Dead Heat (Alpha and Omega) - Briggs, Patricia Review & Synopsis

Synopsis Praised for having "the perfect blend of action, romance, suspense, and paranormal"*, #1 New York Times bestselling author Patrica Briggs's Alpha and Omega series now takes readers into the middle of some bad supernatural business... For once, mated werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Lantham are not traveling because of Charles's role as his father's enforcer. This time, their trip to Arizona is purely personal. Or at least their visit starts out that way... Charles and Anna soon discover that a dangerous fae being is on the loose, replacing human children with simulacrums. The fae have started a cold war with humanity that's about to heat up-and Charles and Anna are in the crossfire. *Rex Robot Reviews Review Patricia Briggs is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series and the Alpha and Omega novels. Prologue December The fae lord stalked back and forth in his cell of gray stone. Three steps, turn, four steps, turn, three steps. He could do it all day. Had, in fact, done it for two weeks. His boots were soft and he made no sound as he paced. Sound distracted him unduly from his purpose-which was to bore himself to the point where he no longer thought about anything. His clothes, like his boots, were practical, but still representative of his position as High Court Lord-though he no longer remembered much about that part of his life. Still, his long red hair was confined in a complicated series of braids that trailed the floor behind him, a court fashion of at least a millennium ago. Doubtless if there were still courts, still High Courts, he would be considered out of fashion entirely. He'd worn High Court dress for the first week he was here, but there was no one to impress, so he'd left them off and exchanged them for the more comfortable clothing. He could have put on jeans, he supposed, but he was losing that long-ago lord a day at a time, and the clothes served as a reminder of what he had once been-though some days, some years, he could not remember why it was that remembering what he had once been was so important. There was a knock on his door, and he hissed in irritation because he'd nearly succeeded in numbing himself to the imprisonment. Immortality was a curse because no matter how powerful you were, there was always someone more powerful. Someone to obey. Someone who stole what was yours and left you with the dregs of what you once had. Then they took that, too, and here he was in this prison while his gut ached with need and his body missed magic like meat missed salt. Without magic, he had no savor. The knock sounded again. He'd pissed off whoever it was because his whole prison shook with a noise that hurt his ears and his heart. Wonderful. One of the Powers had come to call upon him. He almost didn't answer-what more could they do to him than they had already done? He stopped in the middle of the room, because, of course, there was always something worse they could do. It didn't do any good to speculate upon what. He said, "Come in then." The woman who stepped in was neat and small. She almost stirred that beast inside him. But then she spoke and the illusion was gone. She was the spiritual archetype of the evil queen in the fairy tales, partially because she'd participated in quite a few of the actual events that had spawned the tales. She adored causing misery and pain to the short-lived humans. All those centuries of power lived in her voice, even if she liked to hold the appearance of a child. "Underhill will become anything for you," she said, her lip curling as she looked around his current home, "and you chose a prison." He straightened warily. "Yes, lady." She shook her head. "And they want you?" She didn't say who "they" were, or what they wanted him for. He didn't ask because he still had some sense of self-preservation. She walked around the small room. "They say you have imagination." She folded her arms as she walked, twisting her torso first so as to see the ceiling stones and then turning until she got the proper angle to see the subtle bend in the wall that made his hiding place less noticeable. She loosened the granite block, the only one without mortar. "They say you know how to hide from humans, from fae, from other creatures who might hunt you because your glamour is so very good." He wanted to stop her, to keep her from finding his treasure. He wanted to destroy her. But they had taken away his power and he was left with nothing. But that was vanity speaking; he knew that even if he'd had his power, it would have done him no good against one of the Gray Lords. He watched as she pulled out the block and found the cubby it hid. She took out the doll he kept there and straightened the pretty yellow skirts, her fingers lingering on the faded tear stains. A child cries with her whole heart, keeping nothing back. A child lives in the present, and that gives her pain an endless quality. Magic-shorn as he was, he could