Monster Fiction

Beneath the inky black surface of Lake Ness lurks something too monstrous for this world... Gerry Lawson, a washed-up scientist slowly recovering from a life that got out of his control, finds himself saying yes when his cousin Marnie asks him to help her and her partner Jim with an outdoor survival program for disadvantaged kids. Not quite sure what he's let himself in for, he slowly adjusts to the isolated environment of Lake Ness and the challenges of living with a bunch of often erratic and unpredictable teenagers. However, it's not long before their best-laid plans start to unravel. ...

After Tom rescued Frankie the goldfish from his big brother Mark's toxic science experiment by zapping him back to life with a battery, Frankie somehow became a big fat zombie goldfish with dangerous hypnotic powers. Fortunately Frankie has appointed himself Tom's bodyguard, and together, with a little help from their friends, they thwart Mark's evil-scientist plans.

Three sexy-but-psycho monsters. The witch they're determined to protect. And a high-stakes heist about to go very wrong… I've made some pretty questionable choices in my life, but summoning the dark goddess to save my sisters? That was just plain stupid. Now I’m in her debt, and goddesses don’t exactly do payment plans. She wants the blood of the dark fae warlord of Midnight, a realm of exiles where the sun never rises and torture is a competitive sport. It’s a death trap only three men have ever escaped—my newly appointed escorts.

A sailor recalls the monstrous terror that lay at the bottom of the deep in this, Lovecraft’s earliest tale of unspeakable horror from outside our universe.

A wild band of smoking-hot shifters rescue me from hunters who claim I’m Death’s daughter. I want to be grateful, but the shifters turn out to be assholes as well, especially Jared, the Alpha Heir and apparently my fated mate. He’s chosen another, a powerful shifter princess, over a nobody like me. Even worse? He claims I’m a spy for the vampires and drags me to the fortified Shifter City. After dumping me at a shifter military academy, he thinks he can forget about me. Only he underestimates his hot and heavy lust for me.

Something really strange is happening in the City by the Bay. People are dying, but their souls are not being collected. Someone - or something - is stealing them. No one knows where they are going or why, but it has something to do with that big orange bridge. Death merchant Charlie Asher is just as flummoxed as everyone else.

After a brutal and calculated attack left Joey and Aliyah gravely injured, Banks takes drastic measures to protect his family and his empire. Hidden deep beneath the luxurious Sunset Haven lies a fortified underground lair, a sanctuary that no one is allowed to leave. But safety comes at a price, and the line between protector and tyrant begins to blur as Banks’ heavy hand becomes clear.

In the cold darkness of the deep, nightmares become real.After her brother goes missing during a saturation dive, submersible pilot Chloe Gietz heads out into the Arabian Sea on a desperate search and rescue mission. What she finds is a corporate cover-up to protect a concealed underwater habitat. Typhon is a place of secrets that its owners want hidden from the outside world. But an experiment goes horrifically wrong, and a powerful, destructive organism is unleashed. The once calm waters becomes a battleground for survival, as employees of a ruthless conglomerate will stop at nothing to ...

It’s really hard to pretend like life is normal when you’re staring a monster in the eyes, though he’s both tempting and irritating in his human form. I put my days as a hunter behind me, unable to cope with the death and pain anymore, to become an upstanding citizen and for what? To assist Lake, a man who claims he’s not a monster but keeps talking about me like I’m edible and–even worse–wants to woo me?

"Perfect deadpan marks the opening of Ali Simpson’s The Monster'" writes Susan Merrell of The Southampton Review in her introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading.

I'm an omega, but I'm wrong. Tainted. A glitch in the natural order. My dreams drag me to a shadow kingdom of cruel beauty where sinful alpha monsters reign supreme—crowned heads of various courts, their very presence igniting my inner omega that's laid dormant impatiently. Their crowns gleam with unholy light, their scents ignite a hunger in me I don't understand. I should submit. I should want to obey. Instead, I feel power stirring dangerously in my veins.

They say every proud man must fall. Mortals who fancy themselves gods will one day kneel. I thought myself invincible; Apollo on Earth. Mocked my brother when he succumbed to such a fate. Before I noticed the blue-haired nymph lurking in the background. Cora Astor shouldn’t have come to this island. She sneered in my direction, beguiling me with her disgust. As a Wolfe, hunting is in my blood. Getting what I want is my nature. Even when I know I can never have it. Though I cannot keep her, I plan to relish the chase.

When it comes to stealing from mafia men, there are three rules. Don't get caught. Don't be seen. And most of all—don't fall in love with them. After being hired to steal a painting, I find myself ensnared. Damon, Minos, and Aaecus are monsters, and they only want one thing: Me. Seven days of sin in exchange for freedom from the Three Fates Mafia. If only it were that easy. The strings of fate have bound the four of us together, and not even gods or monsters can keep us apart.

When Nathan goes to visit his grandma, Nali, at her mobile summer home on the Navajo reservation, he knows he’s in for a pretty uneventful summer, with no electricity or cell service. Still, he loves spending time with Nali and with his uncle Jet, though it’s clear when Jet arrives that he brings his problems with him. One night, while lost in the nearby desert, Nathan finds someone extraordinary: a Holy Being from the Navajo Creation Story - a Water Monster - in need of help.

Evan Ross can't stop thinking about Monster Blood and what happened last summer. It was so horrible. So terrifying. Too bad Evan's science teacher doesn't believe him. Now he's stuck cleaning out the hamster's cage as punishment for making up stories. Then Evan's friend Andy comes to town, and things go from bad to worse. Because Andy's got a present for Evan. It's green and slimy and its starting to grow...

In the fourth Monsterstreet book, the best summer of Harper's life could be her last. On the way to Camp Moon Lake, the most magical summer camp on earth, all Harper can think about is her parents' looming divorce. Soon enough, though, the outdoor movie theater, the water park, and the chocolate buffet begin to work their magic on her. But then campers start to disappear, and Harper notices the counselors acting unusual. The cheerful facade of the camp falls apart to reveal strange secrets and a sinister plan. Escaping will take everything Harper has - maybe even her life.

The Shape of Water is set in Cold War-era Baltimore at the Occam Aerospace Research Center, which has recently received its most sensitive asset ever: an amphibious man captured in the Amazon. What unfolds is a stirring romance between the asset and one of the janitors on staff, a mute woman who uses sign language to communicate with the creature.

Sixteen-year-old Koral and her older brother Emrik risk their lives each day to capture the monstrous maristags that live in the black seas around their island. They have to, or else their family will starve. In an oceanic world swarming with vicious beasts, the Landers—the ruling elite, have indentured Koral's family to provide the maristags for the Glory Race, a deadly chariot tournament reserved for the upper class. The winning contender receives gold and glory. The others—if they're lucky—survive.

I'm the premier matchmaker for all monsters. Royal, rich, and single-handedly saving the realms from ruin, I could have my pick of women. But only my fated mate will win me the throne of hell. So why won't she be a good little human and fall for me already? No matter. I'll win her heart. I always win in the end.

Spirited away from Winstermill by the aristocratic monsterslayer, Europe, Rossamünd is still struggling with the truth of his origins. But self-doubt will have to wait as he plunges headlong into the fulgar’s day-to-day life of political manoeuvring, high society, and well-paid monster-hunting. Exposed to the seamier side of Brandenbrass society, Rossamünd finds himself facing the gravest dangers in his young life, and these will test his mettle and that of the Branden Rose in the ultimate battle against their enemies, the black-hearted schemers who would destroy them both.