Books like 'First Death'
Readers who enjoyed First Death by A.D. Starrling also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical fantasy mystery action / adventure urban fantasy supernatural horror historical-fiction paranormal male-mc
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City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsRevenge. It's something Sigrud je Harkvaldsson is very, very good at. Maybe the only thing. So when he learns that his oldest friend and ally, former Prime Minister Shara Komayd, has been assassinated, he knows exactly what to do — and that no mortal force can stop him from meting out the suffering Shara's killers deserve... -
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:
dark historical-fiction paranormal retellings suspense 21st-century action-adventure adult -
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:
dark historical-fiction myths paranormal suspense action-adventure adult alternate-history -
Birth Of A Killer: The Saga Of Larten Crepsley Book One by Darren Shan
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsIn the first of the four volumes in The Saga of Larten Crepsley, young Larten s life is thrown into chaos when his closest friend is murdered. Retreating from the world of humans, he finds refuge in the night-world of the vampire clan. He has the bravery, strength and skill to go far as a creature of the night, but he faces a number of troubling obstacles and setbacks...Categorized as:
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Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Guillermo del Toro, Cornelia Funke
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsFans of dark fairy-tales like The Hazel Wood and The Cruel Prince will relish this atmospheric and absorbing book based on Guillermo del Toro’s critically acclaimed movie... -
I Am Grimalkin by Joseph Delaney
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsFrom the publisher:"I'm coming for you, and nothing living or dead can stop me."One witch is the most feared, the most ruthless, and the most deadly of all the witches in the county. If she hunts for you, she will find you. If you have crossed her, you don't stand a chance. She is the witch assassin, and her name is Grimalkin.Grimalkin's one alliance is with Tom Ward, the Spook's apprentice...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction myths paranormal retellings action-adventure alpha-mc audiobook -
The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud, Simon Jones
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsIt is 950 B.C.E., and King Solomon rules Jerusalem with a steely hand; a hand on which gleams a magic ring of immense and unforgiving power. Solomon has just begun work on his marvelous temple, charging Khaba, a formidable magician in his royal court, to oversee its construction. The workforce is an ill-behaved bunch of demons, a particularly unruly djinni named Bartimaeus among them... -
The Spook's Mistake by Joseph Delaney
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsAs danger increases in the County, Tom is sent far north by his master to be trained by Bill Arkwright, another Spook. Arkwright lives in a haunted mill on the edge of a treacherous marsh and his training methods prove to be harsh and sometimes cruel. But he has toughened up many previous apprentices and now he must do the same for Tom and prepare him for the gravest dangers of his life...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction myths paranormal retellings suspense action-adventure audiobook -
Life at the Coffin Joint by Ann Charles, Sam Lucky
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDeadwood (late 1876) ... A rowdy and reckless undertaker’s delight. What better place for a killer to blend in?Enter undertaker Clementine Johanssen, tall and deadly with a hot temper and short fuse, hired to clean up Deadwood’s dead … and the “other” problem. She’s hell-bent on poking, sticking, or stabbing anyone that steps out of line... -
The Spook's Sacrifice by Joseph Delaney
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsAs the Spook's apprentice Tom's first duty is to protect the County from the dark. But now Mam needs his help in her homeland of Greece. One of the most dangerous of the old gods, the Ordeen, is about to return there, bringing slaughter and devastation. Meanwhile, the Devil himself is still loose and if he and the Ordeen join forces, a new age of darkness will descend... -
The Isle of Blood by Rick Yancey
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWhen Dr. Warthrop goes hunting the "Holy Grail of Monstrumology" with his eager new assistant, Arkwright, he leaves Will Henry in New York. Finally, Will can enjoy something that always seemed out of reach: a normal life with a real family. But part of Will can't let go of Dr. Warthrop, and when Arkwright returns claiming that the doctor is dead, Will is devastated--and not convinced...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction male-mc myths paranormal retellings action-adventure audiobook -
Born of Hatred by Steve McHugh
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsThere was a time when Nathan Garrett was feared. When the mention of his name was enough to stop his enemies in their tracks. That time has long since passed.When Nathan’s friend asks for help investigating a pattern of horrific crimes, he reluctantly agrees. But his investigation leads to a serial killer who is something more, or less, than human, a creature of pure malevolence and hatred... -
When Twilight Burns by Colleen Gleason
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAfter narrowly escaping from Rome, Lady Victoria Gardella returns to London, where not even sunrise can stop a vampire's carnage...Ruining Victoria's homecoming, a vampire stalks the streets of London--during the daylight. Not only is Victoria unable to detect the vampire with her heightened senses, but she's being framed as the prime suspect behind the killings...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal suspense action-adventure alpha-mc book dark-fantasy -
