Books like 'The Lion Awakes'
Readers who enjoyed The Lion Awakes by Xavier Dorison also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
fantasy mystery alternate history crime dark historical-fiction
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The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by John Joseph Adams, Stephen King
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsThe game is afoot! Night Shade Books is proud to present the fantastic adventures of the world's greatest detective — mystery, fantasy, science fiction, horror, no genre can escape the esteemed detective's needle-sharp intellect and intuition...Categorized as:
crime dark historical-fiction 21st-century action-adventure adult alternate-history anthologies -
Necropolis by Jordan L. Hawk
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsan alternate cover edition can be found hereIntroverted scholar Percival Endicott Whyborne has spent the last few months watching his lover, Griffin Flaherty, come to terms with the rejection of his adoptive family. So when an urgent telegram from Christine summons them to Egypt, Whyborne is reluctant to risk the fragile peace they’ve established...Categorized as:
crime dark historical-fiction action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book -
Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day by Jonathan L. Howard
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJohannes Cabal has faced down the undead, ghosts, monsters, and Satan himself. But before all that, he fought the terrifying Bonewind, a supernatural being that devours life itself, and he did it all without leaving his house. "Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day" was the story that first introduced the necromancer of some little infamy back in 2004... -
Thief on the Cross: Templar Secrets in America by David S. Brody
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhy would a collector of ancient American artifacts hand over his prized pieces to a historian and then shoot himself in the head? And why does an ancient Templar scroll in his possession refer to Jesus Christ as “The Thief on the Cross?” The answer places historian Cameron Thorne at the dangerous intersection of secret American history and modern geopolitical intrigue...Categorized as:
historical-fiction fiction mystery action-adventure contemporary fantasy suspense audiobook -
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The Convent's Secret by C.J. Archer
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTo find the one man who can fix the magic in Matt’s watch, he and India are led to a convent where the nuns will do anything to keep their secrets private. Including murder? Matt and India must uncover the truth behind the disappearance of the mother superior and two babies given to her care many years ago. But sometimes, the truth is painful and its exposure can have deadly consequences...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book female-author fiction -
The Book Keeper by Sarah Painter
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMysterious, magical, and a little bit deadly... Welcome to Unholy Island.Luke Taylor was searching for his missing twin brother when he discovered a new purpose on a magical tidal island. Living in a quirky bookshop is a dream come true - he just didn't expect it to be so damn dangerous... -
Vow of Deception by C.J. Archer
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWith the wedding only days away, the Ministry is thrown into turmoil when another murder is committed by a shape-shifter. But this time the newspapers make the connection to werewolves – and the Ministry. Suddenly the attention is focused on Lichfield Towers and its residents as the police investigate and parliament wants to shut the organization down... -
The Dark by Marianne Curley
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsEthan and Isabel, heroes from The Named, are on a more exciting journey than ever and are joined by Isabel's brother Matt, who is still getting accustomed to life in the Guard. Arkarian, their ageless mentor, has been kidnapped and sent by the Goddess of Chaos to a frighteningly dark underworld...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction action-adventure alternate-history book demons female-author fiction -
Saffron Alley by A.J. Demas
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA month ago, eunuch sword-dancer and spy Varazda collided with ex-soldier Damiskos at a seaside villa during a dizzying week of intrigue, assassinations, and a fake love affair that—maybe—turned real. Now Varazda is back home in Boukos, at the center of a family and community he dearly loves, and Damiskos is coming to visit.Things aren’t going according to plan... -
The Story of the Stone by Barry Hughart
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsIn the valley of Sorrows, a monk is brutally murdered for a worthless manuscript, and the abbot of the humble monastery calls upon Master Li and Number Ten Ox to investigate the seemingly senseless killing. The most likely suspect is the infamous Laughing Prince, founder of the valley, whose murderous frenzies have made him a legend... -
Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSimon, the foundling from The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, arrives in London to meet an old friend and pursue the study of painting. Instead he finds himself unwittingly in the middle of a wicked crew's fiendish caper to overthrow the good King James and the Duke and Duchess of Battersea... -
Assassin's Creed: Black Flag by Oliver Bowden, Andrew Holmes
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsIt’s the Golden Age of Piracy — a time when greed, ambition, and corruption overcome all loyalties — and a brash young captain, Edward Kenway, is making his name known for being one of the greatest pirates of his time...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction action-adventure alternate-history assassinations assassins audiobook book -
Pale Guardian by Barbara Hambly
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDuring the carnage of World War One, James Asher joins forces with the vampires of Europe to counter an even deadlier threat.The vampires call them The Others...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction 20th-century adult alternate-history book espionage female-author -
