Dan Rabarts

Two quick disclaimers to get this review rolling:

1) I received a free ebook copy of this through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers group, and am grateful to the publisher for the copy.

2) I'm a white settler American with almost no knowledge of Māori culture, and one of the authors is Māori, so please take my comments on that aspect of things with a massive grain of salt; my comments make reference to what is an intracommunity issue ultimately, but I wanted to note them for other non-Māori show more folk reading this book.

SO. This book was a delight--it was a fast read, and I was incredibly sucked into very early on. The dynamic of Penny and Matiu was so lovely, and the mystery itself really got me wanting to know what exactly happened. In the last 20% of the book, I had that panic moment that went "oh my god, there's not much time left!" and I definitely want to read more of this series. The suspense was super great, and the mystery itself felt like it came together over the course of the story, which is something I always enjoy when reading mysteries.

Two small caveats (well, one small and one fairly large haha.): 1) There's this commentary in the middle about autism that comes off as super uncomfortable, like both infantilizing and like over-positive? I have no idea if both authors are neurotypical, but it was just weird and jarring.

2) As a white settler, I have a Thing about not taking other people's worldviews and making them plot mechanics in stories; it makes me uncomfortable. This is troubled obviously by the fact that one of the authors is Māori, but it was something that made me nervous as a white settler and I want to identify it; I would love to hear actual Māori people speak about how they see this book, but my positionality as a reader and consumer of stories was something that was constantly on my mind as I ready this book.

Those being said, I really did enjoy this book and definitely would love to read the next in the series! show less

Hounds of the Underworld has an unusual and exotic setting, which is what prompted me to request it from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers list--I don't think I've ever run across a novel set in near-future New Zealand before. There is a judicious scattering of Maori terms and New Zealand turns of phrase--enough to give a sense of place and culture, but not so much as to confuse an American reader. I was particularly intrigued by the Maori-Chinese family dynamics, which are amazingly similar show more to the Hawaiian-Chinese family dynamics I know. I suppose that just as the Maori and Hawaiian languages are almost mutually understandable, so too are are the cultures, despite 4,600 miles of Pacific Ocean between them.

The two protagonists are maternal cousins who have been raised as siblings, and their dialog and interactions capture the affectionate exasperation between brother and sister. This almost, but doesn't quite, make up for Matiu and Penny following the urban fantasy _X-file_ archetypes of a male mystic believer in the supernatural and a female pragmatic scientist whose close-minded skepticism keeps her from accurately interpreting her observations.

The book is well-edited and well-crafted. I wasn't enamored of the present-tense narration (excessively artsy, IMO), but it's a perfectly legitimate choice, and does give the tale a certain immediacy. show less

I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer's program in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This novel is a cross between urban fantasy and New Zealand noir. It is told through two narrators - adopted brother and sister. The brother, Matiu, tells the urban fantasy story while the sister, Pandora/Penny, tells the rational New Zealand noir story. The combination is perfect - the sister's refusal to see the fantasy/spiritual elements bleeding through and the show more brother's awareness that his ability to see the fantasy/spiritual elements makes him appear crazy work beautifully together. The setting of Auckland, New Zealand, in the near future is a sheer delight and the world described is well realised and believable. The side characters - the pushy parents, the loyal scientific sidekick and the police officers working the official case - add depth, texture and gravitas. They also provide much of the humour in the story as do the banter and interaction between the brother and sister. The setting and the mix of cultures - Maori/Chinese/New Zealand - are incredibly refreshing and exciting in a genre dominated by US settings and cultures and I really hope the authors continue to develop these in the future books in this series. The story itself is good and well told with a satisfactorily complete ending which gently hints at future instalments while allowing this book to be read as a stand-alone as well. All in all, this is a marvellous book and one I strongly recommend to lovers of mysteries out of the ordinary. show less

In Hounds of the Underworld (Path of Ra, book 1), freelance crime scene specialist Pandora “Penny” Yee and her brother, Matiu, get caught up in trying to solve a very weird series of killings. They go way beyond the limits of crime scene specialty, even given the standards set by modern TV CSI dramas. I started this a few times and bounced off it, so it took me a long time to read it all the way through, but it’s actually a pretty gripping read. Trigger warning for dog abuse.
Received show more through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer Program in return for an honest review. show less