Wild Hunt

by Margaret Ronald

Book Overview

New York Times bestselling author Marjorie M. Liu "loved, loved, loved" Spiral Hunt, the smashing debut novel by exciting new urban fantasist Margaret Ronald. Now bike messenger and supernatural tracker Evie Scelan is back in Wild Hunt--and off on another action-packed paranormal adventure through the flames of mythology and Boston's magical undercurrent. In Wild Hunt Evie "The Hound" goes head-to-head and claw-to-claw with a devastating werewolf...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061662429
• ISBN13: 9780061662423
• Release Date: January 2010
• Publisher: Harper Voyager
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.3" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Better then Spiral Hunt

I disliked the prior book _Spiral Hunt_, but for some reason I rather liked this one. It seemed more subdle. Less Karen Chance and Laurel K. Hamilton, more Tim Powers and Charles De Lint. This series is urban fantasy set in a world where magic is hidden in the corners and edges, unkown to most. The author creates a rich setting, that exudes an air of the supernatural boiling in the background everywhere. It also gives us lots of details of Boston life that are fun for people who've lived in the area. (Although it amused me that they described a character as horribly poor and had him living in Allston. Either the author has a diferent idea of what constitutes "dirt poor" then I do, or doesn't know what apartments in Allston are going for right now.) The main character is descended from the hunting dog of some supernatural creatures, and possesses a supernaturally enhanced sense of smell, tracking ability, and running ability. The plot revolved around the dead, not in the standard vampire sense, but in the forms of ghosts and the past. The way this was handled was evocative and atmospheric. Having recently read lots of books that hit me over the head with an overwrought romance subplot, and borderline erotica, I found this book somewhat refreshing. The love interest was actually a nice guy, there were no weird dominance games and it wasn't a "taming of the shrew" remake. Lots of urban fantasy books have filled their pages with erotica, but I found the one erotic scene in this book much more intriguing then anything in the Laurell K. Hamilton books. One drawback of the book is it is the sort of book that takes the viewpoint that magic is never actually useful. The main character is one of those heroines who is always poor, and never finds a way to really cash in on her magical abilities. The books teeters on the edge of excessive protagonist self-pity, but never actually goes there.

fun urban fantasy noir

Know for her incredible olfactory sense that enables her to find missing persons and things, Evie "Hound" Scelan helped her former lover Frank McDermott escape from under the dictatorial control of the Fiana a cabal who controlled magic use in Boston (see Spiral Hunt). However Evie who is still upset with what the Fiana did to prevent the Sox from winning a World Series was so successful she left the city with no one in charge of magical practitioners although most users expected Evie would take over. Chinese-American Yuen asks Evie for the favor of witnessing his death and to insure his father's spirit residing in a jar that he gives her is gone when he is gone; she owes him so she pays him back by being there for him. He dies a few minutes later; Evie checks the jar, which she tells his daughter Elizabeth is empty. However, Elizabeth fails to heed her father's directions, a major haunting mistake. Meanwhile Abigail Huston asks Evie to find out what her great-great-grandmother stole and who owns this item. Evie agrees to take her on as a client; not understanding what she has accepted as soon the trail leads to her own "messenger"-ancestor and the undercurrent Hounds. Readers will enjoy the latest adventures of Evie who most of the Red Sox Nation expects her to take over from the cabal she toppled as successful coups always do. However, all she wants is to ride her bike, decide on how she feels about Nate Hunter who has his own paranormal problems, and take on clients needing her wonderful nose. Traders will enjoy her escapades in the urban fantasy noir landscape as Evie is a unique protagonist unlike most people who communicate through sight or hearing, her prime sense is smell. Harriet Klausner