One Night in Boukos by A.J. Demas
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOn a night when the whole city is looking for love, two foreigners find it in the last place they expected.The famous Psobion festival is about to begin in the city of Boukos, and the ambassador from Zash has gone missing. Marzana, captain of the embassy guard, and Bedar, the ambassador’s long-suffering secretary, hunt for him through the streets and taverns and brothels of Boukos... -
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A Death at the Dionysus Club by Melissa Scott, Amy Griswold
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn the sequel to Lambda Literary Award-winning Death by Silver, metaphysician Ned Mathey and private detective Julian Lynes again challenge magical and murderous threats in a Victorian London not quite the city in our history books. Mathey is recruited by Scotland Yard to assist the new Metaphysical Crimes Squad in the case of a literally heartless corpse...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction adult alternate-history audiobook book fantasy-of-manners female-author -
The Kindred of Darkness by Barbara Hambly
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen James Asher and his wife Lydia's baby daughter Miranda is kidnapped by the Master Vampire of London, the stakes are high: blindly follow the Master Vampire's instructions, keep out of the way of the human networks that serves the vampires, destroy the interloper who seeks to seize control of the London Nest, and find the key to the Nest's tortuous inner workings: The Book of the Kindred of...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction 20th-century adult alternate-history black-mc book edwardian -
Ironfoot by Dave Duncan
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMedieval magic, murder, and mayhem!It is 1164, and for a hundred years England has been ruled by the Normans. A young Saxon boy named Durwin, crippled by a childhood accident, had caught the eye of a Norman sage teaching at a rural school of magic. Realizing that the boy had promise, Durwin was made stable boy, and eventually allowed to attend classes...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book disability fiction -
Blind Tiger by Jordan L. Hawk
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratings1924, Chicago. Prohibition is in full swing and gang bosses rule the city with might—and magic.When Sam Cunningham flees his small-town life to try his luck in the big city of Chicago, he quickly finds himself in over his head in a world of gangs, glitz, and glamour. Fortunately, he has his cousin Eldon to teach him the trade of hex-making...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction abuse action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book -
Red, White, and Blood by Christopher Farnsworth
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Presidential Campaign Trail, 2012: A political operative and a volunteer are brutally murdered while caught in a compromising position. Written in their blood on the wall of the crime scene: IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK.And with that, a centuries-old horror known only as the Boogeyman returns to taunt Nathaniel Cade, the President’s Vampire...Categorized as:
crime dark historical-fiction action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book -
The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by K.J. Charles
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsA story too secret, too terrifying—and too shockingly intimate—for Victorian eyes. A note to the Editor Dear Henry, I have been Simon Feximal’s companion, assistant and chronicler for twenty years now, and during that time my Casebooks of Feximal the Ghost-Hunter have spread the reputation of this most accomplished of ghost-hunters far and wide...Categorized as:
crime dark historical-fiction abuse action-adventure adult alternate-history anthologies -
Starcrossed by Allie Therin
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen everything they’ve built is threatened, only their bond remains…New York, 1925Psychometric Rory Brodigan’s life hasn’t been the same since the day he met Arthur Kenzie. Arthur’s continued quest to contain supernatural relics that pose a threat to the world has captured Rory’s imagination—and his heart...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult age-gap alternate-history audiobook -
Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsCharles Carter—a.k.a. Carter the Great—is a young master performer whose skill as an illusionist exceeds even that of the great Houdini. But nothing in his career has prepared Carter for the greatest stunt of all, which stars none other than President Warren G. Harding and which could end up costing Carter the reputation he has worked so hard to create...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction 20th-century 21st-century action-adventure adult alternate-history book -
Truth Chain by Jonathan Moeller
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNadia Moran's luck has run out at last. The High Queen's Inquisition is coming for her, led by the Lord Inquisitor himself. Desperate and trapped, Nadia has no choice but to cut a deal. Nadia is a master thief, and even the Lord Inquisitor needs things stolen. But the price of Nadia's freedom might destroy her utterly.. -
The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home by Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling authors of Welcome to Night Vale and It Devours! and the creators of the hit podcast, comes a new novel set in the world of Night Vale and beyond.In the town of Night Vale, there’s a faceless old woman who secretly lives in everyone’s home, but no one knows how she got there or where she came from...until now...Categorized as:
crime dark historical-fiction action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book comedy -
