I received an e-ARC of this anthology through NetGalley and Gallery Books, Threshold Pocket Books. Thank you.

This was one of those books where I got what I had been wishing for and then wondered if I really appreciated what I got. For me the unremitting villainous focus was harder to enjoy than I had expected (so probably a 3 star rating would express that better), but the writing for each story is excellent so I'm going with the 4 star rating to reflect that aspect. I found that I needed to take breaks from the stories because it was hard for me to start with the first story and read straight through the collection. I've discovered I like my villains better when there is a comparison of actions with the good guys. A few of the stories feature both the good and bad character from a series - and those were my favorite stories - but there aren't many of those. There were quite a few authors included here who were unfamiliar to me. I have been given a great tool to help decide if reading more by specific authors will be in my future.

This collection is edited by Joseph Nassise and he has a story included. There are seventeen short stories and all the stories have the 2017 copyright date but I'm not sure that means none of the stories have been published before. I'm going to list the author, the series title(s), the short story title and the villain(s).

Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files: "Even Hand", Gentleman John Marcone.
Kelley Armstrong, The Cainsville Series: "Hounded", the Huntsman.
Jeff Somers, The Ustari Cycle: "Nigsu Ga Tesgu", Mika Renar.
Craig Schaefer, The Harmony Black Series and The Daniel Faust Series: "Sixty-Six Seconds", Fontaine (Harmony Black Series) confronts The Redemption Choir (Daniel Faust Series).
Lilith Saintcrow, The Jill Kismet Series: "Kiss", Perry.
Kevin Hearne, The Iron Druid Chronicles: "The Naughtiest Cherub", Loki narrates.
Caitlin Kittredge, The Hellhound Chronicles: "The Resurrectionist", Lee Grey.
Joseph Nassise, The Templar Chronicles: "Down Where the Darkness Dwells", Simon Logan and Ashereal.
Carrie Vaughn, The Kitty Norville Series: "Bellum Romanum", Roman (aka Gaius Albinus).
Jonathan Maberry, The Joe Ledger Series: "Altar Boy", Toys.
Faith Hunter, Jane Yellowrock Series: "Make it Snappy", backstory of Leo.
Jon F. Merz, The Lawson Vampire Series: "Chase the Fire", Shiraz Aziz.
Diana Pharaoh Francis, The Horngate Witches Series: "Unexpected Choices", Giselle works with Shoftiel.
Steven Savile, Glass Town: "Reel Life", Seth Lockwood.
Domino Finn, Black Magic Outlaw Series: "The Difference Between Deceit and Delusion", backstory for Tunji Malu.
Seanan McGuire, The inCryptid Series: "Balance", a cuckoo - telepathic ambush predator.
Sam Witt, The Pitchfork County Series: "Everywhere", Joe Hark against the Long Man.

The more famous author's stories are absolutely on point. I loved the additional insights into the worlds of Butcher, Hearne, McGuire, Mayberry, Vaughn and Schaefer. I liked a few others but I skipped a few of the lesser known authors.

I really enjoyed this anthology. It was a very fun read and it gave me a chance to check out many authors I had not heard of or read previously. I'm excited to be able to check out some of the full length novels! Plus, there's something refreshing about reading the stories of villains instead of heroes.

Even Hand - Jim Butcher - From the world of Harry Dresden, we follow John Marcone. This was an interesting read. I know that Marcone was supposed to be a villain, but in this short story he played, to a small extent, a hero. I loved the variety of magical and mystical creatures introduced, and I thought Gard's character was fantastic (she's a Norse valkyrie). If she ever gets a spinoff, count me in! Marcone had an awesome variety of weapons at his disposal and that made this one of my favorite short stories in the book. 5 stars

Hounded - Kelley Armstrong - The Cainsville Series - The main character of this story, is Cwn Annwn. He is perhaps, one of the most evil characters in the whole book. Cwn is a member of the Wild Hunt who has been cast out because he's lost his mind. Now he needs another hound. The way he goes about acquiring one... well. It made for an excellent and harrowing story. 4 stars

Nigsu Ga Tesgu - Jeff Somers - An Ustari Cycle Story - This one told the back story of Mika Renar. The world building seemed rather complicated and was difficult to follow at times, but I enjoyed it overall. I give the story itself 3 stars, because it was a little slow, but I give Mika 5 stars because she was pretty awesome.

