Here’s the list of new fantasy books for December 2008. I’ve noticed that the number of new fantasy books being released each month is growing at a steady pace. Many of the books being released fall into the “epic” or “high” fantasy books genre but I’ve sifted through them and selected those that qualify as contemporary or urban fantasy books.

The Unnatural Inquirer (Nightside, Book 8), by Simon R. Green
The engaging eighth book in Green’s popular offbeat Nightside series drops another paranormal mystery in the lap of series hero John Taylor, a PI in the shadowy realm of Nightside. Pen Donavon, who claims to have a DVD depicting actual footage of the afterlife, has vanished shortly after signing an exclusive deal with a tabloid newspaper. Various factions seeking to control the Nightside are leaving a considerable body count behind as they hunt for him. Accompanied by sexy half-demon reporter Bettie Divine, Taylor navigates the treacherous terrain with his typical skill before tracking down the real force behind Donavon’s disappearance. Green skillfully blends action and humor, and shows no sign of running out of ideas. This installment will undoubtedly rope in new readers who enjoy his blend of dark humor and the supernatural. Check Prices

In the Blood, by Adrian Phoenix
Vampire. Rock star. Begotten son of the fallen angel Lucien. Dante Baptiste still struggles with nightmares and seizures, searching for the truth about his past. It is a quest as seductive as his kiss, as uncontrollable as his thirst, and as unforgiving as his determination to protect one mortal woman at any cost. FBI Special Agent Heather Wallace now knows the extent of the Bureau corruption that surrounds her, but worries she is losing the battle. And when Dante and his band Inferno come to Seattle on tour, Heather can’t help but be drawn back to the beautiful, dangerous nightkind. But what Heather and Dante don’t know is that new enemies lurk in the shadows, closer than they think…and even deadlier than they fear. Note: I just added this one to my Amazon Shopping cart. Check Prices

On the Prowl (Tales of an Urban Werewolf, Book 2), by Karen MacInerney
Talk about a bad-hair day! Sophie Garou is a master at taming her inner beast, which comes in handy since she’s a werewolf. With a big promotion at work and a supersexy boyfriend, Heath (whom she recently spotted leaving a jewelry store with a beguiling ring box), she’s one happy girl.

But when Heath starts spending long nights at the office with his new associate–a dead-ringer for Career Day Barbie–Sophie smells trouble. And when her professional relationship with her big new client–who also happens to be Texas’s brilliantly blue-eyed most eligible bachelor–begins to sizzle, she wonders if her animal instincts are leading her in the wrong direction. Just when it seems that things can’t get any more complicated, they do. The Houston werewolf pack has sniffed Sophie out, and their message is chillingly clear: you’re either with us or against us. And unless she can prove that she’s with them, the next full moon may just be her last. Check Prices

The Atrocity Archives, by Charles Gross
This wonderfully offbeat book offers two related novellas, “The Atrocity Archive” and “The Concrete Jungle.” With often hilarious results, the author mixes the occult and the mundane, the truly weird and the petty. Bob Howard is a computer-hacker desk jockey, who has more than enough trouble keeping up with the endless paperwork he has to do on a daily basis. He should never be called on to do anything remotely heroic. But for some reason, he is.

In “Atrocity,” Bob, a low-level computer fix-it guy for the Laundry, a supersecret British agency that defends the world from occult happenings, finds himself promoted to fieldwork after he bravely saves the day during a routine demonstration gone awry. With his Palm, aka his Hand of Glory (a severed hand that, when ignited, renders the holder invisible), and his smarts, he saves the world from a powerful external force seeking to enter our universe to suck it dry. In “Jungle,” Bob teams up with a cop, Josephine, to save the Laundry from a powermonger who seeks to stage an internal coup by using zombies as her minions. Amid all the bizarre happenings are the everyday trappings of a British bureaucracy. For example, Bob gets called on the carpet by his bosses because he requested backup during an emergency without first filling out the requisite forms. The world he creates is wonderful fun.Check Prices

The Darkness (Vampire Huntress Legends), by LA Banks
Description: After the battle at Masada, the Neteru team returns to San Diego believing forty-thousand demons had been eradicated and that Lilith’s spawn has been killed. But somehow the treacherous little creature got away. Just as had been prophesized at the dawn of the Armageddon, the antichrist has been born…and will soon rise to power. Check Prices

Demon’s Hunger by Eve Silver
Description: Forensic anthropologist Vivien Cairn fears she’s losing her mind. Her libido has kicked into overdrive, and she’s blacking out, leaving hours of her life unaccounted for and no memory of where she’s been or what she’s done. But when a sexy stranger rescues her from a demon attack, Vivien realizes there’s more than just her sanity at stake. A seductive killer is luring victims, and Sorcerer Dain Hawkins finds himself walking a dangerous line between ancient duty and sizzling desire when the brotherhood–and Vivien herself–begins to suspect that her mysterious symptoms may connect her to the crimes. Can Dain save Vivien from the evil that threatens to claim her? Or will they both succumb . . Check Prices

Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters, by John Langan
The richly atmospheric title story evokes the weird fiction of both Henry James and M.R. James in its account of a family cursed with a demonic familiar with a ravenous appetite for disobedient children. A man plays an audiotape left for him by his late father and is initiated into a family story of monstrous deeds. A student learns frightening lessons in a surreal tutoring center. A young couple struggles to make their stand against a group of inhuman pursuers in a ravaged landscape. The five tales run the gamut from supernatural satire (Tutorial) to apocalyptic nightmare (Episode Seven), but whatever their theme or tone, Langan shows uncommon skill at balancing character, plot and mood to achieve the perfect pitch for each. Check Prices

Unclean Spirits: Book One of the Black Sun’s Daughter, by M.L.N. Hanover
Plucky heroine Jayné Heller stumbles into a world of dangerous magic when she inherits a distant uncle’s fortune and his difficulties with a clan of malicious supernatural beings. Jayné likewise gains her uncles loose conglomerate of useful friends, all of whom have about one character trait apiece (the chef, the Frenchman, the ex-Jesuit), and she plots with them to destroy her uncles murderer, the sinister Randolph Coin. When trouble threatens, Jayné displays startling monster-fighting abilities, belatedly attributed to her uncle’s blessing. Check Prices

Unusual Suspects: Stories of Mystery & Fantasy, by Dana Stabenow
This follow-up to Powers of Detection showcases bestselling and award-winning names from Simon Green to Laurie King to Sharon Shinn—with original stories featuring otherworldly investigators trailing uncanny criminals across fantastical realms. From video game characters seeking civil rights and a cave dragon loan shark pondering an investment, to Santa Claus’s Australian vacation and an enemy of Sam Spade’s out for revenge—plus visits to the Nightside and Sookie Stackhouse’s hometown— these stories will take readers around the world on a magical mystery tour. Check Prices

Blue Moon (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter), by Laurell K. Hamilton
In Blue Moon, Anita’s ex-boyfriend Richard is jailed in Tennessee, accused of rape. When Anita arrives with a lawyer and an entourage of vampires and werewolves supplied by Jean-Claude, it’s clear that something is rotten in Myerton. The local cops are corrupt, and the trolls Richard was studying are threatened. But if she sticks around to investigate, the local Master vampire will attack her and her friends. The local werewolf clan isn’t rushing to welcome her either, and her self-control is going to the, um, wolves. Be warned–there’s steamy sex and graphic violence here, though Anita does reflect on her moral position. But if dark urban fantasy featuring those who hunt the night appeals, pounce on this series. Check Prices

The Return: The Dark Stalker Journals, by Byron N. Morrison
In this book a team of special men and women called Dark Stalkers are assembled to combat evil forces. Witches, lycanthropes, and vampires have been identified and allowed to live among humans secretly, providing they live in peace. A secret bill has recently been passed to have these creatures licensed and regulated because some would use their strange abilities for death and destruction. At ththe turn of the century, evil has moved its focus to a town called Reading, Pennsylvania, looking for a demon of great power. It holds knowledge that could plunge the entire human existence into a hellish nightmare that could force them to live as cattle or fodder to the ruling denizens. Check Prices

Ghostlight, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Truth Jourdemayne, parapsychologist and illegitimate child of celebrated vanished occultist Thorne Blackburn, decides to write a book about her much-hated father; to begin her research, she visits his estate, Shadow’s Gate, nestled in the Hudson River valley. There Truth meets a group continuing Blackburn’s occult “Work,” led by the exciting and mysterious Julian Pilgrim. Truth lost her parents in the late 1960s to an occultist experiment. Now, a quarter-century later, some New Agers mess around with the same experiment, and Truth ends up with the job of preventing a second disaster. Bradley is a master storyteller, and her latest proves thoroughly absorbing. Check Prices

Escape From Hell!, by Hal Duncan
A hitman, a hooker, a homosexual kid, and a hobo suicide make the ultimate prison break…escape from Hell itself! But when news of their attempted escape gets out, the souls of the damned are transformed into a rioting mob, and all Hell truly does break loose. It’s Escape from New York meets Jacob’s Ladder, by one of fantasy’s rising stars. Check Prices

Tamarisk: A Novel by Lou Aronica,
In this heartfelt fantasy of love and loss, a young girl’s tragic illness leads her on a journey to a mystical dreamland, revealing truths that force her family to make the most difficult choice of their lives. Check Prices

See also:

Best New Urban Fantasy Books for November 2008

Best Selling Fantasy Books for 2008