Review--Hexed by Kevin Hearne

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to “make nice” with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial non-aggression treaty—when suddenly the witch population in modern day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. The new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.

With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch-hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex.   

OMG, I cannot believe it's been almost two years since I last read Hounded, the first in the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. Well, I plan on getting caught up now! I will have hopefully just one minor interruption when a review book pops in, but that is all! Okay, enough chit-chat, I really had to delete more of it. Onto the review!    

Kevin Hearne's Hexed picks up a few weeks after the events of Hounded and since I read that nearly two years ago I was glad for the recap. Not that it was overly detailed, but enough to give me an idea of what I forgotten! Anyway, life for Atticus is moving on. He has his apprentice he's training to the life of the Druids, Granualie, and still has to fight the attraction he has towards her. Falling for your apprentice isn't wise.    

But problems seem to be popping up for Atticus left and right! For starters, a local high school is being plagued by a fallen angel who is eating the students--seriously! Then there's a dangerous group of Bacchants terrorizing a club and its patrons. Not to mention the Morrigan is getting a little more fierce in her advances and has come to collect in a favor Atticus owes her. But oh yeah, there's also a group of vengeful witches that is out to get him that he tangled with many, many years ago in World War II. His vampire lawyer, Leif, wants his help in killing Thor as well. The Thor. Then the local police is still on his case about the gun shooting that occurred in his shop and Atticus happened to be on the scene of a few other "events" where he was trying to save the day or survive an attack from unsavory characters. Needless to say, Atticus has a LOT on his plate!    

Taking on all these nefarious villains isn't really a walk in the park, but Atticus takes it all in stride! That man is freaking tough! I guess he'd have to be for being 2,100 years old! Atticus is quite the enjoyable character. Being used to the female side of Urban Fantasy with heroines written by female authors, it's a nice change of pace to read about a hero written by a male author. 

Definitely a difference in writing at certain points, but all still so enjoyable! Of course, while Atticus is definitely a rockin hero, I think my favorite character might be his Irish wolfhound, Oberon! That particular dog is just too funny! The things he says are just comical. Sometimes they are very doggy-like and other times they are just so random and all are hilarious! What's not to love about this oversized pooch?    

This was definitely an action packed read! The pacing was fast and exciting! There's also a healthy amount of humor thrown in for good measure. No romance really, expect for a few moments where Atticus is trying to get a control over...things! But there is definitely some tension running between him and Granualie and I cannot wait to see if anything further ever happens there. 

I must give Kevin extra kudos points for throwing in a reference from The Princess Bride! Truly the greatest movie/book ever and he picks out one of the best sets of lines to use! And it happened perfectly naturally as well, nothing forced about it! I also enjoyed some of the other pop references, not all that I am familiar with but at least recognize the movie when its mentioned!    

The Iron Druid Chronicles--now that I am two books in--is definitely a series to check out for any Urban Fantasy wanting to seek out a different kind of read. Urban Fantasy is sometimes seen as a woman's genre, but that is so not the case as any Urban Fantasy reader can tell you. This series in particular would probably appeal more to the male reader, but still can be enjoyed by anyone! It's fun to be inside a guy's head and know that it was written by a male author, it's definitely a different kind of reading experience but still highly enjoyable! Looking forward to seeing what else happens in Atticus's world and the next adventure he will have!      


Overall Rating 5/5 stars