Urban Allies: Ten Brand-New Collaborative Stories

Sabina Kane

by Joseph Nassise

In this impressive anthology, 20 of today’s hottest urban fantasy writers—including Charlaine Harris, Jonathan Maberry, Kelley Armstrong, Larry Correia, and C. E. Murphy—are paired together in ten original stories featuring their favorite series characters.

Urban Allies brings together beloved characters from two different urban fantasy series—Peter Octavian and Dahlia Lynley-Chivers, Joanne Walker and Harper Blaine, Joe Ledger and Agent Franks, Sabina Kane and Ava—in ten electrifying stories. Combining fictional worlds in one dual adventure, each of these stories melds the talents of two high-profile authors, many working together for the first time—giving readers a chance to see their favorite characters in an imaginative and fresh way.

Edited by acclaimed bestselling author Joseph Nassise—who is also a contributor—this outstanding collection showcases the brilliant storytelling talents of some of the most acclaimed fantasy writers working today, among them seven New York Times bestselling authors, two USA Today bestselling authors, and multiple Bram Stoker Award winners.

Contributors include:
Charlaine Harris and Christopher Golden • Carrie Vaughn and Diana Rowland • Jonathan Maberry and Larry Correia • Kelley Armstrong and Seanan McGuire • Joe Nassise and Sam Witt • Steven Savile and Craig Schaefer • David Wellington and Weston Ochse • Stephen Blackmoore and Jeff Somers • Catie Murphy and Kat Richardson • Jaye Wells and Caitlin Kittredge

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Anthologies, Fantasy, Short Stories, Paranormal, Fiction, Magic

435 pages, ebook

First published July 26, 2016

About the author

I'm the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than fifty novels, including the Templar Chronicles series, the Jeremiah Hunt trilogy, and the Great Undead War series. I've also written several books in the Rogue Angel action/adventure series from Gold Eagle. I'm a former president of the Horror Writers Association, the world's largest organization of professional horror writers, and a multiple Bram Stoker Award and International Horror Guild Award nominee.

When I'm not writing, I'm hanging out with dogs, practicing recurve archery, or off-roading in the desert around my home in Phoenix, AZ.

Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall rating: 3.63333 stars.

Presenting...the Shaken, Not Stirred Crappy Non Review (SNTCNR™)! In which I shall crappily non-review the short stories in this collection in total disorder and complete randomness and stuff! Gotta keep you on your toes the pincers you don't have, my Little Barnacles! What? You didn't know you had toes? Of course you do! The fact that you are at the very bottom of the subaquatic food chain doesn't mean you are lacking in the digiti pedis department, you know. But I ever so slightly digress. Soooooo, let's spin the Disorderly Random Wheel of Reviewing Doom (DRWoRD™) and see what we get:



Ooops.



[March 12, 2018]

💣 Story: Crossed Wires by Stephen Blackmoore and Jeff Somers.
💣 Rating: 3.89999 stars. And a half.

My excuse for reading this one is that I am currently on the hunt for UF with male leads and recently added the Eric Carter series to my TBR and Eric Carter happens to be one of the MCs in this story, so QED and stuff.

Surprisingly enough, this story was also a winner, which makes 2 out of 3 so far. When the Crap Ratio (CR™) for anthologies/collections like this one is usually off the charts. Color me slightly flabbergasted and stuff.

So. Crossed Pincers Wires. I thought yes, it happens sometimes. Don't worry though, it's only but a rare occurrence the way the authors brought their two worlds together was pretty cool and stuff: the two MCs, Eric and Lem, live in alternate worlds/dimensions but get to meet through some kind of intersection type thingie (yes, that is the technical term for it). And that, I have to say, was pretty cool. Did I already say that? Oh well, a little rehashing never hurt anybody, right? Right. Anyway, there's some kind of haunted house/ghost/spirit/whatever situation, and although I happen to think here I am using my two grey cells again. Damn. ghosts are the most uninteresting, yawn-worthy things ever, I actually kinda sorta enjoyed this story here. Because dark & gritty stuff, yay! And refreshingly original magic stuff, yay²! Evil woman villain stuff, yay³! And Killing People for their Blood (KPftB™) stuff, yay⁴!



You love it when I do my super Sexey Celebratory Dance (SCD™), don't you? I gotta admit, my moves are hot as fish.

Okay, so it's true that the story is more focused on Lem that it is on Eric. But I don't mind because 1/Eric is already waiting in line at the harem's entrance so I'll know more about him soon enough and 2/I got to find out lots of delicious stuff about Lem (a forever-broke blood magician/Trickster with a Hulk-type man/pet sidedick who's a little on the slow-witted side? Yum!), said delicious stuff kinda sorta prompting me to add the first instalment in the Ustari Cycle series to the TBR of Doom and Annihilation of All Life on the Planet (TBRoDaAoALotP™). Said instalment is called We Are Not Good People, by the way, and, as any nefarious subaquatic overlord will tell you, books about Not Good People (NGP™) can never be entirely crappy and stuff.





[March 9, 2018]

💣 Story: Weaponized Hell by Larry Correia and Jonathan Maberry.
💣 Rating: 4 stars.

Okay, so after reading the slightly disappointing Schaefer/Savile contribution to this collection, I was ready to feed the book to the crustaceans as punishment for their most regrettable behavior in the Andaman Sea last week (don't ask). But then I read Monster Hunter International. And slightly liked it. And then I remembered there was a Larry Correia story in this collection. And then it occurred to me that I might maybe want to read it because it might maybe not be entirely crappy. And here we are and stuff.

Sooooo, this story kinda sorta awesome. A little. It features an aggravating bastard a most intriguing character from Correia's MHI series, Special Agent Franks, and a Deliciously Anti-Hero Military Type with Gloriously Wondrous Harem Potential (DAHMTwGWHP™) from Maberry's Joe Ledger series, Joe Ledger duh.

Why is this story kinda sorta awesome you ask? Because testosterone-filled ride! And refreshing Iraq setting! And kickass fights! And bloody shrimping man-eating demons! And non-stop action-packed action! And most delicious cursing galore! And close combat! And military stuff! And sarcasm! And ISIS and ISIL and stuff! And blood and gore, yay! And boom boom boom!

To summarize, the story goes a little like this:



Like this:



And a little like this, too:



Okay, not really, but you get the idea. You don't? Sigh. Just imagine this at super high extra speed, with deadly weapon-wielding badasses and demons and terrorists and stuff, in the middle of the Iraqi desert. See? It wasn't that difficult, was it?

