Category: F-J Page 23 of 27

by Faith Hunter
Series: Jane Yellowrock, #9

Mass Market Paperback, 363 pg.
Roc, 2015
Read: April 22 – 24, 2015
So, how much trouble does Jane Yellowrock find herself in this time out? Almost all of it, I think.

Even as she left his desiccated near-corpse hanging on the wall in Leo’s sub-basement, we all knew that Jane was going to have to deal with The Son of Darkness sooner than later. So did she. Turns out it’s a lot sooner than anyone expected or wanted (well, maybe some readers wanted it now, so sooner than Jane et al. wanted it). Joses Bar-Judas is probably the nastiest, toughest, most despicable supernatural creature we’ve encountered in these books — and I don’t see him being topped any time soon (well, maybe his brother).

The body count in this one is high — and the ramifications for that are probably going to be felt for a book or two. Oddly, the police and people of New Orleans don’t take kindly to an out-of-control vampire. Relations between the general populace and the Mithrans are near the breaking point.

But that’s not the worst — whatever this original vamp^* is capable of doing — it’s far more than Jane’s ready for. Keeping fairly spoiler-free, let’s just say that whatever punishment our Skinwalker’s taken thus far is nothing compared to what she’s got coming.

Along the way, Jane learns some things — thanks to the vamps playing everything super, super close to their chests — that changes how she thinks about and understands almost everything that’s happened since she first came to New Orleans.

Which isn’t to say this is a perfect book — I’ve about had it with Molly, really. I’ll always be interested in her daughter (and the way Beast thinks of that little kit), but Hunter needs to do something interesting with Molly soon. I didn’t like the way that Jane’s church (particularly their baptismal waters) were depicted. I’ve always appreciated how in the middle of all this crazy supernatural stuff, there’s been a real drive in Jane for a connection to this church, which was fairly realistically depicted. Hunter sorta tossed that out of the window this time, and made it just as supernatural as everything else. I understand that impulse and how it fits into this world — I just like it less. Lastly, there were plenty of opportunities for Jane and Jodi (and the rest of the police) to work together here, or at least for Jane to do a better job explaining things to her pal with the badge. But for the most part, all that was shoved to the sidelines in a pretty poor way. Yes, there’s only so much Hunter can fit into 360 pages, but still.

Nevertheless, in the grand scheme of things, these are minor complaints when weighed against what Hunter did accomplish here. The chapters involving the final show-down were some of the best things I’ve read in this series, and were definitely filled with all the “what the — ?!” moments you could ask for and a couple “did I just read that?” paragraphs as well.

In the midst of things at their worst — we get some really nice moments with her not-boyfriend, Bruiser. Best of all, we’re treated to some great, heartfelt, “Awww” inducing developments with Eli and Alex. I’ve liked Alex from the get-go, but Eli is about to become my favorite character in the series (sorry, Jane).

For most of the time I’ve been reading this series, I’ve pretty much thought of it as a decent UF series to tide me over between installments of my favorites. But as of the last two or three, I think I’ve come to realize that this is one of my favorites and that I’m really, really looking forward to seeing what comes next.^** Dark Heir is probably the best so far, and it’ll take something big to top it.

—–

^* Not to be confused with the CW’s collection of teen heart-throb Originals.
^** Which I fear means that Hunter will wrap things up in a book or two.

—–

4 1/2 Stars

Kindness Goes Unpunished by Craig Johnson

By HCNewton

On April 2, 2015

In Authors, Craig Johnson, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Walt Longmire

Kindness Goes Unpunished

by Craig Johnson
Series: Walt Longmire, #3

Paperback, 336 pg.
Penguin Books, 2014
Read: April 1, 2015
3.5 Stars
I hate covers that are just images for TV/movie adaptations, don’t you? Blame my local library for this one.

It’s a sure sign that I need to spend more time reading Johnson than watching the show based on this series in that I’m consistently surprised at how funny these books are. Sure Henry Standing Bear’s dry wit is there, Vic is brash and inappropriate — amusing enough — but the narration, Walt himself? I chuckled a lot.

So, Walt and Henry (and Dog!) are off to the City of Brotherly Love to visit Walt’s daughter, Cady, meet her boyfriend, and for Henry to do something at a museum (just an excuse to see Cady). Oh, and conveniently enough, to meet Vic’s family (three police officers, one former police officer, and one attractive mother). After arriving in town, Walt doesn’t even get to see Cady before she’s brutally attacked and hospitalized.

