J.B. DANE BOOKS

Be it urban fantasy or fantasy from another realm the one thing you can count on getting when picking up one of J.B. Dane's titles is a mix of both comedy and mystery.

The Raven Tales consists of novels but also of a set of prequel tales and "between the books" stories that are cases Bram Farrell, aka The Raven, takes on, well, between the novels. Don't be surprised to find new characters showing up in these who are on the payroll for the next novel to be released.

But Dane has more than one snarky sleuth in her stable of heroes for Nick Claus of North Pole Security also has trouble brewing, and not only during the holiday season! Those naughty and nice lists don't write themselves, you know. Currently these are short stories, but a novel might appear, though don't hold your breath on when it might arrive.

Rip Patterson isn't from around these parts, though the planet of his birth has folks just like us on it. They just don't call themselves "human". And as they are a Civilization III place, their tech is better than ours. Rip is undercover on Earth, saving us from things from other planets and dimensions as part of the Intergalactic Protection Corp. Find this story in the blog section here at 4TaleTellers!

Then there are the various dragons, cursed places, clones, ghosts, and reformed thieves that turn up too.

But let's get to the Raven Tale titles currently available as well as those soon to arrive!

The Raven Tales Novels!

RAVEN CROSSES THE LINE,

the Fourth Book in The Raven Tales!

ISBN-979-8-9864131-3-6 trade paperback

KU and Kindle

If you’ve been looking for me

in Detroit—real Detroit—and found me missing,

well, it’s because I’ve been elsewhere.

Really elsewhere. My name is Bram Farrell,

also answering “Yo” to The Raven, and I’m a PI.

One that uses magic when necessary

to bring down miscreants.

Ones just passing for human but sometimes humans

who have made really bad choices.

I used to be totally fictional,

but I’d been out of the book for five months

and earning points toward becoming fully human.

Of course, I needed to live long enough to snag that prize.

It’s why I mounted a Hell spat horse,

the only way to get into my homeland again.

My evil witch creator had slipped into Faerie and

the only way I could follow and spoil her plans

was through a smuggler’s hole

in my original dimension—fictionland.

You know how folks say “you can’t go home again”?

Well, it turns out they’re right. Things had changed.

And not necessarily for the better.

5++* Review from N.N. Lights' Book Heaven

RAVEN'S EDGE

Book Three of The Raven Tales

2022

ISBN-979-8985207620 trade paperback,

Kindle and KU

Name’s Bram Farrell. I’m a PI – well, used to be.

Michigan doesn’t think I have the requisites

for a license in this world. My experience is nearly all

within the pages of a set of fantasy books

written by Calista Amberson, who I thought died

shortly after yanking me into the real world but hadn’t.

Currently, I rank at the top of her Erase These Idiots list.

The feeling is mutual.

As St. Patrick’s Day dawned,

I thought the only dangerous thing

on my social calendar

was meeting Naomie Enright’s family.

It wasn’t, though downing

green dyed potato salad took courage.

No, it was finding the Irish goddess Danu

waiting for me at the Enright Pub’s bar.

She wanted me to find an enchanted sword.

Someone had nicked The Retaliator, a blade that could kill

with just a scratch. Except this ancient Tuathan treasure

would only go to the hand of a master swordsman.

Not many of them around in 21st century Detroit.

Except, Mack Enright, Naomie’s brother, has a friend who likes to buckle on some swash

and dazzle crowds with sword play. And he's vanished, only the scents of ghoul and vampire

lingering behind in his wrecked apartment. That’s never good.

And it's headed for even worse. I definitely need an edge to solve – survive – these cases!

MARKED RAVEN

Book Two of The Raven Tales

ISBN-978-1-7339806-9-2 trade paperback

Kindle and KU

It’s raining females at the Amberson Mansion

but it’s the assassins Bram Farrell, aka The Raven,

could do without, particularly since someone

has been taking his shields down – which

should be impossible. With a vampiress for a client

and a dead ghoul baked in a non-traditional manner,

Bram’s got his hands full and can use

all the friends he can get to survive these cases!

5* “MARKED RAVEN is, hands down,

one of the most original stories I have ever read...

There are loads of humorous lines, action galore, mystery,

a bit of magic, a lot of paranormal,

and the main character I couldn’t get enough of."

5* “If you love paranormal with a heavy dose

of comedic banter, you’ll want to read MARKED RAVEN.

J.B. Dane is a paranormal author

to binge-read and see what happens next."

5* “So Good, I'm Reading It Again!

J. B. Dane knows how to write urban fantasy."

RAVEN'S MOON

Book One of The Raven Tales

ISBN-978-0-9995083-9-8 trade paperback,

Kindle, and KU

P.I. Bram Farrell, aka The Raven,

had no idea that he was fictional.

He used magic to take down

Otherworlder misbehavers, but there were other

sleuths doing it in his neighborhood, too.

Except he lived in Detroit and most of them didn't.

He was scraping by for a living,

like many other noir detectives,

but as long as he survived, that was copacetic.

Then life changed.

His creator, a witch with ancient talents,

yanked him into real world Detroit

and gave him a job to do. But so did

the Otherworlder residents of the city

that he was both surprised and relieved

to find lived in this world, as well.

It was actually really similar to life back

in fictionland considering

someone was trying to kill him here, too.

Dane “slathers on the silliness, thick and often. . .

Urban fantasy fans should savor this confident series opener,"

says Kirkus Reviews.