Anyhoo, this story is slightly cool and entertaining and engrossing and stuff, and I wouldn't mind seeing these two manly men pairing up for another Let's Kick the Fish Out of Demons Adventure (LKtFOfDA™). Oh, and before I forget, the reason this story worked much better than the somewhat fairly disappointing Schaefer/Savile one? The alternate POVs. Two very different voices and perspectives that complement each other perfectly, and both add a lot to the narrative. Good job, gentlemen authors you, you get the Shrimpy Seal Cheer of Approval (SSCoAaS™) and stuff.



Yes, I am aware that this is not a shrimp. Who do you take me for, an amateur or something?! *eyepincerroll*

P.S. Off to add potential harem slave boarder #24586, aka Joe Ledger, to my TBR. Please be so kind as to pre-emptively back-off and stuff. You're welcome.
P.P.S. There is some slightly spoilerish stuff about Special Agent Franks in this story. But I'm still alive to talk about it, so I'm fairly sure there's a slight chance you Little Barnacles will overcome this most unfortunate predicament, too. Then again maybe not.



[January 15, 2018]

💣 Story: Sweet, Blissful Disappointment Certainty by Craig Schaefer and Steven Savile.
💣 Rating: 3 stars. Because I'm in a good mood and stuff.

There are ten short stories in this collection. I've only read this one so far. Because: 1/I'm revoltingly picky like that and 2/I can.

Okay, so the idea of reading a brand new story about my boyfriend Daniel Faust had me feeling a little like this:



As you can see, my excitement was at an all-time low when I embarked upon this most unstimulating read.

Okay, being the silly little shrimp that I am, I hadn't given much thought to the fact that The Slightly Awesome Mr Schaefer (TSAMS™) hadn't written this story all by his glorious little self. I mean, it's not like there was the word "collaborative" on the book cover or anything. Anyway, it turns out that TSAMS™ wrote this short with the above mentioned ⤴ Mr. Savile. Who, I am sure, is a most delightful gentleman ← which loosely translates to mean: Mr Savile, I have no fishing idea who you are or where the bloody fish you came from. Not the Marianas Trench, that's for sure.

Okay, being the easily distracted little shrimp that I am, I didn't even notice the title for this short story (being within a 100,000 mile-radius of my Daniel Faust will do that to my scatterbrained exoskeleton). I mean, Sweet, Blissful Certainty. "Sweet?" "Blissful?" Are you fishing kidding me?! Why not add "cute and cuddly" while you're at it? Damn, I think I got diabetes just reading the title and stuff. Using such disgustingly pleasant words to describe one of my boyfriend's adventures should be outlawed or something.



See? Even sophisticated grey-haired ladies more ancient than I agree with me on that one. Ha.

My point is (because, yes, there is a point to the previous paragraphs that, by the way, might or might not be longer than the short story they are about, much like this sentence and stuff): had I not let my Daniel Faust-induced hysteria take over paid more attention, I might have foreseen this wasn't going to be one of those Slightly Immature Fangirling Worthy Schaeferistic 10+ Star Reads (SIFWS10+SR™). But I did, so I didn't. Yay.

Because yes, the depressing truth is that *shudders pre-emptively* Sweet, Blissful Certainty *shudders again for good measure* is, quite heartbreakingly, Super Mega Meh (SMM™) and stuff and a little clichéd, too, with the whole "it's better not to know what the future holds" business ← I didn't write that and you never read it. Go home, you're drunk. My Daniel Faust most definitely kept his side of the bargain, since he is as lickably edible as ever here. His beloved daddy (and, by extension, my wondrous step father), Craig Schaefer, did a pretty good job, too. We've got seedy stuff, gritty stuff, lowlives, fished up moral compasses and the usual Faustian yumminess. But then the Cadmus Damiola business happened. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against early 20th century Brit illusionists, especially those who hold the cure for insomnia. Besides, Mr Damiola's being named after a serpent-slaying hero boded pretty well, and it seemed perfectly logical to assume that Poof Gone Harem Times (PGHT™) were in his immediate future.



Right. My dear Cadmus. Next time my boyfriend summons you from the dead to have a little chat, do us all a favour and tell him to go to shrimp hell. Pretty sure you'll be glad you stayed in good old Britannia to play with your cucumber sandwiches. And so will I.

This story might have worked better if the two worlds it intended to bring together had blended well. But they didn't, so it didn't. Cadmus' character felt completely out of place in Danny Boy's world, and his personality just didn't work with Schaefer's dark, modern-day Vegas. What's worse, the story itself felt artificial, as if each author had written the piece about his character in his corner. There are passages about Cadmus' worlds and others about Daniel Faust's. It kinda sorta feels like you are reading two separate storylines side by side, instead of a single one. It kinda sorta feels like the only purpose of this short story is for each author to get more readers for their respective series. Which is kinda sorta understandable, but also kinda sorta slightly disappointing and stuff.



This is me being slightly disappointed, yes. What can I say, self-restraint and utter composure are me.

» And the moral of this I Won't Read the Other Stories in this Anthology Because Things to Do Book Boyfriends to Kidnap and All That Crap Crappy Non Review (IWRtOSSitABTtDBBtKaATCCNR™) is: Danny boy, stop frolicking with silly ancient illusionists, it's ruining your street cred. Frolic with me instead.



[July 2016]

There's a brand new Danny Boy short story in this collection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In each story in this book two authors collaborated to write urban fantasy stories featuring two of their beloved characters. Overall, the authors seem to have made good pairings. The stories were all good, with one exception, and some were quite enjoyable. Though some of my extra enjoyment was when a story featured my favorite characters and series, of course. But I was also introduced to several new authors that I liked a lot, which is one of the things I want from an anthology. If I want to read something that's entirely authors I know and already like, I'll read an a collection from an author I follow. This book featured a nice variety of authors too, considering what could have been the restrictive or repetitive theme of urban fantasy, depending how it was interpreted. There were authors who specialize in military SF, thrillers, more of a horror focus, there was some humor, quite a spread of specialties and interpretations. I've seen a lot more uniformity in books who's theme could have theoretically allowed for a more diverse author and topic pool, so I thought the writers and the editor did a nice job here.

