The Grey Gates
Welcome to The Grey Gates
If no one knows that you saved the world, does it really count?
In a world like our own, a large, sprawling city is home to non-magical humans alongside a variety of supernatural beings. The city's resources are limited, and it's under pressure from the Wild - a great, sprawling mass that no sensible human would venture into.
Max Ortis is a Marshal, one of those charged with keeping the more dangerous supernatural creatures in check. It's dangerous, difficult work but it's a job.
Max wasn't always a Marshal, though, and as much as she doesn't want to deal with her past, she can't avoid it. Although most residents of the city are content to live their lives, there are some who want to stir up trouble, including reaching into the world below.
The Grey Gates will be a five book series following Max as she tries to keep herself in one piece. As with my other series, it's designed to be read in order. Later books contain spoilers for previous books. I've tried to avoid too many spoilers in the book descriptions below, but if you're like me and you prefer to follow the story from beginning to end, reading in order is definitely recommended.
More information about the individual books can be found below as available.
I'm hoping to release the series through 2023 - although the final book might literally be on the last day of the year! - and will update this page with information about upcoming releases.
The books will initially be available as e-books only, through Amazon, but I do plan to do print versions in the future.
Outcast
The Grey Gates - Book 1
If no one knows that you saved the world, does it really count?
Eight years ago the world almost ended and Max lost everything, accused of betrayal and failure.
Now working as a Marshal, keeping the city and its people safe from supernatural dangers, Max thinks she's broken all ties to her past. She's just trying to do her job and live her life.
Asked to help local law enforcement with a series of vicious murders, Max is willing to assist but soon realises that she might be next. Can she keep her secret while finding the killer?
Outcast is the first book in a new series by Vanessa Nelson. If you like your fantasy mixed with a dose of mystery, a bit of magic, and a heroine who can hold her own, you will love this new series. Get your copy of Outcast now to start reading Max's story.
Called
The Grey Gates - Book 2
In a city full of rising tension, with people going missing or turning up dead, can Max resist the call to help?
When Max tries to intervene to prevent an assault and it goes horribly wrong, she wants nothing more than to keep her head down and get on with her job. She does not want to answer calls for help, not even from Bryce, the Order warrior who seems willing to give her a second chance.
Despite telling herself she just wants to live her quiet life, Max finds herself delving into parts of the city where no one apart from the desperate want to go, facing terrifying supernatural creatures and ghosts from her past.
Max never wanted to be a hero, but no one else is going to do the job.
Called is the second book in The Grey Gates and follows Outcast. Get your copy of Called now to continue Max's story.
Hunted
The Grey Gates - Book 3
Unsolved murders, supernatural creatures and civil unrest. Just another day.
Problems keep piling up around Max. No sooner has she dealt with one set of supernatural creatures, than she's called to the city's mortuary to an unusual death. The city's most senior spiritual leader is also trying to get hold of her. On top of that, Bryce cancelled their date and hasn't been seen for days.
Her week gets worse when one of her friends is attacked and left for dead, and she is dragged out of the city into the middle of someone else's fight. Max finds herself running for her life, with no idea of how she got there or what's going on around her.
Trapped in a strange place with only Bryce for company, she will need to re ly on him and her own hard-won skills and courage to survive.
Hunted is the third book in The Grey Gates. Get your copy now to continue Max's story.
Forged
The Grey Gates - Book 4
Blood may be thicker than water, but not all families are meant to stay together.
Struggling to maintain her independence, and the life she has fought so hard to build, Max finally learns the truth about her own origins and her family.
Max has no time to absorb the shocking news. There are dead bodies missing from the mortuary, a demon on the loose somewhere in the city, and terrifying supernatural creatures on the loose that she and her fellow Marshals must contain somehow.
Max is used to working alone - can she put aside her past fears and work with her allies to keep the city safe?
Forged is the fourth book in The Grey Gates. Get your copy now to continue Max's story.
Chosen
The Grey Gates - Book 5
Demons on the loose. Ritual murders. An ancient vampire breathing down her neck.
Some days Max just doesn't know where to start. The problems facing her city are piling up, and there seems no end or solution in sight.
Max's job used to be dealing with supernatural creatures. Now she's got to tackle demons from the underworld who are far more powerful than anything she's come across before, and who seem intent on bringing an end to the daylight world.
Part of Max would love to sit this one out. Let someone else save the world for a change. But was it ever really a choice?
Chosen is the fifth and final book in The Grey Gates.
Chosen is expected to release late January / early February 2024 - pre-order your copy now to get the conclusion to Max's story when it's released.
