Books by "Rhys Ford" (79)

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The Kai Gracen Series: Book Four

SoCalGov Stalker Kai Gracen always knew Death walked in his shadow. Enough people told him that, including his human mentor, Dempsey. Problem was, the old man never told him what to do when Death eventually caught up.

Where Tanic, his elfin father and the Wild Hunt Master of the Unsidhe Court, brought Kai pain and suffering, Dempsey gave him focus and a will to live… at least until everything unraveled. Now caught in a web of old lies and half-truths, Kai is torn between the human and elfin worlds, unsure of who he is anymore. Left with a hollowness he can’t fill, Kai aches to find solace in the one elfin he trusts—a Sidhe Lord named Ryder—but he has unfinished business with Dempsey’s estranged brother, a man who long ago swore off anything to do with the feral elfin child Dempsey dragged up from the gutter.

Reeling from past betrayals, Kai searches for Dempsey’s brother, hoping to do right by the man who saved him while trying to keep ahead of the death haunting his every step. Kai never thought he’d find love or happiness as a Stalker, but when Death comes knocking at his door, Kai discovers a fierce need to live life to the fullest—even if that means turning his back on the people he calls family.

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When Xander Spade went through the Looking Glass, he wasn’t looking for salvation. He’d been running from the devil who took his soul, only to fall prey to the greatest monster in Wonderland City, the Queen of Hearts. Years later, the Queen is dead and Xander has a chance to go through the Looking Glass and back home where he belongs.

Xander’s devil wants him to find a little girl who escaped into Wonderland City, before her presence brings down an apocalypse of uncontrollable chaos to the already mad world. Along with Jean Michel, the former Knave of Hearts, Xander now is in a race against time to find the missing child before all Hell breaks loose and he loses his chance to go home.

Previously published by Dreamspinner Press in the Devil Take Me Anthology, January 2019.

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McGinnis Investigations: Book One

There are eight million stories in the City of Angels but only one man can stumble upon the body of a former client while being chased by a pair of Dobermans and a deranged psycho dressed as a sheep.

That man is Cole McGinnis.

Since his last life-threatening case years ago, McGinnis has married the love of his life, Jae-Min Kim, consulted for the LAPD, and investigated cases as a private detective for hire. Yet nothing could have prepared him for the shocking discovery of a dead, grandmotherly woman at his feet and the cascade of murders that follows, even if he should have been used to it by now.

Now he’s back in the dark world of murder and intrigue where every bullet appears to have his name on it and every answer he digs up seems to only create more questions. Hired by the dead woman’s husband, McGinnis has to figure out who is behind the crime spree. As if the twisted case of a murdered grandmother isn’t complicated enough, Death is knocking on his door, and each time it opens, Death is wearing a new face, leaving McGinnis to wonder who he can actually trust.

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415 Ink: Book Three

From the moment SFPD Detective Ruan Nicholls meets Ivo Rogers, he knows the tattoo artist is going to bring chaos to his neat, orderly life. A hellion down to the bone, Ivo is someone Ruan not only doesn’t understand, he’s not even sure he needs to. Everything about Ivo is vibrant, brash, cocky, and arrogant, and Ruan wants no part of him.

Or at least that’s the lie he tells himself when he damps down his desire for the social wild child life tosses into his path.

For Ivo Rogers, life revolves around two things—his family and 415 Ink, the tattoo shop he co-owns with his four brothers. His family might be stitched together by their battle scars from growing up in foster care, but their brotherhood is tight—and strong enough to hold Ivo together during the times when he falls apart.

Now Ivo faces a new challenge when he falls for a cop with an old-school mentality on how a man looks and acts. Ruan is the promise of a life Ivo thought he’d never have, but their clashing perspectives threaten any chance of a relationship. Being the family’s hellion makes it easy to be misunderstood, yet Ivo has faith Ruan will not only embrace who he is but love him as well. 

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Suite de Sloe Ride
Série Sinners : Tome Cinq

Nous reformons le groupe.

À ces quatre mots, un frisson glacé dévala le long de la colonne vertébrale de Miki St John, surtout quand ils émanaient avec une ferveur presque religieuse de son frère en tout, sauf par le sang, Damien Mitchell. Cependant, ces mots n’étaient rien, comparés à ce qu’il ajouta.

Et nous partons en tournée.

Quand Crossroads Gin prend la route, Damien espère que cela les rapprochera. Il y a quelque chose de magique dans le fait d’être en tournée, surtout lorsque vous voyagez dans une fourgonnette où il n’y a pas de roadies, de gérants ou d’amants pour servir de tampon. Le groupe est déjà proche, mais Damien sait qu’ils peuvent l’être davantage… des sortes de frères, pas uniquement liés par des liens familiaux, mais aussi par leur intense amour de la musique.