Naturally, Walt stumbles upon the one person in Philadelphia who’s more knowledgeable and interested in Indians than Henry. It’s that interest (obsession?) and his connection to Walt that makes Walt the best man to track down the man who put Cady in the hospital (and other assorted nefarious acts). That’s a level of coincidence that you just buy — like Gideon Oliver vacationing somewhere that a set of bones surprisingly shows up; Nero Wolfe needing information from someone who’s a sucker for orchids; or that every falsely accused murderers that Andy Carpenter stumbles upon happen to own a cute dog.

There’s enough twists, turns — and one seeming unnecessary but entertaining diversion (that turns out to be not so ancillary) — to satisfy any mystery reader. Even out of water, this fish can swim. There’s some very interesting things that go on in the character’s personal lives that should make things interesting down the road (and that I can’t talk about while remaining spoiler free) — enough to make this more than a tale of a father’s vengeance.

The first chapter (only one in Wyoming) is great — Walt totally failing to connect with an elementary school classroom, a fun and prototypical Absaroka County shootout, and other things that make up a typical day for Sheriff Longmire on the eve of his trip.

I’ve enjoyed each of these Longmire books — but I’ve taken a really casual approach to them, I think one a year so far is my rate. Kindness Goes Unpunished has convinced me that has to end, I’m pretty sure I’ll catch up with Johnson before the year is up.

—–

3.5 Stars

Broken Soul by Faith Hunter

By HCNewton

On December 31, 2014

In Authors, F-J, Faith Hunter, Fiction, Jane Yellowrock/Soulwood, Urban Fantasy

Broken Soul

by Faith Hunter
Series: Jane Yellowrock, #8

Mass Market Paperback, 329 pages
Published October 7th 2014 by Roc
Read: December 27 – 30, 2014
In many ways, Broken Soul functions merely to clear the deck of lingering plot lines, tie up a few loose ends, and set things up for the next few novels. But wow – what a way to accomplish all that!

There’s murder, mayhem, romance, torture, destruction, intrigue, a whole new supernatural species, bombs, tattooed vamps, a whole lotta secrets revealed, and Sabina cracks up at something Jane says (which is as strange and creepifying you’d think).

While everyone’s adjusting to the new status quo after the shakeup in Black Arts, the New Orleans vampires receive word that the Europeans are coming for a visit. And maybe to invade and take over a more hospitable part of the world for the Mithrans. So Jane, Del and the rest start to prepare — when said new species (new to us readers, not to the vampires) attacks. And honestly, all the most powerful vampires in The Big Easy and everyone’s favorite skinwalker are no match for the beastie.

Then things get worse. Possibly the best fight scenes that Hunter’s given us are here — two or three of them, actually.

While her professional life is getting even more interesting than usual, Jane’s personal life gets put in order — and shaken up, but in a good way.

On the tamer side of things is a section of the book where Jane realizes two things about herself: 1. She’s put down roots in New Orleans (and in the lives of people like Eli and Alex) and 2. (her words) she’s become a girl — with girly tastes and clothes. This was some good, earned character development that Hunter pulled off with a lot of humor.

For my taste, the sexyfuntime was a bit too prolonged and detailed — we could’ve left those two a little more privacy. Then again, it never came close to The Wise Man’s Fear, so I shouldn’t complain.

There was a point or two that I was a little worried Hunter was going to back to the ‘I realized I’d said that out loud” well too often. But the line worked every time, so, who am I to say what’s too often?

Hunter’s clearly got some big things in store for Janie and the rest — I can’t wait to see what that’s going to be. So glad there’s only a few months until the Dark Heir. This would work as a jumping on point to the series if you’re looking for one, but you’d be better off going back to the beginning.

—–

4 Stars

The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

By HCNewton

On December 3, 2014

In A-F, Authors, Fiction, Fox and O'Hare, Janet Evanovich, Lee Goldberg, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The Job

by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
Series: Fox and O’Hare, #3

Hardcover, 304 pg.
Bantam, 2014
Read: November 29 – December 1, 2014How is this only the third in the series? It’s a testament to the professionalism and craft of Evanovich and Goldberg that this feels like a series that’s been around for at least a half-dozen books, a well-oiled machine.

