Showing results by author "R. L. King" in All Categories

For the Sake of the Game is the latest volume in the award-winning series from New York Times best-selling editors Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger, with stories of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, and friends in a variety of eras and forms. King and Klinger have a simple formula: Ask some of the world's greatest writers-regardless of genre - to be inspired by the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle. The results are surprising and joyous.

It's hard enough for Alastair Stone to keep his two lives - powerful mage and mundane Occult Studies professor - separate without an old friend asking him to take on a new apprentice. Especially after a university colleague wants him to investigate a massive old house for things that go bump in the night. Still, Stone figures it's an easy job: just turn up, put on a little show, and announce that the house is clean. Only it isn't. A malevolent spirit is reawakening in the basement.

It's been less than a month since Alastair Stone, Jason Thayer, and Jason's sister Verity discovered a monstrous conspiracy to take over our world one mind at a time. The battle in San Francisco struck a major blow - but it didn't eliminate the threat. Not even close.

When a friend asks Alastair Stone to question a disturbed child who's committed a horrific act, Stone has no idea what kind of rabbit hole he's starting down. His investigations uncover more instances of appalling crimes, all committed by people with no history of violence. And other people have turned up missing.

Wracked with guilt and rage following the death of an ally he felt he should have prevented, Alastair Stone wants nothing more than to track down the murderer and exact violent revenge. The Universe, however, has other plans. For one, the dragons want to put him on trial for revealing sensitive information to his friends, with the penalty for losing the case potentially worse than death.

When Alastair Stone’s former apprentice Verity approaches him with the story of a drugged and caged Changeling she spotted at a magical black market in Europe, Stone is quick to offer his aid to locate the victim. Once on the Changeling’s trail, though, Stone and Verity soon discover they have stumbled upon the tip of a horrific iceberg—a shadowy organization operating deep underground, kidnapping specifically-targeted Changelings for an unspeakable fate.

Alastair Stone knew it would take a big sacrifice to end the Evil's hold over our world. He was ready to make that sacrifice - but he expected it to be his life. Never in his worst nightmares did he think it would be his magic. Despairing and grief-stricken at the loss of the abilities that defined his existence, he's on the fast track to self-destruction when a dear friend convinces him to take a desperate last chance. He heads to Las Vegas to find the only man who might be able to help him, but instead finds some old allies in dire need of his own help with a deadly threat.

Alastair Stone and fellow professor Edwina Mortenson go together like punk rock and patchouli. So when an unwilling Stone is "volunteered" to participate in a paranormal TV reality show with her, neither of them is thrilled about it - even if the ghost town they’ll be filming in is supposedly the site of a powerful curse. As if dealing with Mortenson, the show’s overbearing producer, and its prima-donna star weren’t bad enough, Stone soon uncovers evidence that the town’s curse is very real - and it’s resurfacing again, more deadly than ever.

After 15-year-old Alastair Stone is caught performing magic at his prestigious boarding school, he can hardly believe his good fortune; not only isn't he punished, but his father arranges a trial apprenticeship - three years early - with one of the most powerful mages in all of Britain. He'll have a month to prove himself, or he'll be packed back off to school. But when Alastair arrives at his new master's vast, remote country house, he soon finds that his teacher's draconian style and exacting standards aren't the only challenges he'll have to face to pass his trial.

With Jason and Verity in southern California, Alastair Stone quickly discovers he misses his best friends and favorite confidants far more than he expected to. It isn't long, though, before he's got some new matters to occupy his mind: a student who may have fallen under the influence of a magical cult leader, and a budding relationship with a sexy, intelligent, and stunningly beautiful woman who's everything he never dared to dream of.

Alastair Stone isn't proud of the dark deeds of his family's past, but he thought they were just that: past. But when a routine renovation of his ancestral home releases a horde of angry spirits bent on vengeance against anyone of his blood, he soon learns that his family's horrific acts were even worse than he ever could have imagined. Driven from his home, Stone must rally his most trusted friends and allies to discover the truth and find a way to exorcise the relentless spirits.

When a police detective approaches Alastair Stone to consult on a grisly occult-related murder, he initially considers it nothing more than an intriguing puzzle to fill a few dull late-summer hours. But then the detective becomes a victim, and the murderer begins taunting Stone, daring him to discover the truth before more of his friends join the list of targets. As he delves deeper into the case, Stone soon learns that the murderer isn't human - and has committed similar crimes in the past.

Kira Talon has a secret. Raised since childhood among the nonmagical “Dim” when her expected magical birthright didn’t materialize, she barely remembers her early time in the opulent floating city high above the war-torn sprawl below. Years later, she’s made a life for herself among the nonmagical, discovering an affinity with machines, making good friends, and venturing carefully into the dangerous, clandestine resistance against the magical overlords.

The portals are closed. The Evil have lost their pathway between their home and ours. No longer does humanity need to worry about extradimensional bodysnatchers with a thirst for pain and terror pouring through to wreak destruction on Earth. So that means Stone, Jason, and Verity can rest for a while, right? Yeah, maybe not. The problem is, while there might not be any new Evil coming through, a whole lot of very powerful, very angry Evil are still stuck on our side.

Alastair Stone is intrigued when he’s asked to look into a bizarre series of murders united by intricate and unsettling symbols carved into the victims’ bodies. As the deaths pile up and the killer seems able both to travel and commit his crimes without a trace, Stone learns the murders aren’t only linked—they’re parts of a malevolent, massively powerful ritual with an ancient demonic artifact at its root.

Alastair Stone needs a break. He’d gladly trade a big chunk of his newly-acquired fortune for a few uninterrupted weeks of rest, but that’s not going to happen. On top of dealing with his new magical status and a relationship heading in unexpected directions, he soon learns the bombshell revelations about his family aren’t even close to over yet. As if all that weren’t enough, an ancient and malevolent set of magical game pieces has resurfaced, leaving a trail of murder and mayhem in its wake.

Still coming to terms with recent events, Alastair Stone is shocked when someone from his past—someone he still feels guilty he couldn’t save—resurfaces in his life with a desperate claim that he’s the only one who can help her. She may be right. He’d thought the Evil—extra-dimensional beings with a taste for human fear, misery, and rage—had settled down. But now it appears they’ve got a new plan—and a new leader.

Alastair Stone has barely begun to recover from the death of a friend when he’s rocked by yet another. It looks like natural causes, but a grief-stricken Stone isn’t convinced. As England’s magical community comes together to mourn the shocking loss, Verity meets a group of powerful female practitioners who offer to teach her potent new magical skills. Meanwhile, Stone’s shocks have only begun as new revelations come to light.

The Sixth World doesn’t give people much time to grow up. Whoever you are, wherever you live, there’s going to come a time when the world is going to throw you some serious curveballs. And, if all you can do is bitch and moan about how you’re not ready for what’s coming your way, you’re not going to last long. Get strong, grow up, figure out how to survive. One of those tests is about to hit Lena. She doesn’t have much to help her, except for some new powers she does not understand. Using them, and some unexpected allies, is the only way she will live out the day.

For Alastair Stone, problems rarely come one at a time. He’s busy helping an old friend with a case of blackmail, when he’s contacted about a mysterious wave of minor crimes in the Oakland area - one that might involve magic. He asks Verity to look into it. When tragedy strikes, and the petty crime spree leads to a friend's disastrous near-death, Stone hurries home to investigate the situation himself. What he finds suggests terrifying new connections to a problem he thought he’d already dealt with.