Marnie Baranuik Files

The media has a nickname for Marnie Baranuik, though she'd rather they didn't; they call her the Great White Shark, a rare dual-talented forensic psychic. Twice-Touched by the Blue Sense-which gives her the ability to feel the emotions of others, and read impressions left behind on objects-Marnie also has a doctorate in preternatural biology and a working knowledge of the dark arts. She is considered without peer in the psychic community. Then her first big FBI case ended with a bullet in one shoulder and a chip on the other, a queasy heart and a serial killer in the wind, leaving her a public flop and a private wreck. When the FBI's preternatural crimes unit tracks her down at a remote mountain lodge for her insight on a local case, her quiet retirement is promptly besieged by a stab-happy starlet, a rampaging ghoul, and a vampire-hunting jackass in tight Wranglers. Marnie figures the only real mystery is which one will kill her first. Too mean to die young, backed up by friends in cold places, and running with a mouth as demure as a cannon's blast, Marnie Baranuik is about to discover that there's no such thing as quitting time when you're Touched.

Marnie Baranuik is back, and this time, the Great White Shark of psychic investigations has "people skills" and a new assistant who seems to harbor an unhealthy curiosity about Harry, her revenant companion. Together, they've got a whole lot of questions that need answering. Is an ancient vampire hunting in Denver? Who is stalking Lord Dreppenstedt? How do you cure a slipper-humping bat, ditch an ogre, or give a demon king the slip? And what the hell was she thinking, swearing off cookies? Teaming up with her sexual nemesis, Special Agent Mark Batten, and their long-suffering supervisor, Gary Chapel, Marnie discovers that vampire hunters aren't easy to rescue, secrets don't stay buried, and zombies sure are a pain in the ass to kill.

When an FBI Internal Affairs investigation lands the Preternatural Crimes Unit in a bureaucratic spank-fest, it feels like the perfect time for Marnie Baranuik to skip town and lend her expertise to a bear-sized Canadian cop who doesn't want her help with his case, his love life, or his car stereo. Back in her childhood stomping grounds, Marnie leaps into action, facing an exorcist in skinny jeans, a slap-happy specter, and an old friend up to new tricks. Are ghosts behind a string of unusual deaths? Why didn't her revenant companion, Lord Harry Dreppenstedt, tell her he had a Combat Butler? Can she survive dinner with her parents? With a shifty man of the cloth offering her soul's redemption, and a revelation that could change the future of her love life, she has her gloved hands full. She may not make a great first impression, but no one makes a last impression quite like Marnie.

Marnie Baranuik is confident that her new psychic detective agency will be a great success, and she has eight million business cards to prove it. But before the paint even dries on her open for business sign, she's summoned to face the Demon King Asmodeus in His own playground, the revenant court, home of the undead nobility, to participate in a conclave of the most powerful immortals on Earth. Orc prophets have forewarned her that danger is looming in the far north. In her most ambitious adventure yet, Marnie must harness her powers, gather trusted friends to wade into battle, and complete an international treasure hunt that would make Indiana Jones break into a cold sweat, before raising a new revenant house to rule from the Unhallowed Throne . . . and do it all without getting her heart or legs broken. Storms are brewing, threats are piling up, and the stakes are higher than ever, but Marnie is determined to dance with danger to the very end. There's only one thing left to do: deal with it, Baranuik-Style. Does anyone know if yetis like take-out? And when you're on a date with a mummy, who picks up the check?

Reeling from her losses and trying to regroup, the Great White Shark of psychic investigation turns her focus on self-improvement, though her remaining friends call it self-flagellation. Marnie is determined to move forward at maximum warp, trauma be damned. A prospective client named Beau Boudreaux shows up in her office with a peanut butter addiction and a plea for Marnie to protect him from his ex-girlfriend: Pestilence, the First Horseman of the Apocalypse. His story is hard to swallow, but heading off Armageddon seems like a spiffy distraction. That is, until the Blights descend, and Marnie realises that all her nightmares are about to come true. Running with a lighter crew and a busted heart, can Marnie get her act together and solve the riddle of Beau Boudreaux before the End Times come a'knockin'? Or will the Blightmare become her new reality?

Marnie Baranuik, psychic detective and DaySitter to Lord Guy Harrick Dreppenstedt, returns home to Canada for double-helpings of Thanksgiving turkey and undead treachery after hearing disturbing reports from beyond the Bitter Pass. Mark Batten was last known to be lying in wait for Aston Sarokhanian, digging into the secret of what happened to his grandfather, Colonel Jack Batten. Marnie, Harry, and her brother Wesley are working - sometimes together, sometimes at cross-purposes - to unravel the machinations of not only House Sarokhanian, but the other powerful revenants in the region and the tendrils of territorial alliances they've tended for centuries, and to protect Batten before they lose him for good to threats, both mortal and otherwise. Stripped of the moon's sway for her own good, Marnie must slip under the radar of primeval houses embroiled in a blood feud, to manage a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek with undead smugglers, mortal thieves, con artists, and vampire hunters. Will calling in favors with local law enforcement prove a double-ended stake for Marnie and the crew?

When Marnie Baranuik gets the call from her former boss at the Preternatural Crimes Unit that her unique skills are needed once more, she is understandably hesitant. When an old enemy warns that only death awaits her, Marnie's suspicions deepen. But her dear friend Declan is alone, trying to stake a dangerous revenant on a remote tropical island, and to make matters worse, the dead have been risen as graveside sentinels. Despite her fears, Marnie must set off to protect Declan and stake the revenant, but can she accept the help of ex-lover, Mark Batten, and will she succeed when her own internal struggles force her to transform into someone she barely recognizes? Can she wrestle her blossoming emotions when thrust together with a temporary bodyguard? Can she stay out of lock-up long enough to give Mark Batten the tongue-lashing he truly deserves? When a face from her past reveals his intentions, more sinister reinforcements are summoned, and Marnie is toe-to-toe with Death Itself, will she finally stumble? Will this be Marnie Baranuik's final case, the last deadly File in her folder?

For decades, Marnie Baranuik has been the vigilant but often frustrated daytime guardian for Lord Harry Dreppenstedt, undead aristocrat and all around sass-mouth. As a DaySitter, witch, and psychic detective working closely with the Preternatural Crimes Unit of the FBI, Marnie battles a wild assortment of crimes and monsters, but none so formidable as her own flaws and the poor judgement of her heart. In this, the first trilogy in the Files, Marnie throws down with dark witches, malevolent psychics, smart-mouthed vampires, accidental ghouls, zombies, a slap-happy poltergeist, and a hot vampire hunter who may drive her wild if he doesn't drive her off the deep end first. Join Marnie and her resident Cold Companion in the novels Touched, Death Rejoices, and Last Impressions, and let the weird times roll.