On the other hand, when it comes to editing, I really wish this book had told us which of the authors' series the characters in these stories came from, if not what point in their series. (This takes place after book... Or between books... and …) I shouldn't have had to look it up each time and try to figure it out. The anthology business model is to tease readers with a few big names so they buy the book and then introduce some other authors to a new audience and sell more books. Or in this case use all pretty big names but offer a variety so readers probably haven't read all of them. How can they get us to buy more books if we don't know what series to buy? It was really stupid, and annoying. Most of the stories were from ongoing series and a lot of people won't bother to find that out, the authors and publishers are the big losers in that. But the stories were all good, so overall the readers win.

Caitlin Kittredge & Jaye Wells - Ladies Fight - Ava the hellhound and Leo the Grim Reaper were looking for his Scythe, between books one and two of Kittredge's series. He's the first GR with capital letters in almost a thousand years, as opposed to the lower-case reapers who've been doing the job, with a hefty helping of petty politics, demons interference and other troublemakers, since the last guy had the job. Ava and Leo got a tip from some scumbag friend of a friend of a necromancer that the Scythe is in the home of a vampire in New Orleans. Too bad that home is Sabina, Adam and Giguhl's from Wells' most popular and beloved series (though all of her books are great, you should read them). Oops! I wish I could have seen the look on Ava's face when she broke into the house and hairless cat-form Giguhl surprised her. She was in hellhound form so he was pretty surprised too. Sabina is half-vampire, half-mage and all assassin and smart-ass. Adam is a mage. And Mr. Giggles/Giguhl is a seven-foot-tall, green-scaled demon when he's not a much more portable and able to blend in in our world hairless cat. This was a great match-up of authors, the story felt very consistent to both series, it fit both series very well. It did a good job of balancing the wit of Sabina's world with Ava's somewhat darker viewpoint. Fans of both should enjoy it. And I think people who haven't read either would think it was a fun story and would probably be intrigued about these crazy characters.

Seanan McGuire & Kelley Armstrong - Tailed - This story featured Verity and Sarah from McGuire's InCryptid series. They just spent two days at a Pet Expo looking for poachers and they were miserable from all of the horrible people they encountered, especially telepath Sarah who saw into the minds of people who were thinking about murder, sex, credit card fraud, wild-caught snakes and sugar gliders, and a breeder of jackalopes, just to name a few of the horrors. But no illegal poachers of cryptids. And then Verity headed off into the woods to try to find the local tailypo, which resemble long-tallied raccoons, by herself, before the hunter could find them. Enter Elena from Armstrong's Otherworld. Unfortunately, I only read the first book in that series and it was probably a decade ago, but I'm aware of the series and some of the story progression from reading a few short stories. Fans will probably be thrilled to see Elena and Clayton's eight year-old twins, I'm sure they went through a lot to get to the point where they were settled together, much less with kids. Apparently Elena insisted that they kids be socialized with humans including regular school. And now they were on an overnight field trip to Albany, with Elena chaperoning. The class took a break on the way to do a science project scavenger hunt in the woods. Guess where? The woods outside the Pet Expo, what a surprise! And of course Elena and the kids, and Verity separately, all got into some trouble in those woods. Both authors did a good job of showing who these people were and making a case for why I should be interested in them. The characters from the different series barely interacted, but it felt true to the characters and how they'd have handled the situation. It was fun to see how each could still be amazed at the things in the world that they hadn't encountered yet, were still open to the new (to them) and fascinating wonders that were out there to be explored.

Steven Savile & Craig Schaefer - Sweet, Blissful Certainty - I hadn't read either of those authors before. The story was about Eddie Sunday, Daniel Faust and Cadmus Damiola. Apparently I own the first Daniel Faust book. I must have purchased it recently in a story bundle, lucky me! Now it's high on my to-read list. And it seems that Savile is a big deal in England and as a writer of tie-ins. Glass Town will be his U.S. debut, featuring Cadmus Damiola and other aspects of this story. It was an intriguing short story about magic and magicians (both stage and the urban fantasy kinds). The characters were a really sad sack medium (Eddie) of a former preacher who's life fell apart when he really started seeing the souls of the departed and couldn't stop, a former gangster turned detective (from what I can tell) with a plan (Daniel), and the magician they pulled through time by accident (Cadmus). It made me want to read more in both series, so it was both enjoyable and effective as well, the anthology business model at work.

Joseph Nassise & Sam Witt - Pig Roast - Featuring Cade and a team from Nassise's Templar Chronicles and Joe from Witt's Pitchfork County series. The Templars were tracking a biker gang that's stolen the Eye of Horus (that seemed cheesy to me though may be in context with the series) but their surveillance equipment didn't work in Pitchfork County, go figure? Joe was their man on the ground, so to speak. The authors seemed like a good match, they seemed simpatico in enjoying a lot of stuff about guns and tactics. I suspect that both lead characters are usually grouchy and touchy even in their own books. Joe was more witty and sarcastic. Cade seemed like the big-chinned tough guy, except wounded and scarred. I was enjoying the story at first, but I found it shocking that these guys, the authorities, could just blow people's heads off. Is that fun to read about? Is theft an executable offense? They weren't being threatened, it was just on approach to the building, as a tactic to get in, one guy distracted a guard and another sniper shot him. "Like fish in a barrel," one of the Templars thought, then shot the guard next to the headless corpse. These were the heroes? Not cool. I'm definitely not reading the Templar series after this though I was interested earlier in the story and after reading the summary of the first book when I looked the author up. I'm pretty sure the Pitchfork series is out too. I wanted to DNF the story but I thought I should give it chance since it's short. It was crude and violent. I don't mind stories that graphic in general, I read a number of books or series with a lot of violence, I'm no shrinking violet, but it has to be for a purpose and within certain bounds. In fact, I think violence should be described clearly, it shouldn't be glorified or glossed over. For example, I think war shouldn't be glorified, shouldn't seem easy or fun. Being shot or stabbed should be excruciating and messy, the person who did it should feel conflicted. But this felt very gratuitous and like it was supposed to be big manly fun fun fun and it wasn't, not fun at all. Not good.