Tandis qu’ils voyagent d’un concert à l’autre, le groupe est hanté par des erreurs du passé et des démons personnels, mais ils continuent. Pour Miki, Damie, Forest et Rafe, la scène est l’endroit où ils prennent véritablement vie et la musique qu’ils jouent est aussi importante pour eux que l’air qu’ils respirent.

Mais les démons et les problèmes ne les laisseront pas tranquilles, au cours des kilomètres parcourus, le groupe fera face à ses plus grands défis : dépasser ses défauts les plus profonds et ne pas s’entre-tuer les uns les autres.

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Benvenuti al Dim Sum Asylum, il Manicomio dei Dim Sum, in una San Francisco dove un caso è noioso e banale quando la polizia deve inseguire una statuetta alta mezzo metro con degli impressionanti baffi alla Fu Manchu, che è scomparsa da un santuario e se ne corre in giro per Chinatown lasciandosi dietro una scia di magia sessuale e caos.

Roku MacCormick, ispettore della divisione Crimini Arcani di Chinatown, deve affrontare una quantità di sfide che vanno ben al di là del suo retaggio umano-faerie, dei draghi ringhianti che stanno a guardia dei portali di C-Town e dell’esplosione di una fabbrica di noodle. Infatti, oltre alle interferenze di una famiglia mafiosa che vuole tenere a distanza e a un serial killer esperto di incantesimi che deve assolutamente trovare, dopo un caso andato a rotoli, a Roku tocca accollarsi Trent Leonard, un nuovo partner di cui non si può ancora fidare.

Anche se preferirebbe restarsene a casa con Bob the Cat a riempirsi di whiskey fino ad addormentarsi, ogni giorno Roku indossa distintivo e pistola, deciso a servire e proteggere la città che ama. Quando l’oscuro e sotterraneo mondo magico di Chinatown rende la sua vita un inferno e il caso su cui lavora si rivela letale, è Trent che bada a coprirgli le spalle e, a detta del suo nuovo partner, anche a guarire il suo cuore. Per Roku, però, Trent è pericoloso quanto i mostri e i criminali che hanno giurato di abbattere.

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Ramen Assassin: Book One

When life gives Kuro Jenkins lemons, he wants to make ponzu to serve at his Los Angeles ramen shop.

Instead he’s dodging bullets and wondering how the hell he ended up back in the Black Ops lifestyle he left behind him. After rescuing former child star Trey Bishop from a pair of thugs in the middle of the night, he knows it’s time to pick up his gun again. But it seems trouble isn’t done with Trey, and Kuro can’t quite let go… of either the gun or Trey Bishop.

Trey Bishop never denied his life’s downward spiral was his own fault. After a few stints in rehab, he’s finally shaken off his Hollywood bad-boy lifestyle but not his reputation. The destruction of his acting career and his relationships goes deep, and no one trusts anything he says, including the LAPD. When two men dragging a dead body spot him on a late-night run and try to murder him, Trey is grateful for the tall, dark, and deadly ramen shop owner he lusts over—not just for rescuing him, but also for believing him.

Now caught in a web of murders and lies, Trey knows someone wants him dead, and the only one on his side is a man with deep, dark secrets. Trey hopes Kuro Jenkins will stick around to see what the future holds for them once the dust settles, but from the looks of things, neither of them may survive to find out.

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Dans tout homme bon, il y a un sauveteur, mais parfois, c’est l’amour qui réveille l’homme dans le sauveteur. 

Mace Crawford, sapeur-pompier de San Francisco, a connu une enfance difficile. Enlevé par nécessité à son épouvantable père, il a été élevé dans le système fédéral, froid et indifférent. Devenu adulte, il consacre sa vie à sauver les autres, y compris les frères qu’il s’est choisis. Second de sa brigade, Mace guide ceux qui sont sous ses ordres ; à 415 Ink, le salon de tatouage familial, il apporte son aide, mais par-dessus tout, il protège sa famille de son secret le plus sombre. 

Alors qu’il s’est juré de ne jamais aimer, un gros problème apparaît dans sa vie solitaire : Rob Claussen, un des tatoueurs de 415 Ink, l’obsède de plus en plus.

Mace a édifié de strictes frontières pour protéger son univers contrôlé – et son cœur, mieux barricadé encore. Il ne peut y faire entrer Rob, il ne peut céder à son désir sans risquer d’abattre les fondations mêmes de l’existence qu’il s’est bâtie. 