5+* Dane is "a paranormal reader’s dream. With descriptive narration and world-building,

the author sucks you into her world...The dialogue is fast with humor peppered throughout.

The mystery subplot had me whipping through the pages until the very end...

I’m instantly hooked on this series,and I can’t wait for more. Highly recommend!”

There is life between novels

as these stories clearly show!

A Special "Between the Books" Novellette
Case for a Hound

Only at Amazon in Kindle

With Bram off in Vegas taking care of a debt

and Naomie off visiting Lex in Tucson,

Beelz is stuck staying with Delia's two prissy mutts,

his only enjoyment being bossing them around.

But when Samael contacts him through the Hell link

with a problem, our trusty hellhound in dachshund

disguise is ready to run his own case.

Even if he has to head over to Windsor to do so.

Hey, it's what the bridge is there for, right?

Considering that so many reviews of

The Raven Tales books have made mention of Beelzie

(enough to consider he was building his own fan club!)

it simply seemed a shame

to not give him his own case to run.

Okay, coming in 2024!

We just don't know when, though.

We've been sluggish in getting it written
Raven in Vegas
A "Between the Books" Novella

Only at Amazon in Kindle and Trade Paperback

There's a cupid hitman to pay off for

not having killed Bram in Marked Raven,

and Bram's gathered the equivalent of

pirate treasure in various gold coins,

the cupid's preferred form of payment.

Payoff to Ernie (the cupid) is to take place

at The Little Chapel of Bliss,

where the cigarette smoking

winged mock infant hangs out.

But when Bram arrives it's to find

the little assassin has not hit

the life expectancy jackpot in Sin City.

Stay tuned for release date!

Coming late summer/early fall of 2024!

The Secretary's Tale
A "Between the Books" Novella

Only at Amazon in Kindle and Trade Paperback

If Beelz can have an adventure of his own,

then it's only fair that Naomie has one, too!

At the close of RAVEN'S EDGE,

Bram mounted a hellion

for what he expected would be a trip

of less than two weeks.

Except he's not back by then.

Or at four weeks, or four months.

While he left Nomes a note, it didn't say

where he was headed.

Although she's recently had her job

changed from secretary to CEO,

she still considers herself a secretary.

One left trying to hold things together

for The Raven Foundation.

Except events unrolling in Detroit

are making that nearly impossible!

With Aspy at her side, Nomes uncovers

everything Bram has been hiding from her

because knowing Otherworlder's are real

and Bram is a magic user

has become dangerous for her not to know!

Raven's Reward

A "Between the Books" Novella

Only at Amazon in Kindle and Trade Paperback

P.I. Bram Farrell, aka The Raven,

has only been on this side of

the seam stitched binding for a few weeks

but when a possibly apocalyptic horn goes missing,

well, guess whose lap the problem of finding it

lands in over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend.

The story takes place after RAVEN’S MOON but

before the second Raven Tales novel, MARKED RAVEN.

Still to come...

RAVEN'S LAST STAND September 2024

RAVEN'S CHOICE probably in 2025!

and another "Between the Books" novella:

RAVEN'S GHOST (which does not mean

that Bram died, so fear not!)

Bram handled a previous handful of cases back in fictionland, too!

THE RAVEN TALES PREQUELS OMNIBUS

Only at Amazon in Kindle and Trade Paperback

Rather than have each of the Prequel novellas stories

that follow PI Bram Farrell on Raven Investigations cases

back in fictional Detroit when he was broke

more often than in the black on his P&L sheet,

I decided to combine all five tales into an omnibus

Therefore, they appear in order,

though you can skip around if you like.

The stories are (drumroll please):

RAVEN FOR A SONG where Bram is hired to find

and dispatch a serial killer preying on young female

Otherworlders, in particular a teenaged siren.

MOCK RAVEN has Bram accused of murdering a harpy

with an arrow in front of people who aren't Otherworlders.

Everyone is sure he did it because the guy looked exactly

like him and was answering to Bram Farrell!

Talk about killing a guy's reputation!

RAVEN'S ANCIENT goes for a slightly archaeological theme

when Bram is hired to find a museum's stolen artifact and

the missing curator who might have helped himself

to it, and who also might be an ancient Sumerian hero!

RAVEN'S DJINN naturally has a djinn in it. Not one decked

out as you'd supposed since he's still wearing things

that Austin Powers had in his wardrobe.

Because Bram was the current owner of the bottle the djinn used for living quarters,

he's got to use three wishes -- ones he'd rather pass on rather than be granted!

RAVEN'S REST is the tale that leads us toward the novels, in particularly, RAVEN'S MOON.

But first Bram has to take on a case for a worried Dr. John Watson!

It seems Sherlock Holmes has gone missing, and left some disturbing items

on his lab table before vanishing -- fairy wings!

And for something outside of the Raven Tales Universe

Speculative Short Stories set in the Old West
One of the many stories in
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY RIDES
is a historical Santa Corp tale, "The Tombstone Affair".

But this one takes us back in time to the close of the year 1881

in Tombstone, Arizona, where Frank Claus,

the third son of the Santa at the time gets the shock of his life!

He suddenly has the power to know where

on the Naughty and Nice lists someone lands

-- which only the next son in line for the sleigh

is supposed to have!

But Frank can't deal with Santa Corp business right now.

He already has a job as a deputy marshal in Tombstone,

and a missing man to find!

COMEDIC SHORT STORIES

Check what's moved to being a FREE read in the Blog!

OR catch up with things at North Pole Security and Nick Claus