Books like 'The Killing Joke'
Readers who enjoyed The Killing Joke by Christa Faust & Gary Phillips also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
fantasy horror mystery action / adventure super-powered crime noir organized-crime
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Warbound by Larry Correia
18 ratingsNew York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author's gritty urban fantasy set in an alternate noir 1930s. A tough P.I. battles an interdimensional monster that wants to suck magic power out of the world. Sequel to Hard Magic and Spellbound. Book Three in the Grimnoir Chronicles...Categorized as:
crime noir super-powered 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history -
Spellbound by Larry Correia
24 ratingsDark fantasy goes hardboiled in #2 of the hard-hitting Grimnoir Chronicles by the New York Times best-selling creator of Monster Hunter International...Categorized as:
crime noir super-powered action-adventure adult alternate-history alternate-universe audiobook -
Netherworld Paranormal Police Department Full Series Box Set, #1-5 by John P. Logsdon, Christopher P. Young
6 ratingsThousands sold. Millions of pages read. Get your badge today! *INCLUDES BOOKS 1-5* Nearly 900 pages of action-packed adventure. Blood Crossed (Book 1) Meet Piper Shaw. She's one of the Netherworld Paranormal Police Department's toughest. She's also an immortal, and she's got one hell of a chip on her shoulder. Meet Reaper Payne. He's an actual reaper. Yes, one of those guys who ferries the dead... -
The Neon Boneyard by Craig Schaefer
13 ratingsDaniel Faust has clawed his way from the gutter to a penthouse suite, carving a bloody swath across the Las Vegas underworld. He's buried his enemies and more than a few friends along the way. If there's one thing a modern-day sorcerer knows for certain, though, it's that the past never stays buried forever... -
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She Who Waits by Daniel Polansky
14 ratingsThe third novel in the brilliant dark fantasy Low Town seriesLow Town: the worst ghetto in the worst city in the Thirteen Lands. Good only for depravity and death. And Warden, long ago a respected agent in the formidable Black House, is now the most depraved Low Town denizen of them all... -
Hollywood Dead by Richard Kadrey
16 ratingsLife and death takes on an entirely new meaning for half-angel, half-human hero James Stark, aka, Sandman Slim, in this insanely inventive, high-intensity tenth supernatural noir thriller in the New York Times bestselling series.James Stark is back from Hell, trailing more trouble in his wake. To return to L.A... -
White Trash Zombie Unchained by Diana Rowland
12 ratingsAngel Crawford has finally pulled herself together (literally!) after her disastrous dismemberment on Mardi Gras. She’s putting the pieces of her life back in order and is ready to tackle whatever the future holds.Too bad the future is a nasty bitch. There’s a new kind of zombie in town: mindless shamblers, infectious and ravenous...Categorized as:
crime super-powered action-adventure alpha-mc anthologies audiobook contemporary epidemy -
The Kill Society by Richard Kadrey
17 ratingsSandman Slim has been to Heaven and Hell and many places in between, but now he finds himself in an unknown land: the far, far edge of the Tenebrae, the desolate home of the lost dead. Making his way inland with nothing but his unerring instinct for trouble to guide him, he collides with a caravan of the damned on a mysterious crusade, led by the ruthless Magistrate... -
Hard Magic by Larry Correia
24 ratingsJake Sullivan is a licensed Private Eye—with a seriously hardboiled attitude. He also possesses raw magical talent and the ability to make objects in his vicinity light as a feather or as heavy as depleted uranium, all with a magical thought. It's no wonder the G-men turn to Jake when they need someone to go after a suspected killer who's been knocking off banks in a magic-enhanced crime spree...Categorized as:
crime noir super-powered 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history alternate-universe -
Dead Spark by Al K. Line
6 ratingsThe zombie venom entered my bloodstream, the Council HQ was ready to blow, and I was tapped out of magic. With the hunger already on me, wyrmlings closing in, and my body shutting down, I was almost defeated. But where there's life, there's hope. I had a family, I had friends, and I had the chance at a future... -
New Spark by Al K. Line
8 ratingsTake one wizard—that's me—add a hot female vampire, give them a nice place in the country and what do you get? Paradise. Heaven on earth. So, of course, someone decided to go spoil it. No, it wasn't me, not this time... -
