Sign-In
Cart
Lightning Runes
Hardcover
Series: City of Shadows, Book 2
Publisher Price: $29.99
ISBN13: 9781647101770
Publisher: CAEZIK SF & Fantasy
Published: May 11 2026
Pages: 304
Weight: 1.15
Height: 0.80 Width: 6.30 Depth: 9.30
Language: English
A stand-alone novel in the City of Shadows series.
Hardboiled Noir meets Urban Fantasy in a post-WWII Los Angeles where vampires, zombies, and demons are part of the social fabric.
Magic is just another way to get killed in the City of Angels.
Los Angeles, 1940s. The war is over, but the shadows are growing teeth. In this gritty Historical Urban Fantasy, detective work requires more than a badge and a .38. It requires an understanding of the runes that thrum beneath the pavement.
It started with a knock on the door. It usually does. Now there's a body, a missing musician, and a trail of magic that smells like ozone and bad luck. The LAPD is out of its depth. The square world is waking up to a reality they aren't prepared to handle.
Between the smoky jazz clubs of Central Avenue and the grease-stained floors of neighborhood garages, a new kind of power is rising. It's electric. It's ancient. And in the wrong hands, it's a death sentence for the whole city.
Harry Turtledove returns to the City of Shadows with a high-stakes mystery that stands entirely on its own. Whether you are a veteran of the series or stepping into this magical 1940s Los Angeles for the first time, the runes are waiting.
A Standalone Noir Tour de Force No homework required. Jump straight into the action with a self-contained mystery that delivers a complete, hardboiled experience from the first page to the last.
The Noir Reinvented
Experience a Los Angeles where spells are as common as reefers and the fuzz has to watch out for more than just lead. It's the Philip Marlowe detective story, transformed.Masterful Alternate History
Nobody builds a world like Turtledove. Every detail of post-war life is rendered with surgical precision--until the magic starts to bleed through the cracks.Old Man Mose had been sleeping on the beat-up old sofa in my office. My fuzzy red accomplice is no braver than he has to be. He disappeared under the sofa, just in case.
The shadows are calling. Order your copy of this standalone Urban Fantasy mystery today.
Also from
Turtledove, Harry
Galaxy's Edge Magazine: Issue 35, November 2018
Lackey, Mercedes
Silverberg, Robert
Turtledove, Harry
Paperback
Galaxy's Edge Magazine: Issue 49 March 2021
Jon Willams, Walter
Turtledove, Harry
Farland, David
Paperback
Galaxy's Edge Magazine: Issue 48 January 2021
Kress, Nancy
Turtledove, Harry
Swanwick, Michael
Paperback
Lest Darkness Fall and Timeless Tales Told in Tribute
De Camp, L. Sprague
Turtledove, Harry
Stirling, S. M.
Hardcover
The House of Daniel: A Novel of Wild Magic, the Great Depression, and Semipro Ball
Turtledove, Harry
Audio Book
Lest Darkness Fall and Timeless Tales Told in Tribute
Turtledove, Harry
Stirling, S. M.
De Camp, L. Sprague
Paperback
Also in
Fantasy
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Paperback
The Princess Bride Deluxe Limited Edition: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Goldman, William
Paperback
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
Kuang, R. F.
Paperback
Japanese Gothic: A Folk Horror Novel of Japanese Mythology, Murder, and Family Duty Across Two Timelines
Baker, Kylie Lee
Hardcover
Assistant to the Villain: A Cozy Fantasy Romantic Comedy from a Tiktok Sensation
Maehrer, Hannah Nicole
Paperback
Before I Knew I Loved You: A Cozy Magical Realism Novel of Time Travel, Love, and Memory, Set in a Fabled Tokyo Café
Kawaguchi, Toshikazu
Hardcover