Books like 'The Scour'
Readers who enjoyed The Scour by Richard Swan also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
fantasy horror mystery grimdark dark fantasy historical-fiction crime dark
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Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 56 ratingsMia Corvere has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church hierarchy think she's far from earned it. Plying her bloody trade in a backwater of the Republic, she's no closer to ending the men who destroyed her familia; in fact, she's told directly that Consul Scaeva is off limits... -
![Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie]()
Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 69 ratingsSuperior Glokta has a problem. How do you defend a city surrounded by enemies and riddled with traitors, when your allies can by no means be trusted, and your predecessor vanished without a trace? It’s enough to make a torturer want to run – if he could even walk without a stick.Northmen have spilled over the border of Angland and are spreading fire and death across the frozen country...Categorized as:
dark 21st-century action-adventure anti-hero audiobook book children-books contemporary -
![Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff]()
Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsFrom holy cup comes holy light;The faithful hands sets world aright.And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight,Mere man shall end this endless night.It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness... -
![The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan]()
The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsThe hounds at our heels will soon know we are lionsTamas's invasion of Kez ends in disaster when a Kez counter-offensive leaves him cut off behind enemy lines with only a fraction of his army, no supplies, and no hope of reinforcements...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction action-adventure adult audiobook book contemporary dark-fantasy -
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![Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski]()
Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 62 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling series that inspired the international hit video game: The Witcher The Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup and, in the uproar, Geralt was seriously injured. The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times... -
![The Tower of the Swallow by Andrzej Sapkowski]()
The Tower of the Swallow by Andrzej Sapkowski
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 54 ratingsThe world has fallen into war. Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Hunted by friends and foes alike, she has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life. But the net around her is closing. Geralt, the Witcher, has assembled a group of allies determined to rescue her. Both sides of the war have sent brutal mercenaries to hunt her down... -
![Nevernight by Jay Kristoff]()
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 69 ratingsIn a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life... -
![She Who Waits by Daniel Polansky]()
She Who Waits by Daniel Polansky
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe third novel in the brilliant dark fantasy Low Town seriesLow Town: the worst ghetto in the worst city in the Thirteen Lands. Good only for depravity and death. And Warden, long ago a respected agent in the formidable Black House, is now the most depraved Low Town denizen of them all... -
![King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence]()
King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsThe second book in the Broken Empire series, Lawrence takes his young anti-hero one step closer to his grand ambition.To reach greatness you must step on bodies, and many brothers lie trodden in my wake... -
![Carl Perkins' Cadillac by John G. Hartness]()
Carl Perkins' Cadillac by John G. Hartness
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhere do you go when you've saved the world but given up everything and everyone you love in the process? The home of the blues, of course! Quincy Harker has retreated to Memphis to lick his wounds and get started on building a new life for himself. He's determined to be a normal guy (almost) living a (mostly) normal life working as a bouncer in a (not even a little bit) normal bar... -
![The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski]()
The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 68 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling series that inspired the international hit video game: The Witcher Geralt is a witcher: guardian of the innocent; protector of those in need; a defender, in dark times, against some of the most frightening creatures of myth and legend. His task, now, is to protect Ciri... -
![Priest of Lies by Peter McLean]()
Priest of Lies by Peter McLean
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsTomas Piety has been many things: soldier, priest, gangster...and spy. As Tomas's power grows, the nobility better watch their backs, in this dark and gritty epic fantasy series.People are weak, and the poorer and more oppressed they are, the weaker they become--until they can't take it anymore. And when they rise up...may the gods help their oppressors... -
![Priest of Gallows by Peter McLean]()
Priest of Gallows by Peter McLean