Tales from the Nightside: A Nightside Book by Simon R. Green
12 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author Simon R. Green returns to the “bizarre and gleefully dangerous backdrop” (Jim Butcher, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Dresden Files) of the Nightside with this landmark collection of short fiction. Welcome to the Nightside... -
A Plain-Dealing Villain by Craig Schaefer
15 ratingsIt's hard to make a dishonest buck in Sin City, especially when a rogue FBI agent is gunning for your head. Flat broke and one step ahead of the law, Daniel Faust flees Vegas and lands in Chicago, where a risky heist promises to fill his pockets with cash... -
The Source by Brian Lumley
18 ratingsThe third book in the Necroscope series traces the battle between Harry Keogh and the horrifying Vamphyri on their home ground, an alien landscape of looming towers, impossible cliffs, and ravenous vampire-beasts.Russia's Ural Mountains hide a deadly secret: a supernatural portal to the country of the vampires...Categorized as:
crime organized-crime action-adventure adult audiobook book contemporary cosmic-horror -
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Thicker Than Water by Mike Carey
18 ratingsFelix Castor is a freelance exorcist, so dealing with the dead is his stock in trade. Between his private clients and some consulting for the Met, he thinks he's seen it all. But a late-night call out to a South London housing estate proves that he still has a few surprises left. After all, it's not every day you see your own name painted in blood at a a crime scene.But that's only the beginning... -
Elemental by Whitney Hill
6 ratingsEnter an urban fantasy world where elves, vampires, weres, djinn, and others maintain a precarious balance of power in North Carolina. Welcome to Otherside. Private investigator and sylph Arden Finch is determined to come out of the shadows and practice her forbidden magic. There's just one problem: the elves have a bounty on elementals like her... -
Bad Things by Tamara Thorne
6 ratingsThe house has been in his family for generations. But it really belongs to them…The Piper clan emigrated from Scotland and founded the town of Santo Verde, California. The Gothic Victorian estate built there has housed the family for generations, and has also become home to an ancient evil forever linked to the Piper name…As a boy, Rick Piper discovered he had “the sight... -
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Predatory Animals by Gabriel Beyers
6 ratingsIN THE TOWN OF SHADELAND, PEOPLE ARE VANISHING.After suffering a near-death accident, Casper Brown awakens with a strange new connection to three stray dogs recently adopted by his family. Casper’s nights are filled with dreams of the dogs’ activities; at times he can even see through their eyes. And what he witnesses has him worried for his family’s safety... -
Find Me When the Sun Goes Down by Lisa Olsen
8 ratings"You know, we've never really talked about what it means that you've claimed me."Newbie vamp Anja Evans is eager to find out what it means to be claimed by sexy, vampire cop, Bishop. Unfortunately, he's been transferred by the Order and she's left to fend for herself... -
Evil Spark by Al K. Line
10 ratingsI'd had less than a week to recover from an incident that left me half-dead. My body was battered and bruised in ways I can't even begin to describe.Dark magic use had consumed me, spat me out a husk of a man. I was little more than flesh and bone, weary to my very soul.So, of course, there was a knock at the door... -
Dying is a Wild Night by Edward Fallon
10 ratingsTHEY SEE WHAT NO ONE ELSE SEESEvery crime scene has a smell. A look. A trail of DNA.It also has a feel. An emotional residue that lingers... floating unseen, like bacteria in the air, just waiting to be absorbed. To be experienced.To be interpreted.And only the man and the boy know this... -
Zero Saints by Gabino Iglesias
10 ratingsEnforcer and drug dealer Fernando has seen better days. On his way home from work, some heavily-tattooed gangsters throw him in the back of a car and take him to an abandoned house, where they saw off his friend's head and feed the kid's fingers to...something. Their message is clear: this is their territory, now.But Fernando isn't put down that easily... -
Carved in Flesh by Tim Waggoner
12 ratingsAfter Sam and Dean Winchester lost their mother to a mysterious supernatural force as young children, their father taught them how to hunt and destroy the paranormal evil that exists in the dark corners of America. After their father’s demonic death, they discovered that they are descended from a long line of hunters and chose to continue their mission... -
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Coyote's Kiss by Christa Faust
