HOUNDED by Kevin Hearne

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.

Firstly, I just want to mention how much I love this cover! It's awesome. And the next two covers are super awesome too.

Okay. Now that I got that out of the way...

After reading--and really enjoying--the prequel short story for this series, I couldn't wait to get started on the first book. Wow, it definitely lived up to my expectations. And more.

Atticus looks like your average 21-year-old Irish lad, but he's actually over two thousand years old and is living in Arizona. He's also a Druid with some awesome and very powerful tattoos, an amazing amulet with some very interesting benefits, an occult bookstore, and a knack for getting into trouble. Actually, he's been running since he took the very powerful sword, Fragarach.

Now, his greatest enemy has found him and he'll use whatever--and whoever--he can in order to get to the sword. In the process, he sends some very nasty supernatural creatures after Atticus, and even involves the human police. But lucky for Atticus, he happens to have a few Goddesses on his side... or does he?

This book was a fantastic action-packed ride filled with danger, some very scary characters, and others that are so interesting I can't wait to read more about them. It's also a very unique story, which casts an array of Goddesses, Gods, and monsters into our world. I loved that facet of this book, and look forward to seeing what other adventures await this very cool Druid.

Oh, and did I mention Granuaile? No, I don't think I did... but you'll be pleasantly surprised to see what mysteries she holds. ;) And Oberon, the adorable Irish wolfhound, is an excellent addition to this book. I found his humour and wit hilarious!

This is an awesome addition to the growing world of urban fantasy, and just another reason why I adore this genre!

I've already pre-ordered the next two books in the series:

 

H&UFRC books read: 23/24

Posted in: excellent book , reading 2011 , reading challenge , urban fantasy