If he'd known all the trouble following her, itinerant photographer Michelangelo "Mage" Magistrale would have thought twice about helping the beautiful, distressed woman at the bus station. In return for a ticket she gives Mage what she says is the key to her apartment, but he quickly discovers that it's much it's a key to any door, to any place, to incredible power—and there are people who will stop at nothing to possess it. Suddenly Mage is on the run from Calgary to Los Angeles, under constant attack from ninja, Yakuza thugs, and terrible creatures ripped from Japanese mythology. His only hope is to discover the secret of the key and master its power—to learn the art of arrow cutting—before he comes to the inevitable confrontation with the dark forces pursuing him.

Hungry L.A. Women Something is amiss in Los Angeles. A body vanishes from the morgue. The errant son of L.A.'s most notorious necromancer has unleashed demons that not even his father can control. Women hungry for more than love are suddenly appearing among the vampire wannabes at the Crypt, a local goth cafe. And a yakuza boss has put a contract out on stuntman Charlie Takumo's friend Michelangelo "Mage" Magistrale, seeking vengeance—and a magical "key" that unlocks enormous power. The two friends' plight deepens when they're thrust into the middle of a series of mysterious nocturnal deaths that suddenly plague the City of Angels. Caught between professional assassins and ancient terrors that are undead and stalking the L.A. nightlife, they'll need all of Takumo's fighting skills—and Mage's magic—if they want to survive to see the dawn, because . . .