Review--Hunted by Kevin Hearne

For a two-thousand-year-old Druid, Atticus O’Sullivan is a pretty fast runner. Good thing, because he’s being chased by not one but two goddesses of the hunt—Artemis and Diana—for messing with one of their own. Dodging their slings and arrows, Atticus, Granuaile, and his wolfhound Oberon are making a mad dash across modern-day Europe to seek help from a friend of the Tuatha Dé Danann. His usual magical option of shifting planes is blocked, so instead of playing hide-and-seek, the game plan is . . . run like hell.

Crashing the pantheon marathon is the Norse god Loki. Killing Atticus is the only loose end he needs to tie up before unleashing Ragnarok—AKA the Apocalypse. Atticus and Granuaile have to outfox the Olympians and contain the god of mischief if they want to go on living—and still have a world to live in.

Kevin Hearne's Hunted is the latest in his Iron Druid Chronicles--and ironically the last paperback we'll have since he's going hardcover in June--and it was one wild read! There's always action and adventure in this series which is why it's one I keep reading! Instead of the traditional Urban Fantasy with vampires or werewolves or some other such supernatural being, here we get Druids and a whole lot of Irish folklore! Seriously, every book teaches me something new about it! And there are still a few vamps and weres in the story too, so never fear, our faves are still there!

Lately, Atticus, Granuaile, and Oberon have been busy running for their lives from Diana and Artemis. (Yup, both Roman and Greek goddesses!) Kevin really knows how to interweave all different kinds of folklore and culture into these books. They are a bit "angry" with Atticus for his past actions and want to kill him to exact their revenge. And Atticus isn't about to take that lying down.

There was a good deal of action in this one! Truly, never a dull moment as the three are constantly running and trying to stay ahead of the vengeful goddesses. It's funny too, because when I first learned about Greek mythology in 7th grade--oh god, where do the years go?--Artemis was my favorite. Not sure why, guess I just thought she was cool from what aspects I was taught about her. Seeing her here as a villain definitely shakes things up a bit. Of course, those are the only enemies Atticus and crew have to deal with. There's still Loki and trying to stop the end of days from happening.

I think one of the hardest things about this series is definitely the abundance of culture and mythology from all different kinds of countries. It gets bit overwhelming at times, especially with all the different kinds of names. There is a pronunciation guide in the beginning, but it's still hard to know what all these names and things are. And not all names get included in that. Now I said I enjoyed all the new tidbits of culture and mythology info, and I do, but it is pretty overwhelming. There's just so much! They don't teach us anything like that in school anymore. Unless they started to now.

The characters are by far my favorite aspect of this story. This was probably one of my first--of course I tend to say that a lot it seems!--series I read where there's a hero vs heroine. Atticus is quite fun and very guy like. He's like crazy smart; perks of being a Druid. Granuaile, newly turned Druid and finished with her apprenticeship is a good character as well. She's strong and fierce, like many classic Urban Fantasy heroines, although I don't feel like we know her very well. Of course, the same can be said of our heroes from female-led reads, so it's manageable I guess. But my favorite character continues to be Oberon, Atticus' faithful Irish wolfhound! He's too funny and brings in much comedic relief with his doggy ways!

The series continues to grow in intensity as it moves along. For the first four books we were concerned with Granuaile and her starting her apprenticeship--among other chaotic things--and since last time, we've had the pressing issue of Loki roaming about and the looming threat of the end of the world coming about. That continues to be a pressing threat and now Atticus and crew are going to need a bit of help in order to accomplish that frightful task. And help does come at the end of this one, in a most unusual way.

Hunted was another freaking fantastic read by Kevin Hearne! This series is just so awesome, it's hard to really describe in words. And you can even learn new things from this one! And teachers like to say these kind of books are "junk books"! Ha! They obviously don't realize how much thought and process goes into writing fiction! It's a learning experience all on its own!

If you haven't yet started this series, please do! It's incredibly awesome and cannot be said enough! And let's again mention that here we have a hero instead of heroine. Tines are definitely changing in the Urban Fantasy world and it's all good for us readers!


Overall Rating 4/5 stars