New Sci-Fi Crime Releases
If you enjoyed the stories in CROOKED volumes 1 and 2, you’ll be delighted to hear that the authors are an industrious bunch. Many have new books out in their well-loved series — or are launching new series entirely. Read on for a round-up of this winter’s new releases from some of the fabulous authors I’ve been privileged to work with as part of CROOKED!
(Note that a lot of these books are further on in the series — follow the links to pick up the first book in the series if you haven’t already.)
Huntress at the Helm by Greg Dragon
The Geralos, scourge of the Anstractor universe, have set their eyes on the Nusalein cluster of colonies. Lieutenant Helga Ate and the Nighthawks, having completed a mission on the planet Genese, are called in to assist with holding off the invasion. Now, the team finds themselves involved in a crisis where trust is short, and the enemy is varied. Will Helga’s luck and knack for survival be enough with an inexperienced crew and a ship only partially repaired?
Code Reaper by E.L. Strife
In a digital world, who strips your online presence when you die so no one can steal your assets, ruin your name, or destroy your family after your death?
Kaisha is an elite Code Reaper for Divisiom Enterprises, helping to sever digital ties of the dead and protect their life’s achievements from hackers. After the mysterious murder of her parents, Kaisha sticks to the shadows, burning the existence of the less fortunate, like them, from the online realm.
Kaisha has learned to protect herself and the assets of the lower classes while she works. She has no desire for the cushy life of a Corporate Code Reaper. Even a simple hack can ruin an entire family.
When a major corporate player, Mr. Deranth, unexpectedly summons her to wipe his digital slate, she’s stunned. But Deranth has picked her for a reason. It isn’t supposed to be his time to die.
Kaisha finds herself chasing a trail of early deaths, trying to find signs of murder in the code. Divisiom wants her to leave it alone and just do her job. When she won’t stop, Divisiom hunts her down.
Teaming up with Holt, one of Mr. Deranth’s guards, Kaisha discovers a dark truth behind the corporate leader’s murder, one that opens her eyes to a powerful virus coursing through the underground. With cybersquads after her, Kaisha must pull from every skill set to find the source before its evidence is erased forever.
Can she stop the virus before she becomes the next client on another Code Reaper’s scrub list?
The Corpse Corps by Eric Warren
Fresh off her promotion and finally accepting the reality of twenty-seventh century living, Lilah Barrows finally feels like she has a grasp on the future.
That is, until she botches her first command, throwing her whole promotion into question. However, there is something else gnawing at Lilah, something she can’t quite describe, but it sits in the back of her genetically-enhanced brain, chipping away at her.
Just as she’s decided she’s ready to seek some help, Lilah finds herself in shackles and being paraded in front of her friends and her squad, accused of a crime serious enough to have her stripped from her body and placed back in storage. The only problem is, no one will tell her what law she’s broken.
Determined not to go down without a fight, Lilah manages an escape with the help of an old friend. But when it turns out her escape was made possible by the twenty-seventh century equivalent of a cult, Lilah will have to dig deep if she hopes to figure out who these people are and what they truly want.
It turns out this group may have the answers about her mental condition and her past, but to learn the truth, Lilah will be tasked with changing the Stellar Union at its most fundamental levels. And the reality of what really happened to her could cost Lilah her sanity…and her life.
Traitor Game by Kate Sheeran Swed
Book 3 of the Parse Galaxy series.
Sloane Tarnish isn’t the kind of girl who typically harbors celebrity fugitives on the rugged little spaceship she calls home. But now that she’s stuck with one, she can’t help but feel she’s pretty darn good at it, thank you very much.
She doesn’t know how long her crew will be able to hide.
She doesn’t know what the Cosmic Trade Federation will do next in their bid to control the entire freaking galaxy.
What she does know, with absolute certainty, is that Galactic Fleet Commander Gareth Fortune is innocent of all crimes.
The only trouble? Finding a way to prove it…
Symbiotech by C.E. Clayton
Ellinor is done—running and hiding.
Cosmin has made it violently clear that wherever Ellinor and Kai go, he will find them. And, he will gladly make their families suffer until Ellinor returns what she stole from him. But Ellinor cannot, and will not relinquish Fiss; not to those who would bind and shackle him to serve their greedy agenda, not to anyone.
Even with her magic returned, and with Fiss, Kai, and Jelani to help, they are still no match for Cosmin, a point made agonizingly clear when Ellinor and her friends tangle with an old foe. Without more power, Ellinor has little hope of saving her family before there is nothing left to save. The power is there, but learning how to harness her upgraded magic is complicated, and time has run out. Then there are other distractions, in the guise of feelings Ellinor would never have thought possible for her again, if it weren’t for the charming Jelani and her growing attachment to him.
