Jonathan Maberry

Jeff Somers

Seanan McGuire

Kevin Hearne

Jim Butcher

Kelley Armstrong

Villains have all the fun—everyone knows that—and this anthology takes you on a wild ride through the dark side! The top villains from seventeen urban fantasy series get their own stories—including the baddies of New York Times bestselling authors Jim Butcher, Kevin Hearne, Kelley Armstrong, Seanan McGuire, and Jonathan Maberry. For every hero trying to save the world, there’s a villain trying to tear it all down. In this can’t-miss anthology edited by Joseph Nassise (The Templar Chronicles), you get to plot world domination with the best of the evildoers we love to hate! This outstanding collection brings you stories told from the villains' point of view, imparting a fresh and unique take on the evil masterminds, wicked witches, and infernal personalities that skulk in the pages of today’s most popular series. The full anthology features stories by Jim Butcher (the Dresden Files), Kelley Armstrong (Cainsville), Seanan McGuire (October Daye), Kevin Hearne (The Iron Druid Chronicles), Jonathan Maberry (Joe Ledger), Lilith Saintcrow (Jill Kismet), Carrie Vaughn (Kitty Norville), Joseph Nassise (Templar Chronicles), Domino Finn (Black Magic Outlaw), Steven Savile (Glasstown), Caitlin Kittredge (Hellhound Chronicles), Jeffrey Somers (The Ustari Cycle), Sam Witt (Pitchfork County), Craig Schaefer (Daniel Faust), Jon F. Merz (Lawson Vampire), Faith Hunter (Jane Yellowrock), and Diana Pharaoh Francis (Horngate Witches).

Urban Enemies

In a violence-stricken near-future world beset by a rapidly growing criminal population, the mysterious founder of a radical religion is targeted by a hired assassin for killing converts in order to transform them into unstoppable cyborg monks. Original. 25,000 first printing.

The Electric Church

The world is dying. With avatars replacing humans and the birth rate non-existent, the human race is almost extinct. In the end, it comes down to Canny Orel; Avery's long sought after nemesis -- transformed now into something other than human. Orel might hold the secret to humanity's salvation, if he can be convinced -- or forced -- to relinquish it. And when Cates chances on a way to trick his old master, he suddenly has a choice to make: get his long-delayed revenge, or save the world.

The Final Evolution

Praised by the Guardian for stories that are “exhilarating . . . powerful and entertaining,” Jeff Somers returns with a darkly original urban fantasy series featuring a cadre of mages operating just under the radar of human society. Magic uses blood—a lot of it. The more that’s used, the more powerful the effect, so mages find “volunteers” to fuel their spells. Lem, however, is different. Long ago he set up a rule that lets him sleep at night: never use anyone’s blood but your own. He’s grifting through life as a Trickster, performing only small Glamours like turning one-dollar bills into twenties. He and his sidekick, Mags, aren’t doing well, but they’re getting by. That is, until they find young Claire Mannice— bound and gagged, imprisoned in a car’s trunk, and covered with invisible rune tattoos. Lem turns to his estranged mentor for help, but what they’ve uncovered is more terrifying than anybody could have imagined. Mika Renar, the most dangerous Archmage in the world, is preparing to use an ocean of blood to cast her dreams into reality— and Lem just got in her way.

Trickster

The Digital Plague (Avery Cates)

Avery Cates has a problem. In a shrinking, sterile world, the Archangel is marching his army to Castelvecchio, and Cates has the information he needs to access the last remnants of the awesome technology of the despise System. He’s made his Devil’s Bargain with Lucinda Barowel, and now he knows the hitch: In order to get to the machinery of war left behind at Cochtopa, he’s going to need a boat—and guns. His ersatz army is quickly running out of ammunition in a world where the factories stopped working long ago. When he learns that a local criminal has been hoarding guns and ammo as insurance against the coming apocalypse, Cates heads off to make a deal. And if he can’t make a deal, he’ll have to use every last resource he has left to secure that weaponry for himself—and hope his bargain with Barowel doesn’t come back to bite him in the ass.