taste the power of those tear stains from here. She put the doll back and replaced the block thoughtfully. Then she looked at him. "They tell me you were a skilled magician, subtle and powerful. Once the flower of a powerful High Court-later the bane of it, the first dark root of destruction. Able to hide from the best trackers." "I don't know who they are or what they say," he told her truthfully, trying to hide his temper. She smiled. "But you don't argue with the sentiment." She walked toward him and touched his face with her left hand. His glamour fell away, the illusion that truly represented the lord he had once been. But as his magic had twisted and fouled, so had his true form twisted and fouled over the years. He waited for her to recoil; he was not good to look upon, but she smiled. "I have a gift for you. A gift and a task." "What task is that?" he asked warily. "Don't worry," she said, putting her right hand on the side of his neck. "You'll enjoy the job, I promise." And his magic came back to him, flooding his body like the heat of the dead. He screamed, dropped to the floor, and writhed as the beautiful agony enveloped him. She bent down and whispered in his ear. "But there are rules." Chapter One "Okay," said Charles Cornick, younger son of the Marrok who ruled the werewolves in North America and also, Anna had come to believe, the rest of the world. De facto if not officially. If Bran Cornick said, "Sit up and go there," there was not a werewolf in the world, Alpha or not, who wouldn't obey. Charles had inherited a lot of the dirty work that allowed his father to keep their people, their werewolves, safe. The fallout when a good man was forced to commit heinous and necessary acts was that Charles's emotions could be mysterious even to himself. For instance, he'd just said "Okay" when Anna could tell he was anything but okay with the topic at hand. She knew that from the way her husband got up abruptly from the stool where he'd been playing and put his battered old guitar up on the wall hook. Restless, he wandered across the hardwood floor to the big window and looked out at the February snow falling down. There was a lot of it: it was winter in the mountains of Montana. If he had been a little less self-disciplined, she was pretty sure he would have hunched his shoulders. "You said I should look into it," Anna told him, feeling her way. She knew Charles better than anyone, and still he was sometimes impossible to read, this wonderful and complex man of hers. "So I did, starting with your brother. Samuel tells me he's been working on the problem of werewolf babies for a long time, though not quite from our angle. Children apparently were something of an obsession of his before he found Ariana again. Did you know that werewolf DNA is just like human DNA? You can't tell the difference unless the sample is taken when we are in our werewolf form-then it's different." "I did, yes," said Charles, apparently happy to talk about something, anything else. "Samuel told me when he figured it out a couple of decades ago. Not the first time having a doctor in the family has been useful. I think that a human scientist published that data last month in an obscure journal; doubtless it'll make the newspapers sooner or later." The alternative subject allowed him to relax enough to give her a wry smile over his shoulder before looking back out at the snow. "My da was overjoyed. Because of that, there is no way to use a blood test to see if someone is a werewolf or not-unless you're testing the actual wolf, in which case the point is moot. I'm not sure he'd have ever brought us out into the open if it were so easy to identify us." "Okay," Anna nodded. "It's a good thing. Mostly. Except that there's no way to tell if an embryo is human, genetically, or werewolf, if we want to go with a surrogate." "A surrogate," he said. She had hopes for the surrogate card. Charles's mother had died giving birth to him. She knew that part of his objection, maybe his whole objection to having children, was the risk to her. "If I can't carry a baby to term because I have to change every full moon, then a surrogate is the obvious option. No one has done it before-so far as we know, anyway." He didn't say anything, so she continued, laying out the issues for him. "Because there's apparently no way to tell which embryo is werewolf, human, or some combination of the two, there's still a good chance of spontaneous abortion, the same problem human mates of werewolves have. And then there's the issue of what happens to a human woman who carries a werewolf baby for nine months. Will she become a werewolf? Samuel said we ought to consider a surrogate who wants to be a werewolf. That would eliminate the risk of catching . . . um . . . being infected . . ." He said, very dryly, "Feeling diseased, Anna?" No. But she wasn't going to let him distract her. "It would eliminate problems if such a pregnancy does make her Change, if our child is a werewolf instead of human," she said with dignity. This