Led Astray by Kelley Armstrong

RELEASE DATE 15th September 2015


Two brand new tales anchor this wide-ranging collection from one of urban fantasy's most successful authors. Here is the first time that best-selling fantasy, YA, and crime author Kelley Armstrong has had her stories collected from Otherworld and beyond. With her signature twists and turns, Armstrong gives a fresh spin on city-dwelling vampires, werewolves, and zombies, while also traveling further afield, to a post-apocalyptic fortress, a superstitious village, a supernatural brothel, and even to feudal Japan.

With tales that range from humorous to heart-stopping, these are the stories that showcase Kelley Armstrong at her versatile best.



Rakshashi - a standalone story
Rakshasi are almost genie-like creatures that are tied to serving a family until they've atoned for their bad deeds during life. Of course, they don't exactly like this arrangement.

Kat - a Darkest Powers story
Kat and Marguerite are on the run from the Edison group but Marguerite is keeping something from Kat.

A Haunted House Of Her Own - a standalone story
A young couple buy a dream B&B - it's supposed to be haunted but that's what they want. The woman discovers maybe she's bitten off more than she can chew.

Learning Curve - an Otherworld story
An Otherworld based short featuring Zoe Takano who we met in Broken. Zoe discovers she's being stalked by someone.

The Screams Of Dragons - a Cainsville story
A Cainsville short where a young boy starts hearing the screams of dragons and haveing weird dreams. Then the Cainsville residents start treating him strange.

The Kitsune's Nine Tales - an Age of Legends story
A guard leads the Kitsune traitor to the Forest of the Dead. He's been warned about all his tricks along the way.

Last Stand - a standalone story
A virus outbreak means the recently dead are back, the dead and alive are at war. Our main character is a leader and fears for her group as the numbers are dwindling.

Bamboozled - an Otherworld story
A small group of people hunt down wanted criminals but everyone's in for a surprise with their latest hunt.

Branded - an Otherworld story
People live inside the Fortress for safety - outside are where the branded supernaturals live. A young mand and woman hatch a plan for leaving.

The List - an Otherworld story
Someone has made a list of vampires living in Toronto so Zoe goes to check the author out.

Young Bloods - an Otherworld story
A man realises there are two vampires on the train trying to intimdate people into confrontation but they don't realise who he is.

The Door - a standalone story original to this book
A young girl grows up learning to stay away from the door, only her dad is allowed to leave and comes back with food and toys. She always obeyed until the time came where she had to leave.

Dead Flowers By A Roadside - a standalone story
A man is haunted by visions of his wife and child. He keeps himself busy by fixing up the family car.

Suffer The Children - a standalone story
A village have recently lost all their young and elderly to disease so when two guys visit and claim to be able to bring them back, they agree.

The Collector - a standalone story
A puzzle solver takes part in an online puzzle that eventually leads her to an office for the last part - a puzzle box.

Gabriel's Gargoyles - a Cainsville story
A young Gabriel searches for all of Cainsville's garygoyles while also dealing with his mother.

Harbinger - a standalone story
A young woman is haunted by the spectres of drowned girls. She tries to talk to them, she tries to ignore them but they won't go away.

V Plates - an Otherworld story
Reese want to help Noah lose his virginity and asks Nick to help so they go to a brothel but it's not just an ordinary brothel.

Life Sentence - an Otherworld story
Daniel Boyd is dying so he uses his money and remaining time trying to find a way to stop it.

Plan B - standalone story
A man and his mistress hatch a plan to get his wife out of the picture but nothing goes as planned - always have a plan B.

The Hunt - a Cainsville story
A hunter decides to step up the hunting game and move up a level.

Dead To Me - a standalone story
A woman tries to stop her husband's ghost from haunting her home.

Devil May Care - a Cainsville story original to this book
Patrick only returns to Cainsville once in a blue moon and he learns of a prophecy when he's there so decides to avoid it all together.


I loved all these stories and a few of them were new to me either because I hadn't read the original anthology they were in or they're original stories just for this one.

I never have a bad thing to say about Kelley's work and I highly recommend this anthology whether you're new to her or a die hard fan like me. Although if you're new to her, some of these stories may be spoiler-ific or not make sense.

There were a lot of books I had on my Amazon wishlist purely because they contain a Kelley story that I've now been able to remove so ... bonus!


Book Depository:
Amazon UK: Led Astray
Amazon UK: Led Astray

Country vs Country - The Hollows

(This one is ordered UK old, UK new, US until Black Magic Sanction then it's UK, US after)

Julie-Anne: I'm going to say here that I'm pretty much just going to be ignoring the old UK covers because they’re horrible. I've always hated them and actually have the US covers at home. I quite like the new UK covers, they're kind of similar to the US covers and don't have the gaudy, disgusting colours of the old UK ones. I think I'm going to go new UK on this one.
Danielle: Wow. The original UK covers are really something, aren't they! Sheesh. I never really cared for the US covers, though the first few weren't as bad as they later get. I like that Rachel has the charms hanging from her pocket. The new UK cover has really nice colours, and at least she isn't fully facing the camera. I think I'll go with the US here, but it's close.

J: Who is this on the UK cover? Been awhile since I read it, is it Rachel wearing a wig? Is it Ivy? It's not Ivy, her hair is shorter than this right? See what you've reduced me to mystery woman? I'm arguing with myself about your identity!! Anyway ... I choose US.
D: My first thought with the UK cover was Ivy. Though I feel like Rachel does wear a wig in this one (or one of them, at some point) so it's hard to say. I'm also going to choose US here, because of the full frontal on the UK, and because the US looks more ... witchy.

