Chimera

“Readers will feel the story line is moving at the speed of light as the Leandros brothers move from one escapade to another adventure without a respite. . . . They make a great team as they battle against overwhelming odds, leaving the audience to root for them to succeed and wait for their next misadventures.”

—Alternative Worlds

“Suspenseful. . . . Readers are assured of copious amounts of gut-wrenching action and creepy thrills.”

—Romantic Times

Madhouse

“Thurman continues to deliver strong tales of dark urban fantasy. . . . Fans of street-level urban fantasy will enjoy this new novel greatly.”

—SFRevu

“I think if you love the Winchester boys of
Supernatural
, there’s a good chance you will love the Leandros brothers of Thurman’s books. . . . One of
Madhouse
’s strengths is Cal’s narrative voice, which is never anything less than sardonic. Another strength is the dialogue, which is just as sharp and, depending on your sense of humor, hysterical.”

—Dear Author . . .

“A fast-paced and exciting novel . . . fans of urban fantasy will love this series.”

—
Affaire de Coeur

“If you enjoyed the first two wisecracking urban adventures, you won’t be disappointed with this one; it has just enough action, angst, sarcasm, mystery, mayhem, and murder to keep you turning the pages to the very end.”

—BookSpot Central

Moonshine

“[Cal and Niko] are back and better than ever . . . a fast-paced story full of action.”

—SFRevu

“A strong second volume. . . . The supernatural elements meld seamlessly into the gritty urban setting. . . . Cal continues to be a wonderful narrator, and his perspective on the world is one of the highlights of this book. . . . The plotting is tight and fast-paced, and the world building is top-notch.”

—Romantic Times

Nightlife

“A roaring roller coaster of a read . . . [it’ll] take your breath away. Supernatural highs and lows, and a hell of a lean over at the corners. Sharp and sardonic, mischievous and mysterious . . . the truth is Out There, and it’s not very pretty.”

—Simon R. Green

“A strong first novel.”

—SFRevu

“Cal’s a sarcastic, sardonic narrator who pulls the reader into his world, both the good and the bad. Tightly plotted and fast-paced . . . full of twists and turns.”

—Romantic Times

“A subtly warped world compellingly built by Thurman. . . . This book has an absolutely marvelous voice in Cal’s first-person narrative. The combination of Chandleresque detective dialogue and a lyrically noir style of description is stunningly original. The reader’s attention is captured and held from page one.”

—The Green Man Review

“A damn fine book, and excellent first effort.”

—Rambles

“Gripping, fast-paced fantasy.”

—Fresh Fiction

“Engaging. . . . The characters are well-drawn and memorable.”

—Italics

ALSO BY ROB THURMAN

The Cal Leandros Novels

Nightlife
Moonshine
Madhouse
Deathwish
Roadkill

The Trickster Novels

Trick of the Light

“Milk and Cookies” in
Wolfsbane and Mistletoe

ROC

Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, USA
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80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

First published by Roc, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First printing, June 2010

eISBN : 978-1-101-18792-0

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

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To Lucienne, who believed

Acknowledgments

To my mom, who suggested I give my old dream of writing a go. If I become a victim of artistic Darwinism, I blame her. Also to Shannon—best friend and sister with a black belt in tough love; to my patient editor, Anne Sowards; to the infallible Kat Sherbo; Brian McKay (ninja of the dark craft of copy writing and muse of a fictional disease we won’t discuss here . . . but did discuss at length in
Roadkill
); Agent Jeff Thurman of the FBI for the usual weapons advice; talented artist Aleta Rafton; Lucienne Diver, who astounds me in the best possible way at every turn; and great and lasting friends Michael and Sara.

What a chimera then is man! What a novelty! What a monster, what a chaos, what a subject of contradiction, what a prodigy! A judge of all things, a feeble worm of the earth; depositary of truth, a cloaca of uncertainty and error: the pride and refuse of the universe.

—Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

Death hath a thousand doors to let out life.

—Philip Massinger (1583-1640)

Prologue

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