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGangster, soldier, priest. Queen's Man. Governor.Tomas Piety has everything he ever wanted. In public he's a wealthy, highly respected businessman, happily married to a beautiful woman and Governor of his home city of Ellinburg. In private, he's no longer a gang lord but one of the Queen's Men, invisible and officially non-existent, working in secret to protect his country... -
![The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe]()
The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAlternative cover editions for this ISBN exist here and here.Beneath the dying sun the disgraced torturer, Severian, at last comes to his place of exile - Thrax, the city of Windowless Rooms.But Severian's journey is not ended, and high in Earth's ancient mountains he draws closer to his destiny... -
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![Shadows Linger by Glen Cook]()
Shadows Linger by Glen Cook
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsMercenary soldiers in the service of the Lady, the Black Company stands against the rebels of the White Rose. They are tough men, proud of honoring their contracts. The Lady is evil, but so, too, are those who falsely profess to follow the White Rose, reincarnation of a centuries-dead heroine... -
![Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau]()
Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIf your mind is the enemy, where do you run?Years after a harrowing war experience, ex-mercenary Jespar Dal'Varek has taken to drifting. It's a lonely existence, but, barring the occasional bout of melancholia, he has found the closest thing to peace a man like him deserves. Life is "all right."Or so he believes... -
![The Blind Dragon: A Tale from the Canon of Tarn by Peter Fane]()
The Blind Dragon: A Tale from the Canon of Tarn by Peter Fane
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratings"There we are," Anna whispered. The dragon foal went still at her voice. Then it snorted and swiveled its snout towards her. Its eyes were still shut. Its tail quivered and its nostrils flared. A menacing growl rose from its chest. "Easy there," Anna said gently. "Easy." She placed her palm on its forehead, applying calm pressure between its eyes... -
![A Drink Before We Die by Daniel Polansky]()
A Drink Before We Die by Daniel Polansky
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA thrilling introduction to the world of the widely acclaimed Low Town trilogy.Rigus is the greatest city in the Thirteen Lands, a glittering metropolis of towering citadels and sumptuous manors, where bored nobles settle affairs of honor with cold steel, and sorcerers craft enchantments of wonder and majesty... -
![The Son of the Morning by Jacob Peppers]()
The Son of the Morning by Jacob Peppers
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFifty years ago, the nightwalkers appeared, creatures of shadow and darkness, thirsting for blood and death. Thousands died and the kingdom of Entarna was brought to its knees. Then the Chosen came, six men and women endowed with powers by Amedan, the God of Fire and Light. The Chosen joined with the kingdom’s armies and together they managed to defeat the night’s creatures. At least for a time... -
![The Pariah by Anthony Ryan]()
The Pariah by Anthony Ryan
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsBorn into the troubled kingdom of Albermaine, Alwyn Scribe is raised as an outlaw. Quick of wit and deft with a blade, Alwyn is content with the freedom of the woods and the comradeship of his fellow thieves. But an act of betrayal sets him on a new path - one of blood and vengeance, which eventually leads him to a soldier's life in the king's army... -
![The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins]()
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 49 ratingsA missing God.A library with the secrets to the universe. A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts...Categorized as:
dark 21st-century action-adventure apocalyptic audiobook book contemporary dark-academia -
![Norylska Groans by Michael R. Fletcher, Clayton W. Snyder]()
Norylska Groans by Michael R. Fletcher, Clayton W. Snyder
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNorylska Groans...with the weight of her crimes. In a city where winter reigns amid the fires of industry and war, soot and snow conspire to conceal centuries of death and deception.Norylska Groans...and the weight of a leaden sky threatens to crush her people. Katyusha Leonova, desperate to restore her family name, takes a job with Norylska's brutal police force... -
![I’m Glad You’re Dead by Hunter Blain]()
I’m Glad You’re Dead by Hunter Blain
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAfter helplessly witnessing the execution of his family, John is approached by a strange man that promises the power of revenge, for a price; his life for the ability to walk the mortal plane for eternity. Fast forward several hundred years where John finds himself with an unlikely ally, Father Thomes Philseep... -
![Tomorrow, the Killing by Daniel Polansky]()
Tomorrow, the Killing by Daniel Polansky
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOnce he was a hero of the Great War, and then a member of the dreaded Black House. Now he is the criminal linchpin of Low Town.His name is Warden.He thought he had left the war behind him, but a summons from up above brings the past sharply, uncomfortably, back into focus. General Montgomery's daughter is missing somewhere in Low Town, searching for clues about her brother's murder... -
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![Dreams of Steel by Glen Cook]()
Dreams of Steel by Glen Cook