The hook to this particular case — someone posing as Nick Fox pulling off some major heists — was pretty fun, and a great excuse for Kate to go jet-setting around the world. That lasted just long enough to set up the major target for this novel: one of the biggest, baddest, most mysterious Drug Lords in the world. Thankfully, he has a pretty major Achilles’ heel that Nick and Kate were able to take advantage of. In just about any other series, I’d cry “foul” about someone like Lester Menendez falling for this implausible con. But it totally worked in this world — and would probably have worked if Nate Ford and the crew had tried it, too. Slick talking, fast work and a hint of danger (more from the psychotic bodyguard Reyna Socorro and her trusty AK-47 than from her boss) — and bam. The bad guy gets defrauded and sent away for a long time.

The major difference between this one and the previous two installments is that the rest of the team doesn’t have as major a role to play — don’t get me wrong, the usual players and some new faces are there and important. We just don’t spend as much time with them — it’s more heavily geared to being the Nick and Kate Show. They’re even restrained in their use of Jake O’Hare. I don’t have anything against the rest of the team, and really enjoy some of them — but I’m glad that they were put in a secondary position this time. As long as they get featured more prominently on a regular basis, I think focusing on the title pair makes sense.

The only suspense really is how far the “Will They/Won’t They” go (and so far, that hasn’t reached the point of being annoying). We all know that Fox and O’Hare will get their target, we may not be sure how — we won’t know how much fun there’ll be along the way, how much private property will be destroyed, and how many exotic (or domestic) locales will be visited along the way. And it’s fine that this isn’t a suspense-filled series. It’s a lot of fun. That’s what it promises, and that’s what it delivers — as long as we don’t look for more than banter, impossible cons and slick writing, we won’t be disappointed.

Not that the first two were slogs by any stretch of the imagination, but I raced through this — with a little more sleep, I’d have tackled this in one sitting, but I had to leave the last 50 pages for another day. The writing, the plot, the banter was just so smooth it was almost impossible to stop once I got started. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and already am looking forward to the next.

—–

4 Stars

Dusted Off: Mad Mouse by Chris Grabenstein

By HCNewton

On August 21, 2014

In Authors, Chris Grabenstein, F-J, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Mad Mouse

by Chris Grabenstein

Hardcover, 320 pg.
Carroll & Graf, 2006
Read: November 27 – 28, 2012

Man, this is just such a fun series. Ceepak’s a great superhero cop (though I hope he becomes a bit more rounded in the books to come), and Danny’s one of the best sidekicks around. Watching him grow up is a blast.

I thought it was great that this book didn’t focus on a murder (my wife took a different stance), a serious crime, yes, but not a murder. The sense of urgency was still real, it was a serious crime, but a crime more likely that a small town would face–rather than a Jessica Fletcher-like situation where 3 centuries worth of murders happen to a tiny city in a matter of months.

—–

4 Stars

Review Catch Up: Broken Homes; Black Arts; The Player; Speaking from Among the Bones

By HCNewton

On August 12, 2014

In Authors, Ben Aaronovitch, F-J, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, P-U, Rivers of London (Peter Grant), Urban Fantasy

I’ve got a backlog of 50 or so reviews I’ve been meaning to write — some of them, I just have to admit aren’t going to get done. But I’m going to try my level best. The four books I’ve decided to tackle in one fell swoop are books I enjoyed, from series I enjoy, and yet I’ve had trouble reviewing them. In the end, I decided that was because by and large, I don’t have anything to say about these books that I haven’t said about others in the series.

But I do want 1. clear these off my to-do list and 2. more importantly, encourage readers to give these a look. So, without further ado:

Broken Homes

by Ben Aaronovitch
Series: The Rivers of London, #4

Mass Market Paperback, 324 pg.
DAW, 2014
Read: February 15, 2014

The plot took its own sweet time getting where it was going, with a lot of strange little turns here and there — which works because it’s probably what actual policemen go through investigating a crime. But almost doesn’t work because it makes it feel like Aaronovitch didn’t pace this correctly (which is silly, because he did).

I really, really liked the undercover stuff. The conclusion is probably the best that this series has been. It’d be great if Peter learned a bit more though, his stumbling efforts are amusing, but it’s time for more proficiency.

