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    Carniepunk: Parlor Tricks
    Carniepunk: Parlor Tricks
    Carniepunk: Parlor Tricks
    Ebook91 pages57 minutes

    Carniepunk: Parlor Tricks

    By Jennifer Estep

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Come one! Come all! Witness Gin Blanco—aka the Elemental Assassin, aka the Spider—go toe to toe against the Esmerelda the Amazing's Wheel of Death and some dangerously creepy clowns! Only at The Carnival of Wondrous Wonders!


    A story from the forthcoming Carniepunk urban fantasy anthology starring bestselling authors Rachel Caine, Jennifer Estep, Kevin Hearne, Seanan McGuire, and Rob Thurman, and also includes Delilah S. Dawson, Kelly Gay, Mark Henry, Hillary Jacques, Jackie Kessler, Kelly Meding, Allison Pang, Nicole D. Peeler, and Jaye Wells. Samples of all fourteen tales are included to tantalize and to tease. Come to the Carniepunk midway and explore the creepy, mysterious, magical world of traveling carnivals today!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPocket Star
    Release dateJun 3, 2013
    ISBN9781476750125
    Carniepunk: Parlor Tricks
    Author

    Jennifer Estep

    Jennifer Estep is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author who prowls the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea. Jennifer is the author of the Crown of Shards, Elemental Assassin, and other fantasy series. She has written more than 35 books, along with numerous novellas and stories. In her spare time, Jennifer enjoys hanging out with friends and family, doing yoga, and reading fantasy and romance books. She also watches way too much TV and loves all things related to superheroes.

    Read more from Jennifer Estep

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    • 3/5
      Well written but predictable.

    Book preview

    Carniepunk - Jennifer Estep

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    DO YOU DARE ENTER THE WORLD OF THE TRAVELING CARNIVAL?

    It’s a leftover of a bygone era, a curiosity lurking on the outskirts of town. It’s a place of contradictions, where the bright lights mask the peeling paint and a carnie in greasy overalls slinks away while the barker enraptures rubes with his seductive call. Here, one must remain alert and learn the unwritten rules before it’s too late. To beat the carnival, one had better have either a whole lot of luck or a whole lot of guns—or maybe some magic of one’s own.

    Featuring stories grotesque and comical, outrageous and action-packed, Carniepunk is the first anthology to channel the energy and attitude of urban fantasy into the carnival’s bizarre world of creaking machinery, twisted myths, and vivid new magic.

    CARNIEPUNK

    A collection of riveting stories from

    RACHEL CAINE     DELILAH S. DAWSON     JENNIFER ESTEP     KELLY GAY     KEVIN HEARNE     MARK HENRY     HILLARY JACQUES     JACKIE KESSLER     SEANAN MCGUIRE     KELLY MEDING     ALLISON PANG     NICOLE D. PEELER     ROB THURMAN     JAYE WELLS

    • • •

    Contents

    Parlor Tricks by Jennifer Estep

    Sample of Painted Love by Rob Thurman

    Sample of The Three Lives of Lydia by Delilah S. Dawson

    Sample of The Demon Barker of Wheat Street by Kevin Hearne

    Sample of The Sweeter the Juice by Mark Henry

    Sample of The Werewife by Jaye Wells

    Sample of The Cold Girl by Rachel Caine

    Sample of A Duet with Darkness by Allison Pang

    Sample of Recession of the Divine by Hillary Jacques

    Sample of Freak House by Kelly Meding

    Sample of The Inside Man by Nicole Peeler

    Sample of A Chance in Hell by Jackie Kessler

    Sample of Hell’s Menagerie by Kelly Gay

    Sample of Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea by Seanan McGuire

    About the Authors of Carniepunk

    Enter the world of Carniepunk and purchase your copy of the entire anthology today!

    • • •

    Parlor Tricks

    An Elemental Assassin Short Story

    Jennifer Estep

    Acarnival? Really?

    Detective Bria Coolidge looked at me. You don’t like carnivals?

    Not particularly, I said. There are already enough people around here looking to con you without you having to actually pay for the privilege.

    Bria rolled her eyes. That’s just a stereotype. Not all carnivals are looking to cheat folks.

    I know that, I said. But I also know that this is Ashland. So if there was any place for a carnival to be crooked, this would be it.

    Bria didn’t answer me. She knew as well as I did that corruption was a way of life in our sprawling southern city, along with violence, magic, avarice, and greed. Cheating, beating, and even murdering your enemies wouldn’t get you jail time in Ashland so much as applause, admiration, and respect—and someone immediately plotting to take you down the same way you had your enemies.

    My baby sister and I stood at the entrance to the Ashland Fairgrounds, a wide, grassy clearing that was nestled in among the Appalachian Mountains, which ran through and around the city. Tree-covered ridges towered over the clearing, giving the landscape a bowl-like shape. The fairgrounds hosted a variety of events throughout the year, everything from livestock shows to sporting events to camps for kids. On this warm June evening, it was the site of The Carnival of Wondrous Wonders! At least, that’s what the banner stretched above the entrance said.

    Bria had parked her sedan in the gravel lot, and we’d eased into the stream of people heading for the white picket fence that cordoned off the clearing. Most of the other carnival goers were families with small kids or sullen teenagers looking to escape from Mom and Dad’s watchful eyes for a few hours. Bria looked a little out of place with her jeans, her blue button-up shirt, and the gold detective’s badge glinting on her belt, right next to her holstered gun. So did I with my boots, jeans, and long-sleeved black T-shirt.

    Well, look at it this way, Bria said in a cheery voice. The odds of anyone here knowing you are pretty slim. If nothing else, you can just relax and not have to worry about anyone trying to kill you tonight.

    Heh. I wouldn’t count on it.

    By day, I was Gin Blanco, owner of the Pork Pit barbecue restaurant.

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