Margaret Ronald

The story of a small town with an idyllic way of life - except for the fact that it's difficult to leave, and that the inhabitants must occasionally sacrifice one of their children to the mysterious Gentlemen in order to preserve the quality of life for the others. This was really effectively - and creepily - written, doling out the clues to the story in little bits, and building up to a surprisingly emotional climax. I suspect I found it extra-creepy because I couldn't stop picturing the show more Gentlemen from Buffy, even though that's not how the story described them. show less

First up, some full disclosure: While I purchased the first two books in the series, my review is based on a free e-galley I received from HarperCollins via netGalley. I am in no way compensated for this post but would like to thank HarperCollins and netGalley for this copy.

Soul Hunt is Evie Scelan's third adventure. As I mentioned in my post about the second book, I wasn't as captivated by it as I was by Spiral Hunt, and so I approached Soul Hunt with a little trepidation. Fortunately, I show more liked this novel way more than the previous one, though not as much as the first book.

In Soul Hunt, Evie has to deal with the ramifications of a bad deal she made at the end of the last book. A really bad deal. And that's only the beginnings of her troubles, as you can see in the blurb from the back of the book:

The hunter has become the hunted . . .

Without even realizing what she was doing, Genevieve Scelan has made a bad bargain. The Red Sox fanatic and supernatural tracker known as "Hound" for her extraordinary power of scent wishes she could leave magic behind now that she’s eradicated the evil cabal that oppressed Boston’s undercurrent for centuries. But now her talent’s fading, the local adepts’ squabbles are turning ugly, and worse, she’s just discovered that she owes a very large debt to someone . . . or some thing. And in the undercurrent, debts are taken very seriously.

Evie has until midwinter to pay up . . . or else. So when she gets a job that might save her—even if she’s breaking all her own rules to take it—she can’t pass it up. Now, with danger at her back and uncertain allies beside her, she’ll trace the very bones of Boston itself to protect both the city and the people she loves.

As I said earlier, I found Soul Hunt much more satisfying than Wild Hunt. Evie's adventures centre around her trying to get out of trouble, first from the bargain, then from a deal she makes at the start of this book, plus she has to deal with the job that might save her, as they call it in the blurb. She also has to deal with Nate's curse and his desire to get rid of it, though this is a secondary plot point in the novel. (Side note: One of the possible solutions made me very uncomfortable. Brava, Margaret Ronald, for such visceral writing.) Because of all these major plot points, there's a lot of action in Soul Hunt but not so much that it gets overwhelming. Margaret Ronald has a wonderful writing style and I really enjoyed seeing what was going to happen next, particularly in the last chapters where things got really exciting.

I also liked that she included more exposition about the different kinds of magic in her mythology, and more about the Wild Hunt and its cross-cultural origins. Rich world building always makes me happy and the information included in Soul Hunt was juicy and compelling. I also loved the characterization of the Hounds in the Hunt, and Evie's interactions with them. Another great aspect of Soul Hunt is the fact that we get to learn more about Katie's powers and get her perspective on magic. There are some great developments on this front and I look forward to seeing more in the next installment, assuming there is one. There is also nice progress in Evie and Rena's relationship, and I think it's written in a very genuine way.

While there's no news online about a fourth Hunt book, I truly hope to see another novel some time at the end of this year. Fingers crossed!

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Evie Scelan is the Hound, whose nose can find anything (no animal transformation, though). She ekes out a living as a finder of lost objects and a bike messenger. Boston’s “undercurrent” is ruled by powerful, dangerous adepts, and when an old flame asks for her help, Evie is drawn far deeper in than she ever wanted to go. I thought that this was very well-executed urban fantasy: there are even two male love interests to go along with the eldritch powers, but the powers themselves are show more unusual and the conflicts felt organic, not formulaic. show less

Urban fantasy novels can go in a couple of different directions, and this one tends towards the gritty and grim. In Margaret Ronald's alternate Boston, almost all the magic users are addicts living marginal half-lives, consumed by paranoia. The magicians who aren't flat-out bums fit into another, even more unsavory category: they're evil. A group known as the Bright Brotherhood keeps a mafia-style chokehold over Boston's supernatural population - if you're not with the Brotherhood, you're show more against them; and if you're against the Brotherhood, your days are numbered.

The novel's heroine, Evie Scelan, is par for the course in the genre but very easy to like. She's a part-time bike messenger who's starting up a fledgling business in finding lost items. Her attitude towards her own magic seems a little schizophrenic. On the one hand, we she spent most of her adult life hiding her abilities; she knows it's dangerous to be recognized as a magic user in Boston. On the other hand, her new business is all about advertising, and using, her unique magical talent. She's a "Hound" - she can find lost things, trace scents where there's no physical trail. Pick a pebble up off the ground for a minute, and she could trace the magical residue left on it for miles.

So the plot heads off in a few different directions, which all converge neatly at the end. First, Evie gets a phone call from an old flame - he's been forced to work for the Bright Brotherhood, and he's going to make a run for it. They didn't part on good terms, but Evie's determined to find him and help him get free. This already seems like a fool's errand, but there's more. Her good friend Sarah, a white witch, asks her to hunt down a collection of "chain stones" - stones with magical properties. Evie doesn't realize it at the time, but these stones are very, very important to the Bright Brotherhood. And then, to make matters worse, it soon becomes clear that she probably won't need to look very hard to find the Bright Brotherhood...because they're already hunting her. Her magic has come to their attention, and now they want to force her into the fold.

Evie spends most of her time taking two steps backward for every one step forward. She gathers information bit by bit, and all the while the Brotherhood is attacking her and her friends. For every clue she finds, someone she loves is kidnapped, or some potential informant is killed. This makes the book a real page-turner, but it also casts a shadow over all of Evie's small victories, because the price of progress is pretty steep.

Bizarrely enough, while Evie's day-to-day reality is relentlessly grim, Ronald's mythology is complex, gorgeous, and incredibly charming. At the end of the book, the author notes that she got a lot of her material from a college course on Celtic mythology, and I'm thinking that's why there's such a richness and depth to her references here. But the most charming thing of all - the most wonderfully Bostonian aspect of the book - is the way that Ronald incorporates the Red Sox, and the team's mythology, into the plot.

The only thing that really didn't work for me here was the romance. It's hard to say much about it without giving spoilers, but Evie's relationship with both of her potential suitors rang false to me. On the whole, though, Spiral Hunt puts down a solid foundation for a series. The second book has already been published, and I'll be picking it up as soon as I can. show less