Twilight’s Dawn: A Black Jewels Book
Bestseller Bishop fills out her popular Black Jewels dark fantasy universe (Daughter of the Blood, etc.) with this entertaining novella collection. Daemon Sadi, a black-jeweled Warlord Prince, deals with friends, family, and holiday celebrations in “Winsol Gifts,” while his brother, Lucivar Yaslana, has to thwart a traitor and his deadly trap in the richly entertaining “Shades of Honor.” A mother and her sons are threatened by a dangerous, twisted enemy in “Family,” while Daemon becomes a father and finds a new lease on life and love in “The High Lord’s Daughter.” Fans of the series will enjoy revisiting some favorite characters and mourn the loss of others; new readers may be initially confused by the myriad names and titles, but Bishop’s accessible writing style and interesting world-building will soon draw them into her web. –Publishers Weekly
by Cherie Priest
, 2009) Priest makes her first foray into urban fantasy with a new series starring undead flapper and high-class thief Raylene Pendle. Being a vampire just means quick healing and useful supernatural abilities as far as Raylene is concerned. She manages to stay out of vampire politics, living alone and working mostly for humans, until a blind vampire shows up and asks for her help in locating the records of the government experiments that left him permanently handicapped. Within moments of accepting the job, Ray is being tailed by government agents, and someone seems to be casing her warehouse, where she stashes goods she can’t move and lets two homeless kids crash. Priest writes a fast-paced mix of caper novel and thriller that features realistically flawed characters (vampire and human). Plenty of action and a fairly high body count (mostly bad guys) make this a good suggestion for fans of Christopher Farnsworth’s Blood Oath (2010) and other crime readers who don’t mind a few vampires.
by Elizabeth Bear
and 
. The Conns and the other inhabitants of an ancient wandering spaceship face their last and greatest challenge. They’ve finally found a habitable planet, but others beat them to it: “right-minded” humans, surgically altered to achieve emotional balance, and more alien to the Jacobites than extraterrestrials would be. Leaders on both ship and planet are willing to fight and kill to keep the two cultures from interacting, while old enemies aboard the Jacob’s Ladder re-emerge to wreak destruction. The story is poised on a knife’s edge, with the Jacobites facing both possible annihilation and inner demons just as they’re closing in on their goal. Bear’s talent for portraying cultural divergence and conflict is especially apparent in this intense wrapup. –Publishers Weekly
by Laura Anne Gilman
by Chris Knopf
), Jackie witnesses the crash of a small airplane that kills pilot Eugenie Birkson, and later retrieves the camera case Eugenie tosses from the plane. It doesn’t take much to pique Jackie’s curiosity, and before long she’s involved with tracking down information about Eugenie and the five photos on the camera’s memory card. Her investigation uncovers a startling link to her own family’s history as well as Eugenie’s. The excellent supporting cast–Sam Acquillo, the star of the author’s first four Hamptons mysteries; Jackie’s boyfriend, Harry Goodlander; Southampton cop Joe Sullivan; computer guru Randall Dodge–provide valuable assistance when Jackie’s efforts stir up threats. Domestic problems and Homeland Security issues enliven a plot with slick twists that should keep readers switching their bets to the very end. –Publishers Weekly