Search Worlds Without End

THE MEANEST STREETS...

James Kincaid is the type of guy who might be described as down on his luck, if only he'd had some luck to begin with. Like so many people in the shadows of Seattle, he's trying to get by with what he has. In his case, that includes a lively spirit, a sadly diminished magical talent, quick wits, and good knowledge of the twists and turns of the city's dingy streets and back alleys. He puts all that to the service of whatever clients he can dig up, solving whatever cases they're willing to pay him to take on. With any luck, he'll scrape up enough nuyen to buy a few rounds of his favorite drink--;whiskey, neat.

His latest case seems simple enough--;find a girl who's gone missing. But throw in a couple of feuding megacorporations, a few organized crime families, and a full selection of the odd denizens of Seattle's streets, and you've got a case that's anything but easy. It's up to Kincaid to see how many people he can keep alive--;including (and especially) himself.

Neat is a Shadowrun novella plunging readers into the cold, sharp environs of the Sixth World. Elves, trolls, orks, and dwarves mix with humans in the shadowy streets of a near-future world altered by magic, trying to survive on the crumbs dropped by the megacorporations that dominate the world. Whether you're new to Shadowrun fiction or a longtime fan, Neat is your ticket back to the Sixth World in all its dark, desperate glory.

Most Awakened folks in the Sixth World have Mentor Spirits to help them navigate the vast, often confusing world of magic. Many times, the mage chooses a spirit that compliments them, and can help them out in tough situations.

And then there's Jimmy Kincaid.

Kincaid's never been one for taking the easy road, and to say his life is complicated is like saying water's wet. And when a simple trace job leads to a nest of Humanis thugs that have captured a metahuman hostage, well the voice of his Mentor Spirit isn't whispering peace and goodwill in the P.I.'s ear.

Because Kincaid's Mentor Spirit is Adversary... and Adversary just wants to see the world burn... Will Jimmy resist his mentor's siren call of death and destruction... or give in to those darker instincts and just level the entire place?

STREETS ON FIRE...

A vicious magical attack on a street gang isn't a case paranormal P.I. Jimmy Kincaid would normally pick up. But when a fellow private eye asks him to look into it, and he learns the gang was doing a charity run for a church--a church Jimmy knows quite well--when they were attacked, his professional curiosity is raised.

But his investigation quickly leads to a tangled maze of clues and dead-ends. Someone--or something--is prowling the streets of Puyallup, looking to incinerate whoever crosses their path. And Jimmy's got to find them--and stop them--before the entire neighborhood goes up in flames.

But whoever's looking to light innocent victims on fire made one mistake--they're doing it in Kincaid's backyard. And Jimmy's never taken kindly to trespassers...

NO PLACE FOR A HERO...

Jimmy Kincaid, burned-out mage, P. I., and the closest thing Puyallup's got to a hero, has a lot on his plate these days. Simmering gang wars, feuding mobsters, missing runaways, magical power only as reliable as his stubborn sorcerous patron, and--;well above his usual pay grade--;an encrypted data file that's already cost him friends, but that he can't even access. When the always-dangerous troubles of the Seattle sprawl deepen into a bloody conspiracy with ties to neighboring nations and inhuman powers, he knows he's on the job of his life. Facing the longest of long odds, Kincaid's all too aware that the house always wins.

Luckily, he's not alone. A man like Jimmy can't walk these shadowed streets without making enemies, but he's made allies, too. With the help of his bounty-hunting best friends, an up-and-coming shadowrunner team, a former Lone Star detective who's short in stature but big in style, and his loyal, albeit flighty ally spirit, Jimmy's stacked the deck in his favor. Maybe he's got a shot after all. Maybe he can make it all work. Maybe he can find the right balance, share the right truths, and make something good out of a whole lot of bad.

Of course, the problem with a house of cards is it just takes one good hit to bring it all tumbling down...

Jimmy Kincaid is an elven p.i., damaged mage, and friend to the downtrodden. He roams the streets of 2074 Seattle, dispensing justice the only way he knows how--fast and direct. But when a mage contacts him to let him know his magical mentor has died and left him a datachip, Kincaid thinks his old professor was simply taking care of some minor unfinished business. But the professor hires Kincaid to find out who killed his mentor, an old enemy from Kincaid's past pops up as the prime suspect--the same vampire that stripped him of his magic. Now Jimmy's got two reasons to tie up this loose end, permanently. But the bloodsucker's involvement goes deeper than Kincaid first realizes, and soon he's running for his life while trying to figure out exactly what his old mentor was up to and why so many will kill to get their claws on it.

THE STREETS ARE ABOUT TO EXPLODE...;

And Puyallup's local paranormal investigator Jimmy Kincaid is caught right in the middle of it. The neighborhood's criminal syndicates are on the brink of all-out war, and if they go at it, the streets will run red--;literally.

But Jimmy's got more problems besides trying to keep the peace between feuding mobsters. Someone's sending him a very particular message by sending him severed limbs. And then there's the pairs of hitmen coming after him. Last but certainly not least, he's got to broker a deal between the biggest elven street gang in Seattle and a vicious Triad gang--;and not get himself killed in the bargain.

But when an old enemy comes to town for revenge, Jimmy finds his already fairly chaotic life completely upended--;and never to be the same again. To settle the score, he'll have to face off against the deadliest assassin ever to stalk the Seattle streets--;and use every bit of skill, guile, and luck he has to survive...