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Neon Meridian #1
Catch and Kill
A high-octane Urban Fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Six of Crows, The Iron Druid Chronicles, and Shadowrun.
Magic is no longer a mystery—it’s a corporate asset.
Seventy years ago, people turned on their televisions and saw magic on the streets of Manhattan. Real magic, and real monsters, in broad daylight.
Today, corporate sorcerers defend their employers’ interests with curses and bullets, street vendors sell cheap talismans to the masses, and the most popular late-night talk show host is a demon. It’s a world of wonders and terrors, but you still have to earn a living.
Emily Yeats is a blue-collar witch from Brooklyn, selling her services as a security auditor. For a price, she and her unconventional team will invade your business after hours, find every last loophole and flaw, and tell you how to fix it.
Until now, the challenges were all simulated.
Strapped for cash, Emily agrees to a dangerous an executive with the world’s biggest media conglomerate wants her boss out of the way, and she hires Emily to dig up a scandal that he took a bribe to bury.
Now bodies are dropping left and right, a supernatural assassin is on Emily’s trail, and everyone from the Mafia to the mayor’s office wants to silence her for good. It’s too late to back out the only way to survive is to finish the job, or the story she’s hunting won’t be the only thing getting killed.
Experience the first book in the Neon Meridian series by bestseller Craig Schaefer, a high-octane Urban Fantasy perfect for fans of gritty cyberpunk aesthetics, heist-driven plots, and magic that cuts deeper than a blade.
Grab your copy and join the hunt today!
Perfect for fans of Six of Crows, The Iron Druid Chronicles, and Shadowrun!
Magic is no longer a mystery—it’s a corporate asset.
Seventy years ago, people turned on their televisions and saw magic on the streets of Manhattan. Real magic, and real monsters, in broad daylight.
Today, corporate sorcerers defend their employers’ interests with curses and bullets, street vendors sell cheap talismans to the masses, and the most popular late-night talk show host is a demon. It’s a world of wonders and terrors, but you still have to earn a living.
Emily Yeats is a blue-collar witch from Brooklyn, selling her services as a security auditor. For a price, she and her unconventional team will invade your business after hours, find every last loophole and flaw, and tell you how to fix it.
Until now, the challenges were all simulated.
Strapped for cash, Emily agrees to a dangerous an executive with the world’s biggest media conglomerate wants her boss out of the way, and she hires Emily to dig up a scandal that he took a bribe to bury.
Now bodies are dropping left and right, a supernatural assassin is on Emily’s trail, and everyone from the Mafia to the mayor’s office wants to silence her for good. It’s too late to back out the only way to survive is to finish the job, or the story she’s hunting won’t be the only thing getting killed.
Experience the first book in the Neon Meridian series by bestseller Craig Schaefer, a high-octane Urban Fantasy perfect for fans of gritty cyberpunk aesthetics, heist-driven plots, and magic that cuts deeper than a blade.
Grab your copy and join the hunt today!
Perfect for fans of Six of Crows, The Iron Druid Chronicles, and Shadowrun!
- GenresUrban FantasyFantasy
358 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 19, 2026
About the author
Craig Schaefer
48 books1,343 followersCraig Schaefer's books have taken readers to the seamy edge of a criminal underworld drenched in shadow (the Daniel Faust series), to a world torn by war, poison and witchcraft (the Revanche Cycle), and across a modern America mired in occult mysteries and a conspiracy of lies (the Harmony Black series).
Despite this, people say he's strangely normal. Suspiciously normal, in fact. His home on the Web is www.craigschaeferbooks.com.
Despite this, people say he's strangely normal. Suspiciously normal, in fact. His home on the Web is www.craigschaeferbooks.com.
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 25, 2026
“Honor is dumb, and treachery always wins.”Just when I thought Heather couldn't outdo herself, she does.
Just when I thought she couldn't make this universe even more addictive than it already is, she propels it into the future and takes it to the next level (hello, cyberpunk meets urban fantasy!).
She expands the world, introduces a whole bunch of scrumptious characters (I want to be both Gilly and Deci when I grow up), offers slightly delirious oh-my-shrimp-oh-my-shrimp-oh-my-shrimp moments to First Story addicts (the Paladin?! Oh my bloody stinking fish!! THE PALADIN!! *cue hysterical fangirling*), and, much like her characters, engages in some cunning mischievousness, directed tomfoolery, purposeful antics, and high-impact shenanigans.
That's me not being a hysterical fangirl right there. In case you were wondering.
Also, “Beep boop” + genetwists + spiders as most conscientious roommates + Queen Widow + not getting mistaken for a toaster + Resurrection Mary + infernal tech + treacherous bastards everywhere + the Battle of Broadway +
Yeah, this is me still not being a hysterical fangirl right there. In case you were wondering.
[February 2026]
May 20, 2026
Super interesting blend of cyberpunk and urban fantasy that expands Schaefer's existing series in very different and exciting new ways, but doesn't require reading all the rest to enjoy a fun gritty heist story with a rag-tag group of investigators and thieves-for-hire.
It's set far enough in the future of the Faust-verse to drop some fun tid-bits for existing fans, and there's also some outright cool and spooky applications of magic and spirituality that will give any fan something cool to latch onto. (As long as you're okay with spiders, heh.) I'm pumped for more misadventures with this crew in the future.