I’m eager for the next one of these (and would be even without the big twist) — such a great world he’s created here, and I want to learn more about it and the characters that inhabit it.
4 Stars

—–

Black Arts

by Faith Hunter
Series: Jane Yellowrock, #7
Mass Market Paperback, 325 pg.
Roc, 2014
Read: March 25 – 29, 2014

What’s to say about this one, that I haven’t said about other books in the series already?

The action’s tight, the vamp politics and Jane’s interaction with it are pretty interesting, Faith’s coming to grips with more of her background was really compelling, and her growing relationship with the brothers is fun.

Obviously, this is the most personal case that Jane’s had yet — for someone to be messing around with Molly, that’s just beyond the pale. Those raised stakes (pun fully intended), and the ongoing drama with Leo’s grip on the New Orleans vampires made this the best of the series.
4 Stars

—–

The Player

by Brad Parks
Series: Carter Ross, #5

Hardcover, 336 pg.
Minotaur Books, 2014
Read: April 1 – 4, 2014

What’s to say about this one, that I haven’t said about other books in the series already?

A lot of fun — great characters, love Carter’s voice, everything that you want to see in a Carter Ross novel was here — twisty conspiracy, some good laughs, Carter’s personal life in shambles. It was nice to meet his family.

Sadly, I’m at a loss for words here (something that never seems to be Carter’s problem), this was a lot of fun. I want a lot more of these.
4 Stars

—–

Speaking from Among the Bones

by Alan Bradley

Hardcover, 372 pg.
Delacorte Press, 2013
May 16 – 14, 2014

Flavia’s her typical charming, precocious, incorrigible self. Perhaps a bit more clever than we’ve seen her before, definitely with less a sense of self-preservation than we’ve seen previously. Her sisters are a bit, more human? Or maybe Flavia’s portraying them more honestly/more sympathetically. The financial pressures her father’s under are more and more pressing, causing everyone to be a bit more realistic, it seems.

Still, that doesn’t deter Flavia from doing her thing when a body is discovered. It’s everything you want in a Flavia de Luce novel — very, very smart conclusion to this mystery.
3 Stars

The Undead Pool by Kim Harrison

By HCNewton

On August 1, 2014

In F-J, Fiction, Kim Harrison, The Hollows (Rachel Morgan), Urban Fantasy

The Undead Pool

by Kim Harrison

Series: The Hollows, #12
Mass Market Paperback, 480 pg.
Harper Voyager, 2014
Read: July 30 – 31, 2014

Whaddyaknow? I can like a Hollows book unreservedly and without a list of complaints. I’d forgotten what that felt like.

If you’d told me that Rachel Morgan’s penultimate adventure would kick off on a golf course, I’d have told you that you were nuts. But if anyone can start trouble on a golf course, it’d be Rachel. In an interesting change of pace, the trouble that ensues really has almost nothing to do with her — sure, an exploding golf ball that practically creates a sand hazard on the course sounds like something she’s responsible — but not this time. Spells and charms are going wrong (mostly in a super-sized fashion) throughout Cincinnati and the Hollows — causing injuries, inconveniences and deaths.

But wait, there’s more — something’s going on in town that’s keeping the Master Vampires asleep, and they’re not waking to feed and exert influence over their clans. Which is great if that’s something you were working towards, and were prepared — like Ivy was awhile back. But these vampires aren’t ready for that level of freedom and self-determination yet. Which means that you’ve got unstable vampires roaming the streets. Which can’t be good for anyone.

This would be enough to keep any Urban Fantasy hero busy — but females in this genre have to have something going on in their personal/romantic life, too (male UF heroes frequently have that it, too — but it doesn’t see as de reguerre). So looking to that front, Ellasbeth, Trent’s fiancé returns; so naturally, Trent and Rachel go on a date the night before she arrives (their first and last). Everyone’s favorite demons, Al and Newt, are not at all happy about how close Rachel is getting to the elf. A couple of elven religious leaders come to town to help with the malfunctioning magic — and they like Trent hanging out with the day-walking demon even less than Al and Newt do. And there’s this really familiar-looking blond vampire that Rachel keeps seeing — but that can’t be right, can it?.

Yeah, that’s enough to keep Rachel, Ivy and Jenks busy.