City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsA generation ago, the city of Voortyashtan was the stronghold of the god of war and death, the birthplace of fearsome supernatural sentinels who killed and subjugated millions. Now, the city’s god is dead. The city itself lies in ruins. And to its new military occupiers, the once-powerful capital is a wasteland of sectarian violence and bloody uprisings... -
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The Girl with No Face by M.H. Boroson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe adventures of Li-lin, a Daoist priestess with the unique ability to see the spirit world, continue in the thrilling follow-up to the critically-acclaimed historical urban fantasy The Girl with Ghost Eyes.It’s the end of the Nineteenth Century. San Francisco’s cobblestone streets are haunted, but Chinatown has an unlikely protector in a young Daoist priestess named Li-lin...Categorized as:
historical-fiction myths paranormal retellings action-adventure adult audiobook book -
Unseen by Jordan L. Hawk
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsLibrarian Sebastian Rath and his lover Vesper Rune are tasked with seeking and containing the evil Books of the Bound. But one of the Books has been freed from its prison—and is in the hands of a killer.As more bodies turn up, Sebastian finds himself tempted to use forbidden magic to locate the Book and stop the murderer...Categorized as:
historical-fiction paranormal suspense action-adventure adult book cosmic-horror crime -
Sleepy Hollow: Bridge of Bones by Richard Gleaves
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"My earliest memory is of discovering my grandfather's severed head." The HEADLESS HORSEMAN has risen and rides. JASON CRANE is the Horseman's target. But Jason must stay and fight, to protect those he loves. For Sleepy Hollow is falling to evil. Now Jason Crane lives under a tyrannical guardian. Jason Crane must descend into fearful darkness. And Jason Crane has an appointment with death..Categorized as:
historical-fiction paranormal suspense action-adventure book fiction folk-horror ghosts -
Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsBefore Miss Peregrine gave them a home, the story of peculiars was written in the Tales. Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. The origins of the first ymbryne...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction myths paranormal retellings 21st-century action-adventure anthologies -
Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 69 ratingsA boy with extraordinary powers. An army of deadly monsters. An epic battle for the future of peculiardom.The adventure that began with Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and continued in Hollow City comes to a thrilling conclusion with Library of Souls...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal suspense action-adventure audiobook book children -
Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsThe longing of dreams draws the dead, and this city holds many dreams.After a supernatural showdown with a serial killer, Evie O’Neill has outed herself as a Diviner. With her uncanny ability to read people’s secrets, she’s become a media darling, earning the title “America’s Sweetheart Seer.” Everyone’s in love with the city’s newest It Girl…everyone except the other Diviners...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal suspense action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book -
A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsThe #1 bestselling series returns with a thrilling new story arc set in America!Vintage photographs reveal the never-before-seen world of peculiar America with a stunning addition—full-color images.Having defeated the monstrous threat that nearly destroyed the peculiar world, Jacob Portman is back where his story began, in Florida...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal suspense 21st-century action-adventure audiobook book -
Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 54 ratingsFifteen-year-old Oscar Drai meets the strange Marina while he's exploring an old quarter of Barcelona. She leads Oscar to a cemetery, where they watch a macabre ritual that occurs on the last Sunday of each month. At exactly ten o'clock in the morning, a woman shrouded in a black velvet cloak descends from her carriage to place a single rose on an unmarked grave...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal suspense 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book -
The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsWhile attempting to disprove that Homo vampiris, the vampire, could exist, Dr. Warthrop is asked by his former fiancé to rescue her husband from the Wendigo, a creature that starves even as it gorges itself on human flesh, and which has snatched him in the Canadian wilderness... -
The Scarletti Curse by Christine Feehan
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThe BeastStrange, twisted carvings and hideous gargoyles adorned the palazzo of the great Scarletti family. But a still more fearful secret lurked within its storm-tossed turrets. For every bride who entered its forbidding walls was doomed to leave in a casket.The BrideMystical and unfettered, Nicoletta had no terror of ancient curses and no fear of marriage..Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal suspense action-adventure adult alpha-mc audiobook -
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The Hungry Dreaming by Craig Schaefer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe discovery of lost letters between Alexander Hamilton and George Washington, describing historical events that never happened, sends shockwaves through the academic world. Meanwhile, a citywide surveillance program is coming to New York on a groundswell of dirty money and dead bodies. To hard-nosed Brooklyn reporter Nell Bluth, the two mysteries couldn't be more different... -
Jack Templar and the Monster Hunter Academy by Jeff Gunhus