It's set far enough in the future of the Faust-verse to drop some fun tid-bits for existing fans, and there's also some outright cool and spooky applications of magic and spirituality that will give any fan something cool to latch onto. (As long as you're okay with spiders, heh.) I'm pumped for more misadventures with this crew in the future.
May 24, 2026
Maybe 4.5/5 or lower if you're a high-brow reader but I had a blast reading it, so.
At this point Craig Schaefer has basically become an instabuy author for me. Whenever a new book appears, I buy it, move it straight to the top of my TBR pile, and assume I’m about to have a good time. So far this strategy has worked quite well. I don’t think Schaefer has actually disappointed me once.
Catch and Kill definitely continues the streak.
This book feels like Schaefer operating in peak form again: fast, tight, funny in the right places, surprisingly charming, and full of twists that keep the story moving without turning it into nonsense. It’s also definitely adult. People get shot, cursed, murdered, manipulated, and occasionally reduced to a warning. But if you’re picking up cyberpunkish urban fantasy involving magical corporate espionage, that's probably what you're looking for.
Magic became public knowledge decades ago and people decided to monetize it. So now Hell has embassies, corporations employ witches and undead accountants probably exist somewhere off-page filing cursed paperwork forever.
Emily Yeats is a blue-collar Brooklyn witch running security audits with her team by staging elaborate magical break-ins for clients. She may not be the strongest person in the room physically, but she compensates with skill, stubbornness, and enough magical talent to make very dangerous people regret underestimating her. Her team is fantastic, and it includes a sentient android who moonlights as a dominatrix, a hacker/catgirl genius, and a hardened military operative who balances out the team’s collective tendency toward chaos.
Also, Emily shares her apartment with venomous spiders. Weirdly enough, they are excellent roommates. Quiet. Helpful. Probably better at cleaning than most humans.
The whole thing is insanely readable. Schaefer throws cyberpunk elements, urban fantasy, corporate conspiracies, magical contracts, supernatural assassins, and heist elements into the same blender and somehow the story never feels overloaded. It just moves. Every chapter pushes forward cleanly, and before long you realize you read half the book in one sitting.
And while this is clearly the start of a series, the actual story feels complete. There's no massive cliffhanger or "to be continued" ambush right as things get interesting. The central plot wraps up properly while still leaving plenty of room for future books.
Which is good, because I absolutely want future books. Book two. Book three. Book seven if sales permit. I’d happily keep following Emily and her dysfunctional little team through magical cyberpunk disasters for quite a while.
At this point Craig Schaefer has basically become an instabuy author for me. Whenever a new book appears, I buy it, move it straight to the top of my TBR pile, and assume I’m about to have a good time. So far this strategy has worked quite well. I don’t think Schaefer has actually disappointed me once.
Catch and Kill definitely continues the streak.
This book feels like Schaefer operating in peak form again: fast, tight, funny in the right places, surprisingly charming, and full of twists that keep the story moving without turning it into nonsense. It’s also definitely adult. People get shot, cursed, murdered, manipulated, and occasionally reduced to a warning. But if you’re picking up cyberpunkish urban fantasy involving magical corporate espionage, that's probably what you're looking for.
Magic became public knowledge decades ago and people decided to monetize it. So now Hell has embassies, corporations employ witches and undead accountants probably exist somewhere off-page filing cursed paperwork forever.
Emily Yeats is a blue-collar Brooklyn witch running security audits with her team by staging elaborate magical break-ins for clients. She may not be the strongest person in the room physically, but she compensates with skill, stubbornness, and enough magical talent to make very dangerous people regret underestimating her. Her team is fantastic, and it includes a sentient android who moonlights as a dominatrix, a hacker/catgirl genius, and a hardened military operative who balances out the team’s collective tendency toward chaos.
Also, Emily shares her apartment with venomous spiders. Weirdly enough, they are excellent roommates. Quiet. Helpful. Probably better at cleaning than most humans.
The whole thing is insanely readable. Schaefer throws cyberpunk elements, urban fantasy, corporate conspiracies, magical contracts, supernatural assassins, and heist elements into the same blender and somehow the story never feels overloaded. It just moves. Every chapter pushes forward cleanly, and before long you realize you read half the book in one sitting.
And while this is clearly the start of a series, the actual story feels complete. There's no massive cliffhanger or "to be continued" ambush right as things get interesting. The central plot wraps up properly while still leaving plenty of room for future books.
Which is good, because I absolutely want future books. Book two. Book three. Book seven if sales permit. I’d happily keep following Emily and her dysfunctional little team through magical cyberpunk disasters for quite a while.
May 20, 2026
Capers for the Win
If you like a good heist caper this book will satisfy all those desires plus. It’s got a small team of uniquely competent people, all the tech skills and some very excellent magical talents all working together to keep the plot racing and readers on the edges of our seats.
If you like a good heist caper this book will satisfy all those desires plus. It’s got a small team of uniquely competent people, all the tech skills and some very excellent magical talents all working together to keep the plot racing and readers on the edges of our seats.
May 20, 2026
Liked ktt
Really fun new story. Easy entry point into the author's work. And there's a cat! And she's so cute! I hope there is more cat girl. She's funny. And cute. The robot should have her chase the red dot.
Really fun new story. Easy entry point into the author's work. And there's a cat! And she's so cute! I hope there is more cat girl. She's funny. And cute. The robot should have her chase the red dot.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews