Since the publication of her first novel, Bitten, in 2001, Kelley Armstrong has crafted entire worlds of fantasy across dozens of novels, multiple series, and even an adaptation of the aforementioned Bitten into a TV show for SyFy called Women of the Otherworld.
Countless readers joined Armstrong in her “Women series” of books, all of which dive into the worlds of werewolves, necromancers, vampires, witches, and more as they attempt to function in the modern, or normal, world.
The same could be said about readers who have joined her in the Darkest Powers series and the Edison Group, the team of paranormal scientists to which the series calls its protagonists. Armstrong’s work is a bastion for those seeing a delectable and expansive mixture of fantasy, crime, and the fantastical.
That being said, it can be understandable if you might be a reader who has only just begun exploring Armstrong’s prolific oeuvre. We gathered some must-reads books from Armstrong’s catalog of work so that you can catch up and get to the page promptly.
Disturbing the Dead
Among Armstrong’s latest novels to be published, Disturbing the Dead acts as a nice place to start in terms of introducing readers to more of her bibliography.
In Disturbing the Dead, readers are transported to the 1890s, the setting for her A Rip Through Time series, where the crime thriller and other genres are its atmospheric blend.
The detective extraordinaire here is Mallory Atkinson, who is currently inhabiting the body of a housemaid. If that already doesn’t hint at what might be in store for Atkinson and readers of the novel, the detective is invited to a “mummy unwrapping,” which one can expect will only befall more intrigue and possible misfortune.
Disturbing the Dead sends readers across time on a murder mystery to remember.
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City of the Lost
In City of the Lost, Armstrong introduces readers to homicide detective Casey Duncan, who finds her personal and professional lives entwined when her best friend Diana is in a difficult, dangerous situation regarding an abusive ex-husband. Duncan is complex and carries a secret: like many of the villains in her cases, she has also killed someone.
Perhaps all Duncan and her friend need is to run away and start over. They end up in Rockton, a town for people looking to flee the past. Of course, a town like that carries its own secrets, and as Duncan soon finds out, Rockton might not be a sanctuary at all.
Sea of Shadows
The first novel in Armstrong’s Age of Legends young adult series, Sea of Shadows blends dark fantasy and all things fantastical to tell the story of Moria and Ashyn, twin sisters, the Keeper and the Seeker, respectively. They're the two people given the hefty task of making sure the souls in the Forest of the Dead—souls that belonged to the worst criminals ever to walk the corporeal realm—remain quiet.
In Sea of Shadows, things have gone awry, and their task becomes impossible when the souls refuse to stay in line. An action-packed story that blasts open the series for subsequent books.
Empire of Night
In the second volume of the Age of Legends series, readers join the twin sisters as things have escalated since their first adventure.
In Empire of Night, Moira and Ashyn are betrayed and are at wit’s end as they wait for the emperor to decide whether or not the children of Edgewood will be saved or if they will remain imprisoned by villainous Alvar Kitsune.
Eventually, the sisters are given the task to save the children and along with a group of mercenary-like men—including Prince Tyrus—Moira and Ashyn face their biggest journey yet, one that might end even more epically than the first.
Forest of Ruin
At the conclusion of the Age of Legends series, Moira and Ashyn find the world itself at all-out war.
Alvar Kitsune has gained favor over the many, and his power continues to swell; meanwhile, their emperor is desperate to hold on, fighting to maintain the strength of their empire.
Moira reunites with her grandfather and Ashyn learns about how to reawaken ancient forces to aid them in battle. Armstrong takes the story and raises the stakes to the breaking point in this final installment of the twin sisters’ story.
It demonstrates Armstrong's mastery of both storytelling and plotting.
The Summoning
The Summoning is the first entry in the popular Darkest Powers young adult series by Armstrong, a standout in her ever-expanding oeuvre. The Summoning introduces readers to Chloe Saunders, a teenager who upon coming of age begins to see things she shouldn’t.
Much like the child in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense, Saunders can see dead people. Unlike Shyamalan’s film, readers see that having such powers often turns you into an outcast.
Saunders is sent to Lyle House, a group home for troubled teenagers, all of them with some special gifts of their own.
The Summoning is a brisk and breakneck novel that uncannily captures the insanity of adolescence.
The Awakening
Armstrong follows up The Summoning with an adventure that sends Chloe Saunders in even more danger.
She has now become a valuable commodity for Edison Group, a faceless evil corporation that wants to understand and possess the powers Saunders has been given.
After all the experiments she is now out of control, her grip on reality and her necromancy loosening. What began as seeing dead people now has her accidentally bringing the dead to life without intention.
Saunders goes on the run with the help of a ghost and a few supernatural friends, hope for the future and even the present uncertain.
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The Reckoning
The rush continues with The Reckoning.
Chloe Saunders finds a temporary safe haven from the looming presence of the Edison Group. A man named Andrew takes her and her friends in, yet the morale of the group has undeniably been dealt a devastating blow.
The relationships within the group grow increasingly complex and more information is revealed about what exactly the Edison Group has done to Saunders and the other escapees.
The conclusion to the Darkest Powers series, The Reckoning is the sort of end that will leave many a reader feeling breathless, satisfied, yet also mournful for Chloe and the characters they’ve become so connected with throughout the series.
Bitten
Of course, we need to include Bitten, in case you haven’t checked it out yet.
The first in the Women of the Otherworld series and also Armstrong’s debut novel, Bitten is about one Elena Michaels, the only female werewolf on earth.
It’s not all it's cracked up to be, Michaels having to constantly hide and be on edge, the werewolf’s temper being truly temperamental.
She leaves her pack and tries human life. It could be going well, or maybe it could be better; either way, she finds it difficult to leave the werewolf life behind, especially when her pack leader calls her, needing help against a new onslaught of enemies.
Bitten takes the supernatural and blends it with human empathy to create a tale that resonates with so many.
Miscellaneous Kelley Armstrong Stories
A testament to Armstrong’s versatility and prolific output, there are two stories included in two separate anthologies worth seeking out.
Otherworld Nights (The Otherworld Series Book 3)
In a supernatural anthology consisting of nine authors tasked with trying out their own honeymoon stories, but in supernatural/fantastical style, Armstrong offers a story called, “Stalked,” a werewolf couple on their honeymoon with the looming threat of being hunted.
Blood Lite II: Overbite
The other worth checking out is in a lesser-known compilation of stories called Blood Lite II: Overbite. Armstrong’s offering, “Lucifer’s Daughter,” tells the story of a demon-esque journalist and her boyfriend as they build up a museum exhibition secretly aimed to be a lure for unsuspecting souls.