Diana Rowland & Carrie Vaughn - Takes All Kinds - Werewolves Kitty and her husband Ben (Vaughn's Kitty Norville books) were in Louisiana, lost on their way to New Orleans on their way to the Southern Paranormal Research Conference. And they ran into my gal Angel from Rowland's White Trash Zombie series. Which makes sense because why wouldn't zombies exist in the world where there are werewolves and vampires? I'm not usually thrilled by most of Vaughn's short stories, and novels outside of the Kitty universe, but her stories are good inside of Kitty's world. And I haven't read anything by Rowland yet that I haven't really enjoyed. So I wasn't surprised that the authors meshed well together for this story. When I saw that it was in Louisiana, I was wondering if this was going to feature Angel or Kara Gillian from her other Louisiana based series, but little Ms. Smartypants was a good balance for Kitty, Kara and Kitty are both a little too serious for the story to have worked well. My only problems with the story was that I think we got more of a sense of who Kitty was in the story than Angel, though we got to see Angel's setting and atmosphere. White Trash Zombie fans will like it, but Ben and Kitty fans will definitely appreciate it. Those two can't go anywhere without getting into trouble.

Weston Ochse & David Wellington - The Lessons of Room 19 - Ochse "is a former intelligence officer and special operations soldier who has engaged enemy combatants, terrorists, border crossers, narco punks, and human smugglers. His personal war stories include performing humanitarian operations…" I think he might be more of a character than the people in his stories. Jack Walker from Ochse's SEAL Team 666 series was featured in this story, apparently rather far along in the series considering his emotional distress in the story about a ghost that resembled his deceased fiancée. It also featured Laura Caxton from Wellington's Thirteen Bullets series. I liked Laura a lot more than Jack, not just because he was a mess. And yet, even though he was weak from a week of being locked in a hotel room and not eating and messed up emotionally and all of that, and even though Laura was a former cop and still an investigator and seemed like a pretty tough cookie from what I could tell, she pretty much just stood there at the crucial moment and the big bad SEAL had to leap forward and save the day. Why can't the woman ever rescue herself, and the man too? She did know the magic that finally resolved things, but she should have been able to fight too, or been writen as helping to fight to save them, not so passive. Guys aren't the only ones who write women this way, but they do it all too often. It was an OK story, not bad for most anthologies but only mediocre for this one where the standard was very high.

Charlaine Harris & Christopher Golden - Blood for Blood - I like Harris even more now because she thought it was important to mention her rescue dogs in her bio. Maybe I'll finally get around to reading some of her other series that have been on my to-read list forever. This story featured Dahlia, a vampire from the Rhodes nest outside of Chicago. I assume it's the same Dahlia she's featured in several other anthologies, my memory is bad and I don't remember her living in Chicago, but she could have moved or I could be totally wrong. It also featured Peter Octavian, who appeared to be a sorcerer from an alternate Earth, and is from Golden's Shadow Saga series, which has been on my to-read list for a decade or so. The characters met in jail in Fairy, both coincidentally having come to steal the same thing. She mentioned that she snuck in through a portal in the backyard of a home in Louisiana owned by a woman the king, Niall, is fond of, sure to be a familiar reference to Harris fans. I'm not sure if the story was good advertising for either author. Maybe people will be curious about Harris's vampires if they haven't read any of the the books, but this wasn't representative of her Southern Vampire series, it was all in fairy and with a character who isn't part of the series. It wasn't southern or quirky. Maybe Peter is a cool guy go read about, if I I didn't already have it on my list it would have been impossible to figure out what series he came from, I searched for a while until I thought to look in my own Goodreads list, Golden has so many books and series that without this book telling readers where to find it, readers may not be able to track it down before they give up bothering with it. This anthology really needed to show us where the short stories and series intersected. Anyway, it's implied at the end that this story is to be continued with Peter and the sheriff of Shreveport. We'll see, maybe there will be another story in another anthology. Harries likes writing mini-series in anthologies and Golden likes partnerships.

C.E. Murphy & Kat Richardson - Spite House - I'm not a fan of Richardson's Greywalker series. I liked Harper in the first book but had a ton of issues with the writing. I've thought about trying the series again a few times when I see how successful the it's been, but the short stories I've read haven't been encouraging, they've had the same issues, good ideas, bad execution. I've glanced at Murphy's Walker Papers over the years but never tried it. Maybe now is the time, Jo seems interesting. The authors claimed that these two women were from parallel worlds, because two tall, female, supernatural PI's from Seattle who have never heard of each other would be impossible. Jo decided it was the house, making them take a nasty turn to the left when they entered it. Except Harper watched Jo walk into the house, so that theory doesn't work, they were both in the same Seattle outside the house. I wish the logic had held up. But it was a fun story about how they dealt with a darkly haunted house.

Jeff Somers & Stephen Blackmore - Crossed Wires - Jeff Somers is another author who I've been meaning to read for years, by which I mean probably at least a decade, when it comes to his Avery Cates series/The Electric Church. I remember looking at it in Borders and long before it closed, so it's been quite a while. Lem and Mags, the characters in this story, are from his We Are Not Good People/Ustari Cycle. They were hustlers and con men in the blood magic underworld, not big time dirty mages. The other featured character was Eric Carter from Blackmoore's series. Those I've read and enjoyed. They aren't my absolute favorites but they're good. Similar to what happened in Murphy and Richardson's story, Lem and Eric's alternate worlds/dimensions, and magic systems, were pulled into an intersection in something of a haunted house situation. It felt weighted toward Lem's side of the story, his world and magic. I already knew Eric and his side of things and his story still felt indistinct to me. It wasn't good advertising for his series. But I enjoyed the story.

