January 2010 New Releases

01/04/10
The Crowfield Curse
by Pat Walsh
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Will knows a secret.

Somewhere in the forest, behind the abbey where he lives, is a grave.

And buried deep in the snow is an angel

But how can an angel die? What has it to do with the monks of Crowfield Abbey, who have taken care of Will since he was orphaned? And why does Will get the feeling that when he looks out, something hidden in the dusk is staring back at him?

On a bitter winter’s day in the year 1347, 14-year-old Will Paynel is sent to the forest to gather wood. He stumbles across and rescues a creature caught a trap – a hob, who comes to share with him a terrible secret. Somewhere in the forest near Crowfield Abbey, an angel lies buried. With the arrival of two strangers to the abbey, the mystery deepens. Will and the hob are drawn into a dangerous world of Old Magic, a bitter feud and ancient secrets. Will needs to unravel the truth and put right an age-old wrong if he is to survive, and time is running out…
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01/04/10
My Love Lies Bleeding
by Alyxandra Harvey
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The Blakes are rather different to your usual neighbours. They are vampires and some of the members of the family date back to the twelfth century. One of the children, Solange, is the only born female vampire known and, as such, she poses a direct threat to the vampire queen. Her best friend Lucy is human, and when Solange is kidnapped Lucy and Solange's brother, Nicholas, set out to save her. Lucy soon discovers that she would like to be more than just friends with Nicholas. But how does one go about dating a vampire? Meanwhile, Solange finds an unlikely ally in Kieran, a vampire slayer on the hunt for his father's killer.
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01/05/10
Captivate
by Carrie Jones

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Zara and her friends knew they hadn't solved the pixie problem for good. Far from it. The king's needs grow deeper every day he's stuck in captivity, while his control over his people gets weaker. It's made him vulnerable. And now there's a new king in town.

A turf war is imminent, since the new pixie king, Astley, is moving in quickly. Nick nearly killed him in the woods on day one, but Zara came to his rescue. Astley swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he's one of the good guys. Nick isn't buying it, though Zara isn't as sure -- despite herself, she wants to trust the new king. But it's a lot more than her relationship with Nick that is at stake. It's her life -- and his.

Read the teaser!

Sometimes there are these bizarre people who actually like physical education class. You expect these people to grunt a lot. You expect them to possibly wear sweat-bands and yell stuff like, “Dude. We are going to rock this freaking volleyball court.” While I don’t do ANY of those things, I swear, I am still one of those bizarre P.E.-loving people.

That’s because Nick is in P.E.

That’s because I adore Nick.

There’s a definite correlation there, but even with the cute Nick factor I am not super psyched today about being in the freezing cold gym learning the rules of ping pong. Coach Walsh has gathered us up in a half circle around him and already gone through his whole hand-eye coordination speech and blathered on about the intricate rules of serving. I’m huddled up next to my best friend, Issie, for warmth. My teeth chatter. Coach Walsh is almost done with his whole speechifying bit but Nick is still not here. I want Nick to be here. I want to not worry about him. I want him to be safe. I squish even closer to little Issie, like she could make me feel better somehow. But she can’t. The truth is that Nick could be broken and mauled somewhere out in the woods. He could be bleeding and dying. He could be…

I pull in even closer to Issie, grab her tiny arm and whisper, “Where is he?”

“He’s just running late.” She bounces on her toes and tries to be reassuring.“He’s fine. Every time he’s late you imagine he’s dead. You are no longer allowed to imagine he’s dead.”

“I’m not imagining he’s dead,” I whisper but I’m totally imagining him bleeding to death on the snowy forest floor. Crows circle above him. A pixie arrow juts out of his beautiful chest.

“You are such a liar-liar pants-on-fire.” Is kisses my cheek. “But I love you.”

“I’m tired of being scared for him,” I whisper back.

Coach Walsh notices we’re talking. “Girls. Pay attention. And no kissing.”

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01/05/10
Fire Spell 

A Novel of the Dark Elite: Book One
By Chloe Neil
Read Chapter One
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As the new girl at the elite St. Sophia’s boarding school, Lily Parker thinks her classmates are the most monstrous things she’ll have to face…

When Lily’s guardians decided to send her away to a fancy boarding school in Chicago, she was shocked. So was St. Sophia’s. Lily’s ultra-rich brat pack classmates think Lily should be the punchline to every joke, and on top of that, she’s hearing strange noises and seeing bizarre things in the shadows of the creepy building.

The only thing keeping her sane is her roommate, Scout, but even Scout’s a little weird—she keeps disappearing late at night and won’t tell Lily where she’s been. But when a prank leaves Lily trapped in the catacombs beneath the school, Lily finds Scout running from a real monster.

Scout’s a member of a splinter group of rebel teens with unique magical talents, who’ve sworn to protect the city against demons, vampires, and Reapers, magic users who’ve been corrupted by their power. And when Lily finds herself in the line of firespell, Scout tells her the truth about her secret life, even though Lily has no powers of her own—at least none that she’s discovered yet…

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01/05/10
The Lock Artist
by Steve Hamilton
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At the age of eight, Michael survives an act of violence so horrific that the local press dubs him “The Miracle Boy.” And orphan now, and no longer able to speak, Michael soon discovers the one thing he can do better than anyone else. Whether it’s a locked door with no key, a padlock with no combination, or even an 800-pound safe…Michael can open them all.

It doesn’t take long for him to become a hot commodity, and the best “boxman” in the business. But like any valuable commodity, there are people who will do whatever it takes to own him. And once they see what Michael can really do, they’re not about to llet him walk away.

Traveling all across the country, always on the run…If there’s a heist in the works and a group of criminals with the right phone number, then Michael is their man. And he is always successful. Always. Until one day, when a seemingly simple job turns into a nightmare, and everything falls apart. With nothing left to lose, he decides to go back home to find the only person he ever loved. And to finally face his bigger secret – the secret that has kept him silent for all these years.

Best-known for his Edgar-and Shamus-winning Alex McKnight series, Steve Hamilton delivers a knockout standalone that will bowl over both his diehard fans and anyone looking for a bold, one-of-a-kind thriller.  -----The-------------------------------------------------------------

01/05/2010
Bleeding Violet
by Dia Reeves
Read the Excerpt

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Hannah soon falls for a young Mortmaine named Wyatt, but when her mother is possessed by a murdering ghost, Hannah decides to do whatever it takes to save her, even if it means betraying the boy she loves. In the end no one will be left unscarred.

Sixteen-year-old Hanna Järvinen is an unusual girl with a head full of hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet full of frilly, violet dresses. Everything a girl needs–except love. But that’s what mothers are for, and Hanna is sure she can reconcile with hers, even though she was abandoned as a baby.

Unfortunately, her mother lives in Portero, an odd East Texas town with doors that lead out of the world, flesh-eating creatures, and parasitical spirits–not an ideal environment for winning a mother’s love.

Hanna, however, refuses to let a few monsters interfere with her plans. If she has to flirt a little, lie a little, kill a little, or even bleed a little, she’ll do it. Hanna can live with monsters and mayhem, but she would rather die than live without love.

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01/05/10
Bad Blood 
Blood Coven Book 4
by Mari Mancusi
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Sunny McDonald is in the ultimate forbidden relationship. Her boyfriend Magnus is a vampire, and the leader of the Blood Coven. Their differences have never been an issue, until now…

When the Blood Coven decides that Magnus needs a mate to be his co-ruler, Sunny’s humanity puts her out of the running. The Coven’s chosen candidate is Jane Johnson, a magna cum laude graduate of Oxford University who just happens to look like a vampiric celebutante.

Sunny is suspicious of a Rhodes Scholar who can’t answer the most basic poly-sci questions, but Magnus brushes it off as petty jealousy. Still, when the Blood Coven goes to Las Vegas for a vampire convention—where Magnus and Jane’s bonding ceremony will be the main event—Sunny and her sister Rayne secretly tag along. And Sunny’s not going home before she learns the truth about Jane. Because not everything stays in Vegas—especially bad blood…
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01/08/10
Infinity
Chronicles of Nick Book 1
by Sherrilyn Kenyon

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At 14, Nick Gautier is an average kid who runs with the wrong crowd. But on the night he decides to go straight and refuses to mug an innocent tourist, his crew turns on him and just as he thinks his life is over... a new one begins.

Kyrian of Thrace isn't just a vampire slayer, he's a Dark-Hunter and he introduces Nick to a world that he never imagined.

With new enemies who make his old ones look like wimps, Nick must either measure up or get sized for a body bag. It's kill or be killed and this kid who was born on the wrong side finds a strength inside him that he never knew existed.

Now if he can only find someone to help battle the demons that don't reside inside him.
Excerpt:

My name is Nick Gautier and this is the story of my life.

First off, get the name right. It's pronounced Go-shay not Go-tee-ay or Goat-chay (that has an extra H in it and as my mom says we're so poor we couldn't afford the extra letter). I'm not some fancy French fashion designer. I'm just a regular kid... well as regular as someone with a stripper for a mother and a career felon for a father can be.

But as my mom so often says friends are what God gives us to make up for the families we're born into. And my mother, in spite of her occupation is a lady and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise. Consider this your notice. You respect Cherise Gautier or I'll learn you better.

My kingdom is the French Quarter and here I reign as prince. Everyone knows me and if they're anyone, I know them. From the gallery owners, artists, restaurateurs and Voodoo priestesses to the psychics littered throughout. All are counted among my friends.

