything can happenPsychiatrist Dr. Tim Dare’s life is falling apart: his wife has just left him, he’s being hauled before a disciplinary committee, and now someone’s threatening to kill himIn his gripping new novel, Mind Games, William Deverell returns to the intriguing territory of the law and lawyers and of human psychology and motivation, and he does so in familiar Deverell surroundings: the streets, courtrooms, and waters of Vancouver. Dr. Tim Dare is a forensic psychiatrist whose life is in a mess: his wife has just left him to find herself; his mother is being sued for libel by a small-town mayor over a mystery novel; he’s been made the monitor of a man just out of psychiatric hospital, a man he considers a psychopathic murderer; he’s being hauled before a disciplinary committee for “misplacing” a file; one of his patients is “transferring” feelings to him rather too romantically; and now someone’s threatening to kill him. He can’t even get into an elevator without falling apart. No wonder he thinks he needs to see a shrink himself. Under the guidance of fellow psychiatrist Dr. Allison Epstein, Dare gradually learns how to face the demons within – and those in the real world that are really out to get him.From the Hardcover edition.About the AuthorWilliam Deverell’s first novel, Needles, won the $50,000 Seal Award, and, since then, he has published one work of non-fiction, Fatal Cruise, and ten further novels, including Trial of Passion, winner of the Hammett Prize for literary excellence in crime writing and Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel. Deverell created the popular CBC Television series Street Legal and recreated its characters in a novel by that title. He is a founding member and past-president of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, a member of PEN Canada, the Screen Writers Guild, and has twice been chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada. He winters in Costa Rica and spends his summers on Pender Island in B.C.From the Hardcover edition.Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Ah, Allis, what a piece of work you have before you. As you led me from your consulting room to confront the dreaded elevator, I saw you woefully shake your head. How, you were wondering, can you expect to repair this tattered psyche in the weekly hour allotted to me?I’m sorry that we ran out of time today, your patient having wasted much of it with his fiddling and farting. I should have known better than to try to grasp the reins of therapy. I felt you were less interested in an everyday bargain-basement marriage breakdown than by the grim portents of murder, and I needed desperately to talk about Sally, my grief, my suppressed anger, I wanted pity and solace.This evening, even as my mind replays today’s awkward session, do you sit with Richard at the dinner table, entertaining him with my persecutory delusions? “He claims someone wants to kill him?” “Yes, dear, and I can understand why.”When you asked me to take the lead, to waltz you down the byways of memory, I was briefly lost. Where to begin? Was I to pick up the thread a year ago, when disintegration began? A decade ago, when there were youth and hope? A lifetime ago, before the patterning of childhood warped the bell curve of normality into the shape of a burned-out light bulb? How to begin my unburdening, how to describe the clutter of neurotransmitters and synapses, hormones and hemostats, that comprise Timothy Jason Dare?Sorry I emoted so much. I’ve cooled off. A couple of beers, some soothing jazz… (Picture this skinny geek in his undershorts aboard his old sailboat tooting mournfully on a clarinet. Dispossessed of home, that’s where I live now, my classic wooden cutter, the Altered Ego.)Anyway, having botched today’s first session, let me whip my thoughts into line, reassemble them in more coherent fashion, to prepare for our next session. (By the way, Friday afternoons are fine, I’m rarely in court then, and I’ll be able to use weekends to recover from whatever catharses come my way.)To put my fears in perspective and to set the stage for what follows, let’s go back six years ago to a scene so graphic that my mother, if she cared to lift it for one of her books, might be forced to tone it down. (We haven’t got around to Victoria Dare, who, having published a horror novel, has been sued for libel by an overly sensitive small-town politician who saw himself portrayed as the killer. The trial is only a couple of weeks away. An added stressor.)We are in Dr. Barbara Loews Wiseman’s consulting room. She is staring at a raised dagger, desperately pleading, trying to persuade Bob Grundison that God has not ordered him to kill her, that she isn’t Satan in the guise of a psychiatrist. Imagine the dagger descending, thrusting . . .The image is fixed? Now let’s fast-forward to a couple