Sixty Six Seconds - Craig Schaefer - Harmony Black - Sixty Six Seconds follows Fontaine on a demonic bounty hunt. This was another story where the villain might have been mistaken for a hero. I think fans of the Harmony Black series would get more enjoyment from this story than I did. The world building again, seemed complicated and some things were hard to follow. I wasn't sure why the people who were being hunted were being hunted, other than Princes of Hell wanted them. 3 stars

Kiss - Lilith Saintcrow - Jill Kismet series - This is another backstory to what I understand to be the series main villain, Perry. He's undoubtedly evil, but the story fell a little flat for me. I would however, be interested in reading more about Jill Kismet. 3 series

The Naughtiest Cherub - Kevin Hearne - The Iron Druid Chronicles - The Naughtiest Cherub was my favorite story of the book. I'm all for anything Viking or Norse mythology. This story sees Loki going into hell trying to make a deal with the devil (The Naughtiest Cherub) to help him assist or stop him from interfering with Ragnorak (the end of the world). Loki was represented well and I loved the idea that Lucifer only does things that amuse him, and all of his evil stems from his want of amusement. I will definitely be checking out The Iron Druid Chronicles! 5 stars

The Resurrectionist - Caitlin Kittredge - The Hellhound Chronicles - This was another bounty hunter type story. I loved the slow burn of Lee Grey from morally neutral guy with a bad past back into full on villain. 4 stars

Down Where the Darkness Dwells - Joseph Nassise - The Templar Chronicles - This was my second favorite story in the book and it tells the beginning of villain Simon Logan. It had a very Indiana Jones feel to it, with a bunch of wizards (warlocks?) and their apprentices descending into the forgotten temple of a Mayan death god in pursuit of a relic with awesome power. This is another series that I definitely want to check out in the future! 5 stars

Bellum Romanum - Carrie Vaughn - Kitty Norville series - This story followed Gaius Albinus, a vampire who was once a Roman Centurion whose crimes are far worse than sucking the blood of unwilling victims. A solid vampire story- 4 stars.

Altar Boy - Jonathan Maberry - Joe Ledger series - This story was interesting because the main character (Toys) was a villain with no illusions about his past. He seems to be attempting to find redemption and the story delivers a decent twist. It also takes a small glance at the science vs. religion debate and gives you something to think about. 4 stars

Make it Snappy - Faith Hunter - Jane Yellowrock - Loved the characters in this one (vampire master Leo and his heir Katherine), and I love the description given of the main character from the series (a Cherokee skin walker). It seemed very reminiscent of Jean Claude and the Anita Blake series. Another story that got me interested in the original series. 4 stars

Chase the Fire - Jon F. Merz - Lawson Vampires - I think this was the most forgettable story of the book. I didn't feel like it brought anything new to the vampire table. Please take this with a grain of salt because I've never read any of the novels before and maybe just didn't understand the world building at play. Ava was a delight though. 2 stars

Unexpected Choices - Diana Pharaoh Francis - The Horngate Witches - So this story isn't my typical flavor of paranormal. For some reason I don't find witches and angels as exciting as vampires and werewolves. However, this story follows a witch named Giselle and an angel named Shoftiel after a magical apocalypse, which sounded pretty awesome and definitely left me wanting more. For a short story I also thought Max and Giselle had a lot of chemistry together. 4 stars

Reel Life - Steven Savile - Glass Town - This story follows Seth Lockwood, whom I think, is just a human. He's locked in an alternate world (his own request) by a magician who has now disappeared. Time moves differently in his alternate reality and he and his captive do not age. This story was seriously disturbing and had a huge dose of horror alongside the paranormal. I'm giving it 4 stars for it's effectiveness (it's horrifying). The story itself wasn't my style.

