Kindle Unlimited is a service that can theoretically provide you with limitless numbers of books for the price of one normal release every month. This is a tremendous blessing for those of us who are fast readers. I pretty much have read every single Red Sonja comic ever written thanks to Dynamite Entertainment putting almost all their comics on the service.
However, what we here at Before We Go want most is good Kindle Unlimited books. As such, here is a recommendation of a bunch of entertaining ones that I’ve enjoyed and can say rise above the dross.
As an indie author on Kindle (Space Academy Dropouts, I was a Teenage Weredeer, Esoterrorism), here are some of my favorites:
1. Andrea Vernon and the Corporation for Ultrahuman Protection by Alexander C. Kane
Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely love superhero literature. I also love comedy and genre parodies. Andrea Vernon and the Corporation for Ultrahuman Protection is all three and fantastic. Poor Andrea is a world-traveling Haitian American who gets unwittingly dragooned into being a secretary for a superhero PMC. They’ll protect anyone for a price and want the contract for the Bronx more than anything–especially when an alien invasion takes the form of a giant egg about to hatch.
What is it About?
Think superheroes are tough? Try having one for a boss, or co-worker. That’s the predicament Andrea Vernon finds herself in as the heroine of Alexander C. Kane’s debut audiobook. Drowning in debt, and forced to move back into her parents’ Queens apartment, Andrea starts looking for a job. Luckily for her, she finds herself recruited—well, really kidnapped—by the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection (C.U.P.), an organization that deploys superheroes. Suddenly Andrea must contend with co-workers who can shoot lightning from their fingertips, face the imminent destruction of humanity, and juggle a fledgling romance with a giant lumberjack. It’s all in a day’s work for the would-be novelist turned superstar secretary.
Audible Hall of Fame narrator Bahni Turpin is perfectly cast as a normal person finding herself in abnormal circumstances. Turpin brings to life an entire cast of quirky characters, along with their heroically funny antics in the cubicle next door. If you’ve ever wondered what a genetically altered rhinoceros sounds like, or needed to take a break from your own office drudgery, this is the comedy for you.
2. Get Bent by Rick Gualtieri
I am a huge fan of Rick Gualtieri’s Bill the Vampire series which combines The Big Bang Theory with the undead. Here, Get Bent is the story of a half-werewolf/half-witch who has all the snark and plucky spirit of Buffy but a simplified world with a town split between two major supernatural factions. Bentley is a great protagonist, and the storyline is low stakes but deeply important to the people involved. It’s not about saving the world but the peace in a small town.
What it is about?
They say I’m an abomination.
I say words hurt … but not as much as my fists.
My name is Tamara Bentley, Bent to my friends, and I’m not supposed to exist. I was born of the forbidden union between a witch and a werewolf, and they’ve been trying their damnedest to hide my existence ever since.
But now my secret is out, and my uncle, the leader of the wolf pack, is pissed beyond belief. In his eyes, I’m something that should’ve never been born. He wants me dead and doesn’t care who he has to sacrifice to get the job done.
I’m far from helpless, though. Not only am I a champion athlete, but I’m strong enough to punch out a bus. Good thing, too, because a rare lunar event is about to increase my uncle’s already terrifying power. I’ll have to call on every last ounce of strength I have if I want to survive the night and save the lives of everyone counting on me
3. Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter by John G. Harkness
Quincy Harker is the son of Mina Harper and Jonathan Harper. Unfortunately, depending on your point of view, being bitten by Dracula affected both of his parents. Blessed with immortality and a horribly bad attitude, Quincy has devoted himself to fighting the forces of Hell on Earth. He’s just a real jerk about it. He also has the help of his “uncle” Luc, who has mostly retired from being a force of evil. I really enjoy these books and they’re like an even sillier version of the Dresden Files with all the wonderful melodrama. I strongly recommend the omnibus versions.
What it is about?
AWARD-WINNING DARK FANTASY WITH ACTION, SNARK, AND DEMONS GALORE
“If you love action-packed dark edged urban fantasy with mystery, humor and a lot of foul language then check this one out.” – Sharon Stogner, I Smell Sheep
Straight out of the pages of the legendary vampire novel Dracula comes a demon hunter for the modern world. Mina Murray and Jonathan Harker had a son. They named him Quincy. His guardian angel calls him Q. Dracula calls him nephew.
Demons call him The Reaper.
“There are things in this world that men and women aren’t meant to understand. We aren’t supposed to know these things exist, much less how to fight them. The things that go bump in the night, the monsters in the closet, the shadow out of the corner of your eye — that’s where I live.”
Year One collects the first four short novels in the Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter series
Raising Hell – Winner of the 2016 Manly Wade Wellman Award – Quincy Harker takes on a demon-summoning entrepreneur that makes Gordon Gecko look like Santa Claus.
Straight to Hell – The Four Horsemen are back in Charlotte, NC, and I don’t mean Ric, Arn, Tully, and Barry. Harker has to save the world from the forces of Apocalypse.
Hell on Heels – She’s hot, she’s mean, she’s borderline psychotic and has a lot of issues with Harker and his people. She’s Gabriella Van Helsing, and she’s Hell on Heels.
Hell Freezes Over – Somebody is walking through dreams and murdering families all over Harker’s city. Now the ghost of a murdered little girl is walking through Harker’s dreams. Is he going to stand for this? Yeah, when Hell Freezes Over.
4. Darkmage by M.L. Spencer
Darkmage is the first of the Rhenwars Saga and it is one of my all-time favorite fantasy novel series, indie or otherwise. There’s a prequel, Darkstorm, but Darkmage is where the author wants you to start. Darien Lauchlin wants to be the man who saves his country from the forces invading it and who murdered his family. Unfortunately, too much power makes him an enemy of the entire world. It also helps that he’s not quite right about who the villains of this story are.
What is it About?
The hope of the world rests in the hands of a Darkmage.
The Well of Tears is open and the terror of the night has been unleashed. Now, the last Sentinel left alive with the power to defend his world against the minions of the Netherworld is a man destined to be corrupted into the image of what he hates. In the name of duty, Darien Lauchlin will see oaths forsaken, crowns toppled, friends sacrificed and the land he loves desecrated. For there is a very thin line between duty… and brutal inhumanity.
5. Crimes against Magic by Steve McHugh
Steve McHugh has created a great world with a combination of Greek mythology, Arthurian mytholoy, and gritty crime drama. Nate Garrett woke up with amnesia a decade ago and now works for both a vampire fixer and a regular crime lord. However, his destiny and past are much-much greater. He’s also faced against “crimes against magic”, beings that manage to make even his formidable skill look paltry. I love this series and while I miss that it moves further into high fantasy than gritty London gangster story, it’s still a fantastic set of books.
What is it About?
It’s been almost ten years since Nathan Garrett woke on a cold warehouse floor with nothing but a gun, a sword, and no idea of who he was or how he got there. His only clue … a piece of paper with his name on it. Since then, he’s discovered he’s a powerful sorcerer and has used his abilities to work as a thief for hire. But he’s never stopped hunting for his true identity, and those who erased his memory have never stopped hunting for him. When the barrier holding his past captive begins to crumble, Nathan swears to protect a young girl who is key to his enemy’s plans. But with his enemies closing in, and everyone he cares about becoming a target for their wrath, Nathan is forced to choose between the life he’s built for himself and the one buried deep inside him.
Crimes Against Magic is an Urban Fantasy set in modern-day London with Historical flashbacks to early fifteenth-century France. It’s book one of the Hellequin Chronicles, a series about Nathan (Nate) Garrett, a centuries-old sorcerer.
