Showing results by author "J. Gabriel Gates" in All Categories

Four tribes of ruthless demigods rule over luck in our world. Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, and Clubs. But I don’t believe in luck or in gods. I believe in science. And coffee. And nerding my way to the rank of class valedictorian. My OCD is under control—mostly—and my mom, Rachel, has just finished building a dark-matter machine that could win back her job as a physics professor. Life is good...until Mom disappears.

Twelve-year-old Gan dreams of becoming a Lamplighter, one of the young heroes with their flaming spears who light the city's streetlamps and keep the darkness at bay. Gan's dream comes true—until his lamplighter crew gets ambushed beyond the wall, and his beloved brother Brall is carried away by vexors. Gan vows to get him back, but his only remaining companion is Lyona, the ill-tempered daughter of the city's most notorious miscreant.

High school senior Aggie is ready to concentrate on important things like college essays, science projects, and her secret older boyfriend. There’s one major distraction, however: she’s a demigoddess with the power to control luck. Her mom is one, too—the deadly Queen of Spades. When Aggie discovers how wicked her mother has become, she knows she has to win her back from the evil forces controlling her before it’s too late.

Unprofitables are banished to work camps to pay off their credit. Other tie-men and women look on apathetically. Fair is fair. Everyone knows you shouldn't use more credit than you are worth to the Company. They turn their attention to the next repackaged but highly coveted N-Corp product on the market, creatively advertised on the imager screens that adorn virtually every available flat surface. All the while, their mandatory cross-implants and wrist-worn "ICs" keep them focused on the endless cycle of work and consumption to which they are enslaved.

As a newly minted Queen of Hearts and a high school senior, Aggie has her hands full. Being a demigoddess. Managing her OCD. Prepping for the SATs. And most of all searching for her mom, who has been brainwashed and remade into a bad luck goddess, the Queen of Spades. Aggie needs help from her suit of luck gods to get her mom back. But when a prominent Heart is murdered, the Valentines split into factions and question her leadership—because Aggie is one of the suspects. To prove her innocence and regain her suit’s loyalty, Aggie must solve the murder. Her partner on the case?