Larry Correia & Jonathan Maberry - Weaponized Hell - Color me surprised that Correia would write a story with this title. I used to be a fan of his Monster Hunter International series. But Correia became aggressive about his politics, which I wouldn't mind, and his bullying, which I did mind, at the same time that my library stopped carrying the audiobooks and I couldn't rationalize paying a lot of money for an author who bothered me so much. It wasn't worth it to me with my extremely limited budget. I support him exercising his First Amendment rights, but I don't need to pay to support it. The story featured Joe Ledger from Mayberry's series of the same name. Correia's character was Special Agent Franks of the U.S. Monster Control Bureau, which was a great idea, he's a fan favorite who doesn't get much time in the books because he's a secondary character there. And it made sense for him to be off on a more solitary mission like this without having to spend time introducing a whole team of Monster Hunter International characters. It was interesting that they chose to write such a timely and relevant story as this one that took place in Iraq dealing with ISIL fighters. And demons, of course, it couldn't be too straightforward. The title was probably the most apt in the book. If you like military shoot-'em-ups then you'll like this one. I'm not a huge military SF fan, but it was well told and I like Franks, and his sarcasm helped lighten the tone a bit. It wasn't exactly urban since it took place in the middle of the desert, but it was modern, so it depends on your definition of urban fantasy, that's always a matter of debate. I've seen definitions of urban fantasy that would include stories like Max Gladstone's second world fantasy because they take place in modern cities with big skyscrapers, along with the magic and other fantasy elements. This takes place in the desert but it's our modern Earth with supernatural Franks and demons. Do supernatural or paranormal elements make it UF? The editor thought so. It's fine with me, the MHI books are certainly UF even if Mayberry's series with Ledger don't appear to be. It was a good crossover, the authors' styles seemed to work well together.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read Tailed by Seanan McGuire and Kelley Armstrong, featuring Verity Price from SM's InCryptid series and Elena from KA's Otherworld series. This story takes place in the InCryptid world fairly early on, but it appears to take place quite a bit later in the storyline of the Otherworld series (I've not read that series to know).

I enjoyed this quick story, Verity is out looking for a poacher in upstate New York and Elena is on a field trip in the same woods. Their paths cross nearly or closely a few times and in actuality only once for a couple of moments.

I was actually looking a bit more forward to how exactly Elena would be understood by Verity, but I guess the conclusion she came to was the only one possible, as werewolves (as we know them) in the InCryptid series is not compatible with the wolves of the Otherworld series.

All in all, fun and I enjoyed Verity here more than Elena, but that's probably because I'm more invested in her world and character.

[Earl Grey]

Could not finish this book. Only made it through 2 of 10 short stories before closing it and placing it far far away in a place I'll never be able to find it again. Very disgruntled. I recommend you read this book if you are into sorcery and magic and anti climatic drama thrillers.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of crossover stories, each written by 2 urban fantasy authors featuring their characters.

The Faust story was okay, probably the weakest one I have read. The Franks/Joe Ledger story was excellent. The rest were passable

[William Bentrim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Urban Allies edited by Joseph Nassise

Normally I am not fond of short stories, however I am fond of Nassise's work so I thought I would give this a chance. It is an outstanding collection of Urban Fantasy.

The problem with reviewing a book of short stories is that the review is of necessity either very brief or exceptionally long if you try and review each story.

This will be brief. The focus of the stories is supernatural, monster and weird happenings. Two authors collaborate on bringing their unique characters together to work on a problem. Great premise that worked very well. Larry Correia's Special Agent Franks was a new character and author that piqued my interest, as well as Jonathan Mayberry's Captain Joe Ledger in the same story.

Nassise's wit in Pig Roast was most amusing. I was familiar with quite a few of the authors but not all of them.

This is a good read and frankly that is high praise from a guy who doesn't like short stories.

Web:http://josephnassise.com/

[Beth Cato · Rating 4 out of 5]

This new anthology from Harper Voyager features paired urban fantasy authors bringing their series together to take on demons, haunted houses, and twisted not-so-mythological creatures. It was interesting to see how the authors decided to cross their universes, too. Some had their characters inhabit the same world, while others found overlapping dimensions through interdimensional bubbles or fairyland.

Some of my favorite stories were set in series that I'm not that familiar, or I only know one of the authors. Also, some of these tales are DARK. I'm talking, don't read during a power outage or during a deep depression. The writing is consistently good throughout, with great suspense and wonderful teasers for what goes on in their full novels.

[Helene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an advance reading copy. Ten urban fantasy stories, each written by a pair of well-known authors. Intriguing. At no time did I feel that the writing was forced. We meet some very well-known characters in very different circumstances, such as Kelley Armstrong's Elena, and Kitty Norville. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[Fiona Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Elena met Valerie - aka How Did I Not Know Two Of My Favourite Authors Had Come Together And Created This Amazingness??

It's really too short to tell you much without ruining it, but it was everything I wanted it to be and well worth checking out.

[Aphelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Major Publication Mistake: Although I loved many of the stories in this book and found the idea to be interesting, the editor should have identified the series each author is writing in (most have multiple series) before each story, or afterwards if spoilers are a concern. I was able to piece together most of the attributions through familiarity with some authors, but the others were guesswork (which I later double-checked online) based on very vague Author Biographies at the back of the book and character names.

Part of the point of anthologies like this, I've always thought, was to connect the reader with new authors. It would be nice to know which series the character(s) in the story appear in!

Aside from that troublesome and annoying omission, this was a fun collection that I really enjoyed reading! Here's an idea of the stories, and related series, with links to the 1st series book:

1. Ladies' Fight Caitlin Kittredge (Hellhound Chronicles: Black Dog and Jaye Wells (Sabina Kane: Red-Headed Stepchild)
2 ⭐⭐
Although I love Sabina and was really excited about this story, it doesn't work well. A heist goes wrong and then goes right. I would like to try Kitteredge's Hellhound Chronicles though!

2.. Tailed Seanan McGuire (InCryptid: Discount Armageddon) and Kelley Armstrong (The Otherworld, Elena: Bitten)
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Really well done and it makes me want to read McGuire's InCryptid series! Verity, a cryptozoologist, is hunting a poacher and Elena is supervising her twins on a school scavenger hunt. Their paths cross in the woods and they team up.

3. Sweet, Blissful Certainty Steven Savile (single book: Glass Town) and Craig Schaefer (Daniel Faust: The Long Way Down)
3 ⭐⭐⭐
A necromancer calls up the ghost of a magician to tell him how to build a machine to see the future.

4. Pig Roast Joseph Nassise (Templar Chronicles: The Heretic (Pitchfork County: Half-Made Girls)
1 ⭐
Gory, gross pig demons, disguised as a motorcycle gang.

5. Takes All Kinds Diana Rowland (White Trash Zombie: My Life as a White Trash Zombie) and Carrie Vaughn (Kitty Norville: Kitty and the Midnight Hour)
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Kitty and Ben are on the way to New Orleans when they run into a corpse in a burning car. A zombie from the Coroner's Office helps them investigate. The worlds are blended very well.

6. The Lessons of Room 19 Weston Ochse (Seal Team 666: Seal Team 666 and David Wellington (Laura Caxton: 13 Bullets)
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Both of these authors were new to me, but this was the most chilling story in the book. In Pennsylvania, "witchbillies" can create dark magic with hex signs. A grief-stricken Marine tries to find a way to contact the spirit of his dead fiancée and Laura is sent in to rescue him.