Here’s the best part: It’s like Harrison asked herself, “How do I make ol’ H. C. happy?” and then things actually happen in the book. Resolution is reached on a lot of these plots that have been ongoing for several novels (even all, or almost all, of the series). Even things I’d forgotten about get tied up. I’m not saying I’m happy because I like all the choices that the characters/Harrison made, because I’m not. But instead of another 400+ pages of Rachel (or Trent or Ivy or . . .) hemming and hawing and then not really reaching a decision on anything, these characters think about their problems, discuss solutions in a constructive manner with each other, and then act on it. They don’t all lead to a happily ever after — but they lead to something. Finally.

Harrison’s clearly setting the table for the last book in the series and tying up what she can — as well as delivering a pretty cool story. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to just focus on the soap-y ongoing story arcs. The stuff with the vampires and the out of control magic was great, and would’ve been enough to make this a compelling read. But the ongoing arcs have been such a drag on this series for so long, the fact that they weren’t at all this time is leading me to focus on them.

I really don’t know how to comment on the master vampire problem or the magic problem without getting into story details — but the implications of both were fascinating, and are the kind of thing that separates the Hollows from most Urban Fantasy. I’m so glad we got these situations.

For the first time in a long time, I can say I’m looking forward to seeing what Harrison does next. I have a lot more hope for her sticking the landing than I’ve had (even as I dread the fates of a couple of characters).

—–

4 Stars

W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton

By HCNewton

On July 31, 2014

In Fiction, Kinsey Millhone, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Sue Grafton

W is for Wasted

by Sue Grafton
Series: Kinsey Millhone, #23

Hardcover, 486 pg.
A Marian Wood Book/Putnam, 2013
Read: July 25 – 26, 2014

There are two (dead) men that we focus on in this novel — the first, Pete Wolinksy, I’m pretty sure we’ve met before. He did some work for the men that Kinsey apprenticed with, and she’s run across him at least once before in the novels (but I’m not going to run off an verify that). The other deceased individual was a homeless alcoholic who died on the beach with Kinsey’s name and phone number in a pocket. With business slow, and her back account healthy — that’s enough to let her curiosity take over and find out what happened to this man, and to find out why he was carrying her name.

Along the way, Kinsey finds some relatives from her father’s side of the family — in recent years, she’d learned a good deal about her mother’s family, but hadn’t looked into her father’s. Now she has the opportunity, and while she doesn’t find as much (for now), but it’s something. This allows her to reflect a little on her current relationship with her mother’s side, too. I appreciate Kinsey’s self-awareness about how whiny she is can be (and usually is) regarding her extended family and how she really doesn’t feel that way any more except out of habit. Hopefully, in the next book or two, we see some real development and some degree of closure with her maternal grandmother, aunts and cousins. I’ve read a lot of criticism lately (particularly focused on this book) about how little character development there’s been here. This book — the 23rd — takes place 5-6 years after A is for Alibi, right? So of course, the development will be incremental — that’s how people change in such a short amount of time. It seems natural to me.

The mysteries weren’t all that compelling to me, and mostly seemed to be excuses to expose Kinsey to her family, Dietz, and to allow her to comment on the homeless problem in Santa “Theresa.” It took me a long time to get/care about the subplot told in flashbacks — once I did figure it out, I felt pretty stupid, to tell you the truth. Regardless, it wasn’t the most interesting flashback sequence Grafton’s done. It was effective enough, I guess, it just seemed to be missing something.

The new stuff aside, what about our old friends? We got a little time with Henry — Henry as meddling, advise-giving, semi-authority figure. William is his regular annoying self, and his wife, Rosie, was around just enough. There was a quick appearance from Con Dolan, and another from Cheney Phillips. Best of all, we get to hang out with Robert Dietz for a few chapters, and see a slightly different part of him. It seems very likely, and maybe even probable, that we won’t be seeing (at least) one of these characters again, based on what we saw here (and the number of books left).

The main quibble I have with this one is the dialogue — too often it’s just dreadful here. Painful to read — some of these characters read like technical manuals, or brochures for a tourism board. I’d b e willing to bet another editing pass from Grafton could’ve taken care of almost every flat, dull, or expositional line of conversation. But at this point, who’s going to make Grafton do something like that? If she catches it on her own, great — but there’s no editor in the world that’ll hold her feet to the fire.