wasn't going at all well. "We don't know if carrying a werewolf baby and giving birth would infect the mother-or if so, when. No one but your mother has ever carried a werewolf baby to term. If the surrogate wanted to Change in the first place, that would eliminate one part of that problem. The other being if the surrogate is Changed before the baby is viable." His back was now all the way toward her. "It sounds like we are offering a bribe. Carry our baby and we'll let you Change. With the implied corollary-whatever we say or deny-that if you don't carry our baby we won't allow you to Change. And there is also the truth that most people die during the Change, and fewer women survive than men." "Yeah," she agreed. "It sounds ugly when you put it like that. But there are a lot of surrogate births every year-and normal pregnancy is a life-and-death risk, too. If the surrogate goes into it knowing what might happen, and she's still willing to make that deal in exchange for money and/or the chance to be Changed, I don't have a problem. It's still a risk, but it is an honest risk." "So we can risk someone else for this, can we?" he said, the hint of a savage growl in his voice. "Because they know as much as we know about what might happen to them, which is that we really don't know what will happen." She opened her mouth to tell him about the things in the thick file Samuel had sent her, but she reconsidered. Maybe if she went at the problem from a different direction she'd get better results. "Alternatively," she said, "because science is having trouble with magic, I thought maybe someone who dealt with magic would have some ideas. I called Moira-" He turned back to her, and some chance of light brought out the bones of his face and outlined his shoulders. He was so beautiful to her. His Salish heritage gave him bronze skin and rich, almost-black hair and eyes. Hard work and running as a wolf gave him the muscles that defined the contours of his warm skin. But it was the core of integrity and . . . Charlesness that really made her heart beat faster, that swamped her with knee-weakening desire. Not just lust-though who wouldn't lust after Charles? She savored the whole of him and thought again, Who wouldn't lust after Charles? But she was consumed with the desire to claim him, to wrap herself in his essence. Charles allowed her to understand the line in the marriage vows about "these two shall become one." That sentence had annoyed her immensely when she was nine or ten. Why should she give up who she was for some dumb boy? She'd taken her objections to her father, who had finally said, "When and if "some dumb boy' loses his mind and agrees to marry you, then doubtless he'll also be happy to take that phrase out." Anna had taken out the "obey" part when they married. She didn't want to lie. Listen to, yes-obey, no. She'd had enough of obeying for ten lifetimes. She had, however, left in the part about "one flesh." With Charles she didn't lose herself, she gained Charles. They were a united front against "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." He was her warm safe place in the storm of the world, and she . . . she thought that she was his home. She wanted his children. "Absolutely not," he said, and for a moment she thought he was reading her mind because she had lost track of the conversation. But then he said, "No witchcraft." She wasn't stupid. He was throwing out any obstacle he could find. She would have backed off except for the deep belief, born of the mating bond they shared, that he wanted a child even more than she did. "Don't fret," she told him. "I won't do it the way your mother did." Unless there are no other options. "I actually thought that Moira might have some insights for Samuel. I thought it only fair to call and warn her that I've sent him after her . . . he sounded quite intense about the whole thing." He raised his head like a panicked horse. "Ah. I misunderstood. Good." Charles liked children. She knew he liked children. Why did he panic over the thought of their child? She considered asking him. But she'd tried variants of that; he'd given her a series of answers that were true as far as they went. She was pretty sure that he didn't know the real answer. So it would be up to her to figure it out. Once she figured it out she would be able to see if there was a way around it. The panic she could work around-and if he honestly didn't want children, well, she'd deal with that, too. But it was the sadness that lingered behind the panic, the sadness and longing her wolf knew was there, that made her dig in and fight. Anna style. "Okay," she said brightly. She who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day. "I just thought I'd give you an update." She picked up her bundle of information and tucked it under her arm. She walked over to the window and looked at the falling snow that had frosted the deep green trees and coated the not-so-distant mountains, making the world seem clean and new. Also cold. "Have you decided what