This month we’re being treated to more throwbacks to Greek mythology, angels, demons, detectives, and as the last book suggests, both gods and monsters.

1) My top pick for this month goes to 30 Days of Night scribe Steve Niles, who has a new book forthcoming from Bloody Pulp Press called “Cal Macdonald: Detective Tales.” Best of all, it’s illustrated by Kelley Jones of Sandman fame, so this one should be fantastic.

2) “City of Fallen Angels” (Mortal Instruments Book 4) by Cassandra Clare. One of the most anticipated novels of this year, the Mortal Instruments series continues to enchant readers with its steampunk vibe and plots that keep getting more interesting.

3) “Sword of the Gods: Forgotten Realms: Abyssal Plague, Book II” by Bruce R. Cordell. For those who haven’t read Book I, it sets up the Abyssal Plague series and introduces us to Demascus. In the second book, he wakes up surrounded by corpses, and with amnesia, so he has no clue what the hell is going on, but he does know that a demonic ritual has recently taken place. A group of demons called the Firestorm Cabal are out to get him and boy, did he ever piss them off It’ll be interesting to see how he gets himself out of this one.

4) “Dark Descendant” by Jenna Black. The new series from Jenna Black, who wrote the Morgan Kingsley exorcist books, is all about a woman named Nikki who is a descendant of the Greek goddess Artemis. She finds herself dealing with the nefarious descendants of gods like Loki, Kali, and Eros, and when that many gods are in one place at the same time, it usually results in chaos. It’ll be interesting to see how Black pulls this one off, as I’m fastidious when it comes to how UF and PRN authors handle Greek mythology in particular.

5) “Gods & Monsters” by Lyn Benedict

This is a new series from an author I hadn’t previously heard of, but the story seems to have some promise. The P.I. main character, Sylvie, initially thinks that five corpses in a case are nothing more than the work of a serial killer, but when they turn into shape shifters and start killing cops, that’s when things take a wrong turn for her. It’ll be interesting to see if this one delivers on its premise.

And there you have it, folks What are your top picks for April? Do any of these titles pique your interest? Let me know!