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Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsScarlet's true identity has been revealed, but her future is uncertain. Her forced marriage to Lord Gisbourne threatens Robin and Scarlet's love, and as the royal court descends upon Nottingham for the appointment of a new Sheriff, the people of Nottingham hope that Prince John will appoint their beloved Robin Hood...Categorized as:
crime dark historical-fiction abuse action-adventure alpha-mc alternate-history audiobook -
The President's Vampire by Christopher Farnsworth
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe ultimate secret. The ultimate agent. Nathaniel Cade returns. For 140 years, Nathaniel Cade has been the President's Vampire, sworn to protect and serve his country. Cade's existence is the most closely guarded of White House secrets: a superhuman covert agent who is the last line of defense against nightmare scenarios that ordinary citizens only dream of...Categorized as:
crime dark historical-fiction action-adventure adult alternate-history assassins audiobook -
Last Call by Tim Powers
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsTwenty years ago Scott Crane abandoned his career as a professional poker player and went into hiding, after a weird high-stakes game played with Tarot cards. But now the cards - and the supernatural powers behind them - have found him again.Crane's father killed gangster Bugsy Siegel in 1948 to become the Fisher King, and to keep that power he is determined to kill his son...Categorized as:
crime dark historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history arthurian -
The Severed Streets by Paul Cornell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSummer in London: a city in turmoil. The vicious murder of a well-known MP is like a match to tinder but Detective Inspector James Quill and his team know that it's not a run-of-the-mill homicide. Still coming to terms with their new-found second sight, they soon discover that what is invisible to others - the killer - is visible to them. Even if they have no idea who it is... -
Assassin's Creed: Unity by Oliver Bowden
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 26 ratings1789: The magnificent city of Paris sees the dawn of the French Revolution. The cobblestone streets run red with blood as the people rise against the oppressive aristocracy. But revolutionary justice comes at a high price.At a time when the divide between the rich and poor is at its most extreme, and a nation is tearing itself apart, a young man and woman fight to avenge all they have lost... -
The Thief by Claire North, Michel Pagel
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Gameshouse is an unusual institution. Many know it as the place where fortunes can be made and lost through games of chess, backgammon - every game under the sun.But a select few, who are picked to compete in the higher league, know that some games are played for higher stakes - those of politics and empires, of economics and kings . .Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime fantasy fiction audiobook urban-fantasy historical action-adventure -
The Case of the Spellbound Child by Mercedes Lackey
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNow in paperback, the fourteenth novel in the magical alternate history Elemental Masters series continues the reimagined adventures of famed detective Sherlock Holmes.While Sherlock is still officially dead, John and Mary Watson and Nan Killian and Sarah Lyon-White are taking up some of his case-load--and some work for Lord Alderscroft, the Wizard of London...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction action-adventure alternate-history animals audiobook book female-author -
Polostan by Neal Stephenson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe first installment in Neal Stephenson’s three-part Bomb Light cycle, Polostan follows the early life of the enigmatic Dawn Rae Bjornberg. Born in the American West to a clan of cowboy anarchists, Dawn is raised in Leningrad after the Russian Revolution by her Russian father, a party line Leninist who re-christens her Aurora... -
Soulbound by Bec McMaster
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA dark force is rising in London...Sebastian Montcalm knows freedom for the first time in his life, but it has come at the cost of his father's soul. If he can learn to harness his uncontrollable sorcery then he might be able to save his father from a demon's grip, but every move he makes leads to failure...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction abuse action-adventure adult alpha-mc alternate-history assassins -
Memories of the Dead by Evelyn James
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOne murder. Two suspects. Bad things happen when you mess around with a mother’s grief.Clara Fitzgerald is struggling to make her name as a private detective in 1920s Brighton, when most people think women cannot solve crimes. Undaunted by the prejudice she faces, she sets out every day to her humble office in the hope someone will ask for her help... -
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The Beast of Nightfall Lodge by Steven Sidor
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA mysterious explorer hires a team of adventurers to join him in a hunt for a monstrous beast, in this rip-roaring sequel to Fury From the Tomb. When Egyptologist Rom Hardy receives a strange letter from his old friend, the bounty-hunting sniper Rex McTroy, he finds himself drawn into a chilling mystery...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction action-adventure adult alternate-history animals book classics -
Sherlock Academy by F.C. Shaw
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRollie and his best friend Cecily enroll in Sherlock Academy, a school that trains them to be detectives like the great sleuth Holmes. Within the first week of school, a burglar is committed and a mystery unravels. Rollie uses his learned skills to investigate. He soon discovers appearances can be deceiving and the truth can be hurtful, but solving the case is everything...Categorized as:
crime action-adventure alternate-history boarding-school book children children-books fiction -
The Devil Lancer by Astrid Amara