you're getting me for my birthday yet?" she asked. He liked giving presents. Sometimes it was a flower he'd picked for her-other times expensive jewelry. He'd gradually learned that really expensive gifts, which he liked best, freaked her out. He now left those for important occasions. He put his arm around her, his body relaxed against her. "Not yet. But I expect I'll figure something out." Charles couldn't keep his mind on the numbers, so he closed down his computer. Money was power, and in the long run it could keep his people safer than his fangs and claws. Finances were something he never messed with unless he could pay attention. His gaze fell on the yellow sticky he'd put on the top of his monitor-Anna's birthday, her twenty-sixth. He needed to find her a present. His preference was for jewelry-which, as his da pointed out, was sort ... Dead Heat From No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs comes the next thrilling Alpha and Omega novel - an extraordinary fantasy adventure set in the world of Mercy Thompson but with rules of its own . . . Perfect for fans of Ilona Andrews, Nalini Singh, Christine Feehan and J. R. Ward. 'Patricia Briggs is an incredible writer' - Nalini Singh, New York Times bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling series 'Patricia Briggs is amazing . . . Her Alpha and Omega novels are fantastic' - Fresh Fiction For once, mated werewolves Charles and Anna are not traveling because of Charles's role as his father's enforcer. This time, their trip to Arizona is purely personal - or at least it starts out that way . . . Charles and Anna soon discover that a dangerous Fae being is on the loose, replacing human children with simulacrums. The Fae's cold war with humanity is about to heat up - and Charles and Anna are in the cross fire. Discover this page-turning Alpha and Omega novel, from the queen of urban fantasy Patricia Briggs. Praise for Patricia Briggs: 'I love these books!' - Charlaine Harris 'The best new fantasy series I've read in years' - Kelley Armstrong 'Patricia Briggs never fails to deliver an exciting, magic and fable filled suspense story' - Erin Watt, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Royals series 'It is always a joy to pick up a new Briggs novel . . . Briggs hits another one out of the park!' - RT Book Reviews Books by Patricia Briggs: The Alpha and Omega Novels Cry Wolf Hunting Ground Fair Game Dead Heat Burn Bright Wild Sign The Mercy Thompson novels Moon Called Blood Bound Iron Kissed Bone Crossed Silver Marked Frost Burned Night Broken Fire Touched Silence Fallen Storm Cursed Smoke Bitten Sianim series Aralorn: Masques and Wolfsbane Discover this page-turning Alpha and Omega novel, from the queen of urban fantasy Patricia Briggs. Praise for Patricia Briggs: 'I love these books!" Fair Game From No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs comes the next thrilling Alpha and Omega novel - an extraordinary fantasy adventure set in the world of Mercy Thompson but with rules of its own . . . Perfect for fans of Ilona Andrews, Nalini Singh, Christine Feehan and J. R. Ward. 'Patricia Briggs is an incredible writer' Nalini Singh, New York Times bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling series 'Patricia Briggs is amazing . . . Her Alpha and Omega novels are fantastic' Fresh Fiction They say opposites attract, and for werewolves Anna and Charles, this is certainly true. Charles, the pack enforcer, is a dominant alpha - whereas Anna has the power to calm others of her kind. Now that werewolves have dared to reveal themselves to humans, it's their job to keep the pack in line. The pressure mounts when the FBI requires Charles' assistance. He's sent on a mission to Boston with Anna, and they quickly realise that a serial killer is targeting werewolves. And that they're next on the killer's list. Discover this page-turning Alpha and Omega novel, from the queen of urban fantasy Patricia Briggs. Praise for Patricia Briggs: 'I love these books!' Charlaine Harris 'The best new fantasy series I've read in years' Kelley Armstrong 'Patricia Briggs never fails to deliver an exciting, magic and fable filled suspense story' Erin Watt, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Royals series 'It is always a joy to pick up a new Briggs novel . . . Briggs hits another one out of the park!' RT Book Reviews Books by Patricia Briggs: The Alpha and Omega Novels Cry Wolf Hunting Ground Fair Game Dead Heat Burn Bright Wild Sign The Mercy Thompson novels Moon Called Blood Bound Iron Kissed Bone Crossed Silver Marked Frost Burned Night Broken Fire Touched Silence Fallen Storm Cursed Smoke Bitten Sianim series Aralorn: Masques and Wolfsbane And that they're next on the killer's list. Discover this page-turning Alpha and Omega novel, from the queen of urban fantasy Patricia Briggs. Praise for Patricia Briggs: 'I love these books!" Wild Sign 'PATRICIA BRIGGS IS AN INCREDIBLE WRITER' Nalini Singh, New York Times bestselling author Mated werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham must discover what could make an entire community disappear - before it's too late - in this thrilling entry in the No.1 New York Times bestselling Alpha and Omega series. In the wilds of the Northern California mountains, all the inhabitants of a small town have gone missing. It's as if the people picked up and left everything they owned behind. Fearing something supernatural might be going on, the FBI taps a source they've consulted in the past: the werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham. But Charles and Anna soon find a deserted town is the least of the mysteries they face. Death sings in the forest, and when it calls, Charles and Anna must answer. Something has awakened in the heart of the California mountains, something old and dangerous - and it has met werewolves before. Discover the latest page-turning Alpha and Omega novel from the queen of urban fantasy Patricia Briggs. Praise for Patricia Briggs: 'Patricia Briggs is amazing . . . Her Alpha and Omega novels are fantastic' Fresh Fiction 'I love these books!' Charlaine Harris 'The best new fantasy series I've read in years' Kelley Armstrong Praise for Patricia Briggs: 'Patricia Briggs is amazing . . . Her Alpha and Omega novels are fantastic' Fresh Fiction 'I love these books!' Charlaine Harris 'The best new fantasy series I've read in years' Kelley Armstrong" Burn Bright From No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs comes the next thrilling Alpha and Omega novel - an extraordinary fantasy adventure set in the world of Mercy Thompson but with rules of its own . . . Perfect for fans of Ilona Andrews, Nalini Singh, Christine Feehan and J. R. Ward. 'Patricia Briggs is an incredible writer' Nalini Singh, New York Times bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling series 'Patricia Briggs is amazing . . . Her Alpha and Omega novels are fantastic' Fresh Fiction Mated werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham face a threat like no other - one that lurks too close to home . . . They are the wild and the broken. The werewolves too damaged to live safely among their own kind. For their own good, they have been exiled to the outskirts of Aspen Creek, Montana. Close enough to the Marrok's pack to have its support; far enough away to not cause any harm. With their Alpha out of the country, Charles and Anna are on call when an SOS comes in from the fae mate of one such wildling. Heading into the mountainous wilderness, they interrupt the abduction of the wolf - but can't stop blood from being shed. Now Charles and Anna must use their skills - his as enforcer, hers as peacemaker - to track down the attackers, reopening a painful chapter in the past that springs from the darkest magic of the witchborn... Discover this page-turning Alpha and Omega novel, from the queen of urban fantasy Patricia Briggs. Praise for Patricia Briggs: 'I love these books!' Charlaine Harris 'The best new fantasy series I've read in years' Kelley Armstrong 'Patricia Briggs never fails to deliver an exciting, magic and fable filled suspense story' Erin Watt, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Royals series 'It is always a joy to pick up a new Briggs novel . . . Briggs hits another one out of the park!' RT Book Reviews The Alpha and Omega Novels Cry Wolf Hunting Ground Fair Game Dead Heat Burn Bright Wild Sign The Mercy Thompson novels Moon Called Blood Bound Iron Kissed Bone Crossed Silver Marked Frost Burned Night Broken Fire Touched Silence Fallen Storm Cursed Smoke Bitten Sianim series Aralorn: Masques and Wolfsbane Discover this page-turning Alpha and Omega novel, from the queen of urban fantasy Patricia Briggs. Praise for Patricia Briggs: 'I love these books!" Silence Fallen The tenth novel in the international No. 1 bestselling Mercy Thompson series - the major urban fantasy hit of the decade 'I love these books!' Charlaine Harris 'The best new fantasy series I've read in years' Kelley Armstrong MERCY THOMPSON: MECHANIC, SHAPESHIFTER, FIGHTER Coyote shapeshifter Mercy Thompson is attacked and abducted in her home territory. Fighting off a crazed werewolf, she manages to escape, only to find herself alone in the heart of Europe, without money, without clothing and on the run from the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world. Unable to contact her pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, but first she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy needs to be at her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves - and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise . . . 'Patricia Briggs is an incredible writer and Silence Fallen is simply fantastic. I love hanging out with the amazing characters in this series!' Nalini Singh, New York Times bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling series 'Patricia Briggs never fails to deliver an exciting, magic and fable filled suspense story. Silence Fallen is one of her best' Erin Watt, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Royals series 'It is always a joy to pick up a new Briggs novel, and she certainly doesn't disappoint with this latest Mercy Thompson book . . . Briggs hits another one out of the park!' RT Book Reviews Books by Patricia Briggs: The Mercy Thompson books Moon Called Blood Bound Iron Kissed Bone Crossed Silver Marked Frost Burned Night Broken Fire Touched Silence Fallen The Alpha and Omega Novels (A Mercy Thompson spin-off series) Cry Wolf Hunting Ground Fair Game Dead Heat Burn Bright I love hanging out with the amazing characters in this series!' Nalini Singh, New York Times bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling series 'Patricia Briggs never fails to deliver an exciting, magic and fable filled suspense story." Moon Called The first novel in the New York Times bestselling Mercy Thompson series - the major urban fantasy hit of the decade 'I love these books!' Charlaine Harris The best new fantasy series I've read in years' Kelley Armstrong MERCY THOMPSON: MECHANIC, SHAPESHIFTER, FIGHTER I didn't realize he was a werewolf at first. My nose isn't at its best when surrounded by axle grease and burnt oil . . .' Mercedes Thompson runs a garage in the Tri-Cities. She's a mechanic, and a damn good one, who spends her spare time karate training and tinkering with a VW bus that happens to belong to a vampire. Her next-door neighbour is an alpha werewolf - literally, the leader of the pack. And Mercy herself is a shapeshifter, sister to coyotes. As such, she's tolerated by the 'wolves but definitely down the pecking order. As long as she keeps her eyes down and remembers her place, the pack will leave her in peace. Praise for the series: 'Plenty of twists and turns . . . Kept me entertained from its deceptively innocent beginning to its can't-put-it-down end' Kim Harrison, bestselling author of Dead Witch Walking 'I enjoyed every minute of it. I love Mercy and can't wait for her to kick some more ass' Lilith Saintcrow Books by Patricia Briggs: The Mercy Thompson books Moon Called Blood Bound Iron Kissed Bone Crossed Silver Borne River Marked Frost Burned Night Broken Fire Touched Silence Fallen Storm Cursed Shifting Shadows (Stories from the world of Mercy Thompson) The first novel in the New York Times bestselling Mercy Thompson series - the major urban fantasy hit of the decade 'I love these books!" Aralorn: Masques and Wolfsbane A breathtaking epic fantasy adventure from the bestselling Patricia Briggs, author of the Mercy Thompson novels. After an upbringing of proper behaviour and oppressive expectations, Aralorn fled her noble birthright for a life of adventure as a mercenary spy. But her latest mission involves more peril than she ever imagined. Agents of Sianim have asked her to gather intelligence on the increasingly popular and powerful sorcerer Geoffrey ae'Magi. Soon Aralorn comes to see past the man's striking charisma - and into a soul as corrupt and black as endless night. And few have the will to resist the sinister might of the ae'Magi and his minions. So Aralorn, aided by her enigmatic companion, Wolf, joins the rebellion against the ae'Magi. But in a war against a foe armed with the power of illusion, how do you know who the true enemy is - or where he will strike next? This omnibus edition contains the two titles MASQUES and WOLFSBANE. Books by Patricia Briggs: Books three and four in the Sianim series Steal the Dragon When Demons Walk Hurog Dragon Bones Dragon Blood Raven duology Raven's Shadow Raven's Strike Mercy Thompson Moon Called Blood Bound Iron Kissed Bone Crossed Silver Marked Frost Burned Night Broken Fire Touched Silence Fallen Storm Cursed Smoke Bitten Alpha and Omega Alpha & Omega Cry Wolf Hunting Ground Fair Game Dead Heat Burn Bright But in a war against a foe armed with the power of illusion, how do you know who the true enemy is - or where he will strike next? This omnibus edition contains the two titles MASQUES and WOLFSBANE." When Demons Walk From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson series ( Frost Burned , Night Broken ) and the Alpha and Omega novels ( Fair Game , Dead Heat ) Sham had spent most of her young life as a sorceress and thief, stealing from Southwood's nobility to survive. Now she must face the greatest test of her skills... A killer has struck Southwood, claiming the lives of nobles. Lord Kerim, Reeve of Southwood, turns to Sham for help. Posing as his mistress, she delves behind castle walls to find the killer. But this murderer is no mortal?and Sham must use all of her magical wisdom to send the demon away. Because the city of Southwood has nowhere to hide?and no time to run... From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson series (Frost Burned, Night Broken) and the Alpha and Omega novels (Fair Game, Dead Heat) Sham had spent most of her young life as a sorceress and thief, stealing from ..." Alpha: a Dark Omegaverse Romance For fans of NYT bestselling authors Anna Zaires and Patricia Briggs, Alpha Ties is a dark and gritty M/F Omegaverse novel with