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsCroaker has fallen and, following the Company's disastrous defeat at Dejagore, Lady is one of the few survivors--determined to avenge the Company and herself against the Shadowmasters, no matter what the cost... -
![She is the Darkness by Glen Cook]()
She is the Darkness by Glen Cook
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe wind whines and howls with bitter breath. Lightning snarls and barks. Rage is an animate force upon the plain of glittering stone. Even shadows are afraid.At the heart of the plain stands a vast grey stronghold, unknown, older than any written memory. One ancient tower has collapsed across the fissure... -
![Unearthed by Robert J. Crane]()
Unearthed by Robert J. Crane
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWARNING: Due to extremely disturbing content, this book is intended for MATURE READERS ONLY. The town of Midian, Tennessee is spiraling straight to hell. Demons haunt the streets, people are dying by the hundreds, and the only defenders of the innocent townsfolk have been driven into hiding by a sheriff who doesn't know what he's dealing with... -
![Water Sleeps by Glen Cook]()
Water Sleeps by Glen Cook
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsRegrouping in Taglios, the surviving members of the Black Company are determined to free their fellow warriors held in stasis beneath the glittering plain. Journey there under terrible conditions, they arrive just in time for a magical conflagration in which the bones of the world will be revealed, the history of the Company unveiled, and new world gained and lost...all at a terrible price... -
![Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence]()
Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsThe Red Queen is old but the kings of the Broken Empire dread her like no other. For all her reign, she has fought the long war, contested in secret, against the powers that stand behind nations, for higher stakes than land or gold. Her greatest weapon is The Silent Sister—unseen by most and unspoken of by all...Categorized as:
dark historical-fiction action-adventure adult anti-hero audiobook book dark-fantasy -
![The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan]()
The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling Raven’s Shadow Trilogy was a perfect read for “fans of broadscale epic fantasy along the lines of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series and George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire novels.”* Now, Anthony Ryan begins a new saga, The Draconis Memoria...Throughout the vast lands controlled by the Ironship Syndicate, nothing is more prized than the blood of drakes... -
![La Biblia de los Caídos. Tomo 0 by Fernando Trujillo Sanz]()
La Biblia de los Caídos. Tomo 0 by Fernando Trujillo Sanz
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsEl mundo cuenta con un lado oculto, una cara sobrenatural que nos susurra, que se intuye, pero que muy pocos perciben. La inmensa mayoría de las personas no es consciente de ese lado paranormal... ni de sus riesgos.A veces la gente se topa con esos peligros y desespera, se atemoriza, y no sabe qué hacer ni a quién recurrir. Pero no todo está perdido.. -
![A Dance of Mirrors by David Dalglish]()
A Dance of Mirrors by David Dalglish
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsFrom USA Today bestselling author David DalglishOne has conquered a city. The other covets an entire nation. In book #3 of the Shadowdance series, Haern is the King's Watcher, protector against thieves and nobles who would fill the night with blood. Yet hundreds of miles away, an assassin known as the Wraith has begun slaughtering those in power, leaving the symbol of the Watcher in mockery... -
![The Book of the Beast by Tanith Lee]()
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![Cry Havoc by Mike Morris]()
Cry Havoc by Mike Morris
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThey say when the demons come, you either fight or you die. The Black Dogs know this all too well. For three hundred years, the warrior priests have sacrificed their lives to keep the island nation of Abios safe from the flesh-eating Nostros, while the rest of the world fell under the demons’ savagery. However, an armada now stands poised to invade mankind’s last bastion... -
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![Deadman's Crossing by Joe R. Lansdale]()
Deadman's Crossing by Joe R. Lansdale
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDeadwood meets The Walking Dead in this wild and profane Western romp featuring zombies, werewolves, killer bees, and one pissed-off gun-slinging preacher.The Wild West has never seen the likes of Reverend Jebidiah Mercer, a hard man wielding a burning Bible and a bottle of whiskey in the battle between God and the Devil. Frankly, he's not sure he gives a damn who wins...Categorized as:
dark 21st-century action-adventure adult anthologies apocalyptic cosmic-horror dark-fantasy -
![Creeping Jenny by Jeff Noon]()
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 -
![SunRider by Rafael Hohmann]()
SunRider by Rafael Hohmann
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMagic pieces of armor have begun to rain from Lenova's skies, granting men God-like powers. Mountains move, lightning bends to command, and a man's future can be written in a book before it has even happened. In all this emerging chaos, teenage Finn SunRider holds only the simple goal of escaping his enslavement and exploring the world he lives in... -
![The Wrack by John Bierce]()
The Wrack by John Bierce
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPlague has come to the continent of Teringia. As the Wrack makes its slow, relentless march southwards, it will humble kings and healers, seers and merchants, priests and warriors. Behind, it leaves only screams and suffering, and before it, spreads only fear... -