14 ratingsA truck full of illegal Mexican immigrants slaughtered with supernatural force is found by the side of a road. Trying to find answers, Sam and Dean are plunged into the dangerous world that exists along the Mexican border. They encounter a tattooed, pistol-packing bandita on a motorcycle who seems be everywhere they go before they get there... -
The Breath of God by Guy Adams
14 ratingsThe nineteenth century is about to draw to a close. In its place will come the twentieth, a century of change, a century of science, a century that will see the superstitions of the past swept away.There are some who are determined to see that never happens.A body is found crushed to death in the London snow. There are no footprints anywhere near it... -
Tomorrow, the Killing by Daniel Polansky
14 ratingsOnce he was a hero of the Great War, and then a member of the dreaded Black House. Now he is the criminal linchpin of Low Town.His name is Warden.He thought he had left the war behind him, but a summons from up above brings the past sharply, uncomfortably, back into focus. General Montgomery's daughter is missing somewhere in Low Town, searching for clues about her brother's murder... -
My Dead Body by Charlie Huston, Scott Brick
16 ratingsPrivate eye Joe Pitt has been in hiding since exposing the secret source of blood for half of Manhattans Vampyres. But now a Vampyre civil war threatens to drag the Clans into the sunlight once and for all. Then Joe is hired to find a missing girl who is carrying a baby that just might be the destiny of Vampyre-kind... -
The Living End by Craig Schaefer
17 ratingsAs the FBI closes in on the Las Vegas underworld, Daniel Faust -- grifter, thief, and sorcerer -- isn't the only one feeling the heat. Half-demon racket boss Nicky Agnelli is fighting to hang onto his empire, leaving a trail of dead informants in his wake, while Daniel's ex-girlfriend Jennifer rallies her forces on the street and aims her sights at Nicky's crown... -
Vignette by Jim Butcher
18 ratingsA short story of the Dresden Files. Bob and Harry discuss the latter's Yellow Pages advert... -
Alone, Untouched, Soulless by Robert J. Crane
24 ratingsThis is a collection of the first three titles in The Girl in the Box Series, which are about a teenage girl who develops powers far beyond those of a normal human, and her battles against those who would use her against her will. (Approx. 185,000 words total.)Books included:1. Alone2. Untouched3... -
Redemption Song by Craig Schaefer
17 ratingsDaniel Faust, Las Vegas sorcerer and career criminal, has never pulled the trigger on an innocent man. When the infernal Prince Sitri challenges him to do just that, though, he can't walk away. His lover, Caitlin, is Sitri's right hand...and if Daniel refuses the job, he'll never see her again... -
Sleeping Late on Judgement Day by Tad Williams
16 ratingsThe conclusion of Tad Williams' brilliant Bobby Dollar series.Bobby Dollar thinks he's seen it all - after all, he's been to Hell and back again. Literally.But he has another thing coming. Sleeping Late on Judgement Day will find Bobby back in his adopted hometown of San Judas, California, trying to stay out of trouble... and failing... -
Tainted Blood by M.L. Brennan
13 ratingsIn the third Generation V novel, Fortitude Scott proves that working with family can be deadly…Former film student Fortitude Scott is finally gainfully employed. Unfortunately, said employment happens to be with a group of sociopathic vampires—his family... -
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The God Killer by Simon R. Green
12 ratingsMurders are taking place on Haven's Street of Gods - the gods themselves are being killed. Hawk & Fisher are assigned to work with a Seer, a Sorcerer, and a Swordsman, a peacekeeping team known as the God Squad. Together, their task is to bring the killer to justice before the mounting panic erupts into an all-out War of the Gods, which could destroy the city of Haven... -
Dark War by Tim Waggoner
8 ratingsMatt Richter won't let a little thing like death keep him from cracking his latest case.But there's a new evil power rampaging through the streets of Nekropolis. The last battle has begun... -
The Last Hot Time by John M. Ford
8 ratingsWhen Danny Holman leaves the cornfields of Iowa for the bright lights of Chicago, he expects his life to change. He just can't guess how much and how fast. A violent incident on the road brings Danny the favor of a man known only as Mr. Patrise, who gives Danny a job, a home, and a new identity.The City is a different world from the one Danny — now called Doc — knew, and literally so... -
Titanshade by Dan Stout