7. Blood for Blood Charlaine Harris (Southern Vampire Mysteries aka Sookie Stackhouse: Dead Until Dark) and Christopher Golden (Peter Octavian: Of Saints and Shadows)
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The ever delightful Dahlia Lynley-Chivers gets herself into a spot of trouble when a retrieval mission in Faery goes awry. Imprisoned with sorcerer Peter Octavian, the two must work together to save themselves and nail the target. One day I hope Charlaine will give Dahlia her own book!

8. Spite House C.E. Murphy (Joanne Walker: Urban Shaman) and Kat Richardson (Greywalker: Greywalker)
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Quirky - dark but wryly witty at the same time. A haunted house built by two warring sisters lives between planes and Seattle suddenly overlaps for Jo and Harper, despite their different worlds. In order to quiet the spirits, both women have to use their unique magics to dispel centuries of hatred. Having each experience the other's magic was a very cool and neat twist!Patient Zero

9. Crossed Wires Jeff Somers (Ustari Cycle: We Are Not Good People) and Stephen Blackmoore (Eric Carter: Dead Things)
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A cruder version (lots of swearing!) of the overlapping dimensions idea in the last story. A down-on-his-luck mage, Lem, takes money to check out a very strange house and a woman promising to summon spirits; Eric, a skilled necromancer, is investigating from the other side. They have to work together to figure out what's going on.

10. Weaponized Hell Larry Correia (Dead Six) and Jonathan Maberry (Joe Ledger: Patient Zero) 2 ⭐⭐
A special ops fighter in Iraq meets a super human who glories in destruction; together, they work to take down ancient Alguhl demons ISIS is summoning to possess humans. Brutal and gruesome.

Overall, I was most impressed by stores 2, 5, 6, 7 & 8. There were a few new series I'd like to read and some familiar series I'd like to read further in. The crossover concept was interesting but the parallel dimension idea was a little overused. I read the stories in between other books; because each story essential follows the formula of the two main characters meeting, it's repetitive, so spacing out the stories instead of reading them all at once really helped.

Breakdown:
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 5
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 1
3 ⭐⭐⭐ -1
2 ⭐⭐ - 2
1 ⭐-1
Total: 10

[Carolyn F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthology. I read 8 of the 10 stories. My rating average is 3.4375 stars, so 3.5 stars. This is higher than I thought it would be with a couple of the first stories I didn't care for. The remaining stories redeemed the book. A good Urban Fantasy anthology.

1. Caitlin Kittredge & Jaye Wells - Ladies Fight. Skipped it. I don't like Angel stories where they are portrayed as bad unless of course they're fallen angels. Since the story started out with a remark about how the Angels and demons are in essence idiots I just stopped reading it. Everybody has their "no go" books and these are mine. No rating since I didn't read it.

2. Seanan McGuire & Kelley Armstrong - Tailed. Cryptic/Women of Otherworld storyline. It seemed a little disjointed but that may be because two authors wrote it. I wish we knew what happened to the bad guys. 3 stars.

3. Steven Savile & Craig Schaefer - Sweet, Blissful Certainty. Since I'm not familiar with either author I couldn't really tell who wrote what. The story was okay. After the person was brought in there is a huge jump forward with the guy moving to another country and then we don't really see what the box held or why it hurt someone so bad. Okay story. 3 stars.

4. Joseph Nassise & Sam Witt - Pig Roast. Okay, got to the phrase Knights Templar and said Done! I just cannot read anymore books with these characters (or Arthurian characters either). No rating because I didn't read it.

5. Diana Rowland & Carrie Vaughn - Takes All Kinds. Finally a great story! They've either been bad or mediocre so far. This has Kitty and Angel meeting up by chance. These two narratives blended seamlessly. I just loved how they worked together to figure out who did it and how they both sighed because they could rip the bad guy apart. Great story. 5 stars.

6. Weston Ochse & David Wellington - The Lessons of Room 19. Really strange story about ghostskins that can become people you love (or didn't love that much) who died. The part that bothered me is the guy is beating with a wire hanger the poop out of the ghostskin that has manifested as someone he doesn't want to see trying to get it to turn into someone he wants to see. He's a special forces guy and to even think that he would go to the place where he thinks he should beat a living (?) thing with a wire hanger until it tears apart is a psycho-killer kind of act. So I ended up having no sympathy for the guy when his story was explained. The female rescuer was interesting though, I wouldn't mind reading more about her. So just because of the female main character, I'm giving this story 3 stars.

7. Charlaine Harris & Christopher Golden - Blood for Blood. Another short story with Dahlia. As an aside, it seems that most of Charlaine Harris' stories in anthologies are about Dahlia. This one has her and a sorcerer named Peter looking for a half fae/half demon to take his blood. They both get caught and now they have to not only escape but find that fae/demon guy. I enjoyed this story. 4 stars.

8. C.E. Murphy & Kat Richardson - Spite House. I liked that Joanne Walker and Harper Blaine met but the story was just strange in a bad way. Did the sisters really drown or not? Why would finding death differently be enough to make them want to kill each other in the afterlife? It was just weird. 2-1/2 stars.

9. Jeff Somers & Stephen Blackmore - Crossed Wires. Two men from parallel worlds try to stop a woman from killing people for their blood in order to gain power. Okay story. 3 stars.

10. Larry Correia & Jonathan Maberry - Weaponized Hell. This type of book is usually not my go to unless, of course, there is a strong woman somehow attached to the narrative. However, I ended up really liking this story. Two men find and stop in any way possible monsters in the human and otherwise persuasion. 4 stars.

[Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read: November 2025

I read:

Ladies’ Fight CAITLIN KITTREDGE AND JAYE WELLS 4/5 stars
Tailed SEANAN MCGUIRE AND KELLEY ARMSTRONG 4.5/5 stars
Takes All Kinds DIANA ROWLAND AND CARRIE VAUGHN 4/5 stars
Blood for Blood CHARLAINE HARRIS AND CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN 3/5 stars
Spite House C. E. MURPHY AND KAT RICHARDSON 3/5 stars

[Melanie's · Rating 4 out of 5]

*This Book Was Given To Me By The Publisher In Exchange For An Honest Review*

This is a very different sort of anthology wherein instead of a collection of individual short stories form authors which often provide extra insight, or an introduction to their world, here we have well known characters pairing up with other well known characters and getting crossover stories.

