Supernatural Crimes Unit: NYPD: The Thin Blue Ley-Line

by Keith R. A. DeCandido

Overview

From USA Today bestselling author Keith R.A. DeCandido comes a paranormal mystery of epic proportions.

When Detective Domenica Kiernan solved the murder of a mayor’s aide—killed by a vampire—she never imagined she’d find herself at the vanguard of the NYPD’s latest special squad: the Supernatural Crimes Unit.

Tasked with closing cases involving magic and monsters, the SCU has dealt with a shape-changing domovoy committing assault in Chelsea, the murder of a kappa on City Island, a thieving Taotie in Chinatown—and their latest: two murder victims whose corpses have been liquefied by a powerful spell.

Kiernan and the rest of the SCU must find the connection between the two victims and figure out who cast the spell that destroyed the corpses. Soon, their investigation leads to a malevolent magic-user who yearns for limitless power, whose plans go far beyond disposing of dead bodies. He’ll stop at nothing to achieve his goals—including kidnapping Bobby, Kiernan’s ten-year-old son.

The SCU has no choice: They must go rogue to find Bobby and stop the wizard before he unleashes hell on Earth!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798212913973
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
Publication date:	10/28/2025
Series:	The Supernatural Crimes Unit , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged
Pages:	390
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Keith R.A. DeCandido is a white male in his 50s who has most recently been spotted in New York City. Armed with a laptop, he has inflicted more than sixty novels upon an unsuspecting public in addition to the one you hold in your hand. Some of these include: another series that mixes fantasy (in that case, sword-and-sorcery) with police procedure, which began with Dragon Precinct and has continued through five more novels (and dozens of short stories) to date; another urban fantasy series, the Bram Gold Adventures, which so far includes A Furnace Sealed and Feat of Clay; and also a novel and several novellas and short stories featuring the Super City Police Department, about cops in a city filled with superheroes.

DeCandido has also perpetrated two collections of fantasy short stories set in Key West, Florida, and featuring a weirdness magnet named Cassie Zukav, entitled Ragnarok and Roll and Ragnarok and a Hard Place.

In addition to worlds of his own creation, DeCandido has associated with more than thirty different licensed universes, from Alien to Zorro, including works in the milieus of TV shows (Star Trek, Supernatural, Farscape), movies (Cars, Kung Fu Panda, Serenity), games (Resident Evil, World of Warcraft, Dungeons & Dragons), comic books (Spider-Man, Thor, the X-Men), and literary characters (Sherlock Holmes, Professor Challenger, Joe Ledger). DeCandido was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers in 2009 for his nefarious activities in this regard.

Reports indicate that DeCandido has also worked in short fiction as both author and editor. Among the recent such incidents are stories in the anthology series Sherlock Holmes: Cases by Candlelight, Phenomenons, Forgotten Lore, Sherlock Holmes: Eliminate the Impossible, and Thrilling Adventure Yarns, as well as in the anthologies Weird Tales: 100 Years of Weird, Joe Ledger: Unbreakable, and The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny, in addition to several stories in Star Trek Explorer magazine. He has also been known to collaborate on such endeavors, having committed Double Trouble: An Anthology of Two-Fisted Team-Ups with Jonathan Maberry, and The Four ???? of the Apocalypse with Wrenn Simms.

Other known associates are the artists with whom he did comic book work, including the Resident Evil graphic novel Infinite Darkness: The Beginning, a story for the Farscape 25th Anniversary Special, and Animal, the comic book adaptation of the serial-killer novel he coauthored with Dr. Munish K. Batra.

DeCandido’s other alleged crimes include: nonfiction for a variety of sources, most commonly the award-winning web site Reactor Magazine (formerly Tor.com), as well as for his own Patreon (patreon.com/krad) and various essay collections published by Becky Books, Crazy 8 Press, Sequart, and ATB Publishing; being a fourth-degree black belt in karate, which he also teaches to adults and children; a musician, currently percussionist for the parody band Boogie Knights; and possibly some other questionable activity.

If you see DeCandido, do not approach him, but call for backup immediately. Among his associates are a spouse, as well as two black cats, who have the street names of “Louie” and “Kaylee.” More information can be found in the casefile at www.DeCandido.net.

Table of Contents

One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen Sixteen Seventeen Eighteen Nineteen Twenty Twenty-One Twenty-Two Twenty-Three Twenty-Four Twenty-Five Twenty-Six Twenty-Seven Twenty-Eight Twenty-Nine Thirty Thirty-One

Editorial Reviews

‘It’s New York. They find a way.’ Keith R.A. DeCandido’s latest series opener is a fast-moving read that mixes solid police procedurals and city politics with a touch of humor and a lot of magic. Weird is no big deal to the citizens of New York, and the officers of the Supernatural Crimes Unit are like any other, apart from the silver bullets and magically reinforced jail cells. The elected officials, mob bosses, and celebrities are neck-deep in scandal and corruption, mixed with drugs and ritual magic. DeCandido doesn’t believe in characters without back stories or relatives, so they feel real enough that you want them to make it to the end of the story. Come for the crime drama, stay for the cryptids and the pop-culture references. It’s an engrossing cop story with magic and heart. You’ll find yourself involved from page one, scrolling fast to find out what will happen next.”

author of the Lord Thomas Kinago books and coautho Jody Lynn Nye

DeCandido seamlessly blends two subgenres—urban fantasy and cop novel—into a fascinating fantasy world and an entertaining ensemble of detectives, and comes up with a truly original New York story.”

New York Times bestselling author of Sisterho Kevin J. Anderson

If you’re looking for probable cause to pick up Keith R.A. DeCandido’s latest series, here it is: From its oddly unconventional investigators to its rogues gallery of the most unusual suspects ever assembled, Supernatural Crimes Unit: NYPD is fresh, fun, and exciting. It blends DeCandido’s trademark witty banter with his knack for crafting utterly compelling procedural mysteries. Does this mean I’m actually confessing to being a fan of Keith’s new series? If that’s a crime, Your Honor, I’m guilty as charged.”

New York Times bestselling author David Mack

Keith DeCandido is a remarkable storyteller. Fasten your seatbelt and open the book!”

award-winning author and creator of Star Trek̵ David Gerrold

DeCandido seamlessly blends two subgenres—urban fantasy and cop novel—into a fascinating fantasy world and an entertaining ensemble of detectives, and comes up with a truly original New York story.”

New York Times bestselling author of Sisterhood of Kevin J. Anderson

If you’re looking for probable cause to pick up Keith R.A. DeCandido’s latest series, here it is: From its oddly unconventional investigators to its rogues gallery of the most unusual suspects ever assembled, Supernatural Crimes Unit: NYPD is fresh, fun, and exciting. It blends DeCandido’s trademark witty banter with his knack for crafting utterly compelling procedural mysteries. Does this mean I’m actually confessing to being a fan of Keith’s new series? If that’s a crime, Your Honor, I’m guilty as charged.”

New York Times bestselling author David Mack