J: I have always loved this US cover, the boot and long coat are sexy as fuck! Although I do also like the background of the UK cover, but not that the model is full frontal. US again.
D: I don't know. I still don't like the old UK here, but I'm not loving the other two either. Both have qualities that I like, but I don't love either. I think I'll go with the US, because I love the statue in the background.

J: Oh! So the woman on The Good, The Bad and the Undead is Ivy? I never thought of her as having a bob, I always thought it was shorter like pixie style. Also, isn't she Asian? I like the UK cover but I always liked the dress on the US cover although I hated that it deviated away from the same style with the big banner for Harrison’s name. Saying that, I'm going with US. (I know I said I was going to ignore them but I always hated this old UK cover)
D: It's been so long since I've read these, but I feel kind of like that is how I pictured Ivy's hair. I can't remember for sure now. This was where I started disliking the US covers, because they changed at this book. I so dislike when publishers do that. Ivy looks like someone here that I can't place, and it's bothering me, since Ivy is Asian, and this girl ... isn't. I'll pick US, but I'll be honest, I don't hate the original UK cover here. I mean, it's definitely not Rachel, but the cover kind of makes me think of Trash Polka for some reason, and I think it's a really interesting style.

J: Who's the blonde woman? What the hell is with all these random women on the UK covers? I’m going with US again.
D: I was thinking the same thing. I can’t even try to guess who she is. Ohhhhh! Wait! Is she Ceri? She shows up in this book, doesn’t she? I’ll stick with US here though. Not much more to say about that.

J: And randomly, we have a different name for this book over here. When I first saw this book announced, it took me a while to find it. I don't understand why we have a different name, it's only this book. Again with the blonde chick, is it supposed to be red? But we've seen Rachel on other covers with actual red hair, is there a blonde chick that I can't remember? Know what? The UK covers make me ask too many questions! I'm still going US.
D: I'm thinking she must be Ceri, but why is she on the covers? I mean, she has a role in the books, but not enough to have several solos on covers. And what is with the name change? It's strange. I'm going to go with the girl on the original UK cover, and give that name two daggers down. US again, even though I really never liked these covers.

J: Oooh, the face on that UK cover! Why does she look so pissed? (Again, more questions!) And why is she smoking? The face looks way too photoshopped and fake. I always liked her outfit on the US cover, it's US again for me.
D: I'm not loving either UK cover, though I think I like the original cover better than the new. I'll go with US again too.

J: I love that the US has a wee gargoyle on it, and I love the moon behind Rachel. I do like the purple on the UK cover but I still don't like the model's pose or facial expression. US again.
D: Bis, right?! I liked him. I want to have a real gargoyle in my belfry. Of course, I'd need a belfry. US here, just because of Bis.

J: OK, how many models has there been for the UK covers? It seems like it changes all the time. And I'm obviously going US again, who wouldn't with that badass pose and the lightning. Love it.
D: I also am choo choo choosing US. The UK is full frontal, and it's just so plain. I don't love the US cover, but I like it better than the other.

J: Weird Ivy again. The US covers really seem to be more action based and seem more like Rachel than any of the UK covers. US again.
D: I do like this US cover. I do also like that they show her being witchy on the covers. Makes them more appealing.

J: Why is Rachel (or Ivy) always posed so seductively and sexy in the UK covers? I just don't like it. I like the US cover but it's first we've seen a full frontal and I don't think it looks like Rachel. Not a huge fan of either but I'm going with US because it's an action shot.
D: The US cover looks like a blonde girl. The reappearance of Ceri? I don't love either cover, but I'll choose US, just because she's far enough away that her face isn't super clear.

J: So we have the same image here for both covers just zoomed out and more background on the US one. I haven't read this far in the series yet so I'm going to guess the guy is Trent? I like this image, I'm going with US because it's the zoomed out view and you can see those awesome boots.
D: I assumed it was Trent the first time I saw this cover too. I also haven't read far enough into the series to know if it's him or not either. I don't like the full frontal, but the cover is cool. I'll go with US as well.

J: Again, same image but different backgrounds. For some reason they've changed the position of the guy and US has white while we have black. I don't get the reasoning behind that, if you're using the same image why not just make the cover the same? I'm actually going UK with this one purely because I prefer the black over the white.
D:I also prefer the black to the white here. I'm assuming that's Trent in the background again. The UK cover actually reminds me of the US Dead Witch Walking cover. Kind of like it went back to where it all began. I mean, really, there isn't anything really all that much the same, but it's what I thought of right away. I'll pick the UK cover as well.

Julie-Anne: I enjoy this series but I've fell behind. I think I lost a little love for it after we lost Kisten (loved him). Overall, I think US had the better covers - and UK tried twice! I much prefer the second set of UK covers over the first set but I'm glad I have the US covers ... even if it costs me more money in shipping to get them.
Danielle: I also lost interest in this series after Kist. I've read up to Black Magic Sanction. I keep thinking I'll get back to them, but I really lost interest after For A Few Demons More/The Outlaw Demon Wails. I didn't like the writing, I thought Rachel was far too whiney, and I just ... couldn't. A friend talked me into keeping going, and I'll admit I enjoyed Black Magic Sanction a lot more than the few before it, but I still never did get back to them. Maybe some day.