AustLit

'Perhaps he should have paid attention to the faded placards advising against picnicking in the woods and throwing pebbles in the lake, but Josh Bannerman thought he could stop running when he found a job as cook and general minion in the isolated hamlet of Wolf Hollow. Then he realises his employer, Scarlet, is an immortal peacekeeper of the supernatural underworld and his workmate, Kelly, is a witch from the legendary Charmhaven clan.

'Worse, Josh discovers he's reluctantly comfortable in this darkly surreal world where angels are ecological disasters, short skirts and high heels are invaluable when defeating monsters, and carnivorous unicorns refuse to eat him. In fact, he's more than comfortable. He's uncovering hidden talents he's not sure he wanted to know about.

'Suspecting prophecy and the heavy-handed workings of fate, Josh's newfound companions seek to unravel the mystery of who - or what - Josh is, in between the nightly rounds of protecting the good guys, destroying the forces of evil, and staying alive ... and a little bit human.

'Night is enchanting, night is deadly. And as Josh finds out, what night hides best is darkness ... the darkness within.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Thane da Silva works for the Subrosa Negri, a secretive department charged with keeping the peace between the mundane and the Pale, those beings with a little touch of the supernatural in their genetic makeup. As the full blue moon casts a glow over Paris, Thane's search for a pair of romantics performing a doomed ritual is just the beginning of an elaborate charade of mirrors and strange communiqués.

By turns macabre and whimsical, gothic and pop-cultural, Illumé will take you on a lavish journey into the shadows of the City of Light.' (Publisher's blurb)