Murder, mystery, mayhem - and dragons! ➱ Nite Fire Series Urban Fantasy by C.L. Schneider Book Tour with Rafflecopter
Flash Point
Nite Fire Book 1
by C.L. Schneider
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Supernatural Thriller, Paranormal Mystery
What if the legends are true?
What if monsters are real? What if there are worlds beyond our
own?
Slated for execution, shapeshifting assassin,
Dahlia Nite, flees her world to hide in the human realm. As payment
for the shelter they unknowingly provide, Dahlia dedicates herself to
protecting humans from what truly lives in the shadows. Moving from
town to town, she hunts the creatures that threaten an unsuspecting
human race; burying the truth that could destroy them all.
But
the shadows are shifting. The lies are adding up. And when Sentinel
City is threatened by a series of bizarre brutal murders, light is
shed on what should never be seen. The secrets that have kept
humanity in the dark for centuries are in danger of being
exposed.
Wrestling with a lifetime of her own deceptions,
Dahlia investigates the killings while simultaneously working to
conceal their circumstances. But with each new murder, the little bit
of peace she has found in this world begins to crumble. Each new clue
leads her to the one place she thought to never go again.
Home.
Flash Point is the award-winning first book in
the Nite Fire Series, an immersive mashup of urban fantasy and murder
mystery—with shapeshifters, dragons, and parallel worlds.
Amazon * Audiobook * Bookbub * Goodreads
Chain Reaction
Nite Fire Book 2
Murder, mystery, mayhem,
dragons--and mutants!
If anyone can tell the
difference between monsters and humans, it's Dahlia Nite. For nearly
a century, she's hunted one to protect the other; safeguarding
humanity from the creatures that slip through the torn veil between
the worlds--creatures like her. But the lines are blurring. As people
begin mutating and combusting on the streets, Dahlia realizes a
strange affliction has descended upon Sentinel City. The mysterious
ailment strikes all walks of life, from the posh, high-end nightclub
district to the homeless community. Its victims, driven to random
acts of savagery, are drawing attention too fast to cover
up.
Assigned to the case, Dahlia and her human partner,
Detective Alex Creed, investigate the deaths. But all they have are
questions and bodies, and a public on the verge of panic. Working
behind the scenes with her self-appointed sidekick, Casey Evans,
Dahlia struggles to discover what, or who, is behind the alarming
transformations. As the violence spreads and the mystery unfolds, she
wonders: are the victims still human? Were they ever?
Amazon * Audiobook * Bookbub * Goodreads
Smoke & Mirrors
Nite Fire Book 3
She knows monsters are real
because she is one. But how long can she hide the truth?
Secrets
are a dragon's best friend. Deception is a close second. Both provide
a sturdy armor, allowing half-dragon shapeshifter, Dahlia Nite, to
live undetected among the humans. Walking in two worlds, belonging in
neither, she wraps herself in a shroud of lies to hide in plain
sight. But nothing stays hidden forever.
When dismembered
bodies of multiple species are dumped on the riverbank, the case
falls to Dahlia and Detective Alex Creed. Backed by Sentinel City's
new task force, the pair find themselves urged along by clues that
seem too good to be true. Bouncing from one crime scene to the next,
they hunt for a clear motive in a murky sea of conflicting evidence.
Already on edge from the recent string of unexplained crimes, the
city begins to unravel.
Drowning in missing creatures,
slaughtered remains, masked men--and the search for her sidekick's
missing sister--Dahlia burns the candle at both ends. Seeking
answers, she employs her empathic abilities, and uncovers something
deeper and more sinister than a simple serial killer's web. As the
dots connect, and worlds collide, she struggles to shields her
friends from the truth. But secrets can be deadly. And Dahlia's not
the only one who keeps them.
Amazon * Audiobook * Bookbub * Goodreads
Slash & Burn
Nite Fire Book 4
Time is running out. Change is
coming, and the linked worlds will never be the same.
