Holding Smoke by Elle Cosimano

Holding Smoke
Foction C8209h
Elle Cosimano

John "Smoke" Conlan is serving time for two murders but he wasn't the one who murdered his English teacher, and he never intended to kill the only other witness to the crime. A dangerous juvenile rehabilitation center in Denver, Colorado, known as the Y, is Smoke's new home and the only one he believes he deserves.

But, unlike his fellow inmates, Smoke is not in constant imprisonment. After a near death experience leaves him with the ability to shed his physical body at will, Smoke is able to travel freely outside the concrete walls of the Y, gathering information for himself and his fellow inmates while they're asleep in their beds. Convinced his future is only as bright as the fluorescent lights in his cell, Smoke doesn't care that the "threads" that bind his soul to his body are wearing thin-that one day he may not make it back in time. That is, until he meets Pink, a tough, resourceful girl who is sees him for who he truly is and wants to help him clear his name.

Now Smoke is on a journey to redemption he never thought possible. With Pink's help, Smoke may be able to reveal the true killer, but the closer they get to the truth, the more deadly their search becomes. The web of lies, deceit, and corruption that put Smoke behind bars is more tangled than they could have ever imagined. With both of their lives on the line, Smoke will have to decide how much he's willing to risk, and if he can envision a future worth fighting for.

(from publisher)

Days of Blood and Starlight & Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Days of Blood and Starlight 

Fiction T2158da

Laini Taylor    

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is--and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

Dreams of Gods and Monsters 

Fiction T2158dr 2015

Laini Taylor    

What power can bruise the sky?

Two worlds are poised on the brink of a vicious war. By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera's rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her.

When the brutal angel emperor brings his army to the human world, Karou and Akiva are finally reunited--not in love, but in tentative alliance against their common enemy. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people. And, perhaps, for themselves.

But with even bigger threats on the horizon, are Karou and Akiva strong enough to stand among the gods and monsters?

The New York Times bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy comes to a stunning conclusion as--from the streets of Rome to the caves of the Kirin and beyond--humans, chimaera, and seraphim strive, love, and die in an epic theater that transcends good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy.

Afterworlds

Afterworlds
Scott Westerfeld
Fiction  W5233a

Believing is dangerous...

Darcy Patel is afraid to believe all the hype.  But it's really happening--her teen novel is getting published.  Instead of heading to college, she's living in New York City, where she's welcomed into the dazzling world of YA publishing.  That means book tours, parties with her favorite authors, and finding a place to live that won't leave her penniless.  It means sleepless nights rewriting her first draft and struggling to find the perfect ending...all while dealing with the intoxicating, terrifying experience of falling in love--with another writer.

Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, the thrilling story of Lizzie, who wills her way into the afterworld to survive a deadly terrorist attack.  With survival comes the responsibility to guide the restless spirits that walk our world, including one ghost with whom she shares a surprising personal connection.  But Lizzie's not alone in her new calling--she has counsel from a fellow spirit guide, a very desirable one, who is torn between wanting Lizzie and warning her that...

Believing is dangerous.

(From publisher.)