Hounded
The Iron Druid #1
Written: Kevin Hearne [website]
Published: May 3, 2011
Publisher: Del Ray
Obtained via: Purchase
Blurb:
Atticus O’Sullivan has been running for two thousand years and he’s a bit tired of it. After he stole a magical sword from the Tuatha Dé Danann (those who became the Sidhe or the Fae) in a first century battle, some of them were furious and gave chase, and some were secretly amused that a Druid had the cheek to defy them.
As the centuries passed and Atticus remained an annoyingly long-lived fugitive, those who were furious only grew more so, while others began to aid him in secret. Now he’s living in Tempe, Arizona, the very last of the Druids, far from where the Fae can easily find him. It’s a place where many paranormals have decided to hide from the troubles of the Old World—from an Icelandic vampire holding a grudge against Thor to a coven of Polish witches who ran from the German Blitzkrieg.
Unfortunately, the very angry Celtic god who wants that sword has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power, plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good, old-fashioned luck of the Irish to kick some arse and deliver himself from evil.
You can read the first six chapters of HOUNDED for free right here.
My Review:
Kevin Hearne is my newest discovered favorite author. I read both Hounded and Hexed (book 2 in the series) in a row, and I’d have read the third, Hammered, too, if I’d only been able to find it. (It will be released the day after I am writing this, on July 5th!)
Atticus O’Sullivan’s voice has all the snark and pop culture references of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden without the tinge of misogyny that drives some people batty. (For the record – not me.) And, as much as we all love Harry (and we do, don’t we?), that series has gone to some very dark places recently. Except Atticus is really nothing like Harry at all, and making that comparison does both men a disservice. Saying, “X is just like Y!” is sort of disrespectful to the work both authors have done to make their work unique. Although, let’s be honest, I’ll lie a bit and make the comparison anyway if it gets some people to read this series. I’m sneaky that way.
Anyway!
Atticus is a 21(hundred)-year-old Druid living in today’s Tempe, Arizona (which, let’s face it, is basically Phoenix – unless you live there, in which case it Totally. Isn’t.) His best friends are his telepathically linked Irish Wolfhound, Oberon; the nice old Irish lady from his neighborhood, who likes to drink whiskey and sexually harass him when he mows her lawn; and Morrigan, the Celtic goddess of death and the battlefield, who usually takes the form of a crow with glowing red eyes and would just as soon eat him as look at him.
With a pissed-off love god coming to kill him to reclaim a legendary Irish sword, the Tempe police tailing him because of a dead body in the desert, and a coven of Polish witches meddling in his affairs, Atticus can’t tell his friends from his frienemies. He’s used to running away from his problems, but this time he decides to take a stand.
I loved this book, and I can see even just from the following volume that the author’s work is getting even better. I look forward to following this series through a long and prosperous life.
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