a darkly possessive hero and scorchingly steamy romance. I’m his mate. I’m his weakness. A girl going into heat in the middle of a press conference, surrounded by Alpha politicians who didn’t plan to show the world their true, volatile nature? Causes a bit of mayhem. Being the girl whose first heat made every mayoral candidate go into a rut on national television…? I thought the utter humiliation sucked—that losing my job for something out of my control was as awful as it got. I was wrong. He came from the shadows. Told me I belong to him. And then… Then he showed me exactly what that means. But powerful as my Alpha suitor is, his ruthless possessiveness might be the ruin of us both. Alpha is the first book in Nora Ash’s suspense-filled Omegaverse series, Alpha Ties. Each book is a full-length novel with a complete romance storyline. PLEASE NOTE: THIS BOOK IS THE COMPILED VERSION OF NORA’S PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED OMEGAVERSE SERIAL, ALPHA. IT CONTAINS THE INSTALLMENTS ALPHA: TAKEN, ALPHA: MASQUERADE, & ALPHA: MATED. Fans of the following books and series usually love this bestselling Omegaverse: The Game Maker Series The Professionel The Master The Player Immortals after Dark Series Blood Red Kiss The Warlord Wants Forever A Hunger Like No Other No Rest for the Wicked Wicked Deeds on a Winter Night Dark Needs at Night's Edge Dark Desires After Dark Deep Kiss of Winter Kiss of a Demon King Pleasure of a Dark Prince Demon from the Dark Dreams of a Dark Warrior Lothaire Shadow's Claim Macrieve Dark Skye Sweet Ruin Shadow's Seduction Wicked Abyss Munro The Krinar's Series Taken by the Krinar The Krinar Espose The Krinar Captive Swept Away The X-Club Close Liaisons Close Obsession Close Remembrance Mia & Korum: The Complete Krinar Chronicles trilogy The Twist Me Series Twist Me Keep Me Hold Me The Tormentor Mine Series Tormentor Mine Forever Destined Tormented Obsession Forever Mine Destiny Mine Obsession Mine The Capture Me Series Capture Me Bind Me Claim Me Alpha And Omega Series On the Prowl Cry Wolf Hunting Ground Fair Game Dead Heat Burn Bright Wild Sign The Alpha's Claim Series Born to be Bound Born to be Broken Reborn Stolen Corrupted Shepherd Wren's Song Series Branded Silenced Knotted Series The Golden Line Myth of Omega Series Crave to Conquer Crave to Capture Crave to Claim Reign to Ruin Reign to Ravage Reign to Rule Own to Obey Own to Obsess Own to Obtain Candescent Compulsion The Beholden Duet A Savage Debt A Tainted Claim The Fifty Shades Series Fifty Shades of Grey Fifty Shades Darker Fifty Shades Freed Darker Fans of the following authors usually love this dark romance: Kresley Cole Gina Showalter Patricia Briggs Zoey Ellis Addison Cain Anna Zaires Felicity Heaton EL James Each book is a full-length novel with a complete romance storyline. PLEASE NOTE: THIS BOOK IS THE COMPILED VERSION OF NORA’S PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED OMEGAVERSE SERIAL, ALPHA." Soul Taken Mercy Thompson, car mechanic and shapeshifter, must face her greatest fears in this chilling entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series. The vampire Wulfe is missing. Since he’s deadly, possibly insane, and his current idea of “fun” is stalking me, some may see it as no great loss. But, warned that his disappearance might bring down the carefully constructed alliances that keep our pack safe, my mate and I must find Wulfe—and hope he’s still alive. As alive as a vampire can be, anyway. But Wulfe isn’t the only one who has disappeared. And now there are bodies, too. Has the Harvester returned to the Tri-Cities, reaping souls with his cursed sickle? Or is he just a character from a B horror movie and our enemy is someone else? The farther I follow Wulfe’s trail, the more twisted—and darker—the path becomes. I need to figure out what’s going on before the next body on the ground is mine. Mercy Thompson, car mechanic and shapeshifter, must face her greatest fears in this chilling entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series." Blood Bound The second novel in the international No. 1 bestselling Mercy Thompson series - the major urban fantasy hit of the decade. 'I love these books!' Charlaine Harris 'The best new fantasy series I've read in years' Kelley Armstrong MERCY THOMPSON: MECHANIC, SHAPESHIFTER, FIGHTER Like most people who own their own business, I work long hours that start early in the morning. So when someone calls me in the middle of the night, they'd better be dying ... Mechanic Mercy Thompson is woken at 3am by a vampire calling in a favour. He has to deliver a message to a fellow undead and needs a witness that won't be noticed - and Mercy's shapeshifting abilities make her the perfect candidate. But the assignment turns into a bloodbath and Mercy attracts the attention of not just a powerful vampire, but the even more powerful demon possessing him. She can count on the supernatural community for protection - and alpha werewolf Adam would like her to rely on him in other ways too - but when it comes to being proactive, she's on her own. Praise for the series: 'Plenty of twists and turns . . . Kept me entertained from its deceptively innocent beginning to its can't-put-it-down end' Kim Harrison, bestselling author of Dead Witch Walking 'I enjoyed every minute of it. I love Mercy and can't wait for her to kick some more ass' Lilith Saintcrow The Mercy Thompson books: Moon Called Blood Bound Iron Kissed Bone Crossed Silver Borne River Marked Frost Burned Night Broken Fire Touched Silence Fallen Storm Cursed Shifting Shadows (Stories from the world of Mercy Thompson) The second novel in the international No. 1 bestselling Mercy Thompson series - the major urban fantasy hit of the decade. 