Dean Robinson used to be a soldier. That is, until a fallen angel with a God complex and a snappy wardrobe killed him. Now he is something else. Not quite an angel but no longer human, Dean is thrust into the prophetic pinnacle of a timeless battle raging in the shadows of the Earth and the Heavens.

Welcome to Devil’s Hill, Arizona, a place that runs rampant with the occult, paranormal, and supernatural. As Halloween approaches and a group of teenage witches inadvertently summon an ancient deity into a scarecrow, they set off a chain of events that unleashes true evil upon the town.

A formidable alien armada stands on the brink of vanquishing the cosmos, their gaze set firmly on every inhabited world. The last line of defense? An eclectic crew of improbable champions: a maverick starfighter pilot, a daredevil stuntwoman, a lethal super-assassin, and a cosmic prankster with alien tricks up his sleeves. Their mission is to shield not just humanity, but billions of other intelligent lifeforms spanning the multiverse.

Sheltered by ancient redwoods overlooking the California coast, the cozy village of Crimson Cove has it all: sophisticated retreats, fine dining, and a notorious nightclub The Crimson Corset. It seems like a perfect place to relax and get close to nature. But not everything in Crimson Cove is natural. When Cade Colter moves to town, he expects it to be peaceful to the point of boredom.

In 2035, in a hopelessly broken world, Nick Ritter is The Posh Prepper, a gifted crisis consultant who sells disaster-survival plans to rich and powerful clients. Haunted by corrupt clients and a tragic past, Nick lives a reclusive life in overcrowded Boston, counting the days until he can retire to his survival ranch in New Zealand. But when he gets an insider tip that a deadly virus is tearing through Boston, Nick has 24 hours to escape the city and flee to New Zealand. He has the perfect survival plan, but there’s just one problem…it doesn’t account for company.

There's an island up in Gold Country at the northern end of Snapdragon Lake. It's named Manchester for the family that owns it, but the locals call it Spite Island. There's a single lonely mansion on that island and a group of authors have been invited to write about its ghosts and its mysteries. But the real mystery is, who will survive this luxurious but deadly retreat?

On a call to rescue humans buried in a landslide, celestial warrior Gladriel kills a demon, a once-an-eon occurrence. And now demons are after her, to exact revenge. Despite the Almighty’s explicit order to let him handle it, Glad breaks rank to fight back and is expelled from Heaven. Squadron leader Kessien and Gladriel have shared a secret attraction for ages, but when she is expelled from Heaven, sparks fly and Kessien vows to find a way to reverse her sentence.

Set in the small town of Townsend, TN, this is a story where faith, family, friendship, and courage, are put to the test in the wake of a zombie outbreak in the Great Smoky Mountains. Fourteen-year-old Ricky Rue’s (Rue) life is changed one fateful night forever when he meets Buford, a 14-year-old Sasquatch. Buford introduces Rue to an underground community that has thrived for centuries. The two teens quickly become lifelong friends.

After seven long years of conflict, the Horus Heresy nears its end. But now, as the Warmaster Horus marches on Terra to rip his father from the Throne, the seat of the arch-traitor’s power lies empty. Cthonia, a world once dominated by brutal murder-gangs, is occupied by the Emperor’s praetorians—the indomitable Imperial Fists. For the Sons of Horus, this outrage demands a reckoning.

Scientist Dr. Martin Riley hopes to solve the world's plastic pollution problem and get very rich in the process, but the bacterium Ideonella Sakaiensis has its own agenda. Riley engineers a new strain of bacteria to tackle the ever-growing plastic pollution crisis. Initially, he is hailed as a hero and awarded a Nobel Prize, but the bacteria attack all the plastic on the planet, destroy the internet and bring an end to the Digital Age.

When Samantha Ashlyn is forced to return to her home town to write an article on a series of drownings, she initially resists, finding disturbing similarities to her childhood experiences. However, once she starts looking into the assignment, she finds that things are not what they seem. An ancient evil is rising again, aided by what appears to be a centuries-old conspiracy to keep it hidden. With the help of a disgraced police diver, Sam races to stop the nightmare before more lives are lost—not realizing that her investigation has put herself and those she loves in terrible danger.

When Darius receives an invitation to attend the Training Grounds, he wonders why an insignificant farm boy would be asked to join the most elite training academy in Merchant Valley. The only thing special about him is that he has unsettling visions he can’t understand. Despite the unknown, he accepts this privilege, and with his best friend, they set out on this new adventure. While there, they quickly form alliances with a skilled archer, a talented blacksmith, and a powerful wielder of the elements.

Join scholar and spell-caster Everson Croft in this five-book urban fantasy set, from the discovery of his magic in the prequel novella, Book of Souls, to his battle against a mind-warping evil in the shocking finale, Death Mage.

In back alleys and hellholes across the world, ravaged souls and scarred warriors whisper of the Iron Tournament. A savage game of death, pitting living fighters against caged spirits, all for the amusement of a mysterious audience.

More tales from the dispatch box of Doctor John Watson. These 10 stories have appeared previously in various volumes of The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories and other anthologies. They come together as a collection for the first time.