Now I'm not doing bad for a kid whose education is from the backstreets and alleys. I sweep floors in the doll store along with a few other unmentionable jobs my mom would kill me over if she knew about. I even work as a guide on the "Undead of New Orleans" tours. Everyone who visits the Quarter either takes one or runs into one of these tours passing on the street. You know them. "And on this spot something spooky happened" or some other load of bull. Heck, I make most of it up each night just to keep from being bored.

I mean really, demons? Werewolves? Gods and goddesses on the streets (other than those being portrayed on the Mardi Gras floats)? Vampires? Who believes that crap?

The only blood-suckers I ever saw were lawyers and big butt mosquitoes (if you've ever been to New Orleans, then you know about the B-52 bombers I'm talking about). Besides now that Anne Rice has moved out of town she took the lot of that with her. We're a vamp-free zone.

And then one night, I decided that even though I'd done a lot of bad things in my life, I wasn't about to shake down a couple of tourists no matter how much money they had and I didn't. So instead of beating on some innocents, the guys I hung with beat on me.

They'd have killed me, too, had it not been for this mysterious dude who came out of nowhere and struck them down so fast all I could see was a black blur. The next thing I know, I'm in the hospital getting stitched up, getting an earful from my mom over the bill, and this guy is gone.

Two nights later, I find the guy to thank him, but before I get the chance, this weird doorway opens and out steps something I'd never seen before.

The Dark-Hunter called them Daimons, but I call them scary as all get out. Soul-sucking demons, they're controlled by a ruthless goddess who has been trapped in a realm she despises. Now it's a game of cat-and-mouse between the goddess Apollymi and the Dark-Hunter Acheron.

The winner takes the world.

And I am right smack dab in the middle of this war.

Trust me being undead isn't for amateurs and it's not playtime with the paranormal. All the scary things that go bump in the night are real and you should pray you never come into contact with them in their true forms. They exist and are all around us. From the butcher and baker on St. Anne, to the little old doll maker on Royal, to the captain of my football team who happens to be a werewolf. In fact, your favorite restaurant could very well be run by an entire family of shape-shifters. And who knew the girl I had a crush on comes from a long line of people who watch over the vampire slayers?

How do I know?

No, I'm not one of the undead or the many other forms of paranormal life who live and work in the Quarter. I just work for them now.

And I love every minute of it.

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01/12/10
The Less-Dead
By April Lurie
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Noah Nordstrom has been dissing the religious beliefs of his father, who hosts a popular Christian radio show and whom Noah accuses of spreading hate. When two local gay teens are murdered, Noah’s anti-evangelism intensifies—he’s convinced that the killer is a caller on his dad’s program.

Then Noah meets Will Reed, a cool guy. But when he learns that Will is gay, Noah gets a little weirded out. Especially since Will seems really into him. Noah gives Will the brush-off. Meanwhile, the killer is still at large . . . and soon Noah finds the next victim. It’s Will.

Racked with guilt, Noah decides to investigate. He knows the serial killer is targeting gay teens, but only those who live in foster homes, whose deaths are not that important to society; they are the less-dead. Noah, however, is determined to prove that someone cares. With the help of Will’s journal, which he pocketed at the scene of the crime and in which the killer has written clues, Noah closes in on an opponent more dangerous than he can guess.
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01/12/10
All Unquiet Things
by Anna Jarzab

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Carly: She was sweet. Smart. Self-destructive. She knew the secrets of Brighton Day
School’s most privileged students. Secrets that got her killed.

Neily: Dumped by Carly for a notorious bad boy, Neily didn’t answer the phone call she made before she died. If he had, maybe he could have helped her. Now he can’t get the image of her lifeless body out of his mind.

Audrey: She’s the reason Carly got tangled up with Brighton’s fast crowd in the first place, and now she regrets it—especially since she’s convinced the police have put the wrong person in jail. Audrey thinks the murderer is someone at Brighton, and she wants Neily to help her find out who it is.

As reluctant allies Neily and Audrey dig into their shared past with Carly, her involvement with Brighton’s dark goings-on comes to light. But figuring out how Carly and her killer fit into the twisted drama will force Audrey and Neily to face hard truths about themselves and the girl they couldn’t save.
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01/12/10
Very LeFreak
by Rachel Cohn
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Very LeFreak has a problem: she’s a crazed technology addict. Very can’t get enough of her iPhone, laptop, IMs, text messages, whatever. If there’s any chance the incoming message, call, text, or photo might be from her supersecret online crush, she’s going to answer, no matter what. Nothing is too important: sleep, friends in mid-conversation, class, a meeting with the dean about academic probation. Soon enough, though, this obsession costs Very everything and everyone. Can she learn to block out the noise so she can finally hear her heart?
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01/15/10
Deathday Letter
by Shaun David Hutchinson

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All fifteen year-old Oliver Travers wanted to do when he woke up Thursday morning was squeeze in a little underwear gymnastics before school, until his mom called him downstairs to tell him he had received a Deathday Letter, which sort of ruined the mood.