Surviving
her ordeal on Drimera was only the beginning. Forced to pick up the
remains of her life and move on, Dahlia returns to her vigilante
ways: hunting monsters by the cover of darkness. Backed by a new
team, she vows to keep the streets safe while training to harness the
eye's abilities. But the city has become a time bomb, and every day
the clock ticks faster--as the creatures pour in and the blight
spreads. Dahlia worries she will never be enough to stop the
impending destruction. How can she be the answer to saving them
all?
Already stretched thin, Dahlia shies away from
investigating the Sentinel's latest murder spree. But the victims'
identities confound her. And the fragile thread tying the postmortem
mutilations to Ella Chandler is impossible to ignore. Compelled to
unravel the truth, what she uncovers only deepens the mystery. Who
engineered the sinister plot? Why does everything lead back to that
first case--the one that brought Dahlia out of the shadows and into
the light?
Amazon * Audiobook * Bookbub * Goodreads
Exit Strategy
Nite Fire Book 5
All good things come to an end. Not if she can help it.
The life Dahlia built in Sentinel City is over, shattered by betrayal and crushed beneath the rubble of a world she’s come to love. But, in the apocalypse, grief is a luxury none can afford. Least of all, the scaled vigilante fighting to protect them.
With half her team MIA, creatures rampaging the streets, and humanity facing destruction, Dahlia struggles to put out more fires than one shapeshifter can handle. All the while, the damaged veil between the worlds is eroding faster. Exits are multiplying, giving the blight free reign to devour all in its path. Relishing in the chaos: the mad scientist bent on seizing Earth for his own devious plan.
In a race against time, Dahlia must find a way to save what remains of this tragic new reality—before the Renewal extinguishes all life on the linked worlds. The dragon inside her is done sitting quietly in the background.
Exit Strategy is the 5th and final book in the Nite Fire Series.
Amazon * Audiobook * Bookbub * Goodreads
Excerpt
Flash Point, Nite Fire Book 1
Fire
dripped like rain from my scaled fingers. Gliding past my jean-covered thighs,
then boots, the flaming beads breached the puddle beside me with a hiss. A last stubborn burst of light
flared brightly, illuminating the red pool for a breath before it sputtered
out.
The
pattern repeated: drip, flare, hiss,
sputter…drip, flare, hiss, sputter, as I stood in the abandoned train
depot, counting the circles of blood overrunning the pockmarks on the fractured
concrete floor. Each bloody puddle corresponded to a body hanging upside down
from the rafters above my head.
Thick
ropes bound their ankles. Their flaccid arms dangled toward me, as if reaching
down in hopeless supplication. But their death throe pleas were illusion. The
six had died long before they were dragged in, stripped of their clothing and
skin, and hung like a side of beef in a slaughterhouse. If they’d died here, I
would have felt an imprint of their trauma on the room. Instead, all I sensed
was their ripe stench drifting with the breeze as it blew in through the rotted
holes in the ceiling.
“Looks
like a full hunt.” I glanced up with a frown as moisture landed on my head. The
color got lost in the red of my hair as the blood slid down into the curls.
“And you’re fresh. Dammit…” I stepped to the left, dodging another drop
escaping from the corpse overhead. I waited to see if it would be enough, if
one little bead would trigger a flood, ambushing me with the images and
emotions of the victim’s last moments.
Not now, I
thought. The last thing I needed was an unsolicited, untimely death-glimpse.
Experiencing the terror of being skinned alive would definitely lower my guard.
Trying
to stave it off, I busied my mind. I studied the dilapidated building, the
architecture, and the faded peeling murals gracing the wide walls. I thought
back to when it had all looked fresh and new. Opening day, the ticket counters
had been bustling, handing out adventure and opportunity with every ticket. So
many lives had passed through the front door. All that came through now were
the rats.
And the monsters.
Sensing
no extraneous rush of emotions, I went back to rooting out my prey. “Guess that
means you’re ready to pack up and head home.” I raised my voice higher. “Except
you can’t yet, can you? You’re stuck for now. You’re ineffective. Vulnerable.”
Just the way I like it.
