The Indie Author Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror New Release List: September 2025
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The Not So Mundane Mysteries of Norman Melamourne by G.J. Terral: Available Today
Subgenre(s): Alternate History
A down-on-his-luck ex-detective, a jittery professor suspected of murder, and a mystery they can’t solve without each other.
If Norman Melamourne, a Source-hating ex-detective, had things his way, the Source wouldn’t have snapped into existence twenty years ago. After all, it’s the reason his wife lost her life; he lost his job, and now even his favorite restaurants use Source-processed ingredients. He can taste the difference, and it’s awful.
When a consulting position lands on his plate, it leaves a bad taste, too. The Source was the apparent method of murder. As much as Norman despises the Source, the one hard and fast rule was it couldn’t affect living things. But it seems it had, and to make matters worse, the prime suspect, Lance Delum, is the son of the man Norman blames for his wife’s death.
Lance Delum, Professor of Source Studies, can’t get the image of his student’s, Sasha’s, magically burned-out eyes from his head. It was an impossible thing, the Source affecting living material, but it had happened, and Lance, for all his knowledge of the damned field, couldn’t figure out how. Or why.
Torn between grief and frustration at his lack of understanding, Lance soon finds himself in a desperate attempt to clear his name. Another body was found days after Lance’s release, and more circumstantial evidence points to him.
As he investigates, Norman’s heart says Lance did it. An expert in the field might be able to pull this off, and the kid came from a bad crop as far as Norman was concerned. But his gut says Lance is being set up, and Norman always trusts his gut.
Getting Lance to trust Norman might be about as difficult as clearing the kid’s name, but the two must work together to prove Lance’s innocence and discover why someone is killing with the Source.
Returned: Part Two by Jason Strutz: Available Today
Returned, Book 2
Subgenre(s): Medieval Horror Family Drama, Graphic Novel
A medieval horror family drama continues. Vale has died and come back, now it’s up to her to help her family escape the ravaging army of the dead. Can she can hold it together long enough to get them to any safety in this twilight of humanity?
System Architect: Integration by A.T. Hawkins: Available Today
System Architect, Book 1
Subgenre(s): LitRPG
Eddy messed up.
Not the minor sort like flubbing a presentation at work but the really serious kind that ruins lives.
You see, Eddy wished to have a system while he was drunk out of his mind. Now he’s back in his past staring down the end of the world.
That system he wanted?
Well, now he’s got to build it himself and he’s only got 15 years to do it. To make matters worse, the changes he needs to make are expensive.
Of course, there’s a way.
All it will cost is making the impending disaster he caused even worse!
Bloodbound: Reverberations by Chase McPherson: Available September 2, 2025
Bloodbound, Book 5
Subgenre(s): Vampires, LGBTQ+
Three souls. Two realms. One truth buried in blood.
When vampire agent Kai Taylor is framed for a brutal murder, the secretive organization known as The Order activates its last resort: Safe Harbor, a deadly countdown that gives his allies six months to prove his innocence. As the clock runs down, a tangled investigation unfolds – one that stretches across dimensions, unearths buried betrayals, and reveals a conspiracy deeper than anyone imagined.
Meanwhile, Hunter Reeves – a vampire-demon hybrid still learning to control his volatile powers – must confront both external enemies and the darkness within. Alongside Kai and their partner Gibson, he navigates love, guilt, and a siphonic hunger that threatens to consume him.
But a forgotten past haunts them all. In a parallel narrative, we return to Kai’s earliest mission, where another frame-up nearly destroyed him – and where the seeds of a much larger war were first sown.
The Crucifix by Naomi Cashman: Available September 3, 2025
Subgenre(s): YA, Gothic, Supernatural
There are always two sides to everyone … Some people are just good at keeping their sinful side hidden.
Something dark and sinister lurks in the musty hallways and abandoned rooms of the Convent of Mercy. The now defunct orphanage, with its history of odd occurrences and murderous deeds, draws tourists with a taste for the macabre. But what if the stories that have been whispered about by the locals are true?
In 1865, orphaned Katherine is sent to live at the convent where fear rules. Nobody will speak of the odd occurrences – an organ playing in the dead of night; fresh graves dug beneath her window; and the Reverend Mother’s bizarre obsession with an ornate crucifix. Worse still, girls who are summoned to her office are never seen again. And when Katherine attracts the attention of the malevolent Sister Nora, her survival seems unlikely.