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter barely surviving the onslaught of monsters that tried to kill him the day before his fourteenth birthday, Jack Templar leaves his hometown on a quest to rescue his father and discover the truth about his past...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal action-adventure audiobook book children children-books -
Wyrde and Wicked by Charlotte E. English
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings‘When it comes to the Wyrde, there is no such thing as harmless. Every single one of us is a walking disaster.’ Winter has come to Werth Towers, and brought a deal of trouble with it. Not that any of it is the fault of Miss Gussie Werth. To be a one-woman catastrophe might be seen as a misfortune, but really, there can be no hope of a cure...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction myths paranormal retellings action-adventure adult audiobook -
Song of Oestend by Marie Sexton
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOn the Oestend prairie, only the strong survive.Artist Aren Montrell has heard tales of the Oestend wraiths – mysterious creatures that come in the night and kill anyone who’s not indoors. Aren’s never believed the stories, but when he takes a job as a bookkeeper on the BarChi, a dusty cattle ranch in the furthest reaches of Oestend, he learns the wraiths are very real... -
Carousel by Jordan L. Hawk
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNote: “Carousel” first appeared in the anthology Another Place in Time. It takes place between the events of Stormhaven and Necropolis. When a child goes missing in Widdershins, ex-Pinkerton detective Griffin Flaherty fears sinister forces are at work in the town...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal suspense action-adventure adult anthologies cosmic-horror -
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:
dark historical-fiction paranormal suspense action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook -
The Conference of the Birds by Ransom Riggs
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsA FRAGILE PEACE. AN APOCRYPHAL WARNING. CHAOS WAITING IN THE HEART OF THE STORM.With his dying words, H—Jacob Portman’s final connection to his grandfather Abe’s secret life— entrusts Jacob with a mission: Deliver newly contacted peculiar Noor Pradesh to an operative known only as V. Noor is being hunted. She is the subject of an ancient prophecy, one that foretells a looming apocalypse...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal suspense 21st-century action-adventure audiobook book -
Dragon's Oath by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsThe first in an enthralling new mini-series of novellas from the #1 bestselling authors of the House of Night, Dragon’s Oath tells the story behind the House of Night’s formidable fencing instructor – the love that will transform him, and the promise that will haunt him In early 19th century England, long before he’s a professor at the Tulsa House of Night, Bryan Lankford is a troublesome...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction myths paranormal suspense action-adventure audiobook boarding-school -
Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter, Уильям Риттер
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsJenny Cavanaugh, the ghostly lady of 926 Augur Lane, has enlisted the investigative services of her fellow residents to solve a decade-old murder—her own. Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, Detective R. F. Jackaby, dive into the cold case, starting with a search for Jenny’s fiancé, who went missing the night she died... -
Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 76 ratingsThis second novel begins in 1940, immediately after the first book ended. Having escaped Miss Peregrine’s island by the skin of their teeth, Jacob and his new friends must journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. Along the way, they encounter new allies, a menagerie of peculiar animals, and other unexpected surprises...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal suspense 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book -
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The Fear Institute by Jonathan L. Howard
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsJohannes Cabal and his rather inexact powers of necromancy are back once more. This time, his talents are purchased by The Fear Institute as they hunt for the Phobic Animus - the embodiment of fear...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction myths paranormal retellings action-adventure adult alternate-history -
The Wolf's Hour by Robert McCammon
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsD-Day is threatened, but one man could rip the heart of the Nazis -- with his bare claws....He is Michael Gallatin, master spy, lover -- and werewolf. Able to change shape with lightning speed, to kill silently or with savage, snarling fury, he proved his talents against Rommel in Africa. Now he faces his most delicate, dangerous mission: to unravel the secret Nazi plan known as Iron Fist...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history -
Slither by Joseph Delaney
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 19 ratings"My name is Slither, and before my tale is finished you'll find out why."The dark is full of terrifying creatures. And Tom Ward—the seventh son of a seventh son, and the Spook's last apprentice—hasn't seen all of them. Far from the county, one named Slither has lived for hundreds of years, hunting blood.But a dying father binds the monster to a bargain... -
Declare by Tim Powers
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAs a young double agent infiltrating the Soviet spy network in Nazi-occupied Paris, Andrew Hale finds himself caught up in a secret, even more ruthless war. Two decades later, in 1963, he will be forced to confront again the nightmare that has haunted his adult life: a lethal unfinished operation code-named Declare...Categorized as:
historical-fiction myths paranormal retellings suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult -
European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the sequel to the critically acclaimed The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, Mary Jekyll and the rest of the daughters of literature’s mad scientists embark on a madcap adventure across Europe to rescue another monstrous girl and stop the Alchemical Society’s nefarious plans once and for all.Mary Jekyll’s life has been peaceful since she helped Sherlock Holmes and Dr...Categorized as:
historical-fiction paranormal retellings suspense action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book -
The Spook's Tale and Other Horrors by Joseph Delaney, Patrick Arrasmith
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThis is 3 stories inside, one about Alice and grimmalkin and those two that hav been published with 3 additional stories in the stort story collection as Spooks`s Stories witches (uk) or A Coven of witches (us) but with the additions World book day story Spooks`s tale included in this edition.The Last Apprentice series follows the terrifying adventures of the Spook's apprentice, Thomas Ward... -
The Witch’s Lens by Luanne G. Smith
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsAs World War I rages, there are evils—both living and dead—that only a witch can see in a spellbinding novel by the Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestselling author of The Raven Spell.With her husband off fighting at World War I’s eastern front, Petra Kurková embraces her fleeting freedom, roaming the city at night with her camera... -
The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm by Ellen Datlow, Holly Black
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFaeries, or creatures like them, can be found in almost every culture the world over--benevolent and terrifying, charming and exasperating, shifting shape from country to country, story to story, and moment to moment... -
Rises The Night by Colleen Gleason
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe saga of Victoria Gardella continues as the glorious nineteenth-century city of Rome gives rise to a new threat from the immortal undead....Lady Victoria Gardella Grantworth de Lacy has been a vampire slayer for just over a year, balancing her life as a peer of Society with the dangerous role that takes her out on moonlit streets, stake in hand...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction myths paranormal action-adventure alpha-mc book dark-fantasy -
The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe secret is, vampires are real and I am one.The secret is, I’m stealing from you what is most truly yours and I’m not sorry—New York City in 1978 is a dirty, dangerous place to live. And die...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction male-mc paranormal suspense action-adventure adult anti-hero -
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Rag and Bone by K.J. Charles
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsIt’s amazing what people throw away… Crispin Tredarloe never meant to become a warlock. Freed from his treacherous master, he’s learning how to use his magical powers the right way. But it’s brutally hard work. Not everyone believes he’s a reformed character, and the strain is putting unbearable pressure on his secret relationship with waste-man Ned Hall. Ned’s sick of magic... -
Hold Back the Tide by Melinda Salisbury
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom internationally bestselling, acclaimed author Melinda Salisbury comes a darkly seductive story of murder, betrayal, love, and family secrets in a small town in the Scottish Highlands.Here are the rules of living with a murderer.One: Do not draw attention to yourself.Of course, when you live with a murderer, this is impossible. Even the subtlest of spectres is bound to be noticed... -
Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes by Charles Prepolec, Kim Newman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe fabled tin dispatch box of Dr. John H. Watson opens to reveal eleven all new tales of mystery and dark fantasy. Sherlock Holmes, master of deductive reasoning, confronts the irrational, the unexpected and the fantastic in the weird worlds of the Gaslight Grimoire...Categorized as:
historical-fiction paranormal suspense action-adventure adult anthologies crime fiction -
Sleepy Hollow: Rise Headless and Ride by Richard Gleaves
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNOTE: This E-Book edition INCLUDES "THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW" by Washington Irving (full text)!"May I present the Last Descendant of Ichabod Crane..."JASON CRANE just turned seventeen years old.He's a STAR WARS fan and a history geek. He doesn't believe in ghosts or the afterlife. He doesn't believe in psychic powers or tarot cards. He doesn't believe in the Headless Horseman...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction paranormal retellings suspense action-adventure audiobook book -
Moon Bayou by J.R. Rain, Rod Kierkegaard Jr.
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMother, wife, private investigator, vampire - Sam Moon's been around the block. Now, unlife brings her to New Orleans to test her mettle against a new kind of lurking evil...From the author of the Vampire for Hire Series, J.R. Rain, comes a brand new Samantha Moon spin-off story co-written by bestselling author of The Dead Detective and The Department of Magic, Rod Kierkegaard Jr... -
Death Rites by E.A. Copen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAccused of murder. Hunted by gods. Low on ramen.After getting out of prison, necromancer and curio shop owner Lazarus Kerrigan has done his best to stay out of trouble. Unfortunately for him, fate has other plans.When a woman is found dead on his doorstep, Laz’s checkered past makes him the prime suspect, especially since he was the last person to see her alive...
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