Review: Hounded by Kevin Hearne

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Available at Amazon, Book Depository, Chapters Indigo

Thanks to Caroline from The Secret HEA Society (and also one of my co-horts at Book Lovers Inc.), Kevin Hearne's book Hounded was put on my radar. I am now fast becoming one of Kevin's biggest fans!

Based on Caroline's recommendation, I borrowed the audio book from the library to start me off. This is a truly fantastic audio book! Read by Luke Daniels, the characters really come alive, especially Oberon, who is my personal fave (though Atticus is definitely no slouch either!) But more than how it was read, it's the what that was being read that made this book one of my faves in a long time.  After starting it, I ran right out and bought my very own print copy, along with Hexed, in preparation.


Kevin's story works on the premise that if one particular myth(ology) is true, then they all must be. This isn't necessarily different from other authors, but Kevin presents this with a mix of historic references, geeky gamer and movie mentions, and classic lore, topped off by humourous twists. Atticus, the main character, has lived a long time but makes the effort to blend into current social settings, which lends him the material to poke fun at pretty much anything. 

And, as I said before, Atticus' dog, Oberon, was a huge part of why I loved this book so much. Oberon is a simple creature, driven by base urges (mostly sausages and French Poodles), but with his training as a communicative dog, he has the best comebacks. His sublimely ridiculous obsession with Genghis Khan and the desire to "raise a horde" to conquer something...anything...made me want to immediately go out shopping for an Irish Wolfhound! Oberon was the perfect blend of intelligence and loyalty that is surely requisite in the description of "man's best friend".

Hounded had all the elements I love, from the Irish mythologies at its core, to no small amount of wit and irony. I very much look forward to reading the rest of the books in the Iron Druid series, and will most definitely feel a loss when I reach the end (thankfully, there's always the ability to re-read them :-) Normally, I don't rate books here (it feels too restrictive to assign numbers rather than a detailed opinion, to me) but I'd give Hounded a 6 out of 5 rating for entertaining me thoroughly and causing several near car crashes as I was blinded by tears of laughter. An awesome debut release!