Un jour pourtant, un démon du passé refait surface et Mace est alors confronté à un choix : s’accrocher à ses mensonges ou sauver celui qu’il a si peur d’aimer. 

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La chose la plus difficile à faire pour un rebelle n’est pas de se battre pour une cause, mais de se battre pour lui-même.

La vie prend un malin plaisir à poignarder Gus Scott dans le dos lorsqu’il s’y attend le moins. Après avoir passé des années à fuir son passé, son présent et le sombre avenir que lui avait prédit les assistantes sociales, le karma lui fournit la seule chose à laquelle il ne pourra – ne voudra – jamais tourner le dos : un fils né d’une nuit passée avec une femme quelques années auparavant après une rupture dévastatrice.

Retourner à San Francisco et au 415 Ink, le salon de tatouage familial, lui a fourni un abri idéal pour combattre ses démons personnels et se reconstruire… jusqu’à ce que le pompier qui l’avait brisé revienne dans sa vie.

Pour Rey Montenegro, le tatoueur Gus Scott était une récompense insaisissable, un prix étincelant qu’il n’avait pas eu la force de retenir. Mettre un terme à sa relation avec le tatoueur versatile avait été douloureux, mais Gus n’avait pas voulu de la vie de famille dont lui rêvait, le laissant avec une âme meurtrie.

Lorsque la vie et le monde de Gus commencent à s’effondrer, Rey l’aide à rassembler les morceaux, et Gus se demande si l’histoire d’amour éternel à laquelle aspire Rey peut vraiment exister.

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Un racconto della serie Delitti e disastri

Si ride e si scherza finché non ci si imbatte nel corpo di un uomo morto.

La vita di Alex Martin è piuttosto ordinaria. Dal Planet X Comics, il suo negozio di fumetti, passano i geek e gli strambi, ma ormai lui non fa più caso alle loro stranezze. Tutto cambia il giorno in cui apre il negozio e trova un cadavere sul pavimento.

A indagare viene chiamato il detective James Castillo. Alex non sa se vorrebbe abbarbicarsi all’uomo oppure stargli alla larga ma, per fortuna, anche il detective si mostra interessato ad Alex… perché sospetta proprio di lui.

Edizione precedente: antologia Grand Adventures, Dreamspinner Press, marzo 2015.

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The Kai Gracen Series: Book One

Ever since being part of the pot in a high-stakes poker game, elfin outcast Kai Gracen figures he used up his good karma when Dempsey, a human Stalker, won the hand and took him in. Following the violent merge of Earth and Underhill, the human and elfin races are left with a messy, monster-ridden world, and Stalkers are the only cavalry willing to ride to someone’s rescue when something shadowy appears.

It’s a hard life but one Kai likes—filled with bounty, a few friends, and most importantly, no other elfin around to remind him of his past. And killing monsters is easy. Especially since he’s one himself.

But when a sidhe lord named Ryder arrives in San Diego, Kai is conscripted to do a job for Ryder’s fledgling Dawn Court. It’s supposed to be a simple run up the coast during dragon-mating season to retrieve a pregnant human woman seeking sanctuary. Easy, quick, and best of all, profitable. But Kai ends up in the middle of a deadly bloodline feud he has no hope of escaping.

No one ever got rich being a Stalker. But then few of them got old, either, and it doesn’t look like Kai will be the exception.

Third Edition

First Edition published by Rhys Ford, June 2013
Second Edition published by DSP Publications, February 2015

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Serie Delitti e disastri, Libro 1

I morti tengono la bocca chiusa.

L’ex topo d’appartamento Rook Stevens ha rubato molti oggetti preziosi in passato, ma mai prima d’ora era stato accusato di aver sottratto una vita. Una cosa è trovare una vecchia complice ad aspettarlo dentro al Potter’s Field, il suo negozio di cimeli della cultura pop, un’altra è inciampare nel suo cadavere.

Il detective Dante Montoya era convinto di aver chiuso per sempre con Rook Stevens, dopo che il suo precedente partner aveva falsificato delle prove per incastrare il ladro di gioielli che invece se l’era cavata impunemente. Così, quando interrompe la fuga di un sospettato di omicidio coperto di sangue, rimane senza parole nello scoprire che si tratta proprio dell’uomo che aveva giurato di mettere dietro le sbarre e che continua a fargli ribollire il sangue nelle vene anche a distanza di anni.