![The Dark Defiles by Richard K. Morgan]()
The Dark Defiles by Richard K. Morgan
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe final part of Richard Morgan's fast-moving and brutal fantasy brings Ringil to his final reckoning and sees the world tipping into another war with the dragon folk. And, most terrifying of all, the prophecy of a dark lord come to rule may be coming true very close to home .. -
![Priest of Bones by Peter McLean]()
Priest of Bones by Peter McLean
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe war is over, and army priest Tomas Piety heads home with Sergeant Bloody Anne at his side. But things have changed while he was away: his crime empire has been stolen and the people of Ellinburg--his people--have run out of food and hope and places to hide. Tomas sets out to reclaim what was his with help from Anne, his brother, Jochan, and his new gang: the Pious Men... -
![Riddle in Stone by Robert Evert]()
Riddle in Stone by Robert Evert
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA debut novel of epic fantasy featuring an unlikely hero and his life-changing adventure from the author of the Quests of the Kings Trilogy. Long after the last of the great heroes of old has died, the Undead King is stirring again, amassing a goblin horde ready to sweep out of the mountains and destroy all of humanity... -
![Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman]()
Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsOn the distant world of Erna, four people--Priest, Adept, Sorcerer, and Apprentice--are drawn together to battle the forces of evil, led by the demonic fae, a soul-destroying force that preys on the human mind... -
![Bleak Seasons by Glen Cook]()
Bleak Seasons by Glen Cook
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 32 ratings"Let me tell you who I am, on the chance that these scribblings do survive....I am Murgen, Standard bearer of the Black Company, though I bear the shame of having lost that standard in battle. I am keeping these Annals because Croaker is dead. One-Eye won't, and hardly anyone else can read or write... -
![Wings of Wrath by C.S. Friedman]()
Wings of Wrath by C.S. Friedman
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe dark and mesmerizing "Magister" saga continues... "Wings of Wrath" is the second novel in C. S. Friedman's "Magister" trilogy?a true high fantasy replete with vampire-style magic, erotic action, war, treachery, sorcerous danger, and one of the most terrifying dragon-like creatures in fantasy... -
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![A Matter of Blood by Sarah Pinborough]()
A Matter of Blood by Sarah Pinborough
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe recession that grips the world has left it exhausted. Crime is rising in every major city. Financial institutions across the world have collapsed, and most governments are now in debt to The Bank, a company created by the world's wealthiest men. But Detective Inspector Cass Jones has enough on his plate without worrying about the world at large... -
![I Know Not by James Daniel Ross]()
I Know Not by James Daniel Ross
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBeing a bastard is sometimes a survival trait.I am not a bad man. Well, I must be honest with myself: I don’t try to be a bad man. It just seems to… happen.I woke up in a castle populated by corpses. Devoid of past or present, bereft of even a name, so I must be honest with myself.I discovered I am a wizard with a blade, silent as the wind, and as deadly as a forest fire... -
![Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone]()
Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThe new novel set in the addictive and compelling fantasy world of Three Parts DeadShadow demons plague the city reservoir, and Red King Consolidated has sent in Caleb Altemoc — casual gambler and professional risk manager — to cleanse the water for the sixteen million people of Dresediel Lex... -
![The Body Library by Jeff Noon]()
The Body Library by Jeff Noon
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsJeff Noon returns with a staggering hallucinogenic sequel to A Man of Shadows, taking hapless investigator John Nyquist into a city where reality is contaminated by the imagination of its citizensIn a city dissolving into an infected sprawl of ideas, where words come to life and reality is contaminated by stories, John Nyquist wakes up in a room with a dead body.. -
![Blood Follows by Steven Erikson]()
Blood Follows by Steven Erikson
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsAll is not well in Lamentable Moll. A sinister, diabolical killer stalks the port city's narrow, barrow-humped streets, and panic grips the citizens like a fever. Emancipor Reese is no exception, and indeed, with his legendary ill luck, it's worse for him than for most. Not only was his previous employer the unknown killer's latest victim, but Emancipor is out of work... -
![The Eternal Champion by Michael Moorcock]()
The Eternal Champion by Michael Moorcock
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsJohn Daker dreams of other worlds, and a name: Erekosë. He finds the strength to answer the call, travelling to a strange land ruled by the aging King Rigenos of Necranal. Humanity is united in a desperate fight against the inhuman Eldren, and he must fight with them. But the actions of his brethren turns his loyalties, and as Erekosë he will take a terrible revenge...
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