Hounded

Hounded
The Iron Druid Chronicles Book 1
Kevin Hearne

Back cover...

Atticus O'Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona running an occult bookshop and shapeshifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound.  His neighbours and customers think this handsome, tattooed Irishman is about twenty-one years old when, actually, it's twenty-one centuries.  Atticus 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 the sword, and he's been after Atticus for centuries.  Now the determined deity has trackef him down and Atticus will need all his powers -  plus a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of lawyers, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good, old fashioned Irishluck - to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.

Its a few days since I finished reading Hounded.  I wanted to give myself time to soak it in.  Now, as I start to write my review I'm reminded of how much I loved this book.  I just want to get my hands on the next book, but unfortunately my local library doesn't hold any of them.  So it's off to my family's place to raid the library over there.

As I have said in earlier blogs, I usually don't enjoy books written by men.  Don't ask me why, I don't really know?  But Atticus was so much fun.  He's a hip old Druid who has managed to make a living doing what comes naturally.  His lawyers are supernaturals (werewolf and vampire respectively), he's being harassed by a local coven, some faerie dudes tried to kill him, a Celtic God wants his sword, and his best bud is a throwback Irish Wolfhound who has a thing for poodles.  What more could a girl ask for?... I had a ball!

Hearne's world building is a joy.  I lost myself completely in the pages.  Our hero has to deal with all manner of difficulties, and he does it with grace and style.  And while the popping in and out of Celtic/Norse and other Gods and Goddess' could have been a stumbling block, it just seemed totally natural - like every guy has a hot Norse Goddess popping in for a bit of nookie.  It was so well written that I didn't even balk, I just took that as an everyday occurrence and kept on reading.  

For those of you concerned with graphic sexual content, rest easy.  While there is a bit of horizontal mambo, it's not graphic {nothing like LKH} so I feel confident in recommending it to all.  There is a little bit of violence at the end, and some characters don't make it in one piece - literally - but there is no real gore or horror to it.

After finishing the book, I tracked down and listened to the audio book sample online - SO GOOD! - and have placed it in my wishlist to order at a later date.  There is just something about Atticus that will keep me coming back for more.