Not her best work, there was almost no suspense at all here, and at a certain point, the whodunit became so obvious it was almost impossible to care about any more. But Grafton did enough to keep my interest and keep my fingers turning pages, and that’s enough. Kinsey’s never been the flashiest P.I. around — she’s stable, down to earth, and gets the job done. Which is pretty much what we got here.

—–

3 Stars

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

By HCNewton

On July 22, 2014

In Authors, Cormoran Strike, F-J, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Robert Galbraith

The Silkworm

by Robert Galbraith
Series: Cormoran Strike, #2

Hardcover, 455 pg.
Mulholland Books, 2014
Read: July 2 – 5, 2014

Cormoran Strike is back, and I couldn’t be much happier. After the events described in The Cuckoo’s Calling, Strike’s enjoyed a few minutes of fame — a degree of notoriety with the police, and a profile big enough to land him bigger clients, plus his fair share of would-be clients with a weak grasp on reality and/or not a lot of money. Leonora Quine certainly appears to be in the latter camps when she comes to hire Strike to find her missing husband — but he sees an opportunity to collect eventually, and he likes her. The missing husband, Owen Quine, is a writer of some measure of success and renown. He’s been known to disappear for a few days every now and then, but this time seems longer, and with a special needs child at home, Leonora needs her husband back. Something’s fishy, and his soon-to-published next book is at the heart of it. While juggling his other clients — the ones with large checkbooks — Strike starts poking around, and it doesn’t stay a missing person’s case for long.

Cormoran Strike continues to be reminiscent of several mystery fiction types and specific characters — yet he still feels mostly fresh. There’s your typical hard-boiled loaner (Spillane, Spenser, Marlowe, Cole, etc.), the armed services background (same list, come to think of it), the troubled family history, and so on. There were a couple of detectives that I kept coming back to this time around (and I’m probably alone in this, I realize). Strike’s musings on the way he still works like he did in SIB removed me of the way Danny Boyle talks about John Ceepak. It’s odd to see the two ex-military men in the same light, while on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Yet, it’s also incredibly fitting. Strike and Robin also remind me a great deal of Yancey’s Highly Effective Detective and his assistant. Except Strike actually is highly effective.

The description of Quine’s new book in question was fantastic — it is not a book I want to read, in any shape or fashion, but I really enjoyed reading about it. Galbraith is able to give us enough to get the idea without having to take the time to compose another book in the process — very well done there.

This is slow, yet deliberately moving (like the protagonist, really) until it doesn’t need to be any more — once the pieces are in place and it’s time to reveal and trap the killer, then it moves on at a brisk clip and forces the reader to pick up the pace, too (or at least it felt that way). But it never drags, never meanders — it’s always on point, and is building to something.

It’s tough to say that Strike develops much over the course of this book — we grow in our understanding of him, but he’s pretty much the same man at the end. Not so for Ellacot — she grows and becomes stronger throughout, and its only a matter of time before she’s going to be a 50-50 partner in the agency, I bet — and maybe Strike’s partner in other ways, too. I’m looking forward to watching Galbraith develop this character more in the books ahead, but I can tell I’m already getting impatient for it to happen, rather than trusting him and his timeframe. The other supporting characters not involved in Quine’s disappearance are great additions and make everything better, helping us understand the characters more (e.f., Strike’s family, Ellacot’s family — still not the fiancée, Strike’s old friends).

The biggest selling point (for me) with this book is an intangible quality — a je ne sais quoi — about one-third of the way in I noted I was enjoying it. It was a good, solid detective novel — but in a real sense, nothing I hadn’t seen before. Yet — I noticed I was really “into” the book. I couldn’t explain why I was invested as much as I was — but my goodness, I was in whole hog. I have to chalk it up to Rowling’s super power — she can tell a story that grabs you in a way you just can’t explain. If you’ve read her, you know the effect.*

As I read the last couple of paragraphs and closed the book I noticed something — I was smiling. Not a usual reaction for me as I complete a book, no matter what it is. That has to say something, doesn’t it?

—–

* Unless, of course, she’s talking about a little town called Pagford and its residents. Then there’s nothing at all that will grab you.