The Devil's Bargain

In this sequel to THE SHATTERED GEARS, Avery Cates is finding life as a City Lord not what it's cracked up to be, and is almost relieved when the woman he stole the city from, Lucinda Barowel, returns with a proposal. Partnering with a former Joint Council Undersecretary isn't a comfortable spot for Avery, and it leads him to some dark places -- and one dark place in particular he'd rather not have to remember. But Cates knows the current state of humanity -- dying in a shut-down world -- is on his shoulders. He also knows he might not survive his struggle against the Archangel, the omnipotent psionic who's marching a genocidal army, intent on ending the world for good. Cates sees that as his penance, and he's okay with it. @page { margin: 0.79in } p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; direction: ltr; color: #000000; line-height: 115%; orphans: 2; widows: 2 } p.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US } p.cjk { font-family: "SimSun"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: zh-CN } p.ctl { font-family: "Lucida Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: hi-IN }

The New World

Learn the Words. Get the blood. Rule the world. A stand-alone short story in the Ustari Cycle—the gritty supernatural series that includes We Are Not Good People from the "exhilarating, powerful, and entertaining" (Guardian) storyteller of the Avery Cates series. For blood mages, the twenty-first century means hiding in the shadows, keeping society unaware of their incredible powers. The power-hungry sort plot quietly to manufacture tragedies bloody enough to give them the gas they need to cast monumental spells. Lem is a little lower down the ladder than that, bleeding nobody but himself, skating by on small Cantrips, cons, and charms. Lately though, his days have taken a strange turn, always the same and yet minutely different. Since hooking up with this group that wants to utilize his uncanny ability to write and alter spells for their Big Heist, Lem’s constantly feeling like he’s forgetting something, like something is calling to him from the beyond. Perhaps most bizarre of all, his best friend Mags is nowhere to be found—and the police seem to want to help Lem locate him. The po-po being helpful to a Trickster like him? Now he knows something is up. This ebook also contains an excerpt of We Are Not Good People.

The Boom Bands

The second in a trilogy of three shorts from the “exhilarating…powerful and entertaining” (The Guardian) contemporary fantasy writer Jeff Somers, featuring the blood magician duo from the inventive and darkly comic We Are Not Good People. Buddies Lem and Mags, the con men stars of We Are Not Good People, return in Last Best Day in a gripping race against time. After Lem is taken hostage by a powerful mage, Mags find himself abandoned and abused by people he had once thought were friends. Without his partner in crime, he consistently loses control of his dangerous temper, leaving a trail of new enemies behind him. With no other choice but to cast a dangerous and potentially life-changing spell with blood magic, Mags attempts to track down Lem and keep them both safe. But all magic comes with a price, and Lem and Mags face the most perilous challenge of their lives.

Last Best Day

Avery Cates is a bad man. Wandering the ruins of The System, he thinks he's done fighting, done killing-but the world hasn't quite ended yet. When Cates is trapped in an old System prison, he encounters evidence that he's still a person of interest, and this leads him on a journey of revenge and discovery that pits him against the psionic Angels, the remnants of the System Police, and those who pass for power brokers in this new, shattered world.

The Shattered Gears

Learn the Words. Get the blood. Rule the world. A stand-alone short story in the Ustari Cycle. The heroes of We Are Not Good People learn what “down and out” truly feels like when a massive debt forces one of them into the role of Fixer... in New Jersey. Check out the gritty supernatural series from the "exhilarating, powerful, and entertaining" (Guardian) storyteller of the Avery Cates series. The underground few who practice blood magic—casting with a swipe of the blade and a few secretive Words—are not good people. Lem and Mags live in this world, and they try to be good, try to skate by on Cantrips and charms and scratch out a meager existence without harming anyone…much. But when a con goes bad, it can go really, really bad, and suddenly unsavory types are holding your leash. Lem and Mags hit such a snag, and with his Gasam (teacher-master) unwilling to help, he’s stuck fixing jobs for a Jersey boss. He’d like to think that with a fat enough Bleeder (those who bleed to fuel their boss’s magic) he’s come up with a second, better con to get out of their predicament. But sometimes elbow grease and sweat are worth more than even blood. And luck is worth even more than that. This eBook also contains an excerpt of We Are Not Good People.

