Book Review of Hounded: The Iron Druid Chronicles #1 by Kevin Hearne

Synopsis:

Atticus O'Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old - when in actuality, he's twenty-one centuries old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.

Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he's hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power - plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish - to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.

Review:


Hounded by Kevin Hearne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review 6******

This is the first book in the Iron Druid Chronicles. I was recommended this book by Amazon, so I thought I would give it a try. I'm glad that I did, because I loved it!

Atticus (Siodhachan) O'Sullivan is a fascinating character. He is a druid and has the ability to shape-shift. I really liked him a lot. He has a very dry sense of humor, which appeals to me; and a gorgeous Irish Wolfhound called Oberon whom I have fallen in love with! I love their conversations!

This book was an exciting read from page one! I found myself swept along into an adventure full of danger and magic. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing to get involved with not one but three goddesses, but Atticus does and the consequences causes more than a few problems! The Morrigan is the goddess of death, but she seems to have a soft spot for the druid. Flidais is the goddess of the hunt and has designs on getting the sword. Brighid is the goddess of poetry, fire and the forge and is determined that Aenghus Og (Atticus's nemesis) should not have the sword.
There are several other characters that stand out and bring this book to life, including a vampire and a werewolf pair of lawyers, and a very scary Hindi witch possessing the body of a barmaid, but I loved widow MacDonagh! Her Irish spirit had me giggling in places.

Although I have not read any of Jim Butcher's "The Dresden Files" series, I have watched the TV series based on them. This book definitely has similarities, but there is also a uniqueness all of it's own. I am now looking forward to reading the next book in the series!

I loved the flow of the story and, although I struggled a bit with the Celtic words and names (there is an index to help with pronunciation), Kevin Hearne has written a fast paced read that has captured my imagination and turned me into a fan!

I highly recommend this book if you love YA (14+ due to some mild violence), Fantasy and Action/Adventure genres. - Lynn Worton

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