AustLit

'Sixteen teenagers taken from their homes. Eleven bodies recovered, each completely drained of blood. Some believe vampires are responsible, but Jon Barnett knows it's something far worse. To stop the killers in Taurin Bay, he becomes enmeshed in a web of black magic and realizes he needs help. But fate gives him only one choice in the form of recluse Madeline Smith.

'Madeline Smith has retreated to an isolated farmhouse, afraid of the psychic abilities she can't control - abilities that have killed. But when 'ghost' Jon Barnett brings a warning of danger and her nephew disappears, Maddie has to leave her haven. She also has to learn to control the abilities she fears and place her trust in Jon Barnett, a man who is neither human nor ghost.

'But as the search for the teenagers becomes a race against time, and the noose of sorcery threatens to kill Maddie and Jon, the greatest danger to them both could be the feelings they have for each other - feelings that they refuse to acknowledge.' (Author's blurb)

'In one, vicious night, Kirby Brown's world is torn apart. Her best friend is dead, killed by the madman who is now after her. And she has no idea why.

'Doyle Fitzgerald has been sent to Melbourne, Australia, to hunt down a killer. What he doesn't expect to find is a circle of witches capable of controlling the elements - and a sorceress determined to take that power for herself. And he certainly isn't expecting to play bodyguard to a woman who is more than she seems.

'When the police prove incapable of protecting her from the monsters that chase her, Kirby has no choice but to place her safety in Doyle's hand. And while she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him, she fears to trust - because of the magic that lies in his soul.

'It quickly becomes evident that the reason behind the killings lies in her past. But it is a past she has no wish to remember.

'Because Doyle isn't the only one with magic in his soul. Only hers was capable of destroying a world.' (Author's blurb)

'Four children kidnapped. Two found dead, their tiny souls ripped from their bodies...

'In ten years of working for the Damask Circle, shapeshifter Katherine Tanner has never come across anything that goes after kids the way this monster does, and she has never met anything that does to them what this thing does. And it's not something she wants to confront. But with the Circle's resources stretched to the limits, she's given very little choice. The last thing she needs is interference from a cop who has no idea what he's up against.

'Ethan Morgan's niece is one of the missing children and he has every intention of not only defying the odds and bringing her back alive, but of catching the monster behind these kidnappings and bringing her to justice. Even if he has to break every law in the country to do it. And he's willing to use anyone and everyone to achieve those aims - even a crazy woman who claims to be a witch.

'Forced to join forces, Ethan and Kat are drawn to each other, but fight their feelings as they struggle to uncover clues that will lead them to the monster's lair and battle a seemingly endless supply of zombies and other dead things determined to stop them. But time is ticking away and both know the monster behind these kidnappings rarely keeps her victims alive for more than seven days. And four of those have already gone.

'But the greatest threat to Kat might not come from the forces of darkness gathering around them, but from the man she is beginning to love.

'Because Ethan is a werewolf...and the full moon is rising...' (Author's blurb)