Katherine’s quest to uncover the truth exposes her to unspeakable evil. Will she resist the darkness that festers in her soul or will she succumb to the unholy power of the crucifix?
Naomi Cashman’s The Crucifix is a chilling gothic horror story. But beware – once you enter the Convent of Mercy, there is no escape.
Haroun and the Study of Mischief by Lynn Strong: Available September 13, 2025
Subgenre(s): Cozy Fantasy
Two Very Good Boys might like to fight crime… if there has been a crime other than their fashion sense.
“Don’t get a torch too close to his djellaba.”
“It might catch fire?”
“You might see it.”
Venerable Haroun, the blind saluqi priest of the dog-headed god Yepuet, has come to the wild and collarless Tel-Bastet, the City of Cats, for an education in mischief.
And Haroun has never met a crime of fashion he wouldn’t commit.
Shai Madhur, the disabled human priest of Upaja, thought accepting Haroun’s leash meant being Haroun’s seeing-eye human. He wasn’t prepared for the political machinations… or for Haroun’s blossoming sense of humor.
When a kind prophet-prince goes missing, Haroun smells iniquity in the air. (Iniquity, it turns out, smells like kumiss spilled on a tomcat in dire need of a bath.)
The problem with everyone in Tel-Bastet knowing what a Good Boy their Shai Madhur is, is that people keep trying to rescue him, whether he needs it or not. Not that he’s complaining, exactly. But Madhur swears he is never going carousing again… no matter how soulful Haroun’s puppydog eyes are.With a splash of Studio Ghibli, a sprinkle of Roshani Chokshi, and a dash of Terry Pratchett, when the cats and dogs need to learn to live together, Haroun and Madhur take on the difference between what is seen and what is true.
The Lost and Found by Kenneth Rowe: Available September 14, 2025
Subgenre(s): Space Opera
Vasel is all alone in the worst way possible. Not only is he an orphan but he is the only one of his kind. That is until an unexpected encounter changes his trajectory and propels, him out into the galaxy beyond.
Set in Stone by Niranjan: Available September 16, 2025
Subgenre(s): Epic fantasy, Romantic fantasy, Queer fantasy
Nothing is set in stone, but time is running out.
Aspen has been an assassin for the rebels fighting against the tyrant Draven. Though lacking in magic, she makes up for it with her skills and magical weapons. When a mission goes awry, putting her in Draven’s sights, she has no choice but to run.
But Draven is the tyrant who has already conquered the world and has destroyed half of it. His magic has no limits, and she has no magic at all. Capture is as inevitable as her eventual fate as an assassin eliminating his enemies.
An obscure prophecy offers a chance for escape, not just for her but the entire world. It comes with a heavy price, however. Can Aspen accept her soulmate bond with Draven to change both their destinies or will she give into her hatred and destroy herself and the world’s only chance of salvation?
AfterDark by Miriam Yvette: Available September 22, 2025
Witches and Wolves, Book 1
Subgenre(s): Paranormal Romance, Supernatural Suspense, Portal Fantasy, Psychological Horror
Dante leaned back, half amused. “You’re mad because I didn’t kiss you, aren’t you?”
“I’m mad because I want to kiss you now.”
Vina wants a summer escape, but she wasn’t expecting a coffee run to end with a wolf shifter trapped in her mom’s bookstore. Setting him free is out of the question when her scarf is now in his possession and a ruthless organization is intent on uncovering their crime. If witches and wolves clash, a loveless marriage will be their punishment.
Queen of Thorns by Joel C. Flanagan-Grannemann: Available September 26, 2025
Servants of the Moon and Sun, Book 5
Subgenre(s): Epic Fantasy
Join Canin and his party of fellow Elenite (half-Human, half-Fairy) Thorn Brothers and Thorn Maidens as they complete their revenge mission in a nearby Human village.
They’re after a man who killed his wife years before. Canin had sworn to protect the wife, and was trying to help her escape to the safety of the Exile Forest. The husband also led a group who massacred those from the Forest who came looking for Canin when he fled in shame (leading to him meeting Talia and her party in Talia: Heir to the Fairy Realm, Book One of this series).
After they find their vengeance, accompany them as they rescue a sizeable group of weary and wary displaced Human women and children and convince the group to trust them and accompany them home to the Exile Forest.
Sadly, not everything is as it seems in the Sanctuary village once they arrive. There’s a traitor in their midst!
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