8 ratingsThis noir fantasy thriller from a debut author introduces the gritty town of Titanshade, where danger lurks around every corner. "Take a little Mickey Spillane, some Dashiell Hammet, a bit of Raymond Chandler, and mix it with Phillip K. Dick's Blade Runner; add a taste of CJ Box, and Craig Johnson, and you've got a masterpiece of a first novel." --W... -
Creeping Jenny by Jeff Noon
6 ratingsThe third book in Jeff Noon's widely acclaimed 'Nyquist Mysteries' find our protagonist caught up in a new mystery that delves into nightmares, Saints and the answer to his father's disappearanceNyquist finds himself in a village where everyday is a different type of nightmare and whose bizarre rules are governed by whichever Saint rules that day... -
Terminated by Rachel Caine
12 ratingsAlready addicted to the pharmaceutical drug that keeps her body from decomposing, Bryn has to stop a secretive group of rich and powerful investors from eliminating the existing Returné addicts altogether... -
Vampires & Vigilantes by Ella Summers
10 ratingsLimited time release discount. From princess to private detective. Exiled, stripped of her title and magic armor, former paranormal princess Terra Cross is living a new life as a private detective... -
Dead Streets by Tim Waggoner
10 ratingsThe return of Matt Richter. Private Eye. Zombie.MATT RICHTER'S GOING TO PIECES - LITERALLY.You've got to keep your head to survive in the teeming undead city known as Nekropolis. It's a pity crazed genius Victor Baron couldn't manage that. Now everyone wants a piece of him... -
The Twelve-Fingered Boy by John Hornor Jacobs
10 ratingsFifteen-year-old fast-talking Shreve doesn’t mind juvie. He’s good at dealing contraband candy, and three meals a day is more than his drunk mother provided. In juvie, the rules never change and everyone is the same. In juvie, Shreve has life figured out.So when he’s assigned a strangely silent and vulnerable new cellmate, Jack, Shreve takes the younger boy under his wing... -
City of the Lost by Stephen Blackmoore
8 ratingsReturning as a zombie after being bumped off by a rival crime boss, Joe Sunday tries to locate a talisman that can grant immortality before every other thug in Los Angeles can find it... -
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The Wrong Goodbye by Chris F. Holm, Chris Holm
8 ratingsMeet Sam Thornton, Collector of Souls.Because of his efforts to avert the Apocalypse, Sam Thornton has been given a second chance - provided he can stick to the straight and narrow.Which sounds all well and good, but when the soul Sam's sent to collect goes missing, Sam finds himself off the straight-and-narrow pretty quick... -
Vampire Enforcer by Al K. Line
6 ratingsThe phone rang, and like a fool I answered. Mistake number one. Then I agreed to do a job for the Hidden Council. Definitely mistake number two. Now I've lost count of my bad choices, same as I have the bodies, as they're piling up faster than a troll after free chalk...Categorized as:
crime organized-crime super-powered action-adventure adult audiobook book contemporary -
Evil Dark by Justin Gustainis, Peter Brooke
12 ratingsA series of seemingly motiveless murders of supernatural creatures points to a vigilante targeting the supe community of Scranton. Markowski wouldn’t normally have much of a problem with that, but his daughter may be next on the killer’s list...Justin Gustainis was born in Northeast Pennsylvania in 1951... -
Premonitions by Jude Watson
12 ratingsGrace has premonitions. They've haunted her since her parents' death. She doesn't know how to deal with them, and doesn't want to. She never knows whether she's seeing the past, the present, or the future. It just comes to her. Then Grace's best friend disappears... -
Black Rock Prison, vol. 1 by Fernando Trujillo Sanz, César García Muñoz
12 ratingsWhat is the worst sentence that can befall a convict in Illinois? Not life in prison, not lethal injection. The worst punishment is to be sent to Black Rock Prison, a black-walled fortress whose exact location no one knows. The new warden of this unusual prison controls every dimension of each and every one of the convicts unfortunate enough to be sent there... -
The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont
10 ratingsWho Knows What Evil Lurks in the Hearts of Men?Take a journey back to the desperate days of America post the Great Depression, when the country turned to the pulp novels for relief, for hope and for heroes. Meet Walter Gibson, the mind behind The Shadow, and Lester Dent, creator of Doc Savage, as they challenge one another to discover what is real and what is pulp...Categorized as:
crime noir 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history amateur-sleuth book
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