by Philip Eliot | Aug 28, 2025 | Horror & Paranormal |
Finalist for Canada’s Aurora AwardSequel to the multi-award-winning The Hollow Boys”Give me the Crystal Key!”Will Dreycott is the Dream Rider, the agoraphobic teenage superhero who can walk in our dreams but never in the streets of his city. Case is his girlfriend, a survivor of those streets who hears voices that warn her of danger. Fader is her brother, who is very good at disappearing. Together, they defeated a body swapper and a witch to save the world (The Hollow Boys).Now, Case battles guilt over living sheltered in Will’s tower home while her street friends still struggle. Blaming his affliction for Case’s sadness, Will searches for a way to live a normal life with the girl he loves—a way to go outside.But his efforts draw the attention of dark forces. Sinister figures hunt Will in Dream. Intruders scour the vast warehouse of antiquities “acquired” by Will’s missing parents. And a masked swordswoman attacks Will, demanding “the Crystal Key” before disappearing into thin air.Are they all searching for the same thing? Something from Will’s parents’ shady past? For the swordswoman leaves behind a flowery scent, Will’s only memory from the lost expedition eight years ago that gave him powers in Dream but cost him his parents and his freedom.A trail of dark secrets leads Will, Case, and Fader to a mysterious world. Trapped between warring cults willing to kill for the Crystal Key, the three friends must master strange new powers that grow stronger and wilder the closer they draw to the truth.This time it’s not just the fate of the world at stake…but the multiverse.~ ~ ~Indiana Jones meets Teen Titans in The Dream Rider Saga, a fast-paced urban fantasy trilogy from “one of Canada’s most original writers of speculative fiction” (Library Journal).Praise for The Crystal Key:”The richly inventive Dream Rider adventure continues in this second appealing entry…with an exciting plot… always enlivened by the Smith hallmarks of crack dialogue, fun sleuthing and puzzle-solving, a strong throughline of emotion, a swift pace…and a principled refusal to settle for the familiar. Takeaway: This thrilling superpowered urban fantasy series continues to grip.” (New readers should start with book one.) —BookLife (Editor’s Pick)”The engrossing second installment of Douglas Smith’s Dream Rider Saga trilogy. … Smith continues to demonstrate an ability to expertly weave multiple complex fantasy elements into a cohesive whole. … This fast-paced story delivers in a big way—and Smith has all his ducks lined up for an explosive conclusion [to the series] that readers won’t want to miss.” —Blueink Review (? Starred review)Praise for Douglas Smith:”The man is Sturgeon good. Zelazny good. I don’t give those up easy.” —Spider Robinson, Hugo and Nebula Awards winner”A great storyteller with a gifted and individual voice.” —Charles de Lint, World Fantasy Award winner”His stories are a treasure trove of riches that will touch your heart while making you think.” —Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo and Nebula Awards winner”Stories you can’t forget, even years later.” —Julie Czerneda, multi-award-winning author and editor
by Philip Eliot | Aug 28, 2025 | Fantasy |
“A thrilling YA fantasy where dark magic, enchanted realms, and a deadly curse drive half-siren Lirien on a relentless quest to save his family and defy his fate.” –NewInBooks.com”A story about acceptance, friendship, and supporting others even when the odds seem insurmountable. 5 stars.”—Adventures in LiteratureSometimes love is a curse, a twisted, unnatural obsession.Such is the dark magic of a siren’s song, the power of which half-siren Lirien witnesses for himself as he watches his mother sing his father, the King of Ardeth, into the sea. In a fruitless attempt to reverse his father’s fate, Lirien sings the siren song himself, not knowing its true power is seduction. Instead, he ensnares his stepmother, the Queen, with its hypnotic melody.When Lirien refuses her desperate advances, she turns to forbidden magic to force her love on him. But wishing upon a havoc stone is an invitation to chaos. The queen’s own son and daughters, Lirien’s beloved siblings, are whisked away and transformed into animals. They flee the kingdom, and Lirien chases after them, his beautiful voice also gone. Through elven mountains, fae forests, and siren waters, Lirien will stop at nothing to find and save his family. Threats come at him from all sides, but there are allies, too—Kitra, a shapeshifting fae fox who vows vengeance on the Queen for killing her brother, and Brandegil, an elf who can awaken the sacred sword Alibrandr to help break the spell on the children. Together, they’ll bring the stars raining down from the heavens if that’s what it takes to save Lirien’s family, but there’s still the matter of breaking the spell on the Queen. And Lirien’s own deadly curse haunts him should he stray too long from the sea.
by Philip Eliot | Aug 28, 2025 | Fantasy |
What if with every person you met, after just one touch, you have a vision of the last time you’ll see each other? Ever. Normally, these visions are innocent—two friends just drifting apart, a random stranger that brushed past you then never crossed your path again.But not today.When I accidentally touch him, within only moments of our first meeting, I’m bombarded by visions of his death.And from what I can see, I’m the reason he dies.Now I just need to figure out why, and how to stop this from happening. Because not only am I to blame, but his very last words to me are…I love you.
by Philip Eliot | Aug 28, 2025 | Romantic Suspense |
In the hottest summer on record, Iron Lake reservoir is emptying, revealing secrets that were intended to stay hidden beneath the water. The tragic story of a missing man is a media sensation, and abruptly the writer and the cop falling in love is just a postscript to horrors neither could have imagined.Best Selling Horror writer Chris Lassiter struggles for inspiration and he’s close to never writing again. His life has become an endless loop of nothing but empty pages, personal appearances, and a marketing machine that is systematically destroying his muse. In a desperate attempt to force Chris to complete unfinished manuscripts his agent buys a remote cabin. All Chris has to do is hide away and write, but he’s lost his muse, and not even he can make stories appear from thin air.Sawyer Wiseman left town for Chicago, chasing the excitement and potential of being a big city cop, rising the ranks, and making his mark. A case gone horribly wrong draws him back to Lancaster Falls. Working for the tiny police department in the town he’d been running from, digging into cold cases and police corruption, he spends his day’s healing, and his nights hoping the nightmares of his last case leave him alone.Word Count: 67,000
by Philip Eliot | Aug 28, 2025 | Paranormal & Fantasy Romance |
Raiven’s life is the definition of complicated. She spends most of her time solving supernatural crime cases and when she’s not traveling for work, she’s assisting her Overseer in maintaining order in her home city of Decver.When one of her friends is injured as a result of Raiven’s current case, the agent’s life goes beyond complicated. By order of her Overseer, she is forced to constantly be in the presence of Kisten, the local Alpha and the one man in her life that she’s not allowed to have.As Raiven rushes to solve the case and find her killer, will she and Kisten be able to maintain their resolve, or will they finally submit to their own desires?