Fixer

Every Wedding Has a Ruiner. Thomas Massery has always had a way...with the ladies, with a good bottle of booze, and with a sarcastic quip. Attending a wedding along with three ex-wives is bad enough. Being seated with them gets his dander up. When he sees the bride escaping her own reception, he decides to use his powers for evil...and not for the first time. Because this isn't the first evening Thomas Massery has ruined for everyone.

The Ruiner

Continuing from The Shattered Gears and The Walled City, Avery tries to put distance between himself and The Angels and meets an old man with an unusual companion named The Pale. When they accompany Avery thinking he'll provide them protection on the road, they come to regret it. Because someone's hunting Avery.

The Pale: An Avery Cates Story

Following the events of "The Pale," Avery is taken to the mysterious Iron Island, where he discovers he's not so much a guest as a prisoner, and begins to learn why he's so popular at the End of the World.

An Avery Cates Digital Short

The Iron Island

Cates is back on dry land and on the trail of The Pale, only to discover he's being hunted himself by one of the Archangel's most feared lieutenants: The psionic known only as The Bey.

The Bey: An Avery Cates Short Story

Cates' pursuit of The Pale leads him to the fortified city of Castelvecchio, where he finally has something he's been lacking: A target.

The City Lord: An Avery Cates Short Story

Learn the Words. Get the blood. Rule the world. A stand-alone short story in the Ustari Cycle. Most people never learn what a Stringer is—and their lives are better for it. Lem, however, gets to learn about them and possession by alien intelligences the hard way. A must-read in the gritty supernatural series that includes We Are Not Good People from the "exhilarating, powerful, and entertaining" (Guardian) storyteller of the Avery Cates series. For blood mages, the twenty-first century means hiding in the shadows, keeping society unaware of their incredible powers. The power-hungry sort plot quietly to manufacture tragedies bloody enough to give them the gas they need to cast something monumental. Lem and Mags, down-and-out bosom buddies to the end, try to be good, bleeding nobody but themselves, skating by on small Cantrips, cons, and charms. So when the siren song of easy money comes their way in the form of helping out a friend, clearly no good will come of it. Blood mages are not good people. And neither are Stringers—alien intelligences that can take over a body and run it ragged. Stringers: they aren’t subtle, aren’t content to skulk in the shadows, and aren’t a houseguest anyone wants. Lem is about to learn what a possession hangover feels like—if Mags and his more tentative allies can figure out how to stop the demon without killing him. This ebook also contains an excerpt of We Are Not Good People.

The Stringer

New York is burning. After the assassination of Dennis Squalor came the Monk Riots: Thousands of cyborgs, released from their digital prisons, expressing rage and suffering and insanity through violence and bloodshed. The System Security Force mobilizes with brutal efficiency to restore order, but they take losses—and they’ve been ordered not to go after the man they blame: A young Gunner named Avery Cates. But the System Police aren’t used to being told that someone is untouchable. And they have no intention of obeying this particular order. Also contains the bonus Cates story, “A Small, Red-headed Problem” @page { margin: 0.79in } p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 120% } a:link { so-language: zxx }

A Story in the Avery Cates Universe

The Drum Trial

A sequel to The Electric Church finds New York City criminal kingpin Avery Cates shifting his focus from a personal vendetta against the System Police to the source of a pandemic that threatens the entire human race, a virus in which he appears to be a carrier. Original.

The Digital Plague

Hired killer Avery Cates, having survived a bioengineering disaster, is imprisoned in Chengara Penitentiary and realizes he has to make some new alliances and come up with a plan to escape or he will most likely die.

Jeff Somers

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