The Difference Between Deceit and Delusion - Domino Finn - Black Magic Outlaw -This story undoubtedly had the coolest villain. A vampire of sorts with metal fangs and hooked blades (for arms? I think?). There is also a djinn (which I rarely see), and the story is interwoven with African and Caribbean folklore, which I enjoyed. The plot itself wasn't incredibly interesting but I'd check out the book for the characters and world building anyway. 4 stars

Balance - Seanan McGuire - InCryptid Universe - Follows an alien creature called a cuckoo, who can alter the minds of humans. I thought it was a unique premise and story. I loved the ending. 4 stars

Everywhere - Sam Witt - Pitchfork County Series - This follows a villain called the Longman. Again, I didn't understand much of the world building which made it tough to follow, but it had an excellent conclusion. 3 stars

Overall the writing was great. Each author brought something new to the table. I'd recommend this book to existing fans of these series, as well as anyone looking for some new Urban Fantasy series to read. They are excellent previews to the world building, writing, and types of magic or characters at play. None of the stories felt too long or dragged on unnecessarily. i will probably check it out again from time to time as I'm looking for new reading material.

Urban fantasy anthologies are always great fun to read. It doesn't matter if you haven't read anything by most of the authors before, heck, it's a great way to be introduced into series.

This anthology appealed to me because I recognized authors like Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong, Seanan McGuire and Kevin Hearne. The rest were new ones for me, but for the most part did all of the stories work, even though most of the series in this book were new for me, like even though I have read books by Seanan McGuire before haven't I read anything before from her October Daye series, and I have only read the first book in the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (and a short story) before so the villain in the book was pretty unknown for me. But, it worked. Most of the stories worked, despite the fact that I had pretty much zero knowledge before I read them. Then again, I love interesting villains so that helped.

The best story was without doubt Kelley Armstrong's. But, I started to read her Cainsville series a while back, and I love it so that's not really a big surprise. It did spoil the series a bit since I have only read the first two books, but that's alright. It doesn't put me off reading the next books.

If I had been wise would I have taken notes of every story, but I was too lazy for that so I will not comment on every story. However, I will say that it's a great collection whether or not you have read anything by the others before.

There were so many stories in this and, though a lot of them had similar aspects, there was also a lot of variety between the villains brought into this anthology by different authors.

I found myself liking most the stories about origin stories, although of course there was one acception. Origin stories I loved included:

Lilith Saintcrow's "Kiss"
Jonathan Maberry's "Alter Boy"
Caitlin Kittredge's "The Resurrectionist"
Carrie Vaugn's "Bellum Romanum"

Many others, particularly those that were enmeshed either in series that I hadn't read at all, or hadn't gotten up to the later parts of the series yet, were just a bit too convoluted to stand alone for me. For every one I loved, there were probably as many that just didn't quite hit the mark for me.

But whether they were villains who had secret rules that they didn't break--such as John Marcone in Jim Butcher's short--or dark and evil villains--such as Steven Savile's Seth in Glass Town--or even Seanan McGuire's more neutral cuckoo villain, there was something in here for everyone.

Special mention to both Jonathan Maberry and Diana Pharoh Francis whose names I'd never heard of before but whose stories I enjoyed the very most from this set.

At this time I am unable to give a review to issues with the version of publishing I received.

A decent collection of stories. I only read the ones of authors that I read so I wouldn't become confused. I do have to say, I'm disappointed that the 'headliner' story by Jim Butcher is a reprint of a story from another anthology. I was looking forward to new content.

These compilations are an excellent way to find new authors and new series to read. The only series reflected in this work that I'm familiar with are Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid series. Both of these stories, while they don't necessary move the series' plots forward, do serve to provide background on what Marcone and Loki, two villains, are up to, and gives us a little more depth to their characters.