Allies are in short supply, and any help will come with a price, but that won’t stop Ellinor from returning to Euria. She will face Cosmin von Brandt and save her family, or die trying.
Cast Off by R J Theodore
The Action Packed Conclusion to the Peridot Shift Trilogy
Peridot is on the edge of annihilation. Once life-giving, the world’s Trade Winds are transforming people into soulless monsters. The surviving Alchemist gods neglect their followers or take advantage of them. Even worse, a delicate peace has been wasted, and everything and everyone is at stake, especially Meran, the mistreated embodiment of the planet.
Captain Talis and the crew of Fortune’s Storm must try to do some good with what’s left of Peridot in the hope that, together, they’ll reclaim the hidden pieces of Meran’s soul before the chaos seals her disastrous fate.
Morphus Ascendant by G.J. Ogden
The search for a superweapon leads to a conflict with the galaxy’s most dangerous criminal cartel
Despite their best efforts to subdue Goliath, the superpowered alien AI continues to grow stronger and more lethal. Billions already lie dead across the galaxy as the entity works its way toward Earth, and the Star Scavengers are losing faith. All of their hopes now lie in finding another artificial entity – one that fought and defeated Goliath long before humanity was born.
The only problem is that this entity is dead.
Thanks to their informant inside the military, Hudson and Tory learn the location of their potential ally’s body. As an artificial being, they hope there is still a chance to revive it and get it back into the fight.
But Goliath and its death cult controlled by fanatical leader, Amelia Ash, are no longer the Star Scavenger’s only problems. The Council – the galaxy’s deadliest crime syndicate – are gunning for them too, as are bitter relic-hunting rivals, the Creed Brothers.
Battling the odds, and winning, is what Hudson and Tory do best. But this time, they will need more than just luck and guile to achieve their goal of stopping Goliath; they’ll need a weapon powerful enough to destroy it.
Star Guardian is an epic space opera series, blending the action and fun of Firefly with the treasure-hunting adventure and mystery of Indiana Jones. Start reading today!
Rememory by Frasier Armitage
In the future, memory is currency. Felix is broke, on the run, with nothing in his head but a combination of numbers.
Someone robbed him of his mind. Now it’s time he took it back.
★★★★★ “Armitage deftly executes the fresh concept of memory as currency. REMEMORY is part cyberpunk, part thriller, and a total blast to read. Truly captivating.”–EL Strife, Author of the Infinite Spark series and Zedger
★★★★★ “A mind-blowing short story about a man on a perilous pursuit to take back his looted memories. I’d absolutely give it five stars.”–Dawn Ross, Author of the Dragon Spawn series
★★★★★ “Phenomenal story…absolutely phenomenal”–Davene Le Grange, Poet and Author of The Cyber Punk: Ready 2 Play? and other science fiction
The U.F.O. Case by Austin Dragon
All aboard the Falcon Express! Earth’s first royal luxury hoverjet designed to travel the skies, on the seas, underwater, and into space! What could possibly go wrong with our hero detective on-board for vacation?
A dream of high-end travel has arrived. But that dream becomes a Nightmare…at 40,000 feet!
LIQUID COOL is Sci-Fi Meets the Detective Crime Thriller!
In the action-packed (and funny) cyberpunk detective series, we tag along with Cruz, our sci-fi detective (and unlikely hero) with attitude. But this time it’s not the fifty-million-plus, supercity of Metropolis. We only start there. We’re 40,000 feet up, traveling 700 miles per hour in the dark skies.
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These books are a ton of fun. Fascinating worlds, a badass main character, and a great will-they-won’t-they love story that races alongside the fast-paced plot.
The Expanse is another series I fell hard for when I first came across it. If I recall, my husband brought home the first three books as an impulse buy from Powell’s, and we both devoured them, then binged the TV series when it came out.
I’ve always loved Lindsay Buroker’s writing, and the Fallen Empire series was no disappointment. But what really drew me in was the chemistry of the two main characters, enemies who are forced to work together and eventually develop trust and camaraderie.
The instant I saw the cover of Behind the Throne, I desperately wanted to read it. And then I saw this description:
The Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers has been making waves for the past few years — and I love this description:
The first time I saw the cover of Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente, I screamed “Yes!” at my computer. Because I love Valente, and I love Eurovision, and I love a good book title pun.
For as grim as the title sounds, the Murderbot novellas are truly delightful. The story is told from the point of view of a bored SecUnit who’s hacked its governor module after a traumatic last mission, and who’s determined to keep its humans safe this time around.
Levi Ergott of book review site 
This last recommendation comes from Luke Elliott, co-host of the 
Might I humbly suggest you take a look at my 