Moving
deeper into the vacant building, swarms of buzzing flies scattered at my
intrusion. My low-heeled boots clicked softly on the wooden planks covering a
broken section of floor. My steps were leisurely. It was a nice change, not
having to run. The creature was in no shape for such dexterous moves. It
wouldn’t be for hours. Hiding was another matter. Sentinel City’s original
depot had been vacated long ago in favor of a bright, shiny new building on the
other end of the train yard. Here, amid the debris of a forgotten time, were
cracks and crevices, and lots of shadows.
“You
can’t leave this world until you digest,” I said, keeping my voice loud. “Until
your pathetically slow stomach consumes all that delicious human skin you’ve
been gorging on.”
Getting
no response, I pushed crimson scales out over more of my body. They ran like
water beneath my black halter, affording extra protection to my upper half. As
they reached my face, I shifted my eyes. Sockets enlarged. Pupils widened and
elongated. Their reddish hazel-brown color deepened to warm amber, and my
vision amplified. Sweeping the room, I peered into nooks and crannies, studying
the fallen beams, broken signs, piles of busted chairs and rows of dusty
benches; fallen light fixtures and detached stair railings barely hanging on by
a thread.
“You
should’ve added some brains to your diet,” I said, scanning for movement as I
walked. “Maybe they would have made you smarter. Because I’ve already warned
you once—this isn’t a buffet,” I said
with force. “There are no free refills here. No ‘all you can eat’ night. The
human world is off limits to the del-yun. It’s off limits to everyone.”
His
voice came out of the dark, scratchy and dry like sandpaper on a chalkboard.
“You have no right. No authority to enforce the elders’ rules. You no longer
hold position in the dragon ranks, pretty shifter. The Guild tossed you out so
very, very long ago.”
“Ninety-seven
years, two months, and three days. But who’s counting?” Bristling, I tossed
back my hair. “And they didn’t fire me. I quit.”
“You
ran, like those cowardly small ones with the perfect skin…so soft and supple.”
Understanding
him, I frowned. “Children?”
“Yes,
you fled like a child.” His laugh was stilted and wobbly. “And now you’re a
maid.”
“I
prefer the term contract cleaner. Scrubbing away those stubborn off-world
assholes is my specialty. How about I give you a free demo?” I lifted my hand.
Fire dribbled down the side.
“You
can’t blame me for this! The human world is so beautifully curious, so
dangerous. It’s why all the other worlds are drawn here. It’s why we watch. Why
we learn to speak their sounds.”
“Why
you eat them?”
“No.
We eat them because they’re tasty. And their skin comes in so many varieties.
It’s not our fault they can’t live without it. It’s a…structural flaw.”
Born in a small Kansas town on the Missouri river, C.L. Schneider grew up in a house of avid readers and overflowing bookshelves. Her first full-length novel took shape while she was still in high school, on a typewriter in her parent's living room. Though Schneider has been writing all of her life, Magic-Price (the award-winning first installment in The Crown of Stones Trilogy) was her first published novel.
While her main focus is epic and urban fantasy for adults, she dabbles in all areas of speculative fiction. Her stories tend to be dark, conflict-laden tales full of magic and mystery, action and intrigue, antiheroes and villains, monsters and myths, friendship, love, loss and sacrifice—with enough twists to give you whiplash.
Learn more about C.L. Schneider, and the magical worlds she creates, at clschneiderauthor.com, where you can read reviews, excerpts, sneak peeks and teasers, subscribe to her newsletter, and join her Street Team. An active part of the online indie author community, you can connect with her on social media, or visit the News and Events page on her website for a full list of C.L. Schneider's in-person appearances in the NY, NJ, and CT area.
Website * Facebook * X * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads
Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
Signed Paperback of Flash Point,
$20 Amazon giftcard
- 1 winner each!
The covers look great. This sounds like a good series.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm glad you think so!
DeleteThank you so much for hosting the Nite Fire Series Tour. I'm super grateful you took the time to read all 5 books! And I'm SO very happy you enjoyed them. I had an absolute blast writing the wild adventures of Dahlia and the gang :)
ReplyDelete