Shadowrun Legends Psychotrope

ESTIMATED LIFE SPAN: 12 MINUTES It started out as a simple Matrix run, but now five deckers are trapped inside a nightmarish virtual landscape where jacking out is an impossibility--and what waits has all the hallmarks of the afterlife: tunnels of brilliant light, greetings from long-dead friends and family...and the terrifying sense of being juggled between Heaven and Hell. But in this computer-generated netherworld, there is only one thing that can be trusted. And it isn't the senses... ...THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS It's the uncommon experience the deckers have in common: a near brush with death. It has brought them together in this hell-raising realm and under the influence of a twisted intelligence with diabolical plans for the unwary travelers in grid-time. Having their minds and souls extinguished before the Matrix-scape crash is only the beginning of the puzzle. Discovering why will be the end. A dead end...

"Time turns inside out for deckers lost in a virtual hell."--Cover

TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN... When a shadowrunner managed to extract PCI's most vital employee, it was Alma's job as security expert to get him back--no matter the cost. But all the evidence pointed to the one person who couldn't have done it...herself. Branded a traitor, Alma has one shot at redemption: find the real culprit. But she's never faced an enemy like this one. This 'runner not only looks like Alma—she's also equipped with Alma's top-of-the-line cybernetic implants, and she's backed by the powerful magic of the Chinese underworld. Now, the expert in defense must attack—and risk it all to bring down a rival so much like herself that there can be only one shocking explanation...

THE BIGGEST—AND LAST—HIGH OF YOUR LIFE... There's a new "drug" on the streets, promising a phenomenal—and deadly—high. But this time the dealers aren't selling a substance. They're working with a creature called a "corpse light"—a creature of pure magic that gives the customer a euphoric rush...as it drains the poor sap's life away. Romulus was the first to see this new scourge in action. As a shapeshifter, he's a freelance agent to the Lone Star police department. His wolfish strength and sense of smell keep him useful—and keep from being admitted into the regular force. So when Jane, a beautiful, amnesiac woman, is caught in a dangerous web with the dealers, there's no way for Romulus to be assigned to the investigation. But that won't stop him from trying to save her, and to discover how she is tied into this case...

AN UNLIKELY PAIR… Sly is a shadowrunning veteran. She's survived more missions than she cares to remember, and has the physical and emotional scars to prove it. But no matter how violent it became, it had always been business as usual. Until now. Falcon is a kid. He thinks he hears the call of magic, and the voice of one of the Great Spirits seems to whisper in his ears. He’s come to the urban jungle of Seattle to seek his calling. Thrown together, veteran and novice, Sly and Falcon find themselves embroiled in a deadly confrontation between the world's most powerful corporations. And if it’s not stopped, this conflict could turn to all-out warfare, spilling out of the shadows and into the streets…

2XS, THE HALLUCINOGENIC CHIP OF CHOICE… To Excess—that's how they say it on the streets…before it destroyed their minds. Private detective Dirk Montgomery thinks he knows those streets. He's watched the change with the world, as the powers of magic grow and alter the balances of power. He thinks he understands even the deepest shadows and the darkest of hearts. He is wrong. Now there's something out there beyond his understanding. Something foul and alien. Something that will consume even the most wary soul. And if he’s not careful, even Dirk’s...

OUT ON THE STREETS… By 2053, the return of magic to the world has filled the streets of Chicago with beings and creatures from mythology. For those in the politically dominant mega-corporations, the underworld, and everywhere in between, it is a time of chaos and wonder—and incredible opportunities ripe for the taking. For fifteen-year-old Peter Clarris, transformed by his Awakened genes from a human into a troll, the forces of magic are a curse to be broken with science. Torn from the comfortable biotech fast-track of his childhood, he becomes a pariah, shunned by friends and strangers alike. Now, living among the outcasts—the underclass of orks and trolls, the criminal societies of gangsters and shadowrunners—he grows up pursuing the elusive means of controlling his own genes, and ultimately his own destiny. But the Windy City’s shadows are dark and deep, and when Peter comes across a real chance to fulfill his dream of reversing the change that was forced upon him, it may cost more than he’s willing to pay—before he’s through, it may cost him his life…

BLOOD AND MAGIC… …rage in the streets of Seattle. The shift of a few blocks of gang turf costs lives, innocent and guilty, silenced forever and then forgotten in the city's deepest shadows. Lone Star, Seattle's contracted police force, fights a losing battle against the city's newest conquerors—the gangs. From his years of undercover work, Lone Star officer Rick Larson thinks he knows the score. The gangs rule their territories by guns and spells, force and intimidation, and it's the most capricious of balances that keeps things from exploding into all-out warfare. Inside the Cutters, one of the city’s most dangerous gangs, Larson is in a prime position to watch the balance, react to it, and report to his superiors. But when the balance begins to shift unexpectedly, Larson finds himself not only on the wrong side of the fight, but on the wrong side of the law as well…