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

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.

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.

Alastair Stone has already paid off two of the three favors he owes his ancestor Aldwyn. He expects the third to be big, but he has no idea how big. Aldwyn reveals he has another scion—a man the dragon has sensed, but never been able to locate.

Alastair Stone is surprised when a long-forgotten friend breaks his self-imposed silence to contact him. It seems that two other allies from his past have disappeared without a trace, and Stone's tracking magic might be the only way to find them. Should be simple. Right? But as Stone delves into the deepening mystery, he finds connections to unexpected avenues: old enemies, forbidden magic, and even Verity's group of San Francisco vigilantes.

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 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.

Alastair Stone knew it was only a matter of time. The demon called The Unspeakable is safely locked away, but nearly a dozen more of its kind remain behind, gathering strength like malevolent, ticking time bombs.

Alastair Stone needs a vacation. He’s literally stepping through the portal to his home in England, when an old friend calls with a horrific tale of a grisly multiple murders committed by teenagers just back from a school camping trip. It doesn’t take long to convince Stone that the supernatural is involved. Goodbye peaceful vacation, hello magical investigation.

Alastair Stone, determined to harness enigmatic mage Trevor Harrison’s potent power source, takes a desperate chance - he travels to the dimension where it originates, hoping to convince Harrison to teach him its secrets. He should have expected things wouldn’t go as planned. Stranded without his power in an exotic, unfamiliar world rich in magic and ruled by tyrannical practitioners, Stone knows his only chance of getting his magic back is to find Harrison - a man who has good reasons for not wanting to be found.

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.

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.

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.

It was meant to be a simple few days away: Verity heading off for a much-needed girls’ weekend in New York City. But then comes her desperate call to Alastair Stone: A terrifying disaster has occurred, killing dozens of people - including a dear friend. When Stone joins her to investigate, they quickly discover that magic is behind the catastrophe. Even worse, it’s magic that isn’t even supposed to exist. As a long-simmering disagreement explodes into a rift between Stone and a grief-stricken Verity, Stone learns that things are even worse than he feared.

It starts with an article from Jason's crank file. Some campers have discovered an unconscious "space alien" in the wilds of Colorado. Every mention of the story quickly vanishes from the internet - but not before Alastair Stone gets a look at the single, blurry photo. The "space alien" looks tantalizingly familiar....

Alastair Stone figures using tracking magic to help Jason Thayer and his new wife Amber find a missing child will be a good diversion. At least it will take his mind off a summer that, without Verity around, is shaping up to be a lot less eventful than he’d hoped. But when the boy’s kidnapper turns out to be a mage — one who’s using the public portal network to steal children for some mysterious purpose of his own — Stone, Jason, and Amber are thrown into a terrifying web of mystery, mad science, and deadly peril.

Alastair Stone has successfully finished the first of the three tasks he’s oathbound to complete for his powerful dragon ancestor. To his shock and surprise, the second turns out to be something he already wants to do: kill an old enemy who shouldn’t even be alive. Except Stone has no idea how to find his target, and the deadline he’s been given makes success by no means certain. Complicating matters, a new ally has a consulting job for him: figure out why somebody in the Changeling community is kidnapping young and seemingly unconnected children all over California.

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.

Alastair Stone has some rare free time, so he agrees to help Jason with a case of a missing college student with a wealthy father who's desperate to bring her home safely. As often happens when Stone is involved, though, the girl's disappearance soon proves to be only the tip of a much larger and more dangerous iceberg, ultimately leading them to a malevolent megachurch with a lot more than salvation on its agenda.

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.

Alastair Stone has just had a bombshell dropped on him about Aldwyn’s latest plans—but that particular problem will have to take a back seat to a more pressing one. Verity has disappeared. She never returned home following a weekend visit with her half-siblings in central California, and no one has any idea where she is.