of weeks ago – this was just before Sally cut me adrift – to a hearing to determine whether this killer might be released by Order-in-Council onto the already treacherous streets of Vancouver.The inquiry was at the provincial mental hospital, Riverview. Usually I enjoy my trips there, my ambles about the grounds with patients. But this promised to be a strenuous day of listening to the Grundison family’s hired psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers: I was on a panel struck by the provincial cabinet – they were tossing us the buck; if Grundison were to celebrate his freedom with a psychotic rampage, they would blame the experts.I arrived slightly frazzled from the long traffic-jammed taxi ride to Riverview, and before we convened I apologized to all – though I was only fifteen minutes late. The panel consisted of me, Dr. Irwin Connelly, and Dr. Harriet Loussier, the hospital’s chief psychologist. A pair of lawyers for the Grundison family was present, along with several medical experts (one of them my nemesis, Dr. Herman Schulter) and a clutch of supporters and relatives there to bear witness to their love of Bob Grundison. He’d been excused from the room – we wanted to speak frankly about him.Also present were his parents. Robert Grundison Sr. is a staunch pillar of capitalism, owns several tall buildings, shopping centres, a hockey team. But he’s highly regarded: a philanthropist who gives handsomely to Christian charities. His confident body language, even as he sat, expressed power and control. In contrast, his pink-complexioned wife, Thelma, exuded an odd serenity – though with the glassy-eyed aspect of a lush. Sitting next to them was the Honourable Ephriam Wright, an Alberta cabinet minister and evangelical pastor with the unusual reputation, given those careers, of brightness.The day dragged on. The experts (three of whom, including Schulter, had testified at his trial) concurred: as an adolescent, Grundison had suffered occasional delusions (talking to God, chiefly, though the evidence was vague and came mainly from members of his church), then was revisited by his disease six years ago, when he was twenty-one. Now, Grundison was not only stabilized but cured.Much was made by Herman Schulter (the clubby, deferential chair of my discipline committee – would he yank my practising certificate if I denied freedom to a killer?) of Grundison having resolved “aggressive behaviour patterns” by channelling his energy into sports. Grundy, as he’s often called, had formed a couple of leagues while at Riverview, basketball and softball. Schulter’s view was that this showed enterprise, leadership.I listened to such confident prognoses with growing discomfort. I was on this panel because I had a history with Grundison. Six years ago, new in practice, puffed with arrogance (behold the youngest winner of the B.F. Skinner Prize at Stanford), I was the only witness the Crown could find who dared to claim Grundy was faking schizophrenia.Grundison was arrested several minutes after leaving Barbara Wiseman’s office, wandering around Broadway and Cambie, ostensibly in a daze. Schulter, who was rushed to the cells to interview him, testified that his affect was flat and shallow, a vacant stare, face muscles flaccid, eyes lifeless, toneless, his memory train not intact.I interviewed Grundy at length, gave him tests. Not psychotic but psychopathic, I concluded, a cold-hearted killer.So now I was in a conundrum. I’ve never believed (nor, I suspect, did Barbara Loews Wiseman) that Bob Grundison was delusional, but the rest of the world seemed to believe that – who was some long-haired, wild-eyed forensic psychiatrist to disagree? And how could I argue he was insane now, and required continued treatment? However psychopathic, he was mentally competent by the definition of the law. He cannot be tried again for murder, yet he’s a murderer.From the Hardcover edition.

MIND GAMES: A Paranormal Erotic ThrillerWhen your stalker can enter your dreams, there's nowhere to hide.Ever since she foresaw the death of her parents, Wren Delacourt has suppressed her latent psychic abilities. Avoiding strong emotions, Wren leads a placid but lonely life until her quiet is shattered by her sister Abby going missing... and the private investigator searching for her.Derek Chapman isn't what Wren expects. He's young, handsome, and surprisingly sensitive. Wren is attracted to him immediately, but fears that deepening any connection with Derek—emotional, spiritual, or sexual—will open the floodgates locked in her mind.A mystery man appears in Wrens dreams, dealing pain and pleasure. Is Wren's subconscious warning her away from Derek, or longing for him? When the search for Abby leads to a secret sex club, it seems fate is pulling Wren into Derek's arms, whether she is ready or not.PRAISE...

A Demon Trappers Novel