Content to spend his last day of life at school (where the girls are), Oliver's best friends Shane Grimsley and Veronica (Ronnie) Dittrich convince him to burn his books and ditch school to, you know, have a little actual fun before he kicks the bucket.

In a world where only taxes, Deathday Letters, and teenage boy's hormones are certainties, Oliver, Shane and Ronnie embark upon a bus ride that takes them from the post office, to a house filled with college-aged anti-Deathday Letter activists (and Dave Matthews fans), and nearly to prison. And as the end draws near Oliver learns that living is way tougher than dying…and that kissing is wetter than he'd expected.

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01/19/10
The Mark
By Jen Nadol
Read Excerpt
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Cassandra Renfield has always seen the mark—a glow around certain people reminiscent of candlelight. But the one time she mentioned it, it was dismissed as a trick of the light. Until the day she watches a man awash in the mark die. After searching her memories, Cassie realizes she can see a person’s imminent death. Not how or where, only when: today.
Armed with a vague understanding of the light, Cassie begins to explore her “gift,” seeking those marked for death and probing the line between decision and destiny. Though she’s careful to hide her secret—even from her new philosophy-obsessed boyfriend—with each impending death comes the temptation to test fate. But so many questions remain. How does the mark work? Why is she the only one who sees it? And finally, the most important of all: If you know today is someone’s last, should you tell them?
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01/21/2010
Undead Much?
By Stacy Jay
Read the Excerpt

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Even Zombie Settlers with Super Hot Boyfriends get the Blues...

A few months ago I was a normal girl with a normal life. But that was before my power to Settle the Undead returned and someone tried to kill me with zombies.

Now I work magic and practice kicking butt while trying to find time for pom squad and my boyfriend, Ethan, and trying NOT to think about how freaky my life has become. It can be tough. Still…things could be worse…

Oh yeah, right:
1. Feral new super-strong zombies. Check.
2. Undead psychic hottie predicting a zombie apocolypse. Check.
3. Earth-shattering secrets that could land me in Settler prison for life. Check.
4. Cheerleader vs. pom squad turf war threatening the end of the half time as we know it. Check.

I’m going to need therapy (and a cookie) if I live through the week. Unfortunately I’m learning that’s not something Zombie Queens can take for granted.

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01/26/10
I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It
by Adam Selzer
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Algonquin “Ali” Rhodes, the high school newspaper’s music critic, meets an intriguing singer, Doug, while reviewing a gig. He’s a weird-looking guy—goth, but he seems sincere about it, like maybe he was into it back before it was cool. She introduces herself after the set, asking if he lives in Cornersville, and he replies, in his slow, quiet murmur, “Well, I don’t really live there, exactly. . . .”

When Ali and Doug start dating, Ali is falling so hard she doesn’t notice a few odd signs: he never changes clothes, his head is a funny shape, and he says practically nothing out loud. Finally Marie, the school paper’s fashion editor, points out the obvious: Doug isn’t just a really sincere goth. He’s a zombie. Horrified that her feelings could have allowed her to overlook such a flaw, Ali breaks up with Doug, but learns that zombies are awfully hard to get rid of—at the same time she learns that vampires, a group as tightly-knit as the mafia, don’t think much of music critics who make fun of vampires in reviews. . . .
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01/26/10
Enchanted Quest 
The Faerie Path BK 5
by Frewin Jones
Chapter One

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A terrible illness is sweeping through the Faerie Realm. Now, with a strange spirit guiding her, Tania must search outside the borders of Faerie—the dark and magical worlds beyond—for the only one who can help her renew the Faerie Covenant of Immortality.

True love is tested, bonds are betrayed, and the Dark Arts lurk behind every bend in this exciting new book in the series. Teen fairy books are more popular than ever, and the Faerie Path series is perfect for readers who are looking for action, romance, and adventure.

Faeries tread the Faerie Path
A trail that leads from Faerie Realm
A ship upon the Western Sea
Dark sister’s hand upon the helm

Into Alba, into Erin
Enchanted quest to undertake
An ill to cure, a truth to learn
A life to lose for true love’s sake

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01/26/10
Incarceron
by Catherine Fisher

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Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells, but also metal forests, dilapidated cities, and vast wilderness. Finn, a seventeen-year-old prisoner, has no memory of his childhood and is sure that he came from Outside Incarceron. Very few prisoners believe that there is an Outside, however, which makes escape seems impossible.

And then Finn finds a crystal key that allows him to communicate with a girl named Claudia. She claims to live Outside- she is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, and doomed to an arranged marriage. Finn is determined to escape the prison, and Claudia believes she can help him. But they don't realize that there is more to Incarceron than meets the eye. Escape will take their greatest courage and cost more than they know.
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