I’m Detective Leah Mackenzie, a human with the Atlanta PD. My partner and I are investigating the graveyard homicide of a young woman when arrogant master of the city Michael Obsidian stalks onto the scene. Obsidian declares my case vampire business. Human hands off. Tightly furious, I follow him to his lair to convince him he’s wrong. Yeah, I confront the strongest freaking vampire in the state, so what? My heart’s pounding in fear, too—bloodsuckers, even the lawful ones, are predators governed by deadly instincts born at the dawn of time. But Mom always said to do what was right, even if I had to go it alone. I need to get justice for the victim. Then I get a lead on the killer that takes me straight into wild vampire territory, and going it alone threatens to turn me into the next homicide. Special note to Biting Love fans—This isn't the Biting Love Universe. This is a short, first-meet story in a post-Unmasking universe. While there's sensual tension, it's meant for general audiences. There are vampires and snark, though. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Vignette: a short, delicately memorable scene. Vampire Vignettes. Short. Scintillating. First, exciting meets between an apex master vampire and the human woman who lights his life for the first time in centuries. Each story features a vampire master of the city and the woman who charms (or fights or snarks) her way into his life.

In April 2005, Ashley Smith made headlines around the globe when she miraculously talked her way out of the hands of alleged courthouse killer Brian Nichols after he took her hostage for seven hours in her suburban Atlanta apartment. In this moving, inspirational memoir, the 26-year-old widowed mother of a six-year-old girl shares for the first time the little-known details of her traumatic ordeal, and expands on how her faith and the bestselling book The Purpose-Driven« Life helped her survive and bring the killer's murderous rampage to a peaceful end. Just as she told her 6'1", 210-pound captor that his ultimate "purpose" in life was to end up spending the rest of his life in prison, preaching the teachings of Jesus Christ to his fellow inmates, Smith believes her own purpose is to spread that message of love to the rest of us. Juxtaposing the minute-by-minute tale of her experience with the never-before-told tragedies and triumphs of her own life, Unlikely Angel is a gripping tale of downfall and redemption, involving addiction, violence, death, loss, faith, and love. It is a story that will leave no reader untouched.

Angel Bones has an introspective voice that maintains a bright understanding of the temporal. As we read, we are painfully aware the speaker is dying from cancer and death is imminent. The attempt to not only explain, but understand how to welcome and embrace death is a bittersweet calm. How can one leave willingly when there is so much left behind?

America's worsening nightmare of gridlock is given full attention in this illuminating study of the transportation crisis in Atlanta. Inconveniences and hardships created by too many automobiles and too few alternatives for movement have reached untenable levels. Miriam Konrad investigates three major transportation projects involving public transit and use of space issues in the Atlanta area: the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), the bus and rail system that has been the backbone of metropolitan Atlanta's public transportation system for the past thirty years; the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA), a superagency created in 1999 to address air quality issues in the region; and the Belt Line, a popular proposal to build a twenty-two-mile loop of greenspace, transit, and other amenities around an inner loop of the city on existing rail beds. She reveals how gridlock, over regional transportation policy and procedures, has emerged out of the competition between growth promoters, environmentalists, and social justice actors.

Between 1979 and 1981 a killer terrorized Atlanta, till Wayne B. Williams was convicted for several of these killings. Examining law enforcment and legal details, Bernard Headley tries to place the details of this event into historical perspective.

Atlanta magazine’s editorial mission is to engage our community through provocative writing, authoritative reporting, and superlative design that illuminate the people, the issues, the trends, and the events that define our city. The magazine informs, challenges, and entertains our readers each month while helping them make intelligent choices, not only about what they do and where they go, but what they think about matters of importance to the community and the region. Atlanta magazine’s editorial mission is to engage our community through provocative writing, authoritative reporting, and superlative design that illuminate the people, the issues, the trends, and the events that define our city. The magazine informs, challenges, and entertains our readers each month while helping them make intelligent choices, not only about what they do and where they go, but what they think about matters of importance to the community and the region.

Willow knows she's different from other girls. And not just because she loves tinkering around with cars. Willow has a gift. She can look into people's futures, know their dreams, their hopes and their regrets, just by touching them. She has no idea where she gets this power from... But Alex does. Gorgeous, mysterious Alex knows Willow's secret and is on a mission to stop her. The dark forces within Willow make her dangerous - and irresistible. In spite of himself, Alex finds he is falling in love with his sworn enemy. Utterly intoxicating and deeply compelling, Angel is an epic tale of love, destiny and sacrifice.