Rook è determinato a scrollarsi di dosso l’accusa di omicidio, anche se ciò significa prendere le distanze dal duro detective messico-cubano che lo ha arrestato. Ma come se un’artista della truffa morta non fosse abbastanza, presto se ne aggiungo altre e, mentre i cadaveri si ammucchiano ai suoi piedi, Rook è costretto a chiedere aiuto proprio all’ultima persona che in teoria dovrebbe credere alla sua innocenza… e l’unico uomo che non è mai riuscito a dimenticare.

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The Kai Gracen Series: Book Three

Stalker Kai Gracen knew his human upbringing would eventually clash with his elfin heritage, but not so soon. Between Ryder, a pain-in-his-neck sidhe lord coaxing him to join San Diego’s Southern Rise Court, and picking up bounties for SoCalGov, he has more than enough to deal with. With his loyalties divided between the humans who raised him and the sidhe lord he’s befriended and sworn to protect, Kai finds himself standing at a crossroads.

When a friend begs Kai to rescue a small group of elfin refugees fleeing the Dusk Court, he’s pulled into a dangerous mission with Ryder through San Diego’s understreets and the wilderness beyond. Things go from bad to downright treacherous when Kerrick, Ryder’s cousin, insists on joining them, staking a claim on Southern Rise and Kai.

Burdened by his painful past, Kai must stand with Ryder against Kerrick while facing down the very court he fears and loathes. Dying while on a run is expected for a Stalker, but Kai wonders if embracing his elfin blood also means losing his heart, soul, and humanity along the way.

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The Kai Gracen Series: Book Two

Kai Gracen has no intention of being anyone’s pawn. A pity Fate and SoCalGov have a different opinion on the matter.

Licensed Stalkers make their living hunting down monsters and dangerous criminals… and their lives are usually brief, brutal, and thankless. Despite being elfin and cursed with a nearly immortal lifespan, Kai didn’t expect to be any different. Then Ryder, the High Lord of the Southern Rise Court, arrived in San Diego, and Kai’s not-so-mundane life went from mild mayhem to full-throttle chaos.

Now an official liaison between the growing Sidhe court and the human populace, Kai is at Ryder’s beck and call for anything a High Lord might need a Stalker to do. Unfortunately for Kai, this means chasing down a flimsy rumor about an ancient lost court somewhere in the Nevada desert—a court with powerful magics that might save Ryder’s—and Kai’s—people from becoming a bloody memory in their merged world’s violent history.

The race for the elfin people’s salvation opens unwelcome windows into Kai’s murky past, and it could also slam the door on any future he might have with his own kind and Ryder.

Second Edition
1st Edition published by DSP Publications, September 2016

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A Half Moon Bay Short

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Meurtre et complications, tome 2

Celui qui a prétendu le sang plus épais que l’eau n’a jamais, de toute évidence, eu l’occasion de voir une mare d’hémoglobine. 

En renonçant à sa carrière de cambrioleur spécialisé dans les bijoux, Rook Stevens pensait avoir découvert le moyen infaillible de rester du bon côté de la loi. En principe, le seul policier acharné à le poursuivre aurait dû être son… disons son flic, Dante Montoya, inspecteur de Los Angeles. Malheureusement, la vie n’est pas si simple – celle de Rook en tout cas. D’abord, il tombe sur le cadavre de son cousin, ensuite, il est accusé de son meurtre sous prétexte qu’il… aurait eu une liaison avec la femme du défunt. 

Quant à Dante, sa vie est devenue chaotique depuis qu’il aime un voleur réformé, d’autant plus que Rook semble attirer les ennuis où qu’il passe. Quand Rook est suspecté par un inspecteur de West LA particulièrement étroit d’esprit, Dante doit intervenir pour tirer son amant des problèmes dans lesquels il s’est fourré. 

L’enquête est compliquée et les morts se multiplient. Les deux hommes font front commun, car le temps leur est compté : s’ils ne mettent pas très vite la main sur le tueur, Dante devra rendre visite à Rook en prison – ou au cimetière. 

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A Murder and Mayhem Short

It’s all fun and games until someone leaves a dead body on the floor.

Life for comic book store owner Alex Martin usually runs to the mundane. Sure, he has a regular influx of geeks and freaks, but for the most part, it’s a familiar weird. That all changes when he opens up Planet X Comics one morning and finds a corpse in the middle of his shop.

When Detective James Castillo is called in to investigate, Alex is torn between wanting to climb the man like a tree and giving him a wide berth. Luckily for Alex, the handsome detective is just as interested in him—as a suspect in the murder.

Previously published in Grand Adventures by Dreamspinner Press, March 2014.

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