Unfallen Dead

As usual, the book starts a little slowly but the pace increases soon and by halfway through, I couldn't put it down. I love Connor. I love how del Marco is able to show me Connor's deepest feelings with very little telling. I love how equal the genders are. I love Meryl and I know why Connor cares about her. (Frequently in UF, I have no idea why the main chars are attracted to one another.) I feel Connors confused emotions around just about everything in the story. I love that he stands up and is snarky when he wants to be and feels pushed and not just any time he is angry and annoyed.

I love how in each book he find himself in a situation or two where he's being his old self-absorbed self and that when he realizes it, he feels like show more crap. I love how in each book there is something that wiggles into his head and allows him to think for awhile about going back to the old job and that maybe it would be okay. If he had changed 100%, it would be too unbelievable. This Connor, who is struggling to be the good man who's come to the surface while being caught by moments if his former self, is real to me. I also love how in this book we hear about the good man he was before he lost his abilities despite being an arrogant ass.

I also really like how del Marco usually recognizes that his readers are smart and knowledgeable about fae things and what they don't know they'll look up or figure out. So he doesn't go into long descriptive passages about what Ogham runes are (unlike the previous book I read) nor does he have the protagonist be ignorant in order to make the reader feel better. Connor is a Druid raised by fae and he would and does know what Ogham runes are.

I just love Connor Grey. If del Marco would just get into it faster (and bring a gay character permanently into the storyline) these would easily be 5 star books for me.

Just don't look at the covers. The guy on the cover looks too old for a Druid Conner's age: they live much longer and their bodies age more slowly. Plus, Connor's way cuter than that. ;) show less

The first two Connor Grey novels were more like detective novels with a paranormal flair. This third volume is firmly in the paranormal, while still having an intricate mystery, giving readers a deep look at the world and characters Del Franco has imagined. It is easily the best of the series so far and makes me hungry for the next installment.

A lot of plot lines take route in Unfallen Dead, and readers finally get significant progress on Connor's disability, the political instability among the Fae and even Connor's relationship with Meryl. Yes! Connor is still struggling with the black mass in his mind which blocks his druid abilities, and working with Murdock on cases the Guild won't bother with. His latest case involves two humans show more murdered by a druidess that link back to an old case of Keeva's (so of course The Guild eventually gets involved). And Meryl is involved up to her neck as well, in ways that will startle Connor and the reader. Keeva's got her own problems - on suspension for being manipulated against the Guild. Connor is stunned when his old Guild partner, Dylan, arrives to temporarily take over her position. Connor and Dylan have unresolved issues, naturally, but their camaraderie is just what I was missing in Connor's relationship with Murdock. To top it off, the Faerie royal court has taken an interest in Connor and Meryl because of the events at Forest Hill and the malignant essence, Taint (book 3). Queen Ceridwen has come to investigate, or place blame, depending on one's point of view. She carries a spear which seeks the truth. Only, it does more than seek truth and it likes Connor more than her. Samhain is approaching and the veil between worlds is thinning - finally allowing crossovers that have not happened since Convergence.

Chock full of action, intrigue and outright adventure, this novel has it all. I was engrossed from the first page to the last. Connor finally recognizes that the black mass in his head has not so coincidentally saved his life, and the world, more than once now. It figures directly into the plot here, and like the spear, is more than it seems. The arrival of Dylan brought welcome information about Connor's past and a new ally. Dylan doesn't dismiss Connor because of his lack of power, and even offers him a way back into the Guild if he wants. Connor's command of the spear will take him through the veil in a kick-butt ending that includes a confrontation with his arch enemy, revelations about Queen Maeve and her motives, and the dead crossing over into Boston from Tir Na Nog (the land of the dead). I especially liked that Connor didn't "accidentally" save the day this time despite his disability, he planned and executed it. This author has a gift for hooking a reader with an awesome ending. Consider me hooked - and bring on book 4. show less

The Faerie queen is very interested in what happened in the previous book, what Connor and Meryl did. She has a spear that seeks truth and when she tries to use it on Connor it--because it has a mind of its own--chooses to leave her and go to Connor. To make things even worse the veil between the worlds is very thin right now and the dead are leaving Tir Na Nog and entering Boston.

Connor's previous partner returns bringing with him all the baggage he and Connor share, and also bringing a little bit of resolution that Connor so badly needs in his life. Meryl, Connor's girlfriend, has a few secrets of her own that shake Connor, and Joe turns out to be braver than I ever thought. A solid read, definitely a good follow up to the previous show more two books. show less

As usual, the book starts a little slowly but the pace increases soon and by halfway through, I couldn't put it down. I love Connor. I love how del Marco is able to show me Connor's deepest feelings with very little telling. I love how equal the genders are. I love Meryl and I know why Connor cares about her. (Frequently in UF, I have no idea why the main chars are attracted to one another.) I feel Connors confused emotions around just about everything in the story. I love that he stands up and is snarky when he wants to be and feels pushed and not just any time he is angry and annoyed.