Some of the authors were known to me, some stories had one author I knew, and some were completely unknown but it didn't stop all of the stories being enjoyable. Of course the characters I knew were always going to be more appealing but seeing them in new settings was very exciting.

The writing, or maybe the editing of the stories was excellent with none of them feeling disjointed or being voiced by more than one writer (Something I will admit I was concerned about going in).

Fans of the authors featured will probably buy this just for those features but I imagine like me, if they give the others a chance they might discover some new ones to check out.

As I stayed it is a very different sort of Anthology, and not what I expected but some real gems in here and I give it a 4 stars over all.

V""V


***Review has been done in conjunction with Nerd Girl Official.
For more information regarding our reviews please visit our Fansite: www.facebook.com/NerdGirl.ng ***

[Melindeeloo]

There were some good stories in here, not surprisingly I found it easier to like the ones with characters I already knew - especially when the two characters meshed well. I still have few to go where I didn't know the characters/writers, Ill get back to this later

Chaplains Harris and Christopher Golden •
Carrie Vaughn and Diana Rowland • Kitty and Angel · Werewolf and Zombie team up to find a killer. This was another good one with good back and forth between lead leads.
Jonathan Maberry and Larry Correia • (** and Franks from Monster Hunters)
Kelley Armstrong and Seanan McGuire • (Elena and kids from Women of the Otherworld and Verity from Incryptid) - There wasn't much interaction between the two povs, this one was okay
Joe Nassise and Sam Witt •
Steven Savile and Craig Schaefer •
David Wellington and Weston Ochse •
Jaye Wells and Caitlin Kittredge • Ladies Night (Sabina Kane and Ava from Hellhound Chronicles)
CE Murphy and Kat Richardson · JoAnne walker urban sham and greywalker · This was a great story with good action and good balance and interaction between the leads - I'd love to see more of these ladies together.

[Chrissy]

Only read "Tailed" by Kelley Armstrong and Seanan McGuire

4 stars
I would consider this story semi-canon for both the Otherworld and the InCryptid series. Elena and the twins are on a school trip doing a scavenger hunt in a forest, when they notice a strange creature (tailypo). It's funny to see Elena and the twins interacting with the other parents/kids a little.

Verity is also running around these woods, investigating poachers who capture and sell cryptids like tailypo and frickens. There isn't much interaction between Elena and Verity, they both draw their own conclusions (Verity thinks Elena might be a dragon princess) and never really talk to each other. Which is the only way this story could work, otherwise the world-building of these two series would completely contradict each other.

[Adriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting concept that had some very solid hits and some near misses.
Different authors work together to create a story where their worlds collide and characters interact and have mini adventures. This works brilliantly when the reader is familiar with the worlds. I got a big kick from some of the match-ups that resulted because I've read the series from which the characters came. Others, even with writing solid enough to set up the world, were good but not hits.
You're probably going to be lost if you're completely unfamiliar with the majority of the authors. The stories are still enjoyable but having some background on the worlds and characters is what made most of the stories truly memorable.

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
A collection of longer short stories. Like most anthologies, this collection has some good and some not-so-good stories but no real duds. Overall, this was one of the better anthologies I've read recently.

[Neeuqdrazil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read the Seanan McGuire/Kelley Armstrong collab in this one, but Verity + Elena? Yes please!

[Jenny - Book Sojourner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only read Crossed Wires by Jeff Sommers and Stephen Blackmoore. I'm a big Eric Carter fan, so it was fun getting this short story with him.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't live up to the initial couple of collaborations. Some writing styles clashed, and some stories just didn't go anywhere. Glad to move on to something I'm more interested in.

[Steph]

Amazon Blurb:

Urban Allies brings together beloved characters from two different urban fantasy series--Peter Octavian and Dahlia Lynley-Chivers, Joanne Walker and Harper Blaine, Joe Ledger and Agent Franks, Sabina Kane and Ava--in ten electrifying stories. Combining fictional worlds in one dual adventure, each of these stories melds the talents of two high-profile authors, many working together for the first time--giving readers a chance to see their favorite characters in an imaginative and fresh way.

Edited by acclaimed bestselling author Joseph Nassise--who is also a contributor--this outstanding collection showcases the brilliant storytelling talents of some of the most acclaimed fantasy writers working today, among them seven New York Timesbestselling authors, seven USA Today bestselling authors, and three Bram Stoker Award winners.

Contributors include:
Charlaine Harris and Christopher Golden * Carrie Vaughn and Diana Rowland * Jonathan Maberry and Larry Correia *Kelley Armstrong and Seanan McGuire * Joseph Nassise and Sam Witt * Steven Savile and Craig Schaefer * David Wellington and Weston Ochse * Stephen Blackmoore and Jeff Somers * C.E. Murphy and Kat Richardson * Jaye Wells and Caitlin Kittredge

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review originally posted on A Bibliophile's Reverie

This is a great anthology for both big fans of each or any of the series, and those who haven’t had the chance to read any of the series but love urban fantasy. I had only a read a couple of these series but still really enjoyed all of the stories that it held. And if you haven’t had the chance to check out these authors, you will be able to read a snip bit and discover maybe some new authors that you will enjoy.
Even though all these characters have ongoing series, I was still able to be introduced to the ones I didn’t know and follow along without any trouble. The settings was well described as well and I didn’t feel I was missing out on anything coming in cold.
The great part about this series is that each crossover takes place in a different city, so the background is always different. I love crossovers, especially when it’s with favorite characters, so this anthology is definitely a favorite. Readers always wonder what would happen if two characters met each other, and this solves that question.
So all in all, I give this series a 5/5. It is very creative, has some great authors, and you won’t want to put it down for a second!

[Jenevieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review first published on My Blog.

An interesting concept where 20 urban fantasy writers were paired up and wrote stories with their partner utilizing a main character from their own series. Rather than going into detail about each story, I'm going to focus more on how well I think the concept worked for that pair.

Jaye Welles & Caitlyn Kittridge - I've only read the Prospero Wars books by Jaye Wells and nothing by Caitlyn Kittridge so I had no idea about the characters in this story but it didn't matter. One set was sent on a wild goose chase to hopefully take out the other set but the fur flies and it gets figured out so they team up to find the person who betrayed them both. The story swings back and forth between Sabina and Ava and it mostly works. Even without knowing anything about any of the characters, enough was given so I had a clue (and I'm now very interested in the Sabina books and might check out the Ava books as well) and didn't feel lost but I don't think it was so much that it would annoy someone who was already familiar with those worlds.