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCaptain Elliott Parrish of Her Majesty’s 17th Lancers cavalry division finds most of his assignment in the Crimea insufferable.Rampant cholera, missing supplies, and inept planning quickly mire the promise of a decisive summer victory for the British. Facing a harrowing winter campaign, Elliott must rally disheartened men through sickness, battle and starvation...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book demons -
Creeping Jenny by Jeff Noon
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe third book in Jeff Noon's widely acclaimed 'Nyquist Mysteries' find our protagonist caught up in a new mystery that delves into nightmares, Saints and the answer to his father's disappearanceNyquist finds himself in a village where everyday is a different type of nightmare and whose bizarre rules are governed by whichever Saint rules that day...Categorized as:
crime dark historical-fiction 21st-century action-adventure adult alternate-history anthologies -
Stoker's Wilde by Steven Hopstaken, Melissa Prusi
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Historical details and supernatural monsters abound, but it is the odd couple of Wilde and Stoker, with their diametrically opposed personalities and interesting quirks, that drives this story. Pass this volume on to readers who are hungry for more historical stories with a supernatural frame." - BooklistLonglisted for The Guardian's Not the Booker Prize 2019... -
Raudrästiku aeg by Indrek Hargla
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMenukate apteeker Melchiori lugude autori Indrek Hargla uue kriminaalromaani tegevus toimub alternatiivajaloolises muinasaja Eestis. Selle riigi nimi on Kuningavald ning muistses Viljandis, mida siis Veelindeks kutsuti, valitseb noor kuningas Uljas. Romaani peategelaseks on kuninga nõunik Koiola Aotõiv, kelle terav vaist ja nutikus aitavad tal lahendada mitu mõrvamõistatust...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction 21st-century adult alternate-history book fiction historical -
Garrett Investigates by Elizabeth Bear
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFive stories that comprise some of the matter surrounding the life of Lady Abigail Irene Garrett, Th.D., sometime Crown Investigator. They are previously uncollected. One is new; the others were only previously available as bonus chapbooks with the limited editions of various novellas... -
Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets by David Thomas Moore
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe world's most famous detective, as you've never seen him before!This is Sherlock Holmes as you've never seen him before: as an architect in a sleepy Australian town, as a gentleman in seventeenth-century Worcestershire, as a precocious school girl in a modern British comprehensive...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction 21st-century adult alternate-history anthologies fiction historical -
The Last Wizards' Ball by Charlaine Harris
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratings#1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Charlaine Harris returns with the sixth and final installment in the critically acclaimed Gunnie Rose series as sisters Lizbeth Rose and Felicia must face their fates at the last Wizards’ Ball...Categorized as:
historical-fiction dark romance fantasy urban-fantasy magic alternate-history fiction -
Killing Time by K.J. Waters
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Strongest Hurricane in Decades Takes Aim at Florida. Will Ronnie Escape its Wrath or be Lost in Time Forever?Ronnie Andrews is lucky to be alive after a time travel glitch nearly took her life during Hurricane Frances... -
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Murder and Magic by Randall Garrett, Robert Adragna
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis is the first Ace printing...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction adult alternate-history anthologies espionage fiction historical -
Too Many Magicians by Randall Garrett
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGarrett's detective, Lord Darcy, investigates a classic locked-room murder in an unconventional setting--a sorcerer's convention held in barely recognizable London. Gambling, espionage, and mind reading enter the solution... -
Harbinger of the Storm by Aliette de Bodard
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDeath, magic and intrigue in this hotly-anticipated follow-up to Servant of the Underworld. A sumptuously-detailed Aztec world, which will appeal to fans of magical fantasy, historical drama, political intrigue and murder mysteries.THE AZTEC EMPIRE TEETERS ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION... -
A Night of Blacker Darkness: Being the Memoir of Frederick Whithers As Edited by Cecil G. Bagsworth III by Dan Wells
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWrongly imprisoned, Frederick Whithers is desperate to commit the crime he's already being punished for: defrauding the bank out of a vast inheritance. He fakes his death to escape, but when he's seen climbing out of a coffin everyone assumes he's a vampire; when he shows none of the traditional vampire weaknesses, they decide he must be the most powerful vampire in the history of the world...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book comedy -
The Temple and the Stone the Temple and the Stone by Katherine Kurtz, Deborah Turner Harris
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe military Order of the Knights Templar was founded during the time of the crusades. Said to possess magical abilities, their original mission was to protect pilgrims en route to the Holy Land. Now, during the final decade of the 13th century, the Templars find themselves deeply involved in Scotland's wars of independence...Categorized as:
historical-fiction adult alternate-history book female-author fiction historical horror -
Shadow of the Soul by Sarah Pinborough
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe author of the “diabolically clever”* A Matter of Blood returns with another gritty supernatural thriller featuring hard-boiled homicide detective Cass Jones… A devastating terrorist attack has crippled London. To find a perpetrator who is more than human, Special Branch turns to Detective Inspector Cass Jones...
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