I love how in each book he find himself in a situation or two where he's being his old self-absorbed self and that when he realizes it, he feels like show more crap. I love how in each book there is something that wiggles into his head and allows him to think for awhile about going back to the old job and that maybe it would be okay. If he had changed 100%, it would be too unbelievable. This Connor, who is struggling to be the good man who's come to the surface while being caught by moments if his former self, is real to me. I also love how in this book we hear about the good man he was before he lost his abilities despite being an arrogant ass.

I also really like how del Marco usually recognizes that his readers are smart and knowledgeable about fae things and what they don't know they'll look up or figure out. So he doesn't go into long descriptive passages about what Ogham runes are (unlike the previous book I read) nor does he have the protagonist be ignorant in order to make the reader feel better. Connor is a Druid raised by fae and he would and does know what Ogham runes are.

I just love Connor Grey. If del Marco would just get into it faster (and bring a gay character permanently into the storyline) these would easily be 5 star books for me.

Just don't look at the covers. The guy on the cover looks too old for a Druid Conner's age: they live much longer and their bodies age more slowly. Plus, Connor's way cuter than that. ;) show less

The Connor Grey books get better with each installment...I read #2 and #3 back to back and after I finished UNFALLEN DEAD, I was so sad that I couldn't rush straight into the next and the next and the next. The first book didn't have that addictive quality to me, but I could see all the building blocks of a truly great series, and, indeed, now I've been thoroughly sucked in.

A lot happens here, and plot is moved forward on every front. The tangled politics between the Teutonic and Celtic fae, Connor's peculiar romance with Meryl, and the strange black mass in Connor's brain. But while it's finally becoming clear that Connor is a force to be reckoned with despite, and at times because of, his handicap, we also get our first look at what show more Connor 1.0 was really like. His old friend and partner Dylan is in town, which leads to a flashback on one of Connor's most impressive escapades as a Guild bigwig. For me, that flashback was a poignant counterpart to the events unfolding in the book's present as I realized for the first time how much Connor really lost.

As usual in this series, for every problem Connor solves a host of new ones are created - as Connor wins back his place among the movers and shakers of the Fae world, he needs to decide where he wants to take his life, if he wants back into the Guild, and figure out what exactly the queen of the Celtic Fae, Queen Maeve, is up to. Coming up in the next volume, I hope, and I can't wait to read it. show less

This is the 3rd book in the Connor Grey series. It is set in Boston in a world like ours, but with the difference that Faerie has leaked into the real world. There are many beasties now here and they can't get back. Obviously humanity has to work out accommodations with them.

The POV of the book/series is Connor Grey, a Fae and a Druid, but interestingly he is disabled. He was part of the self-governing force that took care of politics, policing and social services for the Fae. Connor was in the policing unit and in a magical duel with a Fae terrorist he was badly injured. The terrorist placed a magical block in his brain preventing the use of his magical abilities. The terrorist escaped, but he ruined Connor's life.

Because of his show more disability Connor is pensioned off and kicked out of the power structure. He moves into a Fae slum in Boston called The Weird. He works as a consultant with the Boston Police on magical crimes that his former agency has no interest in.

In this book Connor, and Boston are still reeling from a magical spell on a large scale gone horribly wrong (previous book Unquiet Dreams). He is being called in for questioning to see if he was also part of the problem, and his friend and helper at the scene is arrested by the Fae. They also bring in an old partner of Connor's, whom he has an uncomfortable history with.

Halloween is approaching and the Fae fear that with the residue of the twisted magic hanging around, the veils between the living and dead realms will open and the dead will walk into the real world. The Celtic and Teutonic Fae are battling for supremacy, and Connor's terrorist is leading a troop of German Fae to kill the Celts under cover of the movement of the dead.

I really like this series. It has gotten better with each book. The characters are done well, and have developed great connections with each other. The setting is realistic, and the story is interesting, and told better with each book. show less

It's certainly a fun story. All the threads are neatly woven in for this particular adventure. There are two issues I'm having with this series. First, everything is EPIC. And I do mean EPIC with capital letters. Each book so far has been about the end of the world as we know it! If he doesn't solve this/save this person/happen to be in the right place, then everything ends in fire and chaos! Nooooooo!

So, the second issue. The overall running mystery needs to move forward. This is the third book where the dark mass in the character's head plays a big part in the story, although in this one we do get teasers about an ongoing mystery stretching further back in the character's life. However, this big mystery is getting old. It would be show more great to either get this resolved, or just move away from the hints and unknowns and focus on perhaps less grand apocalyptic events. show less