Seanan McGuire & Kelley Armstrong - This story right here was the thing that pushed me over the edge into buying this book. I LOVE both of these authors and their worlds and the thought of them being combined might have made me squeee. Unfortunately, the story did anything but. They "paired" up Verity from Seanan's Incryptid series with Elena from Kelley's Otherworld series but only sort of. They were both in the same NY forest and stumbled upon the same poacher but their entire interaction was a brief moment when Elena was kicking the guy's ass and Verity says 'Hi'. Really?! I know both characters are cagey by nature but this story could easily have not had the other character and it would not have changed anything so in terms of being a collaborative effort and putting the characters really together it fell enormously flat and was very disappointing.

Steven Savile & Craig Schaefer - This is the first story that has more of what I was expecting in terms of a collaborative effort. It does swing from what I'm assuming is one author's characters to the others but in a way that was naturally flowing and then flowed back to a cooperative narrative. It blended all the characters well and if I did not know this was a joint effort with characters from two different universes, I would not have guessed it to be the case.


Joseph Nassie & Sam Witt - I knew nothing of either of these writers or their universes before this story. There was enough backstory in there that I didn't feel totally lost although there were definitely pieces of backstory that were hinted at but not explained which for a short story I think is actually good as it works as a hook to get people to go check out their other books which I totally get. The story and characters worked well together on the whole.


Diana Rowland & Carrie Vaughn - Ok, I have to admit that the White Trash Zombie and Kitty Norville books are both ones that I really enjoy so I was pretty happy to see these characters mashed up together. Unfortunately, this one didn't have a whole lot of backstory so I can easily see people not familiar with the worlds not really getting the characters. They felt a bit flat and the story was predictable with little detail in any sense. Why do the ones I'm so looking forward to in this book end up being the more disappointing ones?!


Weston Ochse & David Wellington - I really enjoyed this tale and had I not known it was a collaboration, I never would have guessed it to be one. It flowed very well between the two characters who both seemed at home in the universe. There was enough background for me to not feel completely disorientated but definitely left me knowing there was a lot more and what was it?! I might be looking into these authors a bit more.


Charlaine Harris & Christopher Golden - I didn't know either of these characters although I did recognize the name Niall from the Sookie books so that's the only way I was able to tell whose character was whose. They did a nice job of melding the characters together in a world that neither was wholly familiar with which put them on more even footing and allowed a bit more exposition to sound natural as they are figuring everything out. Well done mashup in my opinion.


C.E. Murphy & Kat Richardson - I've heard of C.E. Murphy but hadn't even added anything to my wishlist. I think it was more a "If you like xxx" kind of thing. I've read most of Kat Richardson's Greywalker series so I knew one of the characters in this. I have to say this was the most interesting way of combining two characters from different universes. Instead of just throwing them in together and calling it the same universe, they end up in a pocket dimension that is bridging the two and Jo Walker and Harper Blaine end up there from their respective sides. The mystery is resolved only when each person takes a spirit into themselves that harnesses the power of the other so Jo and Harper both get to experience the magic of the other. Quite interesting and well done.


Jeff Somers & Stephen Blackmoor - I'd never heard of either of these authors going into. It was pretty easy to differentiate between them (although I couldn't tell you who went with which character) but I felt like Lem's story gave a bit more back story to that world and fleshed things out more which definitely made it more interesting to someone with no idea about the characters or worlds.


Larry Correia & Jonathan Mayberry - I've heard of Jonathan Mayberry (one of my kids reads his zombie books) but otherwise, I came into this cold. There was precious little exposition so I really only figured out that we were dealing with two military people who deal with different types of supernatural. I didn't get a good feel for either of the characters, the story was pretty simple and typical of the other types of stories in the book but it wasn't anything that made me want to go pick up anything else by these authors.

[Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁ · Rating 4 out of 5]

2/7/18 - ON SALE for $2.74:



http://amzn.to/2nIn1tX

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to this book, but I had trouble getting into the ones where I didn't already know the characters involved. In at least one case I had some trouble keeping the characters straight because I didn't know enough of the world-building of the two series.

I would give 5 stars to
Takes all Kinds by Diana Rowland and Carrie Vaughn.
Weaponized Hell by Larry Correia and Jonathan Maberry.
Tailed by Seanan McGuire and Kelley Armstrong.

And 4 stars to
Ladies' Fight by Caitlin Kitteredge and Jaye Wells.
Spite House by C.E. Murphy and Kat Richardson.

Three others I didn't much care for and I finally decided to give up on the other two. Maybe I'll try again if I read those series later.

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only read this for the Kelley Armstrong story. Each story in this book is written by two authors. In Kelley Armstrong and Seanan McGuire both write character's in books they wrote alone. Elena from the Otherworld series and Verity from Incryptid. I'm not a fan of Seanan McGuire books, but I love Kelley Armstrong's. The story the wrote together is called Tailed. Elena is with her twins on a school fieldtrip, Verity is following a poacher of a creature that shouldn't exist. Sounds interesting right. Not really. You could tell which author was writing. The charcters meet briefly and speak only a few words to one another. The story felt more like a few small chapters in a larger book. I would have liked more interaction and more story.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book to see two stories about characters I knew (the stories coauthored by Carrie Vaughn and Charlaine Harris). Those stories were pretty good, and maybe one other. The rest, I never figured out very well who the two different characters were, including in some of them, which viewpoint was happening at any given time. I didn't even bother with the last story, which was military, which I rarely like or read. A two-star read for me, but bumping it up because anyone already fond of the characters will like the stories more than I did.

[Kathryn Baron · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting concept that just never quite works. Generally, there are too many explanations needed for each short. Two worlds, two character sets doesn't leave a lot of room for story. The ones that work best are the ones that assume you know the world, or at least don't need to explain a lot to get to the story. I'm not going to want to re-read even the best of them.

[John R. Dailey Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A WHOLE GALLON OF BIZARRE TALES IT IS...

Hello, this is a pretty good collection of short stories. The last one was, by far, my favorite. Agent Franks and Joe Ledger, a match made in Hell. Thanks

[Amy A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come