'I love these books!" Storm Cursed 'Patricia Briggs is an incredible writer and Silence Fallen is simply fantastic. I love hanging out with the amazing characters in this series!' Nalini Singh, New York Times bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling series. 'It is always a joy to pick up a new Briggs novel, and she certainly doesn't disappoint with this latest Mercy Thompson book . . . Briggs hits another one out of the park!' RT Book Reviews My name is Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman, and I am a car mechanic. And a coyote shapeshifter . . . And the mate of the Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack. Even so, none of that would have gotten me into trouble if, a few months ago, I hadn't stood upon a bridge and taken responsibility for the safety of the citizens who lived in our territory. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. It should have only involved hunting down killer goblins, zombie goats and an occasional troll. Instead, our home was viewed as neutral ground, a place where humans would feel safe to come and treat with the fae. The reality is that nothing and no one is safe. As generals and politicians face off with the Gray Lords of the fae, a storm is coming and her name is Death. But we are pack, and we have given our word. We will die to keep it. In this new instalment in the No. 1 New York Times bestselling series, Mercy Thompson must face a deadly enemy to defend all she loves . . . Books by Patricia Briggs: The Mercy Thompson books Moon Called Blood Bound Iron Kissed Bone Crossed Silver Borne River Marked Frost Burned Night Broken Fire Touched Silence Fallen Storm Cursed Shifting Shadows (Stories from the world of Mercy Thompson) 'Patricia Briggs is an incredible writer and Silence Fallen is simply fantastic. I love hanging out with the amazing characters in this series!' Nalini Singh, New York Times bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling series." Talking Book Topics Theater - phobic inspector Peter Diamond investigates . Some strong language . 2011 . The Tooth Tattoo : A Peter Diamond Investigation DB76807 10 hours 47 minutes by Peter Lovesey read by Barry Bernson Seven years ago , musician Mel ..." Iron Kissed The third novel in the international No. 1 bestselling Mercy Thompson series - the major urban fantasy hit of the decade 'I love these books!' Charlaine Harris 'The best new fantasy series I've read in years' Kelley Armstrong MERCY THOMPSON: MECHANIC, SHAPESHIFTER, FIGHTER It wasn't hard to follow the scent of blood to the living room where the fae had been killed. It had been a violent death, perfect for creating ghosts. Mercy Thompson enjoys life as a mechanic, but life is never simple given her increasing closeness to the local werewolf pack, and her ability to change into coyote form at will. And when a member of the fae community calls in a favour, needing her skills for a covert murder investigation, she jumps into the hunt. But the dangers multiply and she clashes with shadowed creatures of great power. When her old boss Zee is charged with a brutal assassination, Mercy find herself fighting alone. There are those who love her, who would keep her safe, but she is wary and holds her freedom precious. Until, that is, she has nothing left to lose but her life . . . Praise for the series: 'Plenty of twists and turns . . . Kept me entertained from its deceptively innocent beginning to its can't-put-it-down end' Kim Harrison, bestselling author of Dead Witch Walking 'I enjoyed every minute of it. I love Mercy and can't wait for her to kick some more ass' Lilith Saintcrow Books by Patricia Briggs: The Mercy Thompson books: Moon Called Blood Bound Iron Kissed Bone Crossed Silver Borne River Marked Frost Burned Night Broken Fire Touched Silence Fallen Storm Cursed Shifting Shadows (Stories from the world of Mercy Thompson) The third novel in the international No. 1 bestselling Mercy Thompson series - the major urban fantasy hit of the decade 'I love these books!" Kembalinya sang raja An epic detailing the Great War of the Ring, a struggle between good and evil in Middle-Earth, in which the tiny Hobbits play a key role. An epic detailing the Great War of the Ring, a struggle between good and evil in Middle-Earth, in which the tiny Hobbits play a key role."