A fantastic eclectic sampling of authors villains. From our favorite non redeemable, to the trying to be redeemed. We get back story on Leo from Jane Yellowrock, gory goodness from Dresdens Marcone, Toys was a special treat, as I need to read those novels to find out more. They suck you in and introduce you to authors you may not have read, and boy do I want to read the ones I've got a taste of now! The best anthology I have read. Long live the villains! (insert evil laugh here) I voluntarily reviewed an ARC from Netgalley.

This collection is a lot of fun! I picked it up because some of my favorite authors have stories in it but it was also a good introduction to authors I haven't read. For the ones I'm familiar with, these weren't just new stories by them but new stories in familiar settings but from different points of view that show the usual protagonist in a new light.

For the authors I hadn't read, this may be a strange way of being introduced but you can learn a lot about a character by the enemies they make. Now I want to learn more about the good guys because they have such interested bad guys.

A huge anthology of the best urban fantasy short stories told by the point of view of the most notorious and nefarious villains.... It is not bad, but in a way it spoiled all my favorite series, specially the one I'm most attached to: Kevin Hearne's druids and Butcher's Dresden Files, because I didn't want to like the villains mostly.

Una massiccia antologia di alcuni di storie tratte dalle serie piú famose urban fantasy e raccontate dai cattivi piú famosi....Non male, il mio problema peró é che se mi affezioni anche ai cattivi in qualche modo mi si rovina la serie, come per i druidi di Kevin Hearne e per i Dresden Files di Jim Butcher...

THANKS TO NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

I do love a good anthology and seeing this advertised I couldn't wait to read it. Now I will be frank and say I'm not sure if all these short stories are new and have a feeling that perhaps one or two have been released before so I'd suggest checking the titles and comparing with books you already own . That being said all were fresh to me and as it included works by six authors I follow for me this was an excellent read.
Hmm how do I start? Well if I review each and every story this would be far too long and tedious to read so I will sum up my thoughts. Quite often in urban fantasy we see the bad guys but are not always sure just why they act as they do. It's easy with say a demon to understand that they are by nature evil incarnate but when faced with more human villains I always have questions. So it was interesting to occasionally see a different side with the baddies having standards of their own! We have characters trying to use magic for good and realising that some things really shouldn't be taken for granted. So many variations in play here from the more humourous and frankly quirky to tales with a bitter twist. Prideful men who underestimate others and even angels realising that even they are perhaps not infallible . Yes there's a simple truth throughout these stories and that is that you should always be careful what you wish for!
I'd read books by several of these authors and had heard of some others and this was a delightful way to sample their styles. In fact one or two actually surprised me as I hadn't kept checking the authors names as I sailed through so got completely blindsided. Ok not everyone will enjoy all these stories and yes of course I had favourites but as an introduction to new authors works this was an entertaining collection. All in all I thought this anthology had lots of variety and definitely held my attention
This voluntary review is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and feelings are I believe honest and fair

I was disappointed when I started to read the first story. The Jim Butcher book was already in another anthology so it wasn't new to me (and it didn't thrill me much the first time I read it...the "surprise" didn't ring true for me). Things went down from there. None of the stories were interesting to me, not even those from favorite authors like Faith Hunter and Kevin Hearne. The story by Hunter seemed a little out of tune with the character of Katie though the focus of the story is on Leo. Half of the authors were new to me and what I read didn't make me want to look up their series.

Big disappointment.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

What a phenomenal collection, and from the enemies point of view. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!

This anthology is full of well-known authors of the genre. However, the stories are somewhat light in content (as told from the villain's perspectives) and would be best recommended for diehard fans.

Full review to be ready for publication by mid July.

URBAN ENEMIES will be an ongoing read for me this summer, to read and savor each story leisurely and in a timely fashion. The story I read immediately is the one I picked up the anthology to get my hands on. 'Make it Snappy' is a fun bit about my favorite bad boy vampire Leo from Faith Hunter's fantastic "Jane Yellowrock" series. Next up will be Jim Butcher and the story from "The Dresden Files" series, and the Diana Pharaoh Francis and her entry from her "Horngate Witches" series.

URBAN ENEMIES looks to be a great read in the pnr/uf worlds of the various authors.