—–

4 Stars

Shattered by Kevin Hearne

By HCNewton

On July 15, 2014

In Authors, Dogs, Fiction, Iron Druid Chronicles, Kevin Hearne

Shattered

by Kevin Hearne
Series: The Iron Druid Chronicles, #7

Hardcover, 335 pg.
Del Rey, 2014
Read: June 21 – 22, 2014

If there’s any justice left in this world, Hearne’s inclusion of a 3 page “The Story so Far” recounting the main events from every book in the series should earn him many 5 star ratings, it’s something that more people should do. The last two lines of his retelling should earn him a few more.

I’m not going to be one of those, I really want to be — I spent most of the novel thinking I would be — but in the end, I have to settle with a 4-star. In the end, I think Hearne tried to do too much in too little space, hurting the overall book — think Spider-Man 3. The use of multiple POV characters might have contributed to my problems — having spent 5 (and most of the next) inside Atticus’ head, spending as much of this book outside of it gives added distance to those events not from Atticus’ POV in a way it wouldn’t have if we’d been bouncing between Atticus’ and Granuaile’s viewpoint from the beginning. That said, I’m not opposed to it — and I really liked the Granuaile chapters, and would’ve been willing to do a whole book from her POV. Even the Owen (Atticus’ Arch-Druid who was introduced at the end of Hunted) chapters were fun, but again, it made it hard to get attached to Atticus’ story.

That said, I think the Granuaile story is probably the best part of Shattered, but it would’ve been better if we hadn’t taken off to see what Atticus was up to, or laughing at Owen trying to figure out how to make his way in the 21st Century. Laksha Kulasekaran calls and asks her for help, so Granuaile and the hounds are off to India for an adventure. One that pushes Granuaile to the edge of her abilities, and to her emotional breaking point — so much so that you wonder why Atticus isn’t around. Not that she’s not capable on her own, a strong, independent woman and all that — but because she’s a rookie druid and could really use her mentor’s guidance — and as the guy who loves her, he should’ve been there to support her in this trial. Along the way, she learns a bit more about magic in general, and meets some supernatural creatures that are about as odd and fun as you could ask. If the whole novel had been this story, I’d have loved it. But the power and impact of it were dented.

While Granuaile is running around Asia, Atticus is looking into who exactly is up to no good in Tír na nÓg, stirring up trouble (rebellion?) amongst the Tuatha de Danann, trying to take out our favorite Druid and generally causing all sorts of trouble. As investigations go — it was pretty weak, and pretty easy for Atticus to suss out what’s going on. What he found on the other hand — well, that was pretty big. And Hearne capped it off with a big ol’ Celtic can of whoop-ass. It wasn’t quite Hammered‘s level of insane fight scenes, but it was close. And (tiny spoiler) neither side came out unscathed.

What exactly the ramifications of this for the Tuatha de Dannan, the druids, and the various and sundry deities we’ve met (and probably will meet)? Well, obviously, we’ll have to wait and see — but it’s going to be big.

Still — and again, sing along with me — take out a lot of the Owen goofiness and Granuaile’s story, devote that space to Atticus’ story — and this is so much better. It’s so frustrating to read something that’s so close to be great, but falters.

Enough complaining, I really did enjoy this book. What positive things can I say? Hardcover! Yay. That’s a sign of success for the series, right? I even got one signed. Doesn’t mean anything to the review, I just like to see that.

I really liked Orlaith, it’s good for Granuaile to have a companion like this. I also appreciated she’s not just a feminine Oberon, but she has a distinct personality and is the proverbial Lady to Oberon’s Tramp. Owen Kennedy is an amusing addition to the cast — and potentially a powerful ally for Atticus and Granuaile as things heat up — and I look forward to something more substantial from him. While she’s not my favorite character, I’m glad to see Laksha hasn’t been abandoned — nor are other folks from earlier in the series (not sure why I’m so protective of this relatively minor spoiler — but it tickled me so to see Atticus deal with ______ at ______ I don’t want ruin it for anyone else).

Oh, and of course — Oberon. Really, for people who’ve read the IDC, that’s enough to say, right? Oberon. Read that and try not to smile.

At the end of the day, when it comes to wise-crackin’, magic-throwin’ dudes, The Iron Druid takes a backseat to almost no one (there is that guy in the Chicago yellow pages . . . ), and this book almost lives up to its predecessors. Any complaints are really just a sign of how good Hearne’